Yves Adams / Instagram
A rare yellow penguin has been photographed for what is believed to be the first time.
<p>Belgian <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_self">wildlife</a> photographer Yves Adams snapped the shot in December 2019 on an island in South Georgia during a two-month expedition, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/yellow-penguin-photo-south-atlantic-b1804738.html" target="_blank">The Independent reported</a>. However, he first posted the photograph on Instagram this month.</p><p>"While unpacking our rubberboats merely after landing on a remote beach on the island of South-Georgia, this leucistic King penguin walked up straight to our direction in the middle of a chaos full of Sea elephants and Antarctic fur seals, and thousands of other King penguins," Adams wrote in his post. "How lucky could I be!"</p>
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<p>Leucism is a genetic mutation that causes some but not all of an animal's melanin to disappear, <a href="https://www.livescience.com/yellow-penguin-south-georgia.html" target="_blank">Live Science explained</a>. King penguins typically have black and white feathers with a yellow bow-tie-like stripe on the collar. Melanin, or dark pigment, is responsible for the darker feathers. While pigment anomalies in penguins are rare, they can be either melanistic (all black), albanistic (all white) or leucistic (a mix of both).</p><p>Dee Boersma, a University of Washington conservation biologist who was not a part of Adams's expedition, told Live Science that she agreed with his diagnosis.</p>
<p>However, Kevin McGraw, an integrative behavioral ecologist at Arizona State University who also was not a part of the expedition, was less sure, as he told Live Science:</p><blockquote>"It does look albino from the perspective that it lacks all melanin" in its plumage, feet and eyes, McGraw said. Still, "we'd need feather samples for biochemical testing if we aimed to unequivocally document," whether melanin is present, he said.</blockquote><blockquote>Animals can be albino but still have non-melanin pigment, he added.</blockquote>
<p>McGraw added that the mutation might put the unique penguin at a disadvantage, since penguins use their coloring for choosing mates and protecting themselves from both predators and the sun.</p><p>"It's conceivable that such color aberrations could impact both survival and reproduction," McGraw said.</p><p>For whatever the reason, the white-and-yellow coloring is rare enough that it has never been seen before, as far as experts are aware. A white chinstrap penguin was spotted in Antarctica in 2012, The Independent reported.</p><p>The rarity made Adams feel especially lucky to get a chance to photograph this individual. He said that it was one of at least 120,000 penguins in the colony.</p><p>"It was heaven that he landed by us. If it had been 50 metres away, we wouldn't have been able to get this show of a lifetime," Adams told The Independent.</p>
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The Crystal building in London, England is the first building in the world to be awarded an outstanding BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) rating and a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) platinum rating. Alphotographic / Getty Images
By Stuart Braun
We spend 90% of our time in the buildings where we live and work, shop and conduct business, in the structures that keep us warm in winter and cool in summer.
But immense energy is required to source and manufacture building materials, to power construction sites, to maintain and renew the built environment. In 2019, building operations and construction activities together accounted for 38% of global energy-related CO2 emissions, the highest level ever recorded.
<p>To ensure that the Paris climate targets are met, the building and construction industry needs to become a climate leader by moving towards net-zero construction. Its CO2 emissions need to be cut in half by 2030 for building stock to be carbon-free by 2050, according to a recent <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/building-sector-emissions-hit-record-high-low-carbon-pandemic" target="_blank">report</a> by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).</p><p>In response, a raft of new net-zero building initiatives are focused on curbing emissions across the whole building lifecycle.</p><p>DW looks at five key points in understanding the push to carbon-free construction.</p>
<h3>1. Urbanization Is Skyrocketing, and That's a Problem</h3><p>A rapidly urbanizing world is compounding the massive impact of buildings and infrastructure on the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate crisis</a>. According to urban climate-action initiative <a href="https://www.c40.org/networks/clean-construction-forum" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">C40 Cities,</a> 2.5 billion more people will flood cities (mostly in Asia and Africa) in the next three decades, while 60% of buildings required by 2050 still have to be built.</p><p>With the equivalent of a city of around 1.5 million people being constructed each week, carbon-heavy construction is skyrocketing, meaning the sector must rapidly decarbonize if global heating is to remain within the IPCC's limit of 1.5- to well below 2 degrees Celsius <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/will-it-soon-be-too-late-to-save-the-climate/a-49889771" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">above 1990 levels.</a></p><p>This will not be easy.</p><p>A <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/energy/topics/energy-efficiency/energy-efficient-buildings/energy-performance-buildings-directive_en?redir=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">European Union directive</a> to achieve nearly Zero-Energy Buildings (nZEBs) in all new structures by the end of 2020 was on track to achieve an 80% CO2 reduction, according to Lukas Kranzl, a senior scientist at the Vienna-based Energy Economics Group that is <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/energy/intelligent/projects/en/projects/zebra2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">monitoring</a> the nZEBs. Kranzl says this won't be enough to meet the Paris targets.</p><p>"We will need [almost] complete decarbonization in the building sector before 2050," he told DW, meaning that 95-100% emission cuts will be required.</p>
<h3>2. Independent Initiatives Might Have the Solution</h3><p>While Kranzl fears that some EU member states are not on the path to building and construction decarbonization, new independent initiatives are bringing together cities, companies and organizations to achieve net-zero building across the whole lifecycle.</p><p>The World Green Building Council's (WorldGBC) Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment is one such global initiative in which diverse stakeholders pledge to reach net-zero emissions for all new buildings by 2030, and all buildings by 2050.</p><p>Created in partnership with C40, the target was upgraded in September 2019 to include <a href="https://www.worldgbc.org/sites/default/files/WorldGBC_Bringing_Embodied_Carbon_Upfront.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">embodied carbon</a>, which is to say emissions generated, not only during operational life but "during the manufacturing, transportation, construction and end of life phases of all built assets." Embodied carbon itself contributes around 11% of all global carbon emissions.</p><p>According to Victoria Burrows, director of Advancing Net Zero at the World Green Building Council, this shift reflects a "wholesized approach to carbon emissions in the building and construction sector."</p><p>While net-zero buildings were previously focused on operational performance, especially in terms of energy efficiency via solar power or passive design, embodied emissions include the significant "upfront" emissions created during the extraction and manufacture of building materials. The whole lifecycle measure includes "use stage" and "end of life" carbon generated through building maintenance and final deconstruction.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY4NDU4OC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMDk5Mjk5NX0.qOhZ3X163RwVw2B-obIoQfgtOUDGpAQ5pU2oGZhS-Dc/img.png?width=980" id="845d5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9d642ce031c41c20718cf1186b88bbfb" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1920" data-height="2424" />
<h3>3. Cement Causes More Pollution Than You Would Think</h3><p>When addressing embodied emissions, the construction phase that generates around 25% of greenhouse emissions is fundamental to the net-zero building revolution.</p><p>Reducing reliance on <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/carbon-intensive-cement-industry-feeling-the-heat/a-50546807" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">carbon-intensive cement</a>, the most widely used building material on earth that alone accounts for around <a href="https://reader.chathamhouse.org/making-concrete-change-innovation-low-carbon-cement-and-concrete#" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">8% of global CO2 emissions,</a> will be key.</p><p>Designers of carbon-neutral building are replacing cement framing in larger buildings with new sustainable cross-laminated <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/wood-renewable-construction-material-of-the-future/a-42012053" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">timber,</a> for example. Achieving a 20% reduction in building weight is matched by a similar reduction in "embodied energy." The end result is a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352710219302542" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">26.5% reduction in the "global warming potential"</a> of the building.</p><p>A new five-story apartment building in Boston's Roxbury district is leading the way. Its designers <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2020/mass-timber-sustainable-building-boston-0305" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">are using the revolutionary timber framing</a> to significantly reduce emissions from steel and concrete and achieve a net-zero standard.</p>
<h3>4. Scandinavia Is Becoming a Net-Zero Pioneer</h3><p>A report released by C40 in October 2019 showed that the construction industry alone could cut emissions from buildings and infrastructure by 44% by 2050. Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm have since <a href="https://www.c40.org/press_releases/mayors-of-copenhagen-oslo-and-stockholm-commit-to-clean-construction" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">committed to take a leadership role</a> in creating a global market for low-emission construction materials and zero-emission machinery.</p><p>Oslo, for instance, aims to make all city-owned construction machinery and construction sites operate with zero emissions by 2025. Meanwhile, Copenhagen's bold plan to be climate-neutral by 2025 will draw heavily on its commitment to zero-carbon construction. This will be achieved in part through "fossils- or emission-free construction machinery in construction projects," said Frank Jensen, mayor of Copenhagen.</p><p>With Stockholm also part of a cross-border tender for sustainable procurement of mobile construction machinery, such unified demand is designed to send a signal to the market, according to Victoria Burrows. The end result will be to "create a ripple effect" that will help kickstart the net-zero building transition.</p>
<h3>5. Diverse Sectors Embracing Carbon-Free Construction</h3><p>The success of the net-zero carbon buildings commitment hinges on involving stakeholders across the whole building supply chain, says Burrows. With building and construction able to "cut across many other sectors" in the fight against climate change, she notes that cement and engineering firms, cultural institutions like the Sydney Opera House, universities and city governments are committing to net-zero building.</p><p>So, too, are real-estate companies that might once have prioritized profits over reducing emissions. British global property giant Grosvenor Group and Canada's Avison Young, another international real-estate powerhouse, are among many others implementing a net-zero building roadmap — with or without government targets.</p><p>In December, Grosvenor Europe committed to reducing its carbon impact by 50% by 2030. It will partly achieve this by cutting energy use in its buildings by one-third, and the embodied carbon intensity of its developments by one half.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/5-things-to-know-about-carbon-free-construction/a-52747374" target="_blank">DW</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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stocknroll / Getty Images
More and more Americans are retrofitting their bathrooms with high-end bidets, allowing them to enjoy cleanliness and hygiene without creating as much paper waste. Not all bidets are created equal, however, and before deciding on a particular brand, it's important to do your homework. Take a look at our comprehensive Toto bidet review, and our reviews of Tushy and Omigo, to learn more about all of their options.
