Most recent 10 articles: Washington Post - Climate and Environment
 |
Biden limits oil drilling across 13 million acres of Alaskan Arctic - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 19) |
|
Apr 19 · Future oil and gas drilling will be limited across more than 13 million acres of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, the nation’s largest expanse of public land, under a sweeping Biden administration plan aimed at protecting sensitive ecosystems and wildlife.
The Interior Department’s final rule represents one of President Biden’s most significant steps to curb fossil fuel development on federal lands. It could help the president’s reelection campaign court young voters, a key Democratic constituency, after many youth climate activists criticized the administration’s approval of a massive drilling project on Alaska’s North Slope last year.
In a separate move, Interior ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Earth’s record hot streak might be a sign of a new climate era - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 19) |
|
Apr 19 · The heat fell upon Mali’s capital like a thick, smothering blanket - chasing people from the streets, stifling them inside their homes. For nearly a week at the beginning of April, the temperature in Bamako hovered above 110 degrees Fahrenheit. The cost of ice spiked to ten times its normal price, an overtaxed electrical grid sputtered and shut down.
With much of the majority-Muslim country fasting for the holy month of Ramadan, dehydration and heat stroke became epidemic. As their body temperatures climbed, people’s blood pressure lowered. Their vision went fuzzy, their kidneys and livers malfunctioned, their brains began to swell. At the city’s main hospital, doctors ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Has the U.S. really conserved a third of its waters? Here’s the math. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 19) |
|
Apr 19 · Almost everyone loves the ocean. But not everyone agrees on what it means to protect it.
The United States is conserving approximately one-third of the country’s ocean areas, according to an early analysis released Friday by the Biden administration - suggesting the president is meeting a key environmental goal laid out at the beginning of his term.
But others say that’s not the case.
Some of those areas still allow for commercial fishing, advocates say, and fall short of protections needed to save marine ecosystems facing dire threats.
“It’s padding the numbers,” said Brad Sewell, oceans director at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Great Barrier Reef experiencing one of its worst coral bleaching events - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 18) |
|
Apr 18 · Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is experiencing one of its worst bleaching events since monitoring began nearly four decades ago, authorities say, with much of the famed reef showing signs of damage as warming ocean temperatures blight reefs worldwide.
Bleaching occurs when heat-stressed coral turn white after expelling symbiotic algae that provide food and color. It’s a result of abnormal ocean temperatures in the past year that scientists worry could represent a major change to Earth systems.
In the Great Barrier Reef marine park, 73 percent of the reefs surveyed have prevalent bleaching - which means that more than 10 percent of the coral cover is bleached, the Great ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
The U.S. just changed how it manages a tenth of its land - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 18) |
|
Apr 18 · For decades, the federal government has prioritized oil and gas drilling, hardrock mining and livestock grazing on public lands across the country. That could soon change under a far-reaching Interior Department rule that puts conservation, recreation and renewable energy development on equal footing with resource extraction.
The final rule released Thursday represents a seismic shift in the management of roughly 245 million acres of public property - about one-tenth of the nation’s land mass. It is expected to draw praise from conservationists and legal challenges from fossil fuel industry groups and Republican officials, some of whom have lambasted the move as a “land grab.” Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Where drought looms in Kenya, camels are the new cows - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 17) |
|
Apr 17 · The camels had thump-thumped for seven days across northern Kenya, ushered by police reservists, winding at last toward their destination: less a village than a dusty clearing in the scrub, a place where something big was happening. People had walked for miles to be there. Soon the governor pulled up in his SUV. Women danced, and an emcee raised his hands to the sky. When the crowd gathered around an enclosure holding the camels, one man said he was looking at “the future.”
The camels had arrived to replace the cows.
Samburu County’s governor says that the climate patterns have become “abnormal.” The reduction in rainfall is so obvious, he said, that anybody can see it. ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
If you’ve got an EV, Google Maps is about to become much more valuable - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 17) |
|
Apr 17 · Google has announced new features in its Maps app designed to help electric car drivers find a charge.
The updates include a tool to help drivers find nearby chargers with real-time information about availability and charging speed, the ability to find charging stops on longer road trips and more detailed instructions about how to find chargers within parking lots and garages.
Google expects to start rolling out these features “in the coming months,” according to a blog post. Some will come first to people who drive a car that comes with “Google Built-in,” the company’s driver-assistance software. Google updated its other route-finding app, Waze, with information on EV ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Trump’s Mar-a-Lago fundraising pitch to oil executives: I will kill wind - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 17) |
|
Apr 17 · Former president Donald Trump repeatedly ranted about wind power during a fundraising dinner with oil and gas industry executives last week, falsely claiming that the renewable-energy source is unreliable, unattractive and bad for the environment.
“I hate wind,” Trump told the executives over a meal of chopped steak at his Mar-a-Lago Club and resort in Florida, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private conversation.
Trump’s comments reveal how he is wooing potential donors with his long-standing hostility to wind farms and pledges to halt this form of renewable energy if he returns to office. His ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
Biden set to block Alaska road key to accessing planned mine - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 16) |
|
Apr 16 · The Biden administration is set to block a controversial road crucial to operating a planned copper and zinc mine in northern Alaska, saying it would threaten Indigenous communities and fragment wildlife habitat, according to two people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
The expected decision on Ambler Road reflects the administration’s selective approach toward boosting domestic mining of minerals used in electric vehicles, wind turbines and other clean-energy technologies. It underscores the challenges facing President Biden as he balances an ambitious climate agenda with the need to protect ... Read more ...
|
|
|
|
At this climate fair, heat pumps, e-bikes and induction stoves take center stage - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 13) |
|
Apr 13 · WASHINGTON - A loose line of people snaked from a doorway in the side of a cargo truck. One young boy wandered over to examine several bales of hay stacked nearby while others waiting craned their necks to get a peek inside. A small sign in the shape of a barn stuck over the open door read, “Petting Zoo.”
But the queuing visitors weren’t there to meet pigs, goats or sheep. What they wanted was hands-on experience with a different kind of beast: heat pumps.
“We have heat pump everything,” said Vanessa Bertelli, head of the nonprofit Electrify DC, as she walked through the D.C. Armory, an indoor arena, on a recent Saturday.
To her right, a showcase of two brands of ... Read more ...
|
|
|