Stay or go? Some towns are eyeing retreat from sea
Pounded by erosion, some communities hugging California’s shoreline are eyeing a retreat from the sea. There’s a growing acknowledgement that the sea is relentless and erosion will worsen with rising seas fueled by global warming. Up and down the California coast, some communities are deciding it’s not worth trying to wall off the encroaching ocean. Until recently, the thought of bowing to nature was almost unheard of.
Rio Closes Its Massive Jardim Gramacho Dump
One of the world’s largest open-air landfills, a vast, seaside mountain of trash where thousands of people have made a living sorting through the debris by hand, will close this weekend after 34 years in tainting service.
Plastic Bag: A Short History Of The Ubiquitous Sack
With Los Angeles preparing to become the largest city in the nation to ban plastic grocery bags, a short history of the ubiquitous sack.
State of the Sea at the Start of Hurricane Season
The 2012 hurricane season in North and Central America arrives with a muddled outlook. Sea surface temperatures are not particularly warm or cool, and the Hurricane Research Division of NOAA announced, that it is expecting a near-normal season, with nine to fifteen named storms and four to eight hurricanes. Regardless of the predictions, the key to hurricane season is vigilance. “The important issue is hurricane preparedness along the coasts…”
Coastal N.C Counties Fighting Sea Level Rise Prediction
State lawmakers are considering a measure that would limit how North Carolina prepares for sea-level rise, which many scientists consider one of the surest results of climate change.
Discovery of Historical Photos Sheds Light On Greenland Ice Loss
A chance discovery of 80-year-old photo plates in a Danish basement is providing new insight into how Greenland glaciers are melting today.
Pacific bluefin tuna transport Fukushima-derived radionuclides from Japan to California
Across the vast Pacific, the mighty bluefin tuna carried radioactive contamination that leaked from Japan’s crippled nuclear plant to the shores of the United States 6,000 miles away, the first time a huge migrating fish has been shown to carry radioactivity such a distance…
Homeowners allowed to grow size of temporary retaining walls
Owners of condominiums threatened by erosion in North Topsail Beach are going bigger to protect their property from the encroaching Atlantic Ocean.
Thousands of shellfish found dead in Peru
Thousands of crustaceans were found dead off the coast of Lima following the mystery mass death of dolphins and pelicans, the Peruvian Navy said.