Snow Disposal Guidance from Mass.gov

The MassDEP is providing snow disposal and storm preparation information on its website.  Emergency phone line assistance is available. This web page posting is in response to the extraordinary weather experienced by the Commonwealth in the past several weeks. Public health and environment impact concerns are addressed.
http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/massdep/water/regulations/snow-disposal-guidance.html
Article courtesy of Mass.gov.

1 in 8 deaths linked to air pollution, World Health Organization says

Air pollution kills about 7 million people a year and is linked to 1 in 8 deaths worldwide, according to a report released Tuesday by the World Health Organization. The finding more than doubles previous estimates “and confirms that air pollution is now the world’s largest single environmental health risk,” the agency said. http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-air-pollution-deaths-world-health-organization-20140325,0,5308688.story Article courtes of The Los Angeles Times by Tony Barbosa

20-foot boat that drifted to California is tsunami debris

The barnacle-covered boat with Japanese lettering spent 758 days at sea before it drifted onto a Northern California beach.

Nearly three weeks after the 20-foot boat washed ashore in Crescent City, about 20 miles south of the Oregon border, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration determined it was from the 2011 tsunami, the first confirmed debris to reach California. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tsunami-debris-20130427,0,3140009.story

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by Kate Mather

 

Supersonic flight brings Virgin Galactic closer to space tourism

With a sonic boom that resounded above the Mojave Desert, a rocket plane belonging to British billionaire Richard Branson's commercial space venture Virgin Galactic got one step closer to carrying tourists into space.

On Monday the company's SpaceShipTwo ignited its rocket motor in mid-flight for the first time and sped to Mach 1.2, faster than sound, reaching about 56,000 feet in altitude. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-virgin-galactic-20130430,0,507052.story

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by W.J. Hennigan

 

 

Officials battle giant, rat-sized snails in Florida

Florida has a snail problem. And it's a big one.

The southern part of the state is being invaded by the giant African land snail, a species of snail that can grow up to 8.5 inches in length and that snacks on stucco, car tires and 500 types of plants.

"Just about anything you grow in the garden is on their menu," said Denise Feiber, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services  http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-giant-african-land-snail-20130415,0,2472882.story

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by Deborah Netburn

 

GREEN TIPS

By making simple changes in our everyday lives, we can improve the planet we all share. To help, EarthShare provides free green tips, categorized by season. EarthShare offers these green action tips as a public service to individuals and companies interested in finding ways to protect the Earth.

http://www.earthshare.org/green-tips.html#tp

Article courtesy of EarthShare

 

Two new solar power plants approved for federal land in California

Salazar announced two solar projects in California — the 750-megawatt McCoy Solar Energy Project and 150-megawatt Desert Harvest Solar Farm, both in Riverside County. Interior also approved the 200-megawatt Searchlight Wind Energy Project in Clark County, Nevada. 

The McCoy project, near Blythe, would occupy 4,394 acres and would be the world's largest, in terms of power production. Desert Harvest, six miles north of Desert Center, would occupy 1,208 acres. http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-renewable-energy-20130313,0,3126195.story

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times –Science Now –by Julie Cart

 

 

Sunlight stimulates release of carbon dioxide in melting permafrost

Ancient plant and animal matter trapped within Arctic permafrost can be converted rapidly into climate-warming carbon dioxide when melted and exposed to sunlight, according to a new study. http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-carbon-sunlight-permafrost-20130211,0,5550833.story?track=rss

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times –Science Now by Monte Morin

 

 

Space Age Transit System to Debut in Tel Aviv

Source: Israel21C
If all goes as planned, within two years Israelis will be the first people to try out a futuristic rapid transport system designed by NASA's Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California. The skyTran uses two-person modules that drive along a guide rail suspended from existing power lines. Magnets in the vehicle create a magnetic field around the metal coil inside the rail, causing the vehicle to lift up and glide 60 miles per hour on a cushion of air. The system uses very little energy and potentially could be powered entirely by solar panels. The space-age skyTran combines aspects of public and private transportation. "People often don't use mass transit because they don't like to share vehicles, they don't like having to get to a station and they don't like to follow someone else's schedule," says CEO Jerry Sanders. The cost of implementing skyTran is estimated at $9 million per mile, as opposed to $100 million per mile for a light rail system and $20 million per lane for buses. https://netforum.avectra.com/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?Site=ACT1&WebCode=ACTeNews

Article courtesy of ACT newsletter

Too bad Zipcar isn't taking over Avis

If Zipcar were buying Avis, instead of the other way around, the Cambridge-based car-sharing company's fans would be happier today than they are.

This should be good news. The car rental giant's $500 million purchase of Zipcar is great for stockholders, since Avis is offering 49 percent more per share than Zipcar's closing price Friday. In theory, the takeover is also a half-billion-dollar validation of the idea of car sharing; what once seemed like a utopian social experiment increasingly looks like a mainstream, even essential service for city dwellers who only drive every so often. It should help that Avis buys a lot of cars; Zipcar will be able to buy vehicles more cheaply and make more of them available at peak times. Avis, in turn, gains a foothold in a growing business that archrival Hertz is also pursuing aggressively. http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/blogs/the_angle/2013/01/too_bad_zipcar.html

Article courtesy of Boston.com-The Boston Globe-The Angle posted by Dante Ramos

 

 

 

 

New Lake Tahoe plan to allow higher density development

Lake Tahoe towns will grow taller and denser under a new regional plan that supporters hope will quell a rebellion by Nevada against land use regulations that have restricted development in the basin.

