Free Republic

In a lab dubbed the “room of doom” at an Edgewater research center, scientists learned that climate change is no friend to lovers of meaty oysters. A new study by the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center shows that oysters stressed by low dissolved oxygen and warm water early in life grow thicker shells and less meat, the white, briny culinary delight the bivalve is harvested for. The warmer water is, the less dissolved oxygen it holds, the substance fish, oysters, crabs and underwater plants use to breathe. In other words, oysters about half the normal size. SERC Scientist Emeritus Denise Breitburg...

This winter, we experienced snow and double-digit temperatures within the space of a week. Aside from the novelty of such a sudden change during lockdown, it’s a worrying sign of the climate crisis we are now facing. This we know, but what is said less often is that climate change is a feminist issue – but it is and on International Women’s Day I want you to know why. Firstly, women and girls are much more likely to be killed or injured in the face of a climate-related disaster. Few are taught survival skills like how to swim or climb...

Earlier this month, Loren Hughes, a longtime resident of the U.S. Virgin Islands, noticed specks of an oily substance covering his home, as well as those owned by his neighbors. For Hughes, 46, it brought back memories of the last time St. Croix’s long-idled refinery was operating, roughly a decade earlier. The refinery restarted last month, bringing back hundreds of jobs - but for nearby residents, they say it also brought difficulty breathing, headaches and watery eyes. St. Croix is a long way from the U.S. mainland. But the battle over the refinery’s pollution on this Caribbean island and tourist...

Activists in the Pacific Northwest have warned for years that communities of color and other marginalized groups are disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change, and less well-positioned to take advantage of jobs and other benefits likely to result as the region’s economy moves away from fossil fuels. For evidence, look no further than the fire that ripped through southern Oregon last September. People in the relatively affluent town of Ashland received faster and clearer warnings to evacuate than people in less-well-off towns nearby, say grassroots-organizing groups in the area. “People were clueless and our Spanish-speaking community was left...

“The removal of so many iconic, beautiful palm trees, including royal palms, will have a negative impact on our historic, cultural and economic brand,” Meiner wrote in an email. “Millions of tourists throughout the U.S. and the world annually visit Miami Beach and palm trees are an integral part of our brand. There are only a handful of tropical climates in the United States where palm trees can grow.”

VALENTINE, Neb. – “Land: see Snatch.” On first look, the Biden Administration’s “30 x 30” plan looks like a scheme cooked up by Hedley Lamarr, the main villain from Mel Brooks’ “Blazing Saddles.” However, far from the comedic genius of the late Harvey Korman, the new Federal land grab is a serious threat to private property owners in the United States. And it’s moving fast.. Just a few days into office, President Joe Biden released a flurry of executive orders, among them being through Executive Order 14008, “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad” (86 Fed. Reg. 7,619), which...

The seas are certain to rise in Miami, or so says the New York Times in their story on Tuesday by Christopher Flavelle and Patricia Mazzei, "Miami Says It Can Adapt to Rising Seas. Not Everyone Is Convinced."Could it be that "not everyone is convinced" because they have yet to see proof that the sea is actually rising? The article certainly presents no such proof. Although the story is chock full of projections of future sea level rise, the reader can not find any evidence that the sea has, well, actually risen in the past which would indicate a trend...

Petaluma has become what officials said is the first city in the country to permanently ban the construction of new gas stations, a move intended to signal a faster transition to zero-emission vehicles ahead of California’s sweeping efforts to curtail climate change. The Petaluma City Council voted unanimously Monday to prohibit the creation, expansion, reconstruction and relocation of gas stations, encouraging owners to transition to stations that serve electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles. Petaluma hopes to become carbon neutral by 2030. “We need to do our part to help mitigate and adapt to our changing weather patterns that exist because of...

Off the coast of England, there's a tiny, wind-swept island with the remains of a lifeboat rescue station from the mid-1800s. The workers who once ran the station on Hilbre Island did something that, unbeknownst to them, has become crucial for understanding the future of a hotter climate: They recorded the tides. The data, scrawled in long, handwritten ledgers, is just one example of the tens of thousands of pages of tidal measurements stored in archives around the world. Now, scientists and historians are racing to digitize them in an effort to understand how fast oceans are rising. The aging...

