Category: Environment,

Potential Effects of Growing Up With a Smartphone 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Environment,, Modern Parenting,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

What’s the connection between smartphones and the apparent psychological distress this generation is experiencing? For all their power to link kids day and night, social media also exacerbate the age-old teen concern about being left out. Today’s teens may go to fewer parties and spend less time together in person, but when they do congregate, they document their hangouts relentlessly—on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook. Those not invited to come along are keenly aware of it. Accordingly, the number of teens who feel left out has reached all-time highs across age groups. Like the increase in loneliness, the upswing in feeling left out has been swift and significant.

…Social media levy a psychic tax on the teen doing the posting as well, as she anxiously awaits the affirmation of comments and likes. 

…These more dire consequences for teenage girls could also be rooted in the fact that they’re more likely to experience cyberbullying. Boys tend to bully one another physically, while girls are more likely to do so by undermining a victim’s social status or relationships.

…Adolescence is a key time for developing social skills; as teens spend less time with their friends face-to-face, they have fewer opportunities to practice them. 

Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? – The Atlantic

Not ready to jump on board with the alarmist suggestions about how to rip technology out of the hands of tweens but interesting none-the-less.

Trump’s Nominee To Be USDA’s Chief Scientist Is Not A Scientist : NPR

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Environment,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

The chief scientist of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is typically a low-profile job in any presidential administration. But President Trump’s nomination of his former Iowa campaign manager for the post is raising concern in the scientific community and beyond about the politicization of science policy in the Trump administration.

Among the concerns: Clovis isn’t a scientist. He holds a doctorate, but it’s in public administration and not a scientific discipline.

…As a Senate candidate in 2014, Clovis told Iowa Public Radio that he was skeptical that human activity is driving climate change.

…There is an overwhelming body of scientific evidence showing that humans are causing the climate to warm by releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, a view supported by data collected by government agencies such as NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Trump’s Nominee To Be USDA’s Chief Scientist Is Not A Scientist : NPR

sigh…

Trump taps Climate Science Denier with no experience to run NASA. 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Environment,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fl., the top Democrat on the Commerce, Science and Technology Committee that will handle Bridenstine’s confirmation, said appointing a member of Congress to run NASA could hurt the agency’s reputation as a non-political institution.

“The head of NASA ought to be a space professional, not a politician,” he said in a statement released by his office Saturday morning.

Democrats like Nelson also are likely to bring up Bridenstine’s dismissal of climate change and its link to human activity during a floor speech in 2013.“

Global temperatures stopped rising 10 years ago,” Bridenstine said, refuting the overwhelming conclusion of the scientific community. “Global temperature changes, when they exist, correlate with sun output and ocean cycles.”

Trump taps Bridenstine to run NASA. Some senators have reservations.

Sigh…

AP EXCLUSIVE: Toxic waste sites flooded in Houston area, EPA not on the scene 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Environment,, Gulf Coast Region,Leave a comment

Long a center of the nation’s petrochemical industry, the Houston metro area has more than a dozen Superfund sites, designated by the Environmental Protection Agency as being among America’s most intensely contaminated places. Many are now flooded, with the risk that waters were stirring dangerous sediment.

…The Associated Press surveyed seven Superfund sites in and around Houston during the flooding. All had been inundated with water, in some cases many feet deep.

…AP journalists used a boat to document the condition of one flooded Houston-area Superfund site, but accessed others with a vehicle or on foot. The EPA did not immediately respond to questions about why its personnel had not yet been able to do so.

AP EXCLUSIVE: Toxic waste sites flooded in Houston area – San Antonio Express-News

sighh….

F’ing toothless EPA

The disaster in Crosby is purely man-made. 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Environment,, Gulf Coast Region,Leave a comment

Explosions and flames erupted into the air at a chemical plant in Crosby very early Thursday morning. Floodwaters had knocked out the cooling system needed to prevent organic peroxides from breaking down, and also blocked any path for workers to get back to the site and prevent the disaster.

Now the surrounding residents, living 25 miles northeast of downtown Houston, have been instructed to shut their doors and windows, turn off air conditioners and do everything possible to avoid breathing in the acrid smoke and fumes pouring out of the plant owned by Arkema Inc. 

…Exposure to the Arkema fire has sent 15 sheriff’s deputies to the hospital as of this writing, yet the company still won’t explain the specific sort of adverse health effects that people should expect from the emissions. The company also couldn’t answer pointed question by Dempsey about why volatile materials weren’t neutralized before workers fled the site.

The disaster in Crosby is purely man-made. – Houston Chronicle

A society that doesn’t hold those who injure others responsible doesn’t care about the welfare of its own people.

