Under the Lens by Elise Hugus
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Posts Tagged ‘Climate Change’
Wednesday, June 1st, 2011
Green Pond, Bournes Pond, and Eel Pond in East Falmouth
A week after a day-long symposium on the potential for outfall pipes to handle the Cape’s wastewater problem, I’ve finally figured out what’s been bothering me.
It seems that wastewater managers and engineers, in their infinite wisdom, operate according to the “if it can be complicated, why make it simple?” ethic.
The speakers at the ocean outfall forum did not mince words: it would take no less than an amendment to three state acts protecting marine resources—not to mention, years of study and millions of dollars— for an outfall pipe to be constructed on these shores.
They were less candid about the probable impacts on the environment— and were subtle about the whole reason for entertaining the idea of an ocean outfall: it’s cheaper than the only other “approved” method of disposing of wastewater. (more…)
Tags: aquaculture, cape cod, Climate Change, composting toilets, Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan, ocean outfall, sustainability, urine diverting toilets, Wastewater, water reuse
Posted in Sewering, sustainable solutions, Wastewater | No Comments »
Friday, March 25th, 2011
The future of waste is zilch.
What some may consider a pie-in-the-sky scenario is becoming closer to reality, as the Department of Environmental Protection develops a zero waste policy goal for the future.
With skyrocketing solid waste disposal costs and the toxic emissions from landfills and trash incinerators contributing to climate change, the concept of zero waste is being embraced as a realistic, common-sense solution to a number environmental and social ills.
Tags: cape cod, Clean Water Action, Climate Change, CO2 emissions, Falmouth Climate Action Team, Falmouth Solid Waste Advisory Committee, Lynne Pledger, Sierra Club, zero waste
Posted in Climate Change, Solid Waste, sustainable solutions | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010
The Woods Hole Research Center was like a miniature United Nations last month, as scholars from Africa, South America, and Asia took part in a two-week workshop at the Woods Hole Road campus.
They came to learn advanced satellite imaging techniques, and left at the end of September with maps that will help their countries manage their forests and take part in a potential global carbon credit trading system.
Tags: Abel Siample, biomass, cap and trade, carbon credit, Climate Change, CO2 emissions, deforestation, Edersson Cabrera, Edward Ssenyonjo, Eric Armijo, Falmouth, forest cover, forest management, global warming, Green Belt Movement, Indian Forest Survey, Joseph Kellndorfer, Kenya, Mukund Srivastava, Nadine Laporte, Nguyen Hanh Quyenv, pan-tropical map, Peter Ndunda, REDD, Ugandan National Forest Authority, UN Climate Conference, Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology, Woods Hole Research Center, Zambia Forestry Department
Posted in Climate Change, REDD, sustainable solutions | 4 Comments »
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
A question from Ric Gerace, Alma Road, Falmouth:
High tide flooding covers Menauhant Road
I would like to know why, in all the discussion on the half-billion dollar sewer project, there has been not one word on global warming and sea level rise. There is no question that the sea level is rising, and this century it is likely to rise sufficiently to make the health of the coastal ponds a moot question. … It seems to me that spending that much money to protect ponds that will soon enough be part of the Atlantic is a huge waste of resources.
(more…)
Tags: Climate Change, Coastal Resources Working Group, Coastal Zone Management, global warming, IPCC, Rob Thieler, sea level rise, Sewering
Posted in Climate Change, Request for ideas, sea level rise, Sewering, Wastewater | 2 Comments »
Friday, January 29th, 2010
A major chemistry experiment is taking place in the world’s oceans, with potentially irreversible effects on marine ecosystems and commercial fisheries.
According to scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 30% of the world’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, known to be a leading cause of global warming, are being absorbed by the ocean. Small coincidence that over the past 50 years of global industrialization, rising CO2 emissions have also led to a 30% increase in the average acidity of ocean surface water.
This phenomenon is just starting to attract the attention– and alarm– of policymakers and the shellfish industry. I talked to Scott Doney and Sarah Cooley at WHOI to find out why.
(more…)
Tags: Climate Change, CO2 emissions, commercial fisheries, global warming, ocean acidification, Sarah Cooley, Scott Doney, shellfish, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Posted in Climate Change, ocean acidification | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
Tracy Johns in her office at the Woods Hole Research Center
It’s been a month after COP 15, the UN Climate Change conference that was supposed to give the world a new system for reducing carbon emissions.
A month to reflect, regroup, and respond to this reporter’s questions about what happened, and what didn’t, in Copenhagen. (more…)
Tags: Climate Change, COP 15, Copenhagen, deforestation, REDD, Tracy Johns, UN Climate Conference, Woods Hole Research Center
Posted in Climate Change | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
The effects of climate change are being felt in regional fisheries, causing a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to predict that haddock will disappear from the North Atlantic within 70 years. A 3-D underwater camera helped confirm the numbers. (more…)
Tags: Cabell Davis, Climate Change, commercial fisheries, copepods, Georges Bank, global warming, GLOBEC, phytoplankton, salinity, underwater video, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Posted in Climate Change, fisheries | No Comments »