The new plan is intended to rid the area of some of its midcentury strip development and turn town centers into more inviting, greener destinations that will revive the area's ailing economy. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lake-tahoe-20121225,0,1292195.story

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by Bettina Boxall

 

 

 

 

GM salmon: FDA's assessment of environmental risks

Genetically modified salmon moved closer to the market last week with release of draft documents from the Food and Drug Administration that assessed the environmental risks posed by AquAdvantage salmon, which grow faster than regular Atlantic salmon. http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-aquabounty-salmon-fda-assesses-risks-20121224,0,2554480.story

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times-Booster Shots by Rosie Mestel

 

 

 

Your Water Footprint is Much Bigger than You Might Think

The average Californian uses a lot more water than just what comes from the tap. 

 

A new study measuring California's water footprint finds that an eight-ounce cup of coffee, for example, uses 35 gallons of water, counting what it takes to grow the beans and transport the coffee.

The study is from the Pacific Institute in Oakland. President Peter Gleick says it shows most of our water footprint comes from food.

 

"We may choose, for example, to buy and eat less meat. Meat turns out to be a very water-intensive product to make."

 

Gleick says he hopes the study is the first step toward helping consumers make more sustainable choices. The water footprint for the average Californian is 15-hundred gallons a day… more than 10 times what we consume directly.

 

Article courtesy of KQED Public Media For Northern California by  Caitlin Esch

 

 

 

Arctic breaks records for loss of snow and ice

A fast-changing Arctic broke records for loss of sea ice and spring snow cover this year, as well as summertime melt of the Greenland ice sheet, federal scientists reported Wednesday.

“The Arctic is an extremely sensitive part of the world,” said Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. As it warms, she said, “we see the results with less snow and sea ice, greater ice sheet melt and changing vegetation.”  http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-arctic-getting-warmer-and-greener-20121205,0,253551.story?track=rss

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times-Science Now by Kenneth R. Weiss

 

Sign In or Sign UpMembership Services Jobs Cars Real Estate Subscribe Rentals Weekly Circulars Custom Publishing Place Ad

Energy development on public lands and waters pumped more than $12 billion into federal coffers in 2012, $1 billion more than the previous year, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior.  http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-20121206-energy-income,0,4832619.story?track=rss

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by Julie Cart

 

 

California air board says DWP must control dry lake bed's dust

The California Air Resources Board has ruled that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is solely responsible for controlling the choking dust storms that arise from the dry Owens Lake bed.

The board said the DWP must take additional air pollution control measures on 2.9 square miles of the dry lake, which was drained to provide water to Los Angeles. The powder-fine dust arising from the bed often exceeds federal health standards  http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-1121-owens-20121121-001,0,1992213.photo

 

 

 

Climate change may explain Maya rise and fall, study says

Argument has raged for decades over what doomed the ancient Maya civilization and spurred its people to abandon their awe-inspiring temples and pyramids in the rain forests of Mexico and Central America. Warfare, disease, social unrest and over-farming have all been cited as potential factors in the decline of a culture that was scientifically and culturally advanced for 750 years.

A new study bolsters the theory that large-scale climate change was responsible for the society's demise — and argues that changes in global weather patterns were also responsible for its rapid rise. http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-maya-climate-change-20121117,0,3474592.story

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by Monte Morin

 

 

Bullet-train planners face huge engineering challenge

Civil War veteran William Hood arrived at the mosquito-infested swamps near Bakersfield in 1874 to build a rail line that would soar through the Tehachapi Mountains, linking the Bay Area and Southern California for the first time.

It's a feat no one has attempted to duplicate. Until now.

A plan as audacious in the 21st century as Hood's was in the 19th century is taking shape on the drawing boards of California's bullet train planners. The crossing of not only the Tehachapi Mountains but the San Gabriel Mountains is seizing the imagination of engineers who see it as the greatest design challenge of the $68-billion project.  http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bullet-mountains-20121113,0,4082877.story

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by Ralph Vartabedian

 

 

 

Satellites and space debris disrupted by climate change

In that region, more than 50 miles above Earth's surface, carbon emissions cause cooling rather than warming because carbon dioxide molecules collide with oxygen atoms and release heat into space. Because such cooling makes the planet's atmosphere contract, it can reduce drag on satellites and debris that orbit the earth, possibly having "adverse consequences for the orbital debris environment that is already unstable," the researchers wrote.  http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-climate-change-satellites-debris-20121112,0,3501663.story?track=rss

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Time/Science Now by Eryn Brown

 

 

 

Warming climate may starve bamboo-eating pandas

Already endangered by deforestation, poor reproductive rates and hunting, China's giant pandas may now face a new threat: global warming.According to a study published online Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, rising temperatures could eliminate much of the bamboo that pandas rely on for sustenance in China's Qinling Mountains. http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-giant-panda-20121112,0,1607423.story?track=rss

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by Monte Morin