Feel guilty about leaving work early? Do it for the planet.

Time off isn’t so much a luxury, new research argues, as an urgent necessity.Working long hours on the job is bad for your health, raising your risk of stroke, heart attack, and depression. And to top it off, it’s also bad for the planet. According to a paperfrom Autonomy, a future-focused think tank in the U.K, the number of hours spent working every week needs to be slashed in the absence of larger efforts to decarbonize our economies. Businesses are still mostly powered by fossil fuels.https://www.salon.com/2019/05/25/feel-guilty-about-leaving-work-early-do-it-for-the-planet_partner/

Article courtesy of Salon by Kate Yoder

Riesling wine, holding out between pesticides and climate change

Climate change, new pests and diseases are threatening Riesling wine. Warmer temperatures are forcing winemakers to increase the use of plant protection methods, namely pesticides. https://www.dw.com/en/riesling-wine-holding-out-between-pesticides-and-climate-change/a-48748575
Article courtesy of DW.com

New energy efficient buildings aren't enough, experts say — we have to retrofit the old ones, too

The Canada Green Building Conference is taking place in Vancouver this week, and a major portion of the program will be pushing the need to retrofit older buildings to reduce their carbon footprint. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/green-buildings-retrofits-1.5150658
Article courtesy of CBC News- British Columbia by Maryse Zeidler

Greenland's biggest glacier suddenly slows down and thickens, baffling scientists.

https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/greenland-ice-sheet-jakobshavn-isbrae-glacier-slows-thickens-climate-change-esa-a8913791.html

Article courtesy of Independent by Harry Cockburn

SCIENTISTS AROUND THE WORLD ARE WORKING TO TURN AGRICULTURAL WASTE INTO FOOD, PACKAGING AND MORE

By upcycling biomass, innovators aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the economic viability of farming. https://ensia.com/features/agricultural-waste/
Article courtesy of ENSIA by Andrew Wight

EPA can’t deny its own warnings on climate change (Editorial)

Now the EPA is cautioning local governments to prepare for climate-induced crises. A report last week comes despite despite references by EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler that global warming won’t hit hard for another 50 to 75 years.
https://www.masslive.com/opinion/2019/04/epa-cant-deny-its-own-warnings-on-climate-change-editorial.html
Article is an editorial courtesy of MassLive

A Mystery Frequency Disrupted Car Fobs in an Ohio City, and Now Residents Know Why

It sounded like something from an episode of “The X-Files”: Starting a few weeks ago, in a suburban neighborhood a few miles from a NASA research center in Ohio, garage door openers and car key fobs mysteriously stopped working. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/04/us/key-fobs-north-olmsted-ohio.html

Article courtesy of The New York Times by Heather Murphy

Humans Are Speeding Extinction and Altering the Natural World at an ‘Unprecedented’ Pace

WASHINGTON — Humans are transforming Earth’s natural landscapes so dramatically that as many as one million plant and animal species are now at risk of extinction, posing a dire threat to ecosystems that people all over the world depend on for their survival, a sweeping new United Nations assessment has concluded.  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/06/climate/biodiversity-extinction-united-nations.html
Article courtesy of the New York Times by Brad Plumer

Could you live a low carbon life? Meet the people who already are

Across the country, environmentalists of all ages – from seven to 75 – are taking action now to lead low-carbon lives.  https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/may/04/carbon-cutting-zero-emissions-eco-warriors-damaged-world
Article courtesy of The Guardian by Donna Ferguson

Alaska's thaw threatens prehistoric sites once frozen in time

The first artifact -- a wooden mask -- was discovered in 2007 by a child who stumbled upon it while playing on the beach near his home in Quinhagak, a village in western Alaska that sits by the Bering Sea.  https://www.gulftoday.ae/culture/2019/05/06/alaskas-thaw-threatens-prehistoric-sites-once-frozen-in-time
Article courtesy of Gulf Today

Biodiversity crisis is about to put humanity at risk, UN scientists to warn

‘We are in trouble if we don’t act,’ say experts, with up to 1m species at risk of annihilation   

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/03/climate-crisis-is-about-to-put-humanity-at-risk-un-scientists-warn

This article courtesy of The Guardian by Jonathan Watts

Peter Dykstra: The 800-lb (cheap, plastic) gorilla in our oceans

An estimated 150 million metric tons of plastic now swirl in our waterways:

• abandoned, miles-long driftnets that ensnare fish and seabirds;
• drink bottles and soccer balls washed down storm sewers into rivers and lakes (see this news clip of runoff plastic in Lake Jackson, downstream from a half-million or so metro Atlanta homes);
• single-use bags, straws, cups and cigarette filters by the billions;
• long-lasting microbeads of plastic built into soaps and detergents;
• and partly decomposed plastic bits that cloud the water and clog the bellies of fish, birds and marine mammals – a veritable "smog of the sea.https://www.dailyclimate.org/the-800-lb-cheap-plastic-gorilla-in-our-oceans-2633297139.html?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2"   Article courtesy of The Daily Climate by Douglas Fischer