<h2>Toto overview</h2><p>Toto is a company that has been around for over 100 years. They aim to improve people's quality of life, and they do that specifically by focusing on bathrooms. To that end, Toto is known for high-quality products including toilets, faucets, showers, bathtubs, and bidets. </p><p>Toto has also expressed an admirable commitment to ecological stewardship. As <a href="https://www.totousa.com/about-toto/toto-way" target="_blank">their corporate website</a> notes, they strive to "protect the global environment by conserving finite natural resources and energy." One example of this is their donation of any imperfectly fired porcelain products for recycling and reuse as porcelain floor tile. Their <a href="https://www.totousa.com/about-toto/living-toto-library/smart-sustainable-packaging-solution" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">packaging</a> uses differing levels of recycled post-consumer paper products while their forklifts operate using <a href="https://www.totousa.com/about-toto/living-toto-library/plant-based-hydraulics" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">plant-based hydraulics</a> made from soybean oil instead of traditional hydraulic oil.</p><p>Toto is definitely a company with a superior reputation when it comes to bathroom accessories in general, and bidets in particular. Here are reviews of some of the specific products in the Toto line.</p><h2>Toto bidet reviews</h2><p>There are two different bidet product families available from Toto: standalone bidets and bidet seat attachments. Their standalone models include the Piedmont bidet, the Lloyd bidet, and the Clayton bidet, while their bidet toilet seat offerings include a wide selection in the popular Washlet line. Here are details on the three standalone options and three of the most popular bidet seat attachments.</p><p><em>Each product featured here has been independently selected by the writer. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.</em></p><h3>Toto standalone bidets</h3><h4></h4>
<h2>Toto bidet pros and cons<br></h2><p>Whether you're considering a standalone bidet or a bidet seat attachment, here are some of the pros and cons to help you compare your options.</p><h3>Pros</h3><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Standalone bidets, such as the ones offered by Toto, are designed in a wider range of elegant, contemporary styles. If you are looking to remodel your bathroom, splurging for a standalone bidet makes sense.</li><li>Toto offers a wide selection of bidet and bidet attachment options. Some of their more advanced units feature night lights, adjustable nozzle positions, warm air dryers, and adjustable settings for the temperature of the water.</li><li>All of the Toto bidet attachments we reviewed include self-cleaning nozzles for added hygiene. They are also designed for DIY installation, and easily connect to your existing toilet's water supply without the need for a plumber or electrician.</li></ul><h3>Cons</h3><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Toto's line of standalone bidets and bidet seat attachments are more expensive than some other brands, especially some of their more high-end models.</li><li>Standalone bidets may not be as convenient for those who have mobility issues.</li><li>All of Toto's bidet seat attachments are electric, and don't feature an eco or energy-saving mode like some other options.</li></ul><h2>The benefits of buying a bidet</h2><p>Why buy a bidet at all? There are plenty of perks, both for you and the planet:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Bidets offer a more thorough, hygienic cleaning than toilet paper.</li><li>They're considerably more eco-friendly, using less water and paper.</li><li>Because you'll use so much less toilet paper, bidets are also more cost-effective.</li><li>Compared with TP, bidets can be really soothing to the skin.</li><li>They have special benefits for women, and especially pregnant women, helping minimize the risk of a UTI.</li><li>Bidets are highly accessible, even to those with limited mobility.</li><li>A bidet makes it much easier to teach your children about proper bathroom hygiene.</li></ul><h2>Considerations when buying a bidet</h2><p>As you consider all of your options for getting a bidet, here are a few of the key factors to consider:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Look for a bidet with a self-cleaning nozzle. This will help keep things hygienic.</li><li>Electric vs. non-electric? Electric bidets can offer more comfort features, like a heated seat, but they also use more energy than a non-electric one.</li><li>Is it a standalone bidet, a bidet seat, or a bidet attachment? While a standalone bidet is a completely separate fixture from your toilet, a bidet seat will completely replace your existing seat and a bidet attachment will be installed onto your existing toilet seat. These are usually the least expensive, but also come with the fewest features.</li><li>Does the bidet connect to your home's hot water? If it doesn't, you will only be able to clean with cold water.</li><li>Make sure you can adjust the settings. For the most comfortable bidet, look for controls that let you customize the water pressure, the angle of the water stream, the temperature of the water, and the temperature of the seat, if it is heated.</li></ul><p>Use these questions to determine whether the bidets from Toto are right for you.</p><h2>Toto bidets: a leader in comfort and efficiency</h2><p>Toto makes durable, elegant, and highly functional products that will allow you to enjoy all the hygienic and environmental benefits of a bidet. You can also read our full review of the best bidets to compare with other brands like Brondell, Kohler, Tushy, and BioBidet.</p><p><em><strong>Josh Hurst </strong></em><em>is a journalist, critic, and essayist. He lives in Knoxville, TN, with his wife and three sons. His writing on natural health, nutrition, and supplements has appeared in Health, Shape, and Remedy Review.</em></p>
Piedmont
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDgyMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMjI3MjE3Nn0.QqBs95yaFQnGwAuf0t3XaSCc7pvrSEUalnl9UulrODg/img.jpg?width=980" id="a0c63" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9d10ad2b08c5d00642b44787c1b099ad" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/TOTO-BT500B-01-Piedmont-Vertical/dp/B00084P3GO/ref=sr_1_3?crid=ZG6AGN0U9VQL&dchild=1&keywords=toto+piedmont+bidet&qid=1613591898&sprefix=toto+piedmo%2Caps%2C188&sr=8-3" target="_blank">Toto's Piedmont bidet</a> offers an elegant, classic design, and it also comes with built-in safeguards that prevent it from ever overflowing. It is available in several color options, and will look good with any contemporary bathroom design.</p><p><strong>Why buy:</strong> This is the most affordable standalone bidet in Toto's catalog. This bidet is a good option if you are remodeling your bathroom or are building a home and want to save water and paper waste from the start. Priced starting at $533, you can find it through other retailers for around $280.</p>
$533
Lloyd
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDgzMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNTU0Nzk0Nn0.h9XeFBojZff_4Un8swlIoamX7xAwO1wH3RKAiiZb96k/img.jpg?width=980" id="e5d22" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="83ff9c9b3ed8f1b5e92ff99c14ad9b0c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p>The <a href="https://www.amazon.com/TOTO-BT930B-01-Vertical-Cotton/dp/B0015IVUOQ/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=toto%2Blloyd%2Bbidet&qid=1613592001&sr=8-2&th=1" target="_blank">Lloyd bidet</a> has a much bolder, "skirted" design, but it also shares the Piedmont's flushing rim and integral overflow features, which keep you from ever experiencing spillage.</p><p><strong>Why buy: </strong>This is a fancier product with a more striking appearance, and is mainly suited for a larger, more formal design. It retails for a slightly higher price point: The Lloyd model starts at $780 in total, but you can find it for $526 through other retailers.</p>
$780
Clayton
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDgzMi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NTI4MTYyNn0.xNOnfejHaWbEVHRbO1vFVdUoWbFvevja40qRVr6L4dI/img.jpg?width=980" id="df200" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0cdb567e670fb2e46f50fbc43c99158c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p>The company's flagship standalone bidet is known as the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/TOTO-BT784B-01-Clayton-Vertical/dp/B0018L9JUC/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=toto+clayton+bidet&qid=1613592108&sr=8-2" target="_blank">Clayton</a>. It includes the same overflow safeguards as the other two, and of course, each of these products is backed by Toto's longstanding commitment to excellent craftsmanship.</p><p><strong>Why buy: </strong>This is the most traditional in its visual style, and, with a number of colors to choose from, it will look great in almost any bathroom design. The Clayton starts at $734, but is available through other retailers for around $426.</p>
$734
<h3>Toto bidet seats</h3>
Toto Washlet C200
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDgzNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MTY3OTY1M30.3coYAuyqJLBcw8hQszI8Shbcfyr6nn9V0ek-kXv2kgQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="61762" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b7c91d2511149e271c7f0139f1580788" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p>This electronic smart bidet seat fits onto your existing toilet bowl and offers a number of comfort features, including a heated seat, automatic air deodorizer, adjustable warm water, warm air dryer, self-cleaning wand, and a wireless remote control.</p><p><strong>Why buy:</strong> We chose the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UCIOX2Q/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&aaxitk=-XjvJQOmffOcAmiCOZvtAA&hsa_cr_id=7413316040901&pd_rd_plhdr=t&pd_rd_r=0e0e7f3d-0baf-4977-85d3-663f618a76d8&pd_rd_w=Yi3yF&pd_rd_wg=LUFHB&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_lsi3d_asin_1_img" target="_blank">Toto C200</a> as the overall best bidet in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/best-bidet-toilet-seats-2650502928.html" target="_self">our review</a> of top brands. In addition to the features mentioned, its dual action oscillating and pulsating spray and pre-mist function provide a comfortable and sanitary clean.</p>