A large mural of climate activist Greta Thunberg in Dublin has been vandalized a little over 24 hours after it was finished. The work, by acclaimed artist Emmalene Blake, spans the side of a building on Chancery Street next to the Luas Red Line. Ms. Blake’s mural shows the teenager speaking at the UN Climate Summit in 2019, when she condemned world leaders for failing to tackle the problem. …

A report published in Nature Climate Change claims carbon emissions fell drastically during COVID-19 related lockdowns. In order to meet goals set forth in The Paris Agreement, they say, a pandemic scaled lockdown would be needed once every two years in order to maintain “safe” temperature levels. The lead author of the report, which was reviewed and summarized by The Guardian, argues that “we have failed to understand in the past that we can’t have tackling climate change as a side issue. It can’t be about one law or policy, it has to be put at the heart of all...

By John F Di Leo - The following are facts. There are innumerable issues in the world of public policy which are opinions, but there are also hard facts. Society often does itself a great disservice by conflating the two. Treating a fact as if it were mere opinion can be even worse than treating an opinion as if it were fact. THE EARTH The earth is not a static planet; our climates change, our weather changes, from day to day, from year to year, and from century to century, through no fault or effort of our own. Sunspots and...

Q#1 : How many of the half Americans dead with covid were vaccinated? Q#2 : How many of the 55 million Americans vaccinated so far have died either from covid or the vaccine? Q#3 : Who caused the global warming to melt miles high ice glaciers 12-18 thousand years ago?

Paris (AFP) -- Global CO2 emissions have returned to pre-pandemic levels and then some, threatening to put climate treaty targets for capping global warming out of reach, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday. Energy-related emissions were two percent higher in December 2020 than in the same month a year earlier, driven by economic recovery and a lack of clean energy policies, the IEA said in a report. "The rebound in global carbon emissions toward the end of last year is a stark warning that not enough is being done to accelerate clean energy transitions worldwide," IEA executive director Fatih Birol...

HERSHEY, Pa. -- The Hershey Company today announced new commitments to advance its environmental progress and contribute to global climate action. Hershey has set ambitious new goals to reduce its global emissions in line with the global best practice of the Paris Climate Agreement, to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C. "Climate change is one of the most urgent threats to our planet that we face today. In order to deliver on our purpose to make more moments of goodness, we must operate with sustainability at the forefront and commit to doing our part to address climate change," said Michele...

The numbers paint a daunting picture. In 2019, consumers worldwide bought 64 million new personal cars and 27 million new commercial motor vehicles, a paltry 2.1 million of which were electric-powered. Climate scientists tell us that we have less than a decade to make meaningful reductions in carbon emissions — including those from internal combustion engines — if we have any hope of staving off the worst effects of global warming. Yet manufacturers are still making, and consumers are still buying, overwhelming numbers of vehicles that will, on average, continue to spew carbon into the atmosphere for a dozen years...

A citizens’ council on climate met for the last time over the weekend to finalise proposals on climate change laws aimed at rapidly transitioning to a greener economy and enshrining the fight for climate change in the French constitution. While some view President Emmanuel Macron’s citizens' panel as a welcome precedent and a model for more direct democracy, others say it has been fraught with disappointment and frustration. After nine months of research and rigorous debate, some acrimonious, the Citizens’ Council on Climate (CCC) met virtually for a three-day conference starting Friday to prepare its final submission to the French...

As one of the worst-affected nations in the world by climate change, Australia is determined to tackle the issue bearing the persepective of integral ecology in mind and taking the lead in adaptation, new "green" technology and renewable energy. In this interview the Australian ambassador to the Holy See looks ahead to COP-26 and reflects on the impact of Pope Francis' teachings on "Care for our Common Home." Unprecedented weather conditions driven by climate change continue to impact countries and communities highlighting the need for a new approach to natural resource management and conservation. As the driest continent on the...

As a poster child for the climate emergency, Miami Beach has become a world leader in mitigating the effects of sea-level rise. Now the subtropical Florida city is cutting back on its famous swaying palm trees as it seeks shadier alternatives to preserve its environment and try to keep residents and visitors cool. Officials have embarked on a 30-year plan to reduce the percentage of palm trees in the city to only one quarter of its total canopy by 2050... ...“Palms, while an iconic part of Miami Beach’s landscape, have moved from being an accent plant to a major component...

WASHINGTON - The Biden administration today is issuing an interim estimate of the “social cost of carbon,” the government’s measure of the benefits of curbing emissions of carbon and other climate changing air pollutants. This important interim measure sets aside a grievous Trump administration move to essentially deny that climate change causes any economic harm. In addition, President Biden’s January 20th Executive Order instructed agencies to make further improvements by the end of the year assessing the estimated economic toll from climate disruption. The following statement is from Starla Yeh, director of the policy analysis group in the Climate &...