The Jury is Out: Has the Supreme Court Just Shredded the Environmental Policymaking Safety Net?
Remember what it was like as a kid when a grownup told you “Because I said so”?
Well, a newly constituted majority of the U.S. Supreme Court has recently flexed its ideological muscle, upending 50 years of precedent guiding its decisions, and basically told us “Because I said so.”
This quiet revolution by an activist majority, deciding cases based on primarily political grounds rather than on the constraints of facts and legal precedent, will have grave impact on environmental policymaking – as well civil rights, healthcare, safety, education, elections, technology, finance, and economics…
Yet Another Problem With Recycling: It Spews Microplastics – Wired Magazine
An alarming new study has found that even when plastic makes it to a recycling center, it can still end up splintering into smaller bits that contaminate the air and water. This pilot study focused on a single new facility where plastics are sorted, shredded, and melted down into pellets. Along the way, the plastic is washed several times, sloughing off microplastic particles—fragments smaller than 5 millimeters—into the plant’s wastewater…
As California attempts a ‘managed retreat,’ coastal homeowners sue to stay – Grist Magazine
“We’re in this dilemma of figuring out, how do you convince the community to move?” said (Gary) Griggs.
Mirada Road is a small cul-de-sac that runs right up to the edge of the Pacific Ocean, skirting the rim of a 30-foot bluff. The townhomes on this street, which is located in Half Moon Bay, California, are separated from the sea by nothing but a pedestrian walking trail on a beach that is eroding a few inches every year…
Cities Are Rapidly Reclaiming Land at Risk of Extreme Sea Level Rise – Hakai
As the sea rises and the population booms, builders around the world are in a race to transform coastal bays and shallow seas into new land. Yet don’t mistake this rush of land reclamation as a response to the challenges we face. “It’s built for rich people,” explains Dhritiraj Sengupta, a physical geographer at England’s University of Southampton. Sengupta’s latest research shows there’s been a huge increase in the use of reclaimed land for luxury hotels, shopping areas, and high-end living spaces—developments designed to boost a city’s global reputation…
The ‘Ike Dike’ is the Army Corps of Engineers’ largest project ever. It may not be big enough – Grist Magazine
In September 2008, Hurricane Ike made landfall near Galveston, Texas, as a Category 4 storm with around 20 feet of storm surge…In the aftermath of the storm, Texas officials searched for a way to protect Houston from similar events in the future, and they soon settled on an ambitious project that came to be known as the “Ike Dike” …
Imagine 2200: Write the future (short story fiction contest) – Grist Magazine
Submissions are now open for the 2023/2024 Imagine 2200 climate fiction short story contest, celebrating the futures we want to see.
Grist is excited to announce our third-annual climate fiction short story contest, Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors.
Imagine 2200 is an invitation to writers from all over the globe to imagine a future in which solutions to the climate crisis flourish and help bring about radical improvements to our world. We dare you to dream anew…
Anacapa Island – Will Adler
Santa Barbara-based photographer Will Adler has an eye for creating beautiful sharp, yet disorienting images. The photographs confuse and crop reality that asks the viewer to question the truth of the photograph and consider the manipulation of lighting and perspective that photography involves. Some are absurdly deadpan, straight photographs, while others are noticeably more intricate in their staging. Adler’s collections of photos push us back and forth, in and out of reality, all with a sly wink of humor that keeps you grinning.
-Juxapoz Magazine
Sea level rise looms, even for the best-prepared country on Earth – MONGABAY
With more than a quarter of its land below sea level, the Netherlands has been going to great lengths to protect itself from the impacts of climate change, including sea level rise and extreme weather events like heavy rain. But even with the wealth and experience to address these issues, the future remains uncertain, mainly because a range of possible scenarios could play out after 2050…A misty rain blows against my face as I follow Farah Obaidullah along Scheveningen Beach in the northwest part of The Hague. Despite the wind and drizzle, the shoreline feels calm. Gray waves roll into the sand like long, deep breaths. Machines have raked the beach into a well-manicured carpet of grains and shell fragments…
Microworlds: Bugs on the Rocks – Hakai Institute
If you thought sand was tough enough for insects, meet the bugs that make a living on British Columbia’s rocky seaside, where conditions swing wildly between extremes. One moment, they could drown. The next? Get baked in the sun. But certain strange-looking creatures have adapted to life on the edge here…