$715
Toto Washlet S500e with EWATER+
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDgzOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MTgzNTIyMH0.idaacYO4MzHGTeajRkSCVHOo3TH7tehRN8TAH2s75ko/img.jpg?width=980" id="f6ed5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="87fa67b17e4c8e06f74bfbce87bf4809" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p>The <a href="https://www.amazon.com/TOTO-SW3046-01-Electronic-Contemporary/dp/B078GTKSXK/ref=sr_1_2?crid=15NGPC9YFANKH&dchild=1&keywords=toto+s500e&qid=1613960063&sprefix=toto+s500e%2Caps%2C171&sr=8-2" target="_blank">Toto Washlet S500e</a> bidet seat includes the features found in the C200, plus instantaneous water heating, front and rear wash functions, two-user preset memory, and the company's <a href="https://www.totousa.com/technologies/ewater" target="_blank">EWATER+ technology</a>. This system uses electrolyzed water to keep the wand and toilet bowl clean.</p><p><strong>Why buy:</strong> This high-end Toto electric bidet seat can help you reduce water and toilet paper use, and it can help reduce the need for chemical cleaning products with its EWATER+ technology.</p>
$1530
Toto Washlet A100
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDg0Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MzU0OTU3MH0.g2PYzguGXvB1l7RvWBcw_xNtlpy8hsmcwui8Twr3CMA/img.jpg?width=980" id="08295" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d3d798b5d7737cddaadfd9f6fa5a84d6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p>The <a href="https://www.amazon.com/TOTO-SW2014-01-Electronic-SoftClose/dp/B0165UFOGS/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=30E9Y1LAN9ZRW&dchild=1&keywords=toto+washlet+a100+elongated+bidet+toilet+seat&qid=1613589664&sprefix=toto+washlet+a100%2Caps%2C167&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFBR1FMUTdJR1hXNUEmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAyNjIwOTkxUE1EWk5CQjg2QTZPJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA0NDc1MzExSk1UMk5CQzJYVUhVJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==" target="_blank">A100</a> is an entry-level Washlet bidet attachment, but still offers numerous comfort features. It includes a heated seat with temperature control, aerated warm water with a dual action spray, and an attached arm control panel.</p><p><strong>Why buy: </strong>One of the most affordable Toto bidet options, it still lets you adjust the water temperature and pressure settings, and features rear and front cleaning functionality for a feminine wash.</p>
$499
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Houses and wooden debris are shown in flood waters from Hurricane Katrina Sept. 11, 2005 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Jerry Grayson / Helifilms Australia PTY Ltd / Getty Images
By Eric Tate and Christopher Emrich
Disasters stemming from hazards like floods, wildfires, and disease often garner attention because of their extreme conditions and heavy societal impacts. Although the nature of the damage may vary, major disasters are alike in that socially vulnerable populations often experience the worst repercussions. For example, we saw this following Hurricanes Katrina and Harvey, each of which generated widespread physical damage and outsized impacts to low-income and minority survivors.
<p>Social vulnerability researchers seek to understand the impediments and capacities of people and communities to prepare for, respond to, and recover from extreme natural hazards. A major tool in this work is social vulnerability modeling, the use of which is expanding in large part because of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/30/opinions/hurricane-laura-hurricane-katrina-15-anniversary-climate-justice-russell/index.html" target="_blank">growing awareness</a> of the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/03/05/688786177/how-federal-disaster-money-favors-the-rich" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">social equity implications of disasters</a>.</p>
<p>This modeling applies knowledge garnered from disaster case studies describing how chronic marginalization translates to disproportionate adverse outcomes to identify the most vulnerable population groups. Such populations often include those living in poverty, the very old and young, minoritized ethnic and racial groups, renters, and recent immigrants [<a href="https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25381/framing-the-challenge-of-urban-flooding-in-the-united-states" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine</em></a>, 2019]. Social vulnerability modelers select demographic variables representing these groups and combine them to construct spatial indicators and indexes that enable comparisons of social vulnerability across places.</p>
Mapping Social Vulnerability
<p>Figure 1a is a typical map of social vulnerability across the United States at the census tract level based on the Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI) algorithm of <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1540-6237.8402002" target="_blank"><em>Cutter et al.</em></a> [2003]. Spatial representation of the index depicts high social vulnerability regionally in the Southwest, upper Great Plains, eastern Oklahoma, southern Texas, and southern Appalachia, among other places. With such a map, users can focus attention on select places and identify population characteristics associated with elevated vulnerabilities.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY4NDI3Ni9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTAzMjg0MH0.v1q8kvdcaspP-06Y3lP3-fpjepuK4DByrALDDlLLTuY/img.png?width=980" id="dabfe" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cf5abb87eb49497c7585585a853aa449" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="2740" data-height="1062" />
Fig. 1. (a) Social vulnerability across the United States at the census tract scale is mapped here following the Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI). Red and pink hues indicate high social vulnerability. (b) This bivariate map depicts social vulnerability (blue hues) and annualized per capita hazard losses (pink hues) for U.S. counties from 2010 to 2019.
<p>Many current indexes in the United States and abroad are direct or conceptual offshoots of SoVI, which has been widely replicated [e.g., <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13753-016-0090-9" target="_blank"><em>de Loyola Hummell et al.</em></a>, 2016]. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) <a href="https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/placeandhealth/svi/index.html" target="_blank">has also developed</a> a commonly used social vulnerability index intended to help local officials identify communities that may need support before, during, and after disasters.</p><p>The first modeling and mapping efforts, starting around the mid-2000s, largely focused on describing spatial distributions of social vulnerability at varying geographic scales. Over time, research in this area came to emphasize spatial comparisons between social vulnerability and physical hazards [<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-009-9376-1" target="_blank"><em>Wood et al.</em></a>, 2010], modeling population dynamics following disasters [<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11111-008-0072-y" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Myers et al.</em></a>, 2008], and quantifying the robustness of social vulnerability measures [<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-012-0152-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Tate</em></a>, 2012].</p><p>More recent work is beginning to dissolve barriers between social vulnerability and environmental justice scholarship [<a href="https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304846" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Chakraborty et al.</em></a>, 2019], which has traditionally focused on root causes of exposure to pollution hazards. Another prominent new research direction involves deeper interrogation of social vulnerability drivers in specific hazard contexts and disaster phases (e.g., before, during, after). Such work has revealed that interactions among drivers are important, but existing case studies are ill suited to guiding development of new indicators [<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2015.09.013" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Rufat et al.</em></a>, 2015].</p><p>Advances in geostatistical analyses have enabled researchers to characterize interactions more accurately among social vulnerability and hazard outcomes. Figure 1b depicts social vulnerability and annualized per capita hazard losses for U.S. counties from 2010 to 2019, facilitating visualization of the spatial coincidence of pre‑event susceptibilities and hazard impacts. Places ranked high in both dimensions may be priority locations for management interventions. Further, such analysis provides invaluable comparisons between places as well as information summarizing state and regional conditions.</p><p>In Figure 2, we take the analysis of interactions a step further, dividing counties into two categories: those experiencing annual per capita losses above or below the national average from 2010 to 2019. The differences among individual race, ethnicity, and poverty variables between the two county groups are small. But expressing race together with poverty (poverty attenuated by race) produces quite different results: Counties with high hazard losses have higher percentages of both impoverished Black populations and impoverished white populations than counties with low hazard losses. These county differences are most pronounced for impoverished Black populations.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY4NDI3OS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NTc3NjUwNX0.bfkxzYwjdvBUvGu3zsI0iI_710xQyiARxVgrww1ZhpA/img.png?width=980" id="52f88" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="799dc45654e18d5e42c72f96c704e218" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1464" data-height="1432" />
Fig. 2. Differences in population percentages between counties experiencing annual per capita losses above or below the national average from 2010 to 2019 for individual and compound social vulnerability indicators (race and poverty).
