Biofuel boost threatens even greater deforestation in Indonesia, Malaysia: Study

JAKARTA — Global demand for biofuels containing palm oil looks set to grow sixfold by 2030, potentially driving the destruction of Southeast Asian rainforests the size of the Netherlands, a new report warns.  https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/biofuel-boost-threatens-even-greater-deforestation-in-indonesia-malaysia-study/
Article courtesy of Mongabay News by Hans Nicholas Jong

China says your recyclables don’t measure up

IT’S NOT APPARENT AT THE CURB yet, but recycling programs across Massachusetts are taking a big hit right now because of a new Chinese policy limiting the amount of contaminants the country will accept in shipments of waste paper and some other  scrap materials.
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/back-story/china-says-recyclables-dont-measure/
Article courtesy of Commonwealth Magazine by Bruce Mohl

14-mile dike could protect Greater Boston from sea level rise

Barrier would run from Cohasset to Swampscott

We propose building a 14-mile dike barrier between the shoulder highlands of Cohasset and Swampscott. The dike would be located some eight miles out from Deer Island, complete with residential and commercial developments, windmills, solar collector farms, and recreational areas. A simple dike barrier with a 200-foot-wide top and reaching 120 feet from seafloor to storm-surge top would require some 246 million cubic yards of material. Bi-directional locks could provide access for all crafts, protecting Boston’s commercial activity and its waterfront. integrity.  https://commonwealthmagazine.org/environment/14-mile-dike-protect-greater-boston-sea-level-rise/

Article courtesy of Commonwealth Magazine by Peter papesch, Franziska Amacher and A. Vernon Woodworth

Why Did Two-Thirds of These Weird Antelope Suddenly Drop Dead?

It took just three weeks for two-thirds of all the world’s saiga to die. It took much longer to work out why.

The saiga is an endearing antelope, whose bulbous nose gives it the comedic air of a Dr. Seuss character. It typically wanders over large tracts of Central Asian grassland, but every spring, tens of thousands of them gather in the same place to give birth. These calving aggregations should be joyous events, but the gathering in May 2015 became something far more sinister when 200,000 saiga just dropped dead. They did so without warning, over a matter of days, in gathering sites spread across 65,000 square miles—an area the size of Florida. Whatever killed them was thorough and merciless: Across a vast area, every last saiga perished. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/01/why-did-two-thirds-of-this-weird-antelope-suddenly-drop-dead/550676/

Article courtesy of The Atlantic Daily by Ed Yong

North America’s largest transit system is the acid test for electric buses

Compared with other bus system’s in North America, New York City’s is gigantic. It daily serves over two million passengers across all five boroughs with 5,700 buses, 330 routes, and 16,000 stops, and it operates in a uniquely hostile environment of stop-and-go traffic. The average NYC bus travels only 7.4 miles per hour—one of the slowest bus speeds in the US.  https://qz.com/1181012/nyc-is-piloting-electric-buses/
Article courtesy of Quartz by Karen Hao

On the Chesapeake, A Precarious Future of Rising Seas and High Tides

Maryland’s Dorchester County is ground zero for climate change on Chesapeake Bay, as rising seas claim more and more land. An e360 video explores the quiet beauty of this liquid landscape and how high tides and erosion are putting the bay’s rural communities at risk. http://e360.yale.edu/features/on-the-chesapeake-a-precarious-future-of-rising-seas-and-high-tides
 Article courtesy of Yale Environment 360 by Tom Horton

Turning Soybeans Into Diesel Fuel Is Costing Us Billions

This year, trucks and other heavy-duty motors in America will burn some 3 billion gallons of diesel fuel that's made primarily from vegetable oil. They're doing it, though, not because it's cheaper or better, but because they're required to, by law.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/01/16/577649838/turning-soybeans-into-diesel-fuel-is-costing-us-billions?utm_source=EHN&utm_campaign=eb4489de90-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8573f35474-eb4489de90-99402937
Article courtesy of WNPR/The Salt by Dan Charles