GEOLOGY WITH JEFF SIMPSON
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Only 3% of Earth’s Land Hasn’t Been Marred by Humans

4/28/2021

 
The vast majority of land on Earth — a staggering 97 percent — no longer qualifies as ecologically intact, according to a sweeping survey of Earth’s ecosystems. Over the last 500 years, too many species have been lost, or their numbers reduced, researchers report April 15 in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change. Of the few fully intact ecosystems, only about 11 percent fall within existing protected areas, the researchers found. Much of this pristine habitat exists in northern latitudes, in Canada’s boreal forests or Greenland’s tundra, which aren’t bursting with biodiversity. But chunks of the species-rich rainforests of the Amazon, Congo and Indonesia also remain intact. - Science News
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California Orders Nestlé to Stop Siphoning Spring Water

4/28/2021

 
California water officials have moved to stop Nestlé from siphoning millions of gallons of water out of California’s San Bernardino forest, which it bottles and sells as Arrowhead brand water, as drought conditions worsen across the state. The draft cease-and-desist order, which still requires approval from the California Water Resources Control Board, is the latest development in a protracted battle between the bottled water company and local environmentalists, who for years have accused Nestlé of draining water supplies at the expense of local communities and ecosystems. - HCN
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Demand for Water is Rapidly Increasing as Supply Dwindles - Video & Article

4/22/2021

 

Limited access to clean water remains a struggle for millions of Americans. And lack of water access is expected to become an even greater problem in the coming years across the U.S. and around the world. In West Virginia, many households in McDowell County rely on collecting water from fresh springs, which might freeze over in the winter or run dry in the summer. Bob McKinney is the Appalachia Water Project manager for DigDeep, a nonprofit that works to provide water to Americans who wouldn't otherwise have access. He says he estimates that about half of McDowell's population doesn't have reliable running water in their homes. - CBS News
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Humanity’s Greatest Ally Against Climate Change is Earth Itself

4/22/2021

 
Warming waters & worsening storms caused by climate change have weakened the kelp forests. Sewage & sediment spill onto them from cities on the shore. Most significantly, the demise of important predators such as otters and sea stars has led to an explosion in the population of sea urchins, which eat kelp. Huge swaths of underwater forest are being replaced by urchin “barrens” — denuded landscapes, desolate but for the spiky, spherical animals. Eventually, even the urchins start to starve.  Humans have put our planet on a path toward disaster. If people keep polluting at the current rate, scientists say, climate change will cause prolonged droughts, devastating storms, collapsing ecosystems and vanishing species. Coastal cities will be deluged by sea level rise; widespread food and water shortages will lead to the deaths of millions. To avoid this fate, civilization must rapidly transform — cutting carbon emissions 40 percent by 2030 and reaching “net zero” by the middle of the century. - Washington Post
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There Are No Clear Winners in the West’s Water Wars

4/22/2021

 
Interstate water disputes are as American as apple pie. States often think a neighboring state is using more than its fair share from a river, lake or aquifer that crosses borders.  Currently the U.S. Supreme Court has on its docket a case between Texas, New Mexico and Colorado and another between Mississippi and Tennessee. The court has already ruled this term on cases pitting Texas against New Mexico and Florida against Georgia.  Climate stresses are raising the stakes. Rising temperatures require farmers to use more water to grow the same amount of crops. Prolonged and severe droughts decrease available supplies. Wildfires are burning hotter and lasting longer. Fires bake the soil, reducing forests’ ability to hold water, increasing evaporation from barren land and compromising water supplies. - HCN
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As Mega-Drought Persists, Lake Mead Could Sink to Record Low Later This Year

4/19/2021

 
Wracked by drought, climate change and overuse, a key reservoir on the Colorado River could sink to historically low levels later this year, new US government projections show, potentially triggering significant water cutbacks in some states as early as next year.  The projections released by the US Bureau of Reclamation show that Lake Mead, largest reservoir in the US and a vital water supply to millions across the Southwest, could fall later this year to its lowest levels since it was filled in the 1930s. - CNN
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How a Shocking Env disaster was Uncovered off the CA Coast After 70 Years

4/19/2021

 
Just 10 miles off the coast of Los Angeles lurks an environmental disaster over 70 years in the making, which few have ever heard about... until now.   Working with little more than rumors and a hunch, curiosity guided David Valentine 3,000 feet below the ocean's surface. A few hours of research time and an autonomous robotic submersible unearthed what had been hidden since the 1940s: countless barrels of toxic waste, laced with DDT, littering the ocean floor in between Long Beach and Catalina Island. - CBS
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Can We Cling to Hope of Avoiding 1.5°C Heating?