<p>Our current work focuses on social vulnerability to floods using geostatistical modeling and mapping. The research directions are twofold. The first is to develop hazard-specific indicators of social vulnerability to aid in mitigation planning [<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-020-04470-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Tate et al.</em></a>, 2021]. Because natural hazards differ in their innate characteristics (e.g., rate of onset, spatial extent), causal processes (e.g., urbanization, meteorology), and programmatic responses by government, manifestations of social vulnerability vary across hazards.</p><p>The second is to assess the degree to which socially vulnerable populations benefit from the leading disaster recovery programs [<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17477891.2019.1675578" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Emrich et al.</em></a>, 2020], such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) <a href="https://www.fema.gov/individual-disaster-assistance" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Individual Assistance</a> program and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) <a href="https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/cdbg-dr/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Disaster Recovery</a> program. Both research directions posit social vulnerability indicators as potential measures of social equity.</p>Social Vulnerability as a Measure of Equity
<p>Given their focus on social marginalization and economic barriers, social vulnerability indicators are attracting growing scientific interest as measures of inequity resulting from disasters. Indeed, social vulnerability and inequity are related concepts. Social vulnerability research explores the differential susceptibilities and capacities of disaster-affected populations, whereas social equity analyses tend to focus on population disparities in the allocation of resources for hazard mitigation and disaster recovery. Interventions with an equity focus emphasize full and equal resource access for all people with unmet disaster needs.</p><p>Yet newer studies of inequity in disaster programs have documented troubling disparities in income, race, and home ownership among those who <a href="https://eos.org/articles/equity-concerns-raised-in-federal-flood-property-buyouts" target="_blank">participate in flood buyout programs</a>, are <a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063477407" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">eligible for postdisaster loans</a>, receive short-term recovery assistance [<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2020.102010" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Drakes et al.</em></a>, 2021], and have <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/08/25/texas-natural-disasters--mental-health/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">access to mental health services</a>. For example, a recent analysis of federal flood buyouts found racial privilege to be infused at multiple program stages and geographic scales, resulting in resources that disproportionately benefit whiter and more urban counties and neighborhoods [<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2378023120905439" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Elliott et al.</em></a>, 2020].</p><p>Investments in disaster risk reduction are largely prioritized on the basis of hazard modeling, historical impacts, and economic risk. Social equity, meanwhile, has been far less integrated into the considerations of public agencies for hazard and disaster management. But this situation may be beginning to shift. Following the adage of "what gets measured gets managed," social equity metrics are increasingly being inserted into disaster management.</p><p>At the national level, FEMA has <a href="https://www.fema.gov/news-release/20200220/fema-releases-affordability-framework-national-flood-insurance-program" target="_blank">developed options</a> to increase the affordability of flood insurance [Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2018]. At the subnational scale, Puerto Rico has integrated social vulnerability into its CDBG Mitigation Action Plan, expanding its considerations of risk beyond only economic factors. At the local level, Harris County, Texas, has begun using social vulnerability indicators alongside traditional measures of flood risk to introduce equity into the prioritization of flood mitigation projects [<a href="https://www.hcfcd.org/Portals/62/Resilience/Bond-Program/Prioritization-Framework/final_prioritization-framework-report_20190827.pdf?ver=2019-09-19-092535-743" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Harris County Flood Control District</em></a>, 2019].</p><p>Unfortunately, many existing measures of disaster equity fall short. They may be unidimensional, using single indicators such as income in places where underlying vulnerability processes suggest that a multidimensional measure like racialized poverty (Figure 2) would be more valid. And criteria presumed to be objective and neutral for determining resource allocation, such as economic loss and cost-benefit ratios, prioritize asset value over social equity. For example, following the <a href="http://www.cedar-rapids.org/discover_cedar_rapids/flood_of_2008/2008_flood_facts.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2008 flooding</a> in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, cost-benefit criteria supported new flood protections for the city's central business district on the east side of the Cedar River but not for vulnerable populations and workforce housing on the west side.</p><p>Furthermore, many equity measures are aspatial or ahistorical, even though the roots of marginalization may lie in systemic and spatially explicit processes that originated long ago like redlining and urban renewal. More research is thus needed to understand which measures are most suitable for which social equity analyses.</p>Challenges for Disaster Equity Analysis
<p>Across studies that quantify, map, and analyze social vulnerability to natural hazards, modelers have faced recurrent measurement challenges, many of which also apply in measuring disaster equity (Table 1). The first is clearly establishing the purpose of an equity analysis by defining characteristics such as the end user and intended use, the type of hazard, and the disaster stage (i.e., mitigation, response, or recovery). Analyses using generalized indicators like the CDC Social Vulnerability Index may be appropriate for identifying broad areas of concern, whereas more detailed analyses are ideal for high-stakes decisions about budget allocations and project prioritization.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY4NDMyMy9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NTA2OTU2NX0.GKHtixn35Mwpubn_GE8KBYNs4P2npvnM_Y9bXC-ONoM/img.png?width=980" id="c2ef1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7d3650965f39a777c809cb3093c8bb76" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1308" data-height="860" /><p>Selecting the relevant modes of equity for analysis is crucial. Is the primary interest to quantify disparities in the distribution of hazard impacts or procedural disparities in accessing resources? Is the focus on individual populations or on combinations of population characteristics? As social inequities often accrue to low-income households, analysts should consider assessing economic losses in both absolute and proportional terms.</p><p>Creating valid measures of equity requires not only statistical expertise but also a fundamental understanding of the underlying processes of social marginalization. This facilitates selection of optimal proxy indicators and their geographic scales. However, practical considerations like data availability and cost can lead to indicator selection that diverges from conceptual bases. For example, for disaster assistance received by households, an equity analysis should ideally be conducted at the household scale. Unfortunately, data describing some dimensions of inequity, like race, are rarely collected by disaster agencies, necessitating analysis using census data at larger geographic scales.</p>
<p>The final major challenge is to develop statistically robust measures and best practices for assessing disaster equity that strengthen the foundation for policy interventions. Doing so may require expanding current approaches to include sensitivity analyses to assess how choices of parameters (e.g., input variables, geographic scale) in building social vulnerability indicators affect the statistical stability of resulting measures, and how these measures correlate with observed disaster impacts like dislocation, assistance eligibility, and recovery time.</p><p>The stakes for improving our understanding of relationships among hazards, vulnerability, and social equity are high, as climate disasters from flooding, drought, tropical cyclones, and wildfire have been increasing in their frequency and destruction. By definition, sustainable solutions that empower communities to resist, recover from, and adapt to these threats must be not only economically viable and environmentally sound but also socially equitable. Well-designed measures of disaster equity are an important tool for quantifying disaster disparities, which is the first step toward dismantling them.</p><p><em>This story originally appeared in <a href="https://eos.org/science-updates/assessing-social-equity-in-disasters" target="_blank">Eos</a></em> <em>and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.</em></p>
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A gray wolf is seen howling outside in winter. Wolfgang Kaehler / Contributor / Getty Images
Wisconsin will end its controversial wolf hunt early after hunters and trappers killed almost 70 percent of the state's quota in the hunt's first 48 hours.
<p>By the end of Tuesday, the second day of the hunt, 82 wolves had been killed, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-wolves-animals-eau-claire-monroe-4319806de94ca754dcfc95e19b869694" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported</a>. As of Wednesday morning, 135 had been killed, exceeding the quota, according to the <a href="https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/hunt/wolf/index.html" target="_blank">Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR)</a>.</p><p>"Wisconsin's actions offer a tragic glimpse of a future without federal wolf protections," the Wolf Conservation Center <a href="https://twitter.com/nywolforg/status/1364338681776070657" target="_blank">tweeted</a> in response.</p><p>President Donald Trump's <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/gray-wolves-endangered-trump-2649746799.html" target="_self">delisting</a> of gray wolves under the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species-act" target="_self">Endangered Species Act</a> triggered the hunt. The DNR originally set a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/gray-wolf-wisconsin-hunt-2650553450.html" target="_self">quota of 200 wolves </a>to be killed between Feb. 22 and Feb. 28. Of the 200, 81 were allocated to the Ojibwe Tribes in accordance with treaty rights, the <a href="https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/environment/article_d575dba3-6e63-54de-9927-e59c2ca5cfb9.html?fbclid=IwAR06BdtuJaJmVPgX4cSgM_H2jH0fHCFXsFi2kDzBssU6Tm7Kec1jybQwqTs" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Wisconsin State Journal reported</a>. Hunters killed about half of the remaining 119 by Tuesday morning and 69 percent by Tuesday afternoon, The Associated Press reported. By Wednesday morning, hunters exceeded the quota by 16 wolves.</p><p>Hunters also exceeded the quota set for three of the state's hunting zones, according to DNR. They killed 33 of an 18-wolf quota in zone 2, located in the northeast; 24 of a 20-wolf quota in zone 3 located in the center; and 30 of a 17-wolf quota in southern zone 6. The hunt ended Wednesday at 10 a.m. CT in the most depleted zones and will end at 3 p.m. CT for the remaining half.</p>
<p>The hunt is the state's first since 2014, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. After wolves were returned to state management under Trump in January 2021, Wisconsin intended to plan a hunt for November 2021, arguing that it needed the time to study the population and consult with Native American tribes and the general public. However, pro-hunting group Hunter Nation sued the state to start the hunt earlier in the year, with a judge ruling in their favor. This past Friday, an appeals court dismissed the Wisconsin DNR's appeal, <a href="https://www.wpr.org/wolf-hunt-will-move-forward-after-panel-judges-dismisses-dnr-appeal" target="_blank">Wisconsin Public Radio reported</a>.</p><p>"The reckless slaughter of 135 wolves in just three days is appalling," said Collette Adkins, carnivore conservation director at the Center for Biological Diversity. "Sound science was ignored here in favor of catering to trophy hunters who were all too eager to kill wolves even at the height of breeding season. It will take years for Wisconsin's wolf population to recover from the damage done this week. And without federal protections, this bloody spectacle could easily play out in other states."</p><p>The hunt killed about 12 percent of Wisconsin's wolves, which last numbered between 1,034 and 1,057 according to 2020 DNR <a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATURDPtJG0H2bp-2FS2p7qmrdoE1k0lZGUnoapBLdZjmTJCK15VS_9DWd1IQpF0pa6moAa2K0USVLPw-2BdyUxYOf6Uxh7iNF2j-2F-2B0i4WsvfzVmvKM60HQTKBTl7-2FdSSDZkDf9HSA47QUmgHfQ3pfCbKBt6d7suISzSlDId36RWi2csLv7-2FEXhWWSkoFglobYU5KfJ7V3rYnRLAHtVsTP8O04pEbdY9PBs-2FAxY8iDOIk6FL2bAvqwldRziPkNjC-2BKVHe2TrnwXpAIlV04TbyPn9o7CtwxLPlvMAhJI3e9jhBOxTwgwhRoCaVts11Bai8tW99bXDuohXcTwxsWRJcrKOj5sA0Ou0d4lTdNEXHwRnqoYdIhdKAhslQX1vA6J-2Bi9MX9nfC-2BVBjgrRm0YUvz-2FtiGSLBiybmIHg-3D" target="_blank">data</a>.</p><p>Other <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a> groups also raised concerns about the rushed hunt. At the same time, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/indigenous" target="_self">Indigenous</a> communities criticized the lack of consultation. The state is required by law to consult with tribes on resources management.</p><p>"This hunt is not well-thought-out, well-planned, totally inadequate consultation with the tribes," Peter David, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission wildlife biologist, told Wisconsin Public Radio. "And maybe the biggest concern of all is that this season is not so much a hunting season as it is a killing season. No justification, really, was given for what was the legitimate purpose other than killing wolves."</p>
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Tom Vilsack speaks on December 11, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware after being nominated to be Agriculture Secretary by U.S. President Joe Biden. Jim Watson / AFP / Getty Images
By Jessica Corbett
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday was the lone progressive to vote against Tom Vilsack reprising his role as secretary of agriculture, citing concerns that progressive advocacy groups have been raising since even before President Joe Biden officially nominated the former Obama administration appointee.
