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Last Updated: Jun 04, 2019 07:29PM • Subscribe via RSS • ATOM

Action Alert: Banish Toxic Air in Plane Cabins

Jun 04, 2019 07:29PM

The Cabin Air Safety Act seeks to protect airline passengers and crew from toxic fumes that can occur when engine exhaust, fuel fumes, de-icing fluids or ozone is sucked through jet engines into the aircraft cabin.

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Find a Green Space and Make a Friend: Outdoor Colors Increase Trust and Happiness

May 31, 2019 10:47AM

Green spaces and colorful design elements like rainbow-painted crosswalks in a Vancouver, Canada neighborhood made people happier and more trusting of strangers.

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On the Brink: Monarchs Need Species Protections

Apr 30, 2019 10:46AM

Being listed as part of the Endangered Species Act would protect monarch butterflies, the numbers of which have plunged by roughly 97 percent in 20 years.

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Support Citizen Action Against Plastics

Mar 29, 2019 10:54AM

The Sierra Club is organizing a campaign to encourage corporations from participating in the Plastic Industry Association, which has been funding local campaigns that attempt to ban single-use plastic.

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Poles Apart: Earth’s Extremities on the Edge

Feb 28, 2019 10:49AM

With the recent years of record-breaking temperatures, both the North Pole and South Pole are melting at alarming levels, say scientists.

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Wave This: Planet Earth Has a Flag

Feb 28, 2019 10:49AM

A new planetary flag designed by a Swedish student shows seven rings intertwined on a deep-sea-blue background, forming a flower in the middle.

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Fish Revival: Shad Return After 174-Year Absence

Feb 01, 2019 05:09PM

Following the removal two years ago of an obsolete dam, shad have returned to New Jersey’s Millstone River for the first time since 1845.

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Bat Cave Rescue: Promising Progress Against Disease

Feb 01, 2019 05:09PM

A fungus known as white-nose syndrome is decimating U.S. bat species, but scientists hope that genetic strategies and cave treatments will turn the situation around.

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Bug Apocalypse: Sharp Decline Threatens Ecosystem

Feb 01, 2019 05:09PM

The number of invertebrates and insects such as moths, butterflies and bees has dropped worldwide by 45 percent in the last 35 years, raising alarm about the global ecosystem.

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Monstrous Morass: Great Pacific Garbage Patch Out of Control

Dec 27, 2018 01:45PM

The floating garbage patch is twice the size of Texas, but the fact that it’s only 8 percent micro-plastic makes a clean-up possible.

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Happy Hoppers: Nature Finds a Way

Dec 27, 2018 01:45PM

Natural evolution seems to be saving frog species in Panama that are growing in numbers after being nearly wiped out by a deadly fungal disease more than a decade ago.

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Ancient Canines: Presumed Extinct Dog Species Rediscovered

Dec 27, 2018 01:45PM

The most primitive dogs on the planet, once assumed to be extinct, have been discovered in a remote highland region of New Guinea.

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3-D Domiciles: High-Tech Instant Homes on Horizon

Dec 27, 2018 01:45PM

A 3-D printed house built in 24 hours in Austin, Texas for $10,000 is a prototype that may be used to provide homes for an entire community in El Salvador.

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Not Yet Extinct: New Species Discovered

Nov 30, 2018 03:18PM

Even as species die out from the impact of human activity, scientists are discovering new ones, including in 2018 a great ape, beetle and marsupial lion.

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Bridge Reborn: Tappan Zee Repurposed into Reef

Nov 30, 2018 03:18PM

Chunks of concrete and steel from the former Tappan Zee Bridge are being turned into artificial reefs in the waters off Long Island.

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End Game: Extinctions of Threatened Species Continue

Oct 31, 2018 11:04AM

An authoritative list of declining plant, mammal, bird, amphibian and marine species includes 5,583 considered “critically endangered.”

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Natural Awakenings Twin Cities
Air Fare: Creating Food from Carbon Dioxide

Sep 28, 2018 10:58AM

A startup is using microbes to transform the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into bio-based products such as protein powder that are packed with essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals.

