A Fossil Museum Uses the Past to Reimagine Climate’s Future – The New York Times

A detail from the frieze above the front entrance to the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits (by John Fladd CC BY 2.0 via Flickr).

As the La Brea Tar Pits & Museum undergoes a major redesign, its leaders hope it can do more to engage the public and educate visitors about the realities of climate change.

“How we present this information in a way it can help communities is a challenge,” she said. “If you go too far in the hope direction, it goes against the science. But we need to bring people in.” – Dr. Lori Bettison-Varga

Interview: Manufactured Beauty and Default Photographs – Lens Culture

A young man views one of Anastasia Samoylova's photos at the Deutsche Börse exhibition at the Photographers' Gallery in London, 2022 (by Garry Knight CC BY 2.0 via Flickr).

“I want to immerse the viewer within the daily happenings of the environment I am depicting. It might not always be flooded, but you see the indicators of fragility and vulnerability… It’s important that people learn to read and interpret all types of images for themselves, rather than relying on a National Geographic report.” – Anastasia Samoylova

Surfers, miners fight over South Africa’s white beaches – PHYS.ORG

Satellite view of the Olifants River Estuary, South Africa (image via Google Earth: Maxar Technologies AfriCIS(Pty) Ltd CNES / Airbus Data SIO, NOAA; U.S. Navy, NGA, GEBCO Terrametrics).

Diamonds, zircon and other minerals have long been extracted in the sandy coastline near the Olifants river, which flows into the Atlantic about 300 kilometres (180 miles) north of Cape Town.

But plans to expand the mining have angered surfers, animal lovers and residents in this remote, sparsely populated region—and they are pushing back with lawsuits and petitions.

Mining the Mekong: Land and livelihoods lost to Cambodia’s thirst for sand – MONGABAY

Mekong River to Cu Lao Gieng (January) Island (by Ted Mcgrath CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 via Flickr)

“We would argue that sand mining is having as big, if not a bigger impact on the delta and Cambodian reaches. It’s been shown to be the biggest driver of saline intrusion in the delta, and resulting in enhanced bank erosion more so than hydropower,”

– Chris Hackney (University of Newcastle), Julian Leyland and Steve Darby (University of Southampton)

To Save America’s Coasts, Don’t Always Rebuild Them – New York Times

Aftermath of Hurricane Ian, September 28, 2022 (by Florida Fish and Wildlife CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 via Flickr)

Federal and state taxpayers have spent billions of dollars over the past four decades pumping up beaches in front of coastal properties in what are known as beach nourishment projects. In Florida alone, almost $3 billion in public funds has been spent just to keep beaches in front of investment homes and oceanfront infrastructure…