<p>The Senate <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=117&session=1&vote=00063" target="_blank">voted</a> 92-7 to confirm Vilsack, with Sanders (I-Vt.) and six Republicans opposing his appointment. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) was the only member who did not vote.</p><p>In a statement on his decision, Sanders first said that "I have known Tom Vilsack for many years and look forward to working with him as our new secretary of agriculture."</p><p>"I opposed his confirmation today because at a time when corporate consolidation of agriculture is rampant and family farms are being decimated, we need a secretary who is prepared to vigorously take on corporate power in the industry," Sanders explained. "I heard from many family farmers in Vermont and around the country who feel that is not what Tom did when he last served in this job."</p><p><em>The Hill</em> <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/540137-sanders-votes-against-biden-usda-nominee-vilsack" target="_blank">reports</a> Sanders made similar remarks about Vilsack to journalists after the vote, saying that "I think he'll be fine, but not as strong as I would like."</p><p>The progressive group RootsAction praised Sanders on Twitter for taking a stand against Biden's pick to run the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).</p>
<div id="a420d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5369c498a5855fe2143b86fa07e23dff"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1364300806988652548" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">🚨🚨🚨 Bernie Sanders voted against Tom Vilsack's nomination. It's great to see the Senator stick to his principles a… https://t.co/u4XNU4viNC</div> — RootsAction (@RootsAction)<a href="https://twitter.com/Roots_Action/statuses/1364300806988652548">1614109634.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Fordham University law professor Zephyr Teachout also welcomed Sanders' move.</p><p>"This is the correct vote. Vilsack failed farmers, farmworkers, the land, and the public, and Shirley Sherrod," Teachout <a href="https://twitter.com/ZephyrTeachout/status/1364313747284705284" target="_blank">tweeted</a>, referencing the former Georgia state director of rural development at USDA who was ousted under Vilsack.</p><p>Sherrod, who is Black, recently <a href="https://19thnews.org/2020/12/shirley-sherrod-holds-no-ill-will-against-usda-nominee-who-ousted-her/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told</a> <em>The 19th</em> that "I have no ill will towards him, none at all," but added that if Vilsack returned as USDA chief, "he should be ready to get on the ground to make real change this time around. And we need to hold him to it. Black people need to see some real change."</p><p>As <em>Common Dreams</em> previously <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/12/08/sustainable-farming-advocates-warn-biden-vilsack-very-bad-pick-ag-secretary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a>, Vilsack has faced criticism for the USDA's treatment of Black farmers when he headed the department during the Obama administration—among other critiques.</p>
<p>Center for Food Safety policy director Jaydee Hanson <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/12/08/sustainable-farming-advocates-warn-biden-vilsack-very-bad-pick-ag-secretary" target="_blank">said</a> in December that Biden's potential selection of Vilsack was "a huge step backwards in our urgent need to support agricultural systems that protect public health, the environment, and mitigate the ongoing climate crisis."</p><p>Early Tuesday, in anticipation of Vilsack's bipartisan confirmation, Food & Water Watch executive director Wenonah Hauter—whose group <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/12/08/sustainable-farming-advocates-warn-biden-vilsack-very-bad-pick-ag-secretary" target="_blank">has been raising alarm</a> about him for months now—<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/02/23/vilsacks-confirmation-usda-warning-sign-family-farmers-and-food-worker-safety" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">issued</a> a warning about what to expect going forward.</p><p>"We can confidently predict what Tom Vilsack's leadership of the Agriculture Department will look like, because he's led it before. And the prediction is grim," she said. "In his previous stint at USDA, Vilsack backed mass corporate consolidation of our food system at the expense of struggling family farmers. Similarly, he readily advanced industry-driven initiatives allowing companies to inspect their own poultry processing plants, dismantling federal oversight of food and worker safety."</p><p>"This administration needs to drastically shift course from the Trump era by supporting sustainable, independent farming, halting the toxic expansion of polluting factory farms, and ultimately, prioritizing consumer health and worker safety," Hauter added. "We have little hope that Tom Vilsack cares to undertake this effort, so we will be pressuring him doggedly to see the light."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/23/citing-concerns-about-corporate-power-bernie-sanders-votes-against-bidens-choice" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>
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A mix of public and private forests in Oregon's Coast Range. Beverly Law / CC BY-ND
By Beverly Law and William Moomaw
Protecting forests is an essential strategy in the fight against climate change that has not received the attention it deserves. Trees capture and store massive amounts of carbon. And unlike some strategies for cooling the climate, they don't require costly and complicated technology.
