Unprecedented number of sea otter deaths along California coast

After being brought back from the brink of extinction, sea otters are again in peril, with an unprecedented number of deaths along the California coast in the last year.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported that 335 dead, sick or injured otters were found in 2011, a record high.

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by Dalina Castellanos
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0227-sea-otter-20120227,0,2779949.story

Global warming feeds bark beetles: Are they unstoppable?

Hear the sound of chewing out in our vast forests of lodgepole pine, spruce and fir, the chewing that’s already destroyed half the commercial timber in important regions like British Columbia? That’s the sound of climate change, says biologist Reese Halter. Global warming in the form of a bark beetle.

Halter’s short but disturbing new book, “The Insatiable Bark Beetle,” addresses one of the biggest and most visible issues facing global forests, and particularly the relatively large forests left in the U.S. and Canada. As winters grow warmer and summers drier, the West’s evergreen forests are being eaten alive. And the infestation is not showing any signs of slowing.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/environment/la-me-gs-global-warming-and-unstoppable-bark-beetles-20120226,0,1422452.story?track=rss

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times- Greenspace by Dean Kuipers

Strange garlic-like odor sickens Phoenix residents

PHOENIX—Authorities say a mysterious smell in a Phoenix neighborhood prompted 250 calls over two hours, with some people complaining of nausea and headaches. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2012/02/27/strange_garlic_like_odor_sickens_phoenix_residents/

Article courtesy of The Boston Globe by The Associated Press

Washington || Seattle Greenways Offer Alternative Routes for Bikers, Pedestrians

Seattle residents are organizing to recommend less-traveled roads in their neighborhoods for development as greenways. Greenways are designated streets — often parallel to arterials but much quieter — that offer everyone from cyclists to pedestrians and people in wheelchairs safer ways to get around without having to drive.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017493611_greenways13m.html

Article courtesy of Smart Growth Webmaster

 

HUD Announces New Sustainable Communities Resource Center

HUD recently launched the Sustainable Communities Resource Center (SCRC) — a new section of HUDUSER.org dedicated to providing information that supports local and regional strategies, with an emphasis on sustainable housing and planning. http://www.huduser.org/portal/sustainability/home.html

Making City Streets Safer

When it comes to moving people around in healthy ways, New York City already has a leg up on most cities and towns around the country.

The city has sidewalks in all five boroughs; food stores and other shops are within walking distance of where most people live. It is served nearly everywhere by extensive, inexpensive and largely dependable public transportation.

Because so many New Yorkers use their feet to get them from place to place, they weigh on average six or seven pounds less than those who live in suburban America, said Dr. Richard J. Jackson, professor of environmental health sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles, and moderator of a public television series called “Designing Healthy Communities.”  http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/06/giving-city-streets-built-in-safety-features/

Article courtesy of the New York Times by Jane E. Brody

Permit approved for desalination plant at Huntington Beach

The bid to bring a large-scale desalination plant to Southern California cleared a major hurdle Friday when water regulators approved a permit for a Huntington Beach facility to turn seawater into drinking water.  http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0211-sea-water-20120211,0,167686.story

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by Tony Barboza