Opinion: Facts Haven’t Spurred Us to Climate Action. Can Fiction? – Undark Magazine

Science-fiction art directed toward climate change, melting ice and re-emerging life forms (illustration by David S. Soriano, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia).

SCIENTISTS MUST BE wondering what it will take to scare us straight. Watching flood waters submerge 80 percent of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina didn’t do it. Nor did videos shot by Australians in 2019 as they fled walls of flame, a hellish orange haze in all directions. Will the deaths of more than 6 million people in the Covid-19 pandemic …jolt the world into action? I wouldn’t count on it.

No debate anymore: Climate change makes extreme weather worse, federal scientists say – WUSF Public Media

Atmospheric River event in January 2017 (animation by NOAA/ESRL/PSD, Public Domain)

Scientists at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) delivered a clear message: Climate change is — unequivocally — making extreme weather events worse.
South Florida has always been hot, rainy and vulnerable to hurricanes. So it’s understandable that some longtime residents remain skeptical that climate change is doing anything to make the region’s age-old problems any worse…

Frans Lanting’s ‘Bay of Life’ Project Showcases Local Ecosystem – Good Times

The Bay of Life Exhibit at MAH, January 21, 2023 (by D Shrestha Ross CC BY-SA)

I can almost smell smoke as I stare at one of the photographs on display…Deep orange flames swallow a hillside next to the ocean, and thick smoke blacks out the sky. It’s a photo from the 2020 CZU fire.

“We were engulfed by it,” says (Frans) Lanting. “Chris and I live in Bonny Doon. And we nearly lost our own home. But we banded together with neighbors to fight off the fire…”

The Edge of Extinction: Can sea otters survive the human threat? – Kim Steinhardt

Southern sea otter pup learns how to eat shellfish by mimicking mother's actions, first by manipulating an empty shell (Photo © Kim Steinhardt).

I was hooked the first time I saw a southern sea otter bobbing in the surf off the coast of California’s Big Sur. I didn’t know then that I would be as spellbound by these rare creatures decades later as I was at that very first sighting. And little did I know that I was witnessing the latest act in a continuing saga of survival against all odds and an all too real human threat…

The global impact of sand mining on beaches and dunes – Ocean & Coastal Management

USACE project Sand Replenishment 5.5 mile strech of Anna Maria Island, FL (by Carol VanHook CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr).

Beaches and coastal dunes have always supplied sand for a wide range of uses, and initially the extracted volumes were limited to buckets, wheelbarrows, or small pickup truck loads. However, starting in the late twentieth century, and thanks to urban development, especially for coastal tourism, coastal and river sand has been extracted at an accelerated pace, and on a much grander scale…

Don’t Overestimate Bioplastics’ Benefits – Hakai Magazine

Pros and cons of biodegradable plastics and bioplastics (by GRID-Arendal CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 via Flickr www.grida.no/publications/749).

Bioplastics may avoid some of the issues associated with non-biodegradable fossil fuel­–derived plastics, but they’re no panacea.

Plastics produced from plants are often considered less environmentally damaging than plastics made from petrochemicals. But scientists are warning that we should be careful making such assumptions…

Regional Emmy® Award-Winning TRASH TALK – NOAA

Video Still from TRASH TALK Special Feature (by USOCEAN.gov and NOAA)

Don’t you think it’s time we all have an honest trash talk? Ocean Today, in partnership with the NOAA Marine Debris Program, presents Regional Emmy® Award-winning TRASH TALK, a 15-minute special feature on marine debris for World Ocean Day. It is specially designed to be part of your World Ocean Day festivities and beyond…

Beach Loss Through Sea-Level Rise Will Affect Underserved Communities the Most – Sea Grant California

Looking down from the cliffs that border Blacks Beach near La Jolla, San Diego, California. (by Wayne S. Grazio CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 via Flickr).

A new study shows that equitable coastal access might become another victim of climate change – unless we plan proactively.

As the rising sea level slowly erodes California’s beaches, underserved communities are most affected by the loss, according to preliminary results in a new study funded by California Sea Grant and the California State University Council on Ocean Affairs, Science & Technology (COAST)…