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<p>Yet although <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/01/one-trillion-trees-world-economic-forum-launches-plan-to-help-nature-and-the-climate/" target="_blank">tree-planting initiatives are popular</a>, protecting and restoring existing forests rarely attracts the same level of support. As an example, forest protection was notably missing from the $447 million <a href="https://www.energy.senate.gov/services/files/32B4E9F4-F13A-44F6-A0CA-E10B3392D47A" target="_blank">Energy Act of 2020</a>, which the U.S. Congress passed in December 2020 to jump-start technological carbon capture and storage.</p><p>In our work as <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=J2KWqAoAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">forest carbon cycle</a> and <a href="https://fletcher.tufts.edu/people/william-moomaw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">climate change</a> scientists, we track carbon emissions from forests to wood products and all the way to landfills – and from forest fires. Our research shows that protecting carbon in forests is essential for meeting global climate goals.</p>
<p>Ironically, we see the U.S. <a href="https://www.energy.gov/fe/services/petroleum-reserves/strategic-petroleum-reserve" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Strategic Petroleum Reserve</a> as a model. This program, which was created after the 1973 oil crisis to guard against future supply disruptions, stores nearly 800 million gallons of oil in huge underground salt caverns along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. We propose creating strategic forest carbon reserves to store carbon as a way of stabilizing the climate, much as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve helps to stabilize oil markets.</p>
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The U.S. has more than 800 million acres of natural and planted forests and woodlands, of which nearly 60% are privately owned. USDA / USFS
<h3>Carbon Stockpiles That Grow</h3><p>Forests pull about one-third of all human-caused carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere each year. Researchers have calculated that ending <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/deforestation">deforestation</a> and allowing mature forests to keep growing could <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25138" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">enable forests to take up twice as much carbon</a>.</p><p>Half of a tree's stems, branches and roots are composed of carbon. Live and dead trees, along with forest soil, hold the equivalent of <a href="http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/ca9825en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">80% of all the carbon currently in Earth's atmosphere</a>.</p><p>Trees accumulate carbon over extremely long periods of time. For example, redwoods, Douglas firs and western red cedars in the coastal forests of the Pacific Northwest can live for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0901970106" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">800 years or more</a>. When they die and decompose, much of that carbon ends up in soil, where it is stored for centuries or millennia.</p><p>Mature trees that have reached full root, bark and canopy development deal with climate variability better than young trees. Older trees also store more carbon. <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-old-growth-forests/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Old-growth trees</a>, which usually are hundreds of years old, store enormous quantities of carbon in their wood, and accumulate more carbon annually.</p>
<p>There are many fallacies about forest carbon storage, such as the concern that wildfires in the American West are <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/California-wildfires-emitted-a-huge-amount-of-15775044.php" target="_blank">releasing huge quantities of carbon</a> into the atmosphere. In fact, fires are a relatively small carbon source. For example, the massive Biscuit Fire, which burned 772 square miles in southwest Oregon in 2002, emitted <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1720064115" target="_blank">less than 10% of Oregon's total emissions that year</a>.</p><p>Another false claim is that it's OK from a climate perspective to cut trees and turn them into furniture, plywood and other items because <a href="https://oregonforests.org/sites/default/files/2020-07/OFRI_CarbonSpecialReport_DIGITAL.pdf" target="_blank">wood products</a> can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904231116" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">store substantial amounts of carbon</a>. These assertions fail to count <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s13021-016-0066-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cradle-to-grave emissions</a> from logging and manufacturing, which can be substantial.</p><p>The wood products industry releases carbon in many ways, from manufacturing products and burning mill waste to the breakdown of short-lived items like paper towels. It takes decades to centuries for newly planted forests to accumulate the carbon storage levels of mature and old forests, and many planted forests are <a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-3691-2013" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">repeatedly harvested</a>.</p>
<p>In a review that we conducted with colleagues in 2019, we found that overall, U.S. state and federal reporting <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab28bb" target="_blank">underestimated wood product-related carbon dioxide emissions by 25% to 55%</a>. We analyzed Oregon carbon emissions from wood that had been harvested over the past century and discovered that 65% of the original carbon returned to the atmosphere as CO2. Landfills retained 16%, while just 19% remained in wood products.</p><p>In contrast, protecting high carbon-density western U.S. forests that have low vulnerability to mortality from drought or fire would sequester the equivalent of about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2039" target="_blank">six years</a> of fossil fuel emissions from the entire western U.S., from the Rocky Mountain states to the Pacific coast.</p>
<h3>Focus on Big Trees</h3><p>In a recently published analysis of carbon storage in six national forests in Oregon, we showed why a strategic forest carbon reserve program should <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2020.594274" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">focus on mature and old forests</a>. Big trees, with trunks more than 21 inches in diameter, make up just 3% of these forests but store 42% of the above-ground carbon. Globally, a 2018 study found that the largest-diameter 1% of trees hold <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12747" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">half of all the carbon stored in the world's forests</a>.</p><p>Findings like these are spurring interest in the idea of <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2019.00027" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">proforestation</a> – keeping existing forests intact and letting them grow to their full potential. Advocates see proforestation as an effective, immediate and low-cost strategy to store carbon. Older forests are more resilient to climate change than <a href="https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v64i0.17159" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">young</a> tree plantations, which are more susceptible to drought and severe wildfires. Like the 2,000-year-old redwoods in California that have <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/2-000-year-old-redwoods-survive-wildfire-california-s-oldest-n1237949" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">survived recent wildfires</a>, many tree species in old forests have lived through past climate extremes.</p><p>Creating forest carbon reserves would also conserve critical habitat for many types of wildlife that are threatened by human activities. Connecting these reserves to other parks and refuges could help <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-climate-corridors-help-species-adapt-to-warming-world-61190" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">species that need to migrate</a> in response to climate change.</p>
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<h3>Using Forests to Meet Climate Goals</h3><p>More than half of U.S. forested lands <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/nrs/pubs/inf/nrs_inf_31_15-NWOS-whoowns.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">are privately owned</a>, so strategic forest carbon reserves should be established on both public and private lands. The challenge is paying for them, which will require a major shift in government and societal priorities. We believe that transferring public investment in oil and gas subsidies to pay private land owners to keep their forests growing could act as a <a href="https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/or/technical/cp/?cid=stelprdb1262209" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">powerful incentive</a> for private land owners.</p><p>Many researchers and conservation advocates have called for comprehensive actions to <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-solve-climate-change-and-biodiversity-loss-we-need-a-global-deal-for-nature-115557" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">slow climate change and reduce species losses</a>. One prominent example is the <a href="https://www.ncel.net/2020/02/27/30x30-land-and-water-conservation-in-the-states/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">30x30 initiative</a>, which seeks to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw2869" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">conserve 30% of the world's land and oceans by 2030</a>. In an executive order on Jan. 27, 2021, President Biden directed his administration to develop plans for conserving at least 30% of <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/executive-order-on-tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">federally controlled lands and waters</a> by 2030.</p><p>Recent projections show that to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, governments will have to increase their pledges to reduce carbon emissions by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021-00097-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">as much as 80%</a>. We see the next 10 to 20 years as a critical window for climate action, and believe that permanent protection for mature and old forests is the greatest opportunity for near-term climate benefits.</p>
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<em>Beverly Law is professor emeritus of global change biology and terrestrial systems science at Oregon State University.<br/>
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<em><span style="background-color: initial;">William Moomaw is p</span>rofessor emeritus of international environmental policy at Tufts University.</em>
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<em>Disclosure statements: Beverly Law receives funding from U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. She is a Fellow of the Earth Leadership Program. </em><em>William Moomaw receives funding from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. He is affiliated with the Woodwell Climate Research Center, the Climate Group – North America, the Earthwatch Institute and the Nature Conservancy.</em>
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<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/keeping-trees-in-the-ground-where-they-are-already-growing-is-an-effective-low-tech-way-to-slow-climate-change-154618" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em></p><script async="async" data-counter="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154618/count?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" id="theconversation_tracker_hook" src="https://theconversation.com/javascripts/lib/content_tracker_hook.js" type="text/javascript"></script>From Your Site Articles
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A car is seen driving in the snow in Dallas in Feb. 2021. Matthew Rader / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
By Matt Casale
There were many lessons to be learned from Texas' prolonged periods of lost power during its cold snap, which saw temperatures drop into the single digits. But one many people may not recognize is that electric vehicles, or EVs, can be part of a smart resiliency plan — not only in the case of outages triggered by the cold but in other scenarios caused by extreme weather events, from fire-related blackouts in California to hurricane-hit power losses in Puerto Rico.
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY4MzUzMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0ODE5NDUyNX0.HsCUIOHci2bS-YOU-V6mfoODWVeCapEzr1YbNdFqnig/img.jpg?width=980" id="b6c31" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1af172a4964aad443c982a094d7c85d9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1080" data-height="720" />
A car driving in the snow in Dallas, Feb. 2021. Matthew Rader / CC BY-SA 4.0