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Natural Awakenings Twin Cities
Saudi Solar: Oil Giant to Invest in Renewable Energies Project

Sep 28, 2018 10:58AM

Saudi Arabia, which produces an eighth of the world’s oil, is planning to build the world’s largest solar installation.

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Youths Step Up to the Global Challenge: Fresh Hope for a Troubled Planet

Sep 28, 2018 10:57AM ● By Linda Sechrist

Realizing that they can’t wait for adults to fix our sweeping societal and environmental problems, young people are taking meaningful action to end business as usual.

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Hopeful Sign: Animals Gain Some Protection in New Budget

Aug 31, 2018 10:51AM

The Humane Society and other groups succeeded in lobbying Congress’s 2018 budgetary process to preserve protection for wild horses and burros, wolves and puppies in mills.

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Pipeline Slowdown: Animal Safety Measures Delay Tree Cutting

Aug 31, 2018 10:51AM

The controversial Atlantic Coast Pipeline has been delayed after the builder missed a tree-cutting deadline required for bird and bat protection.

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Action Alert: Migratory Birds Threatened by Rule Change

Aug 31, 2018 10:51AM

Environmental groups have filed a lawsuit to stop the regulatory weakening of a 100-year-old federal law that protects songbirds and others from electrical power lines, towers, buildings and other manmade hazards.

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Climate Consensus: Researchers Raise Red Flags

Jul 31, 2018 11:29AM

Scientists are warning that if humans don’t reduce greenhouse gas emissions drastically and maintain natural carbon sinks like forests within 10 years, the impact on Earth’s climate will be catastrophic.

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Literacy Project: Dolly Parton Donates Millions of Books

Jul 31, 2018 11:29AM

The singer celebrated her foundation’s donation of 100 million books to children around the world with a reading at the Library of Congress.

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Big Melt: North Pole Rises Above Freezing

Jul 31, 2018 11:29AM

A thaw over the tip of the planet this year warmed the surface of the North Pole as high as 35 degrees—a once-rare event that has occurred during four of the last five winters.

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Sinking City: Rising Sea Levels Threaten San Francisco

Jul 31, 2018 11:29AM

By factoring in the settling of artificial landfill as water aquifers empty, scientists now estimate that 166 square miles of land around the bay is in jeopardy of being underwater by 2100.

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Urban Roots: Growing Healthy Communities

Jul 02, 2018 09:15PM

Empowering youth through nature, healthy food and community is the mission of Urban Roots. Located in East St. Paul, this urban agriculture nonprofit organization engages thousands of youths each year.

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In Vitro Corals: Scientists Help Repropagate Vanishing Reefs

Jun 29, 2018 11:01AM

Frustrated by vanishing reefs, scientists are fertilizing coral sperm and eggs in labs and returning them to the wild.

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Algae Alchemy: Dutch Turn Seaweed into 3-D Household Items

Jun 29, 2018 11:01AM

Two Dutch designers are processing live algae into material that can be used for 3-D printing of such items as shampoo bottles and trash bins.

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Pooch Patrol: Smart Vest Could Increase Neighborhood Safety

Jun 29, 2018 11:01AM

Thailand’s stray dogs could become community watches with a new “smart vest” that transmits videos of what a barking dog sees.

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Livable Communities We Love: Good for People and the Planet

May 31, 2018 10:43AM ● By John D. Ivanko and Lisa Kivirist

Across the country, cities from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh to Portland are finding fresh new ways to create engaging street life for residents while eco-upgrading their green spaces, services and infrastructure.

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Lower Overhead: Green Energy Reduces Utility Costs

May 31, 2018 10:41AM

Cincinnati has purchased 100 percent renewable energy to operate most of its municipal buildings through at least 2021, cutting its utility rates by more than $100,000 annually.

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Natural Awakenings Twin Cities
Independent Action: Mayors Worldwide Sign Climate Charter

May 31, 2018 10:41AM

More than 50 mayors from around the globe have signed the Chicago Climate Charter, intended to guide cities toward reaching greenhouse gas emissions reductions similar to those targeted in the Paris climate accord.

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Deadly Cargo: Oil Spill Threatens Ocean Ecology

May 31, 2018 10:41AM

The Iranian tanker Sanchi oil spill in the East China Sea has scientists worried about unknown impacts caused by the toxic nature of the ultra-light, highly flammable oil.