President Donald J. Trump Signs H.J.Res. 69, H.J.Res. 83, H.R. 1228, S.J.Res. 34 into Law

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Environment,, Media and Culture,, Privacy,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

On Monday, April 3, 2017, [Trump] signed into law:

H.J.Res. 69, which nullifies the Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service’s final rule relating to non-subsistence takings of wildlife on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska;

H.J.Res. 83, which nullifies the Department of Labor’s rule titled Clarification of Employer’s Continuing Obligation to Make and Maintain an Accurate Record of Each Recordable Injury and Illness;

…S.J.Res. 34 – which nullifies the Federal Communications Commission’s rule on privacy of customers of broadband and other telecommunications services.

President Donald J. Trump Signs H.J.Res. 69, H.J.Res. 83, H.R. 1228, S.J.Res. 34 into Law | whitehouse.gov

oy….

Trump Eliminates Plastic Water Bottle Ban in National Parks, Removes White House Bikeshare Station

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Environment,Leave a comment

…rescinded the 2011 “Water Bottle Ban” that allowed parks to prohibit the sale of disposable plastic water bottles. That same day, news emerged that the Trump administration removed a nine-slot Capital Bikeshare station at the White House that was requested and installed during the Obama years and used by staffers.

Trump Eliminates Plastic Water Bottle Ban in National Parks, Removes White House Bikeshare Station

What assholes, these guys.

So, about all that plastic in the ocean…

On By peanutgallerynhIn Environment,, Media and Culture,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

Every 11 years, our production of plastic doubles, and over the coming 11 years we’ll produce more plastic than we’ve made since we started.

…In 2015, a paper published in the journal Science estimated that somewhere between 4.8 and 12.7 million metric tons of plastic enter the ocean each year. The researchers arrived at this figure after estimating how much plastic waste every coastal country in the world produces, and then calculated how much could wash into the sea from open dumps and improperly secured landfills. The scientists guess that this amounts to between 15 to 40 percent of all disposed plastic.

…Henderson Island, a deserted atoll in the middle of the southern Pacific Ocean. ….where the highest density of plastic waste anywhere on the planet [is.] …37.7 million pieces had washed up and spread out over the uninhabited island, and that as many as 13,300 new pieces arrive every day.

…five “garbage patches,” the accumulation zones of plastic that form at the ocean’s five subtropical gyres.

…the North Pacific Gyre jettisons about 50 percent of its contents every orbit, which takes about three years. That means the plastic leaves the gyre and will either end up on shore, or in another gyre.

So, about all that plastic in the ocean…

Arguing that clean-up efforts aren’t worth pursuing because we need to stop the plastic at the source is cranky old bullshit. Of course stopping it at the source would be ideal but until that happens clean up is also a good idea and something we should be trying to do. Dismissing clean up ideas out of hand because in an ideal world we would stop the source of the problem is ridiculous and defeatist. The cranky old asshole spouting such unhelpful negativity crap need to sit down and shut the fuck up. Or maybe choke on a big swirling mass of mass of floating plastic. Either way, just fucking shut the hell up.

Great Barrier Reef: Unesco opts against ‘in danger’ status 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Environment,, Pacific Basin,Leave a comment

Unesco opts against upgrading the reef’s status, but raises concerns over conservation progress.

…[Unesco criticized] Australia’s slow progress in improving water quality, noting some conservation targets were “not expected to be achieved within the foreseen [timeframe.”]

The heritage body also called on Australia to better tackle the issue of land clearing.

Great Barrier Reef: Unesco opts against ‘in danger’ status – BBC News

hmmmm

Allies heaps scorn on Trump for spineless, weasel-like Paris douchebaggery

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Environment,Leave a comment

…”The blow to the international political credibility of the United States really cannot be underestimated.”

…Germany [said it] could no longer “completely depend” on the United States and that European leaders “must really take our destiny into our own hands.”

…Macron responded to Trump’s climate decision with a strong statement — delivered live at 10 p.m. in Paris on Thursday night — and sent a mocking tweet that read, “Make Our Planet Great Again.”

France, Italy and Germany released a joint statement on Thursday night saying the Paris deal could not be negotiated, despite Trump’s talk of getting a better deal.

…Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau …tweeted that he was “disappointed” in the U.S.’s decision.

…British Prime Minister Theresa May released a similar statement.

…Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, for instance, called Trump’s decision a “brutal act.”

…“My guess is, in the Kremlin, they are absolutely delighted,” Pifer, a former ambassador to Ukraine, said. 

“To the extent that withdrawing from the Paris accord looks like the United States stepping back from an area where the U.S. has been leader, that’s simply music to [Vladimir] Putin’s ears.” 

Diplomats said Trump’s tone could exacerbate his problems in dealing with other countries.

Globe heaps scorn on Trump for Paris exit | TheHill

Incompetent boobs destroying the United’s States position as a respected leader because they are too stupid to see the effects of their actions. Heaven help us all make it through the next 3.5 years alive…