<p>Experts recognize that electric vehicles are a central climate solution for their role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But EVs are also essentially batteries on wheels. You can store energy in those batteries, and if EVs are equipped with something called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle-to-grid" target="_blank">vehicle-to-grid</a> or vehicle-to-building technology, they can also be used to keep the lights on in emergencies. The technology allows the energy being stored in an EV battery to be pushed back into the grid or into buildings to provide power.</p><p>There are hurdles: The technology is still <a href="https://www.greenbiz.com/article/vehicle-grid-technology-revving" target="_blank">developing</a>, the vast majority of EVs currently on the road do not have this capability, and utilities would need regulatory approval before bringing it to scale. But done right it could be a great opportunity.</p><p>Electric car batteries can hold approximately <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/11/how-california-can-use-electric-vehicles-keep-lights" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">60 kilowatt hours (kWh)</a> of energy, enough to provide back-up power to an average U.S. household for two days. Larger electric vehicles like buses and trucks have even bigger batteries and can provide more power. The American company Proterra produces electric buses that can store <a href="https://www.proterra.com/press-release/proterra-launches-zx5-electric-bus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">up to 660 kWh of energy</a>. Electric <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/electric-trash-trucks-are-coming-quietly-to-your-town-11602098620#:~:text=Electric%20trash%20truck%20love%20is%20in%20the%20air.&text=A's%20program%20to%20reduce%20carbon,being%20primarily%20electric%20by%202023." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">garbage trucks</a> and even <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/business/electric-semi-trucks-big-rigs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">big-rigs</a>, with bigger batteries, are becoming a reality too.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY4MzUzNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NTM2MzEwNn0.KL9N8R5wSAaHQUpJVAFdUkc4DyNAV3ERQSP6vhAxj1c/img.jpg?width=980" id="a2215" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f089d78a004c8cb279189d1c3f068bf5" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="800" data-height="562" />
MTA New York City Transit / Marc A. Hermann / CC BY 2.0
<p>If equipped with vehicle-to-grid or vehicle-to-building technology, those cars, buses and trucks could prove invaluable during future blackouts. People could rely on their cars to power their houses. Municipalities, transit agencies and school districts could send out their fleets to the areas most in need. We could power homes, shelters and emergency response centers — and could keep people warm, healthy and comfortable until power could be restored.</p><p>But to add this great resiliency tool to our arsenal in times of extreme weather, we must significantly increase the number of EVs on the road. In 2019 electric cars accounted for only about <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/articles/fotw-1136-june-1-2020-plug-vehicle-sales-accounted-about-2-all-light-duty" target="_blank">2%</a> of all light-duty vehicle sales in the country. Electric buses and trucks are becoming more common in the United States, but still only represent a tiny fraction of the fleet. As it stands now, the EVs currently on the road, even if equipped with vehicle-to-grid technology, would do little to help a broad swath of the population in need of power.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY4MzU0OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMDM3MjIxOX0.7YMrPnmM94g_wIhBA7irS7WeIeHQJQUhkZ30nEsWEFY/img.jpg?width=980" id="15537" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="abb30f1e8d614f5aa8bf4fb5c4c14f7f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="799" data-height="533" />
A line of electric cars at charging stations. Andrew Bone / CC BY 2.0
<p>There are some signs that this is changing. <a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2020/09/23/governor-newsom-announces-california-will-phase-out-gasoline-powered-cars-drastically-reduce-demand-for-fossil-fuel-in-californias-fight-against-climate-change/" target="_blank">California</a> and <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gasoline-car-sales-to-end-by-2035-in-massachusetts/" target="_blank">Massachusetts</a> have both announced intentions to explore a policy that would require all new cars after 2035 be electric. General Motors is the latest major automaker to announce an <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/01/28/general-motors-electric/" target="_blank">intention</a> to move toward producing only electric cars. Several major transit agencies, including in <a href="https://www.capmetro.org/electricbus#:~:text=CapMetro%20has%20purchased%20a%20total,and%20more%20riders%20per%20bus." target="_blank">Texas</a>, are starting to switch to all-electric buses.</p><p>But we must move faster. If we <a href="https://uspirg.org/feature/usp/electric-buses-america-0" target="_blank">electrified the nation's transit and school bus fleets</a> by 2030, for example, we could have more than 500,000 large mobile batteries available across the country.</p><p>To support widespread adoption of electric vehicles, we need to invest in the <a href="https://uspirg.org/reports/usp/plugging" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">charging infrastructure necessary</a> to accommodate explosive growth. We also need to make sure that as EV adoption increases, the vehicles and infrastructure are set up to use the power-transfer technology. Nissan already does this with its <a href="https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1127590_nissan-leaf-as-home-energy-device-wallbox-will-soon-enable-it-in-the-u-s" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Leaf-to-home</a> system. <a href="https://www.proterra.com/press-release/proterra-introduces-new-high-power-interoperable-ev-charging-technology/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Proterra</a> offers transit buses equipped with the technology. <a href="https://www.dominionenergy.com/our-stories/electric-school-buses" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dominion Energy</a> in Virginia is working with school bus manufacturers to develop and operationalize a large-scale school bus vehicle-to-grid program.</p><p>To standardize the technology and make it accessible to everyone, utilities should seek regulatory approval to implement programs and invest in vehicle-to-grid capable infrastructure, and automakers should make it easy for consumers to install chargers that can send power both ways.</p><p>As that happens, governments at all levels should work to incorporate electric vehicles into their emergency response plans. Shelters, hospitals, emergency response centers and other buildings critical to crisis management should be equipped with the infrastructure necessary to pull power from EVs. Heavy-duty fleets like buses and trucks present particularly promising opportunities to provide power to people in need, but all the electric buses in the world won't do any good if we're not prepared to have them charged and ready to deploy to the areas that need them the most.</p><p>A <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7vyvk/texas-tesla-owners-are-drawing-power-from-their-cars-during-blackouts" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">few Tesla owners</a> in Texas were able to draw power from their cars to stay warm and keep the lights on this month, which is great. But this valuable resource shouldn't be limited to a few select people on a one-off basis. With more EVs on the road and careful planning and preparation, we could have millions of mobile batteries available to help keep the power on for <em>everyone</em> in emergencies.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://therevelator.org/author/casale/" target="_blank"><em>Matt Casale </em></a><em>is the transportation campaign director for U.S. PIRG, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the public interest and speaks out for a healthier, safer world in which we're freer to pursue our own individual well-being and the common good. Matt works on the local, state and federal levels to bring about policy changes that will reduce the need to drive, electrify buses and electrify cars — so the easiest, cheapest and most pleasant ways to travel are also the cleanest and healthiest. Matt lives in Boston with his wife and two daughters.</em></em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/texas-blackouts-electric-vehicles/" target="_blank">The Revelator.</a></em></p>
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Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation safely returned 10 rescued orangutans to the wild on Borneo Island, Indonesia. Afriadi Hikmal / Getty Images
With lockdowns in place and budgets slashed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many environmental protections vanished this past year, leaving some of the world's most vulnerable species and habitats at risk. But conservationists at the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation were faced with an entirely different threat.
<p>Their beloved orangutans share a strikingly similar DNA to humans, making them susceptible to respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-orangutans/ten-rescued-orangutans-returned-to-the-wild-in-indonesia-idUSKBN2AN0R7" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>. So when it came time to reintroduce a group of rescued orangutans back into the wild, conservationists had to rethink their usual transportation methods to prevent potentially spreading the virus.</p><p>The solution? Reintroduce the critically endangered species via helicopter.</p><p>Last week, ten orangutans returned to the wild by taking a flight to the Indonesian portion of Borneo Island, Reuters reported.</p><p>"For an entire year, we have not been able to release orangutans due to the global pandemic, but we are still strongly committed to the orangutan conservation effort," Jamartin Sihite, CEO of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, said in a <a href="https://orangutan.or.id/press-release-bos-foundation-conducts-back-to-back-orangutan-releases-in-central-and-east-kalimantan/" target="_blank">statement</a>.</p>
<p>Prior to their release, the orangutans were held in rehabilitation centers, according to Reuters. They included five males, a mother and two babies and two other females.</p><p>"Using a helicopter is the best way to transport orangutans during the pandemic," Denny Kurniawan, BOSF program manager, told Reuters. Normally it would take three days to drive the orangutans to their drop-off area, adding to the risk of further exposure between humans and orangutans, Reuters noted. However, air travel reduced travel time and kept veterinarians and orangutans at a safer distance.</p><p>"Efforts to help curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus have hampered many conservation-related activities," Handi Nasoka, acting head of Central Kalimantan's conservation agency, told Reuters.</p><p>Orangutans are critically endangered, according to the <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/orangutan" target="_blank">World Wildlife Fund</a>, with about 104,700 Bornean orangutans remaining. While the decline in populations is partially due to the expansion of palm oil and other agricultural plantations, causing habitat loss, orangutans also fall prey to illegal hunting and trading. The latter has been on the rise since the pandemic started.</p>
<p><br>In Africa, for example, international travel restrictions caused the continent's $39 billion tourism industry to decline, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/science/coronavirus-poaching-rhinos.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The New York Times reported</a>. Highly visited areas have become empty, making it difficult for conservation groups to keep track of illegal activity across Africa's vast lands, The New York Times reported.<br></p><p>"These animals are not just protected by rangers, they're also protected by tourist presence," Tim Davenport, who directs Africa's species conservation programs at the Wildlife Conservation Society, told The New York Times. Since the March lockdown, South Africa had experienced a rapid increase in rhino poachings. Now poachers are taking advantage of unpatrolled lands, illustrating "the risks of relying too heavily on tourism to support conservation," Davenport added.</p><p>While the pandemic highlights the unique threat that economic struggle poses to endangered species, it also emphasizes the necessary role conservationists play in protecting them.</p><p>"We cannot afford to stop our work under any circumstance," Sunandar Trigunajasa, head of the East Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency, which helped with the orangutan release, <a href="https://orangutan.or.id/press-release-bos-foundation-conducts-back-to-back-orangutan-releases-in-central-and-east-kalimantan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said in a statement</a>. "What we must do is keep on innovating and adapting to the dynamic conditions and moving forward."</p>
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Flooding in Annapolis, Maryland after Hurricane Isabel, on Sept. 19, 2003. Michael Land / Chesapeake Bay Program / Flickr
Annapolis, Maryland, is suing 26 oil and gas companies for deceiving the public about their products' role in causing climate change. The city is among two dozen state and local governments to file such a lawsuit.
