“Algae eats the fertilizer. Then there are too many algae, no more oxygen and the fish die.” “Carbon capture, yes.” “Do not take away my bees.” “I’ll leave the bees.” “I think water has got to stay at the top. Because we in a drought” “Fertilizer creates sunspills. I feel that could be lower down.”…
The triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution is a threat to everyone, everywhere. Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the UN Three of the world’s greatest environmental problems are increasingly being met and thwarted in residential neighborhoods across Massachusetts. The dastardly trio are nutrient pollution causing harmful algal blooms (ocean dead zones), degradation and…
Off the coast of Maine, an explosive exhalation of air swept my attention over the sailboat’s starboard rail. A broad stretch of hide rose like a pebbled sand bar the length of the twenty-seven-foot boat. The right whale wheeled forward, sliding into opaque water while I stammered and pointed. I was alone at the helm…
We’ve been experiencing a lot of severe weather systems this past year. From flash floods, to hurricanes, to wildfires, this year has not been without climate-driven challenges. There is something else that could make the severe weather systems we’ve been experiencing even worse. Two new studies, published in Nature and the Journal of Climate, looked…
Something is fishy off Pulaski Street by the Waters River in Peabody, Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC) plans to build a fossil fuel-powered 55-megawatt generator. The peak capacity generator would operate about 239 hours a year to meet the surge capacity energy needs of fourteen power plants. This makes no sense when…
To meet the ravages of climate change, Congress has introduced the Ocean Based Climate Solutions Act (HR.8632). The ocean covers nearly three-quarters of the planet. Nothing has more of an impact on the climate than does the ocean. About one out of every four carbon dioxide molecules emitted into the atmosphere are drawn down into…
Thursday July 23, the Ocean River Institute’s Natural Lawn Care for Healthy Soils Competition was in Bridgewater. Jacklyn Norris (left) of Bridgewater University Environmental Action Team was assisted by Susanna Buckley (Connecticut College) and Adibah Shaikh (U Mass Lowell). The winning towns are those with the greatest number of households pledging to maintain natural lawns…
There is hope for the bees when there’s clover in the lawn. Researchers discovered that lawns in Springfield Massachusetts when cut every three weeks instead of weekly resulted in as many as 2.5 times more lawn flowers, mostly clover and dandelions, and a great diversity of 93 species of bees. Thursday, May 20th is the…
