Warming Stripes – Ed Hawkins

An enthusiastic and prolific nature photographer for over 25 years, Steve Mandel’s diverse portfolio includes astronomical imaging, wildlife photography, and the photography of microscopic marine organisms.

Steve is much more than a photographer with a camera. When he can’t find a camera that can capture the sort of imagery he believes is required to broaden our understanding of science and widen our perception, he will just BUILD it himself.

His photographs have appeared in the New York Times, Smithsonian Books, Reader’s Digest, Forbes Magazine, Sky&Telescope, Astronomy, and used by websites including NASA. Three of Steve’s images: of Japanese Macaques, Lemurs in Madagascar, and Proboscis Monkey have been given Highly Honored Awards by the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and put on display at the Museum. He is also the recipient of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific’s International Amateur Achievement Award, and the American Astronomical Society’s Chambliss Amateur Achievement Medal.

Twelve New Kids’ Beach Reads to Inspire Action and Adventure – Hakai Institute

Young readers can become archaeologists, seaweed harvesters, and Arctic explorers, all through the pages of books.

One of the best antidotes to climate anxiety is climate action, and there are plenty of places to look for inspiration—including within the pages of several of this season’s new kids’ beach reads. If the tournament’s a go, I’ll be bringing them with me for the ride…

Opposition grows to Indonesia’s resumption of sea sand exports – Mongabay

Marine and fisheries activists in Indonesia are ramping up their calls for the revocation of a new government regulation allowing the export of sea sand, saying the policy will benefit foreign interests more than local fishers and marine ecosystems…

Can Art Change Attitudes Toward Climate Change? – Hyperallergic

A study found that people who viewed climate data in the form of an artwork were less likely to lean on their preconceived notions.

A new study found that using art to convey environmental data eased political perceptions about climate change. As wildfires rage in Canada and New York City recovers from a week of smoke, the study’s findings could help scientists more effectively communicate their research at a pivotal point in the future of the planet…

Mangroves: “Superhero” Ecosystems – Frontiers for Young Minds

Because mangroves live along the land-ocean boundary, they are unique plants that provide several benefits to nature and humans. For example, mangroves provide refuge and food for organisms, hurricane protection, and water filtration; mangroves also promote the release of oxygen into the atmosphere and the uptake and trapping of carbon dioxide, which helps to fight against climate change. To understand mangrove ecosystems, it is important to consider the role of the microorganisms that live there…

The real story behind the Atlantic’s record-breaking seaweed blobs – BBC

Along the coastlines of the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, a monster is lurking. It creeps in with the tide and you’ll likely smell it before you see it. Giant clumps of sargassum seaweed have been washing ashore, choking the surf and blanketing beaches in a brown, stinking mass.

The clumps are breaking off an enormous raft of free-floating seaweed known as the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt, which stretches 5,000 miles (8,047km) between the Gulf of Mexico and the west coast of Africa and can be seen from space…

Opinion | Interactive: The Plan to Save New York From the Next Sandy Will Ruin the Waterfront. It Doesn’t Have To – the New York Times

Last September, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers unveiled its proposal to protect the greater New York and New Jersey metro area from the next catastrophic flood. It is an epic plan that includes dozens of miles of floodwalls, levees and berms along the shoreline and 12 storm surge barriers — arrays of movable gates — across entrances to waterways throughout the region.

The plan is estimated to cost a staggering $52.6 billion. It’s by far the most expensive project ever proposed by the Corps.

The trouble is that despite its great ambitions, the Corps’s plan demonstrates the shortcomings of relying on massive shoreline structures for flood protection…

Plastic-rock hybrids found on the Andaman Islands – Mongabay

A study found the formation of plastic-rock hybrids in the intertidal zone of remote beaches of Aves Island in the Andaman archipelago. This is a first record of these hybrid rocks, known as plastiglomerates, from India.
Samples from the island that were analysed contained polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride. Incineration of plastic litter could have led to their formation.
The impact of plastiglomerates on marine ecosystems is yet to be understood as research on plastiglomerates is an emerging field…

Study says buyout of threatened Outer Banks homes would be cheaper than beach nourishment – Star News Online

Along coastal North Carolina, engineering answers to threats from Mother Nature is a time-honored tradition to dealing with eroding beaches and threats from wandering inlets. But pumping sand isn’t cheap….Faced with a future of rising seas and stronger storms intensified by climate change, state and local officials are scrambling to keep up.(And) one option occupies a relatively rare seat at the table for discussion by local officials and residents: moving oceanfront structures out of harms way…