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Green Team: Seattle Mariners Win Eco-Award

May 31, 2018 10:41AM

The Seattle Mariners’ Safeco Field recycles 96 percent of all waste, garnering the team Major League Baseball’s Green Glove Award for 2017.

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Eco-Villains: Cleanup Cites Worst Plastic Polluters

May 31, 2018 10:41AM

A beach cleanup in the Philippines resulted in the finding that Nestlé, Unilever and the Indonesian company PT Torabika Mayora were the top sources of plastic waste there.

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Women Warriors: Africans Unite to Save Rhinos

Apr 30, 2018 10:17AM

The first majority-female anti-poaching unit in South Africa is saving rhinos and with it, the moral fabric of communities.

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All That Glitters: Sparkly Microbeads Face Ban

Apr 30, 2018 10:17AM

Decorative plastic glitter and the microbeads used in scrubs and shower gels pose a threat to fish and oceans, say scientists.

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Natural Awakenings Twin Cities
Temporary Protection: Locals Prevail Against Bristol Bay Mine

Apr 30, 2018 10:17AM

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has decided not to rescind Obama-era environmental protections that restricted the opening of a copper and gold mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay that would threaten fisheries and other natural resources.

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‘Sink’ Setback: Tropical Forests Releasing Excess Carbon

Mar 30, 2018 11:17AM

Logging, drought and wildfires may be turning forests in Africa, Asia and Latin America into carbon emitters rather than absorbers.

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Clear Gain: Window-Like Solar Cells Could Power 40 Percent of U.S. Needs

Mar 30, 2018 11:17AM

Scientists have developed a transparent, luminescent solar concentrator that looks like clear glass that could potentially supply two-fifths of U.S. energy needs.

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Natural Awakenings Twin Cities
Scientists’ Security: France Welcomes Beleaguered Climate Researchers

Mar 30, 2018 11:17AM

To counter U.S. President Donald Trump’s anti-science stance, French President Emmanuel Macron has awarded 18 climate scientists from the U.S. and elsewhere millions of euros to relocate to France to “Make Our Planet Great Again.”

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Top Polluters: Just 100 Companies Emit Most Global Emissions

Mar 30, 2018 11:17AM

New research shows that a 100 fossil-fuel producers globally are responsible for 71 percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions during the last 30 years.

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Waxworm Wonders: Caterpillars Offer Clues to Plastic Cleanup

Mar 30, 2018 11:17AM

Bacteria found in waxworms can digest plastic in mere weeks or months, far outperforming other plastic decomposition processes requiring 10 to 1,000 years.

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We Need Trees: Arbor Day More Vital Now than Ever

Mar 30, 2018 11:17AM

With the loss of 73.4 million acres of tree cover globally in 2016, annual tree-planting programs like Arbor Day in the U.S. and more massive tree-planting programs like those in Brazil, India and New Zealand are sorely needed.

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Sway Congress: Save Wild Horses Campaign Update

Mar 30, 2018 11:17AM

The Trump Administration’s Fiscal Year 2019 budget again calls on Congress to lift long-standing prohibitions on the destruction and slaughter of wild horses and burros.

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Wind Harvest: Floating Farm Helps Power UK Needs

Feb 28, 2018 11:10AM

The first floating wind farm in the UK, Hywind in Scotland, will have a 30-megawatt capacity to provide clean energy to 20,000 homes.

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Natural Awakenings Twin Cities
Fossilized Financing: Renewable Energy Subsidies Lag Far Behind

Feb 28, 2018 11:10AM

The world’s biggest economies provide four times more public financing for fossil fuels than for renewable energies.

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Grassroots Gumption: Sweet Potato Project Encourages Enterprise

Feb 28, 2018 11:10AM

The Sweet Potato Project, a collaborative venture in St. Louis, trains at-risk youth in culinary, business, horticulture and restaurant skills.

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Renewable Payoff: Germany Undergoes an Energy Renaissance

Jan 31, 2018 11:39AM

For a few hours last May, Germany’s renewable mix of energy generated so much power that customers were actually paid for using electricity.

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