4/16/2021

 
Australia’s leading scientists made a significant global-scale declaration about the fight to deal with the climate crisis this week – but you could be forgiven if you missed it.  In what it described as a landmark report, the Australian Academy of Science painted a picture of what could happen to the country under 3C of global heating, including ecosystems made unrecognisable, food production being compromised and people’s ability to exist and survive in hotter and longer heatwaves regularly tested.  The central message? There is no time to wait.  But lying within the report was another substantial claim – that limiting global heating to 1.5° C was now “virtually impossible”. - Guardian
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Frackalachia and the Great Fracking Jobs Myth (Podcast - 37 Minutes)

4/16/2021

 
When a report makes oil and gas companies—and the politicians they help elect—this mad, you know the author is on to something. Researcher Sean O'Leary, with the Ohio River Valley Institute, joins us to talk about his new report, which found that the local economic benefit of fracking to communities in the Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia gas corridor was slim to none. - Drilled

What If Everyone Ate Beans Instead of Beef? (Video)

4/16/2021

 
In America, beef accounts for 37 percent of all human-induced methane released into the air. Methane is 23 times as warming to the climate as carbon dioxide.  Editor James Hamblin highlighted research that found one dietary change—replacing beef with beans—could get the U.S. as much as 74 percent of the way to meeting 2020 greenhouse-gas emission goals. As Hamblin notes, it’s worth being reminded that individual choices matter. - Atlantic
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The Planet's Biggest Environmental Problems, Pt 2 - Living on Earth Podcast

4/8/2021

 
From species extinction to waste, land degradation to climate change and pollution, from Kenya to Australia, India, and France, this two-part special explores some of the most urgent environmental problems facing the planet — and how they might be solved. In part two, we hear about deforestation in Kashmir, puzzling water scarcity in Kenya and attempts to reduce severe air pollution in Delhi. - DW

The Planet's Biggest Environmental Problems, Pt 1 - Living on Earth Podcast

4/8/2021

 
From species extinction to waste, land degradation to climate change and pollution, from Kenya to Australia, India, and France, this two-part special explores some of the most urgent environmental problems facing the planet — and how they might be solved. In part one, we hear about the struggle to save a native Tasmanian species from extinction, plus: French solutions to a sickening waste pile. - DW

Meet Arizona's Water One-Percenters

4/8/2021

 
In Phoenix, two cities are emerging: one is water-rich, the other water-poor  Every two weeks, Dawn Upton floods her lawn. She treks into her back yard, twists open two valves big as dinner plates, and within minutes is ankle-deep in water.  “You have to have irrigation boots, girl,” she says during a video tour of her property in Mesa, a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona. She flips her camera to reveal green grass, then tilts her phone skyward at four towering palm trees. As she walks, she pans across pecan, pomegranate, and citrus trees – lemon, orange, a grapefruit sapling. A tortoise, between 80 and 100lb, lumbers toward her, chewing. “There’s Simba,” Upton says. “Hey buddy! What is that, Simba? You can’t eat it.” She pats him affectionately on the head. - Guardian
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Agencies: Arizona farmers should expect less water in 2022

4/8/2021

 
State officials are putting farmers in south-central Arizona on notice that the continuing drought means a “substantial cut" in deliveries of Colorado River water is expected next year.  A statement issued Friday by the state Department of Water Resources and the Central Arizona Project said an expected shortage declaration “will result in a substantial cut to Arizona’s share of the river, with reductions falling largely to central Arizona agricultural users." - AZ Family
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Wind and solar energy are job creators. Which states are taking advantage?

4/8/2021

 
This analysis presents one way to look at renewable energy jobs in all 50 states. Every state already employs people in wind and solar energy. Each state also has a given amount of wind and solar potential. Some states are translating their natural potential into jobs, while others lag far behind.  - Yale Climate Connections
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Water Wars (Living Planet Podcast)

4/1/2021

 
In the Global North, clean water is taken for granted — but in some places it means the difference between life and death. "Water wars" are taking place as people fight failing systems, and combat climate change, to access enough clean water for all. From Chile to South Africa, India to the Caribbean, we hear about those water conflicts that are flowing beneath the surface. (30 minutes) - DW
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The API Pushed Climate Denial Earlier Than Thought - Podcast

4/1/2021

 
Like tobacco in the 1970s, fossil fuel interests have sown doubt about climate change, a phenomenon their own scientists predicted, accepted, and studied.  Stanford researcher Ben Franta joins to talk about a bombshell new discovery: the American Petroleum Institute not only knew about climate change back in the 70s, it started pushing climate denial as early as 1980. (26 minutes) - Drilled Podcast 
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How the Fossil Fuel Industry Is Undermining Free Speech - Podcast

4/1/2021

 
Fossil fuel-backed anti-protest laws have been passed in 14 states and are making their way through statehouses in several more states, including six different bills in Minnesota, the only state with a big pipeline fight this year: Line 3. Researcher Connor Gibson joins to talk us through how this all started and where it's at. (36 minutes.  Warning: This will make you angry.)  - Drilled Podcast (



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    GeoNews

    This is a way to share science-based info from reliable sources. Click the source link after text to read more. Use this Google Doc or this Google Slides template to summarize an article. An occasional podcast featuring news and topic experts will be included.
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