<p>"The companies worked to deceive people of the danger, hiding their knowledge and engaging in an intentional campaign to mislead the public about the science proving the growing danger posed by fossil fuels," Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley told reporters. </p>
<p>The city seeks to force the companies to help cover the mounting costs of climate change, including severe <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding">flooding</a> that disproportionately harms communities of color. "We're looking at a price tag of almost $100 million," Jacqueline Guild, deputy city manager for resilience and sustainability, told reporters. "And that's just the tip of the melting iceberg, if you will."</p>
<p>The Annapolis lawsuit comes as state and local plaintiffs and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels">fossil fuel</a> industry defendants await a Supreme Court decision on <a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/top_story/baltimore-scotus-case/?swcfpc=1&utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=112702811&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9oCCRCsM6fMxlAnQky2IWZlz_EqiN1eBkbgHRoNLp0q5up6OkM5h8s2XaUx_352gLVkAp-JoYaa-ohHX86jT2bziGNbw&utm_content=112702811&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BP PLC v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore</a>, which could have major implications for states' and municipalities' lawsuits. </p>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong><br/></p><p>Annapolis: <a href="https://www.capitalgazette.com/maryland/annapolis/ac-cn-annapolis-fossil-fuels-lawsuit-20210222-20210223-vs2ff7eiibfgje6fvjwticys2i-story.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=112702811&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--9Fjm1KwJ7k4YF9C8fq_1ZXKgXdzY-lXaGeFFOzdwg-BqJoDR_o3pIpuiMviR7mpYvfap-VyNyjkovq7z_KoG0JH76Vw&utm_content=112702811&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Capital Gazette</a>, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/environment-lawsuits-maryland-annapolis-local-governments-e36dc272334a7ad7e12611f728212fe6?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=112702811&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_djMJPVFK_eTsJR5IRyS0SSw3s2WTLoq-enVHi9wbBrY_SHe-wrv6UDP0pCownPN4Um6EP-n_UH4f6ITzXvc7RDnAGCQ&utm_content=112702811&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AP</a>, <a href="https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/02/23/stories/1063725767?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=112702811&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--eVxS2QCegA6ero_CkueKoRI517DveIOSUakUO6ui9tmoK83WTj-0_GBQiORfRCTYAnO7P0HBYAaxKM1ea-XevZlbjcQ&utm_content=112702811&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">E&E</a>; SCOTUS: <a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063725453?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=112702811&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9NfSxJcOA2Qr9IkzIWlv_A2xI9tZ_nt0eKrLVshEp389nHm45yAmkcs5yKd9Oxz30aArEnC0Dwd7spmuJnZ_cUbkIYGA&utm_content=112702811&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">E&E</a></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, sign up for daily </em><a href="https://www.linktrack.live/hot-news-sign-up" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>, and visit their news site, </em><a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Nexus Media News</em></a><em>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A man takes pictures during media tour before the Grand opening of Dillon Colorado's Ice Castles Dec. 21, 2018. Andy Cross / The Denver Post / Getty Images
In the movie "Frozen," Queen Elsa magically creates a palace made of sparkling ice. For Brent Christensen, making an ice palace is harder, but the results are still enchanting.
<p>"We try to create what feels like an otherworldly experience," he says.</p><p>Christensen is the founder of <a href="https://icecastles.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ice Castles</a>. His company builds elaborate ice structures that tower up to 40 feet high.</p><p>They start by making thousands of icicles, which they fuse together and then spray repeatedly with water.</p>
<iframe style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/17954549/height/45/theme/standard/thumbnail/yes/direction/backward/" height="45" width="100%" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe><p>"So given a month of good cold weather, we can create some pretty massive structures," Christensen says.</p><p>Low temperatures are good for building, but visitors dislike extreme cold. So the company's sites in Utah, Colorado, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin are in areas that often hover near 32 degrees.</p><p>"Some years it's really cold, some years it's not, and we just kind of hold our breath and work with what we have," Christensen says.</p><p>Last year, the Wisconsin location's opening was delayed because the ice was melting. And climate change is bringing more warm days.</p><p>"Long term, definitely, if I were to pass this down generation to generation, we'd be moving further north I'm sure," Christensen says.</p><p>But for now, he is coping with the uncertainty. And this year his team was able to build ice castles fit for Queen Elsa herself.</p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/02/his-business-is-building-ice-castles/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em></p>
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The Milky Way seen from the Izu Peninsula, Japan, on the Pacific Ocean coast. Krzysztof Baranowski / Moment / Getty Images
When you look up at the Milky Way, you may be looking at stars surrounded by planets with oceans like ours.
<p>A study published in<em> <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/8/eabc0444" target="_blank">Science Advances</a> </em>on Feb. 17 found that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/water" target="_self">water</a> could have been part of Earth's early formation, increasing the likelihood that this would be the case for other planets, too.</p><p>"All our data suggest that water was part of Earth's building blocks, right from the beginning. And because the water molecule is frequently occurring, there is a reasonable probability that it applies to all planets in the Milky Way," study lead author professor Anders Johansen from the Centre for Star and Planet Formation at the GLOBE Institute at the University of Copenhagen said in a <a href="https://healthsciences.ku.dk/newsfaculty-news/2021/02/the-milky-way-may-be-swarming-with-planets-with-oceans-and-continents-like-here-on-earth/" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p>
<p>Scientists previously theorized that water arrived on planets like Earth after they formed through collisions with ice asteroids. This would make the presence of water on any planet in the galaxy a matter of chance. But, in recent years, new theories have emerged. Another <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/origin-water-earth-2647413989.html" target="_self">paper published in August 2020</a> found that water may have been part of Earth's original building blocks.</p><p>That paper, led by the French-based Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, drew its conclusions by looking at the composition of a type of meteorite that has a similar composition to early Earth.</p>
<p>The new study, on the other hand, was based on computer models. The researchers modeled planet formation to see how long it would take using which building blocks. They calculated that Earth, Venus and Mars were all made through a process called "pebble accretion," in which millimeter-sized particles of dust and ice gather together into planets.</p><p>"Up to the point where Earth had grown to one percent of its current mass, our planet grew by capturing masses of pebbles filled with ice and carbon. Earth then grew faster and faster until, after five million years, it became as large as we know it today," Johansen said in the press release.</p>
<p>This theory does not require water to be brought to a planet from outside. Instead, what determines the presence of liquid water on the planet is how far it is from its sun. It also increases the likelihood that liquid water would form on other planets in our galaxy, since they could have formed in the same way from the same materials.</p><p>This, in turn, increases the chance that these planets would host extraterrestrial life.</p><p>'With our model, all planets get the same amount of water, and this suggests that other planets may have not just the same amount of water and oceans, but also the same amount of continents as here on Earth. It provides good opportunities for the emergence of life," study co-author professor Martin Bizzarro, also at the University of Copenhagen, said in the press release.</p>
<p>This is not the first study to suggest that other planets in our galaxy were likely to have oceans. A<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/are-planets-with-oceans-common-in-the-galaxy-it-s-likely-nasa-scientists-find" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> NASA-led study published in June of 2020</a> looked at the likelihood that other planets in the Milky Way would have ice-covered oceans similar to those on Saturn's moon Enceladus and Jupiter's moon Europa. They calculated that 14 of the 53 planets they studied could be ocean worlds.</p>
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The numbers of migratory freshwater fish such as salmon have declined 76 percent since 1970. Mike Bons / 500px / Getty Images
The latest warning of the Earth's mounting extinction crisis is coming from its lakes and rivers.
<p>A new <a href="https://wwfint.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/world_s_forgotten_fishes__report_final__1.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> from a coalition of 16 <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a> groups warns that almost a third of freshwater <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fish" target="_self">fish</a> species face extinction because of human activity.</p><p>"Nowhere is the world's nature crisis more acute than in our rivers, lakes and wetlands, and the clearest indicator of the damage we are doing is the rapid decline in freshwater fish populations. They are the aquatic version of the canary in the coal mine, and we must heed the warning," Stuart Orr, WWF global freshwater lead, said in a <a href="https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/press_releases/?1529966/Worlds-forgotten-fishes-vital-for-hundreds-of-millions-of-people-but-one-third-face-extinction-warns-new-report" target="_blank">statement</a> Tuesday announcing the report.</p><p>WWF is one of the many organizations behind the report, along with the Alliance for Freshwater Life, Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy, to name a few. Together, the groups emphasized the incredible diversity of the world's freshwater fish and their importance for human wellbeing.</p><p>There are a total of 18,075 freshwater fish species in the world, accounting for 51 percent of all fish species and 25 percent of all vertebrates. They are an important food source for 200 million people and provide work for 60 million. But their numbers are in decline. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has declared 80 to be extinct, 16 of those in 2020 alone. The numbers of migratory freshwater fish such as salmon have declined 76 percent since 1970, while mega-fish such as beluga sturgeon have fallen by 94 percent in the same time period. In fact, freshwater <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity" target="_self">biodiversity</a> is plummeting at twice the rate of biodiversity in the oceans and forests.</p>
<p>Despite this, freshwater fish get much less attention than their saltwater counterparts, the report authors say. Titled "The World's Forgotten Fishes," it argues that policy makers rarely consider river <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_self">wildlife</a> when making decisions. </p><p>The main threats to freshwater fish include building <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/dams" target="_self">dams</a>, syphoning river water for irrigation, releasing wastewater and draining wetlands. Other factors include <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/overfishing" target="_self">overfishing</a>, introducing <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/invasive-species" target="_self">invasive species</a> and the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>.</p><p>"As we look to adapt to climate change and we start to think about all the discussions that governments are going to have on biodiversity, it's really a time for us to shine a light back on freshwater," Orr told <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/extinction-threatens-third-freshwater-fish-species-report-finds-n1258591" target="_blank">NBC News</a>.</p><p>To protect these forgotten fishes, the report authors outlined a six-point plan:</p><blockquote>1. Let rivers flow more naturally;<br>2. Improve water quality in freshwater ecosystems;<br>3. Protect and restore critical habitats;<br>4. End overfishing and unsustainable sand mining in rivers and lakes;<br>5. Prevent and control invasions by non-native species; and<br>6. Protect free-flowing rivers and remove obsolete dams.</blockquote><p>They also called on world leaders to include freshwater ecosystems in an ambitious biodiversity agreement at the upcoming UN Convention on Biological Diversity conference in Kunming, China.</p><p>But the solution will require more than just government action.</p><p>"It's now more urgent than ever that we find the collective political will and effective collaboration with private sector, governments, NGOs and communities, to implement nature-based solutions that protect freshwater species, while also ensuring human needs are met," Carmen Revenga of The Nature Conservancy told <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56160756" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">BBC News</a>.</p>
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