Historic Flooding Swamps Louisiana: More Than 20,000 Rescued From Cars and Homes
An unusually wet tropical storm, fed by above average sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico, has dumped record amounts of rain in Louisiana since Friday, flooding homes, killing at least six and forcing 20,000 people to flee the rapidly rising waters.
During storms that normally occur only once every 500 years, five cities received rainfall totaling more than two feet while nine river gauges reported record flooding. Gov. John Bel Edwards called the situation "truly historic" and President Obama issued a disaster declaration for the state.
Historic flooding underway in parts of Louisiana right now. This picture was taken just north of Baton Rouge. https://t.co/Ux6AMrR3kR— Eric Snitil (@Eric Snitil)1471013528.0
The torrential rainfall, which has moved on to Texas, fits with the observed increase in extreme rainfall events linked to climate change. As the world warms, storms are able to feed on warmer ocean water and the air is able to hold and dump more water.
GOES-14 rapid-scan imagery showing the storms over the Gulf Coast on 8/12. See more at https://t.co/9jpr1J4Ids https://t.co/P50kypdBev— NOAA Satellites (@NOAA Satellites)1471024723.0
For a deeper dive:
News: ABC News, CBS News, CNN, LA Times, Reuters, New York Times, NBC News, KATU, Washington Post, Reuters, Houston Chronicle, AP, Mashable, VICE, USA Today
Commentary: Pacific Standard, Eric Holthaus column
Background: Climate Signals
For more climate change and clean energy news, you can follow Climate Nexus on Twitter and Facebook, and sign up for daily Hot News.
LumiNola / E+ / Getty Images
By Gwen Ranniger
Fertility issues are on the rise, and new literature points to ways that your environment may be part of the problem. We've rounded up some changes you can make in your life to promote a healthy reproductive system.
Infertility and Environmental Health: The Facts
<ul> <li>Sperm count is declining steeply, significantly, and continuously in Western countries, with no signs of tapering off. Erectile dysfunction is on the rise, and women are facing increasing rates of miscarriage and difficulty conceiving.</li><li>Why? A huge factor is our environmental health. Hormones (particularly testosterone and estrogen) are what make reproductive function possible, and our hormones are increasingly being negatively affected by harmful, endocrine-disrupting chemicals commonplace in the modern world—in our homes, foods, and lifestyles.</li></ul>What You Can Do About It
<p>It should be noted that infertility can be caused by any number of factors, including medical conditions that cannot be solved with a simple change at home.</p><p><em>If you or a loved one are struggling with infertility, our hearts and sympathies are with you. Your pain is validated and we hope you receive answers to your struggles.</em></p><p>Read on to discover our tips to restore or improve reproductive health by removing harmful habits and chemicals from your environment.</p>Edit Your Health
<ul><li>If you smoke, quit! Smoking is toxic, period. If someone in your household smokes, urge them to quit or institute a no-smoking ban in the house. It is just as important to avoid secondhand smoke.</li><li>Maintain a healthy weight. Make sure your caloric intake is right for your body and strive for moderate exercise.</li><li>Eat cleanly! Focus on whole foods and less processed meals and snacks. Studies have found that eating a Mediterranean-style diet is linked to increased fertility.</li><li>Minimize negative/constant stress—or find ways to manage it. Hobbies such as meditation or yoga that encourage practiced breathing are great options to reduce the physical toll of stress.</li></ul>Edit Your Home
<p>We spend a lot of time in our homes—and care that what we bring into them will not harm us. You may not be aware that many commonly found household items are sources of harmful, endocrine-disrupting compounds. Read on to find steps you can take—and replacements you should make—in your home.</p><p><strong>In the Kitchen</strong></p><ul> <li>Buy organic, fresh, unprocessed foods whenever possible. <a href="https://www.ehn.org/clean-grocery-shopping-guide-2648563801.html" target="_blank">Read our grocery shopping guide for more tips about food.</a></li><li>Switch to glass, ceramics, or stainless steel for food storage: plastics often contain endocrine-disrupting chemicals that affect fertility. <a href="https://www.ehn.org/bpa-pollution-2645493129.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Learn more about the dangers of plastic here.</a></li><li>Ban plastic from the microwave. If you have a plastic splatter cover, use paper towel, parchment paper, or an upside-down plate instead.</li><li>Upgrade your cookware: non-stick may make life easier, but it is made with unsafe chemical compounds that seep into your food. Cast-iron and stainless steel are great alternatives.</li><li>Filter tap water. Glass filter pitchers are an inexpensive solution; if you want to invest you may opt for an under-the-sink filter.</li><li>Check your cleaning products—many mainstream products are full of unsafe chemicals. <a href="https://www.ehn.org/how-to-shop-for-cleaning-products-while-avoiding-toxics-2648130273.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Check out our guide to safe cleaning products for more info</a>.</li></ul><p><strong>In the Bathroom </strong></p><ul> <li>Check the labels on your bathroom products: <em>fragrance-free, paraben-free, phthalate-free</em> and organic labels are all great signs. You can also scan the ingredients lists for red-flag chemicals such as: triclosan, parabens, and dibutyl phthalate. Use the <a href="https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/" target="_blank">EWG Skin Deep database</a> to vet your personal products.</li><li>Ditch the vinyl shower curtain—that new shower curtain smell is chemical-off gassing. Choose a cotton or linen based curtain instead.</li><li>Banish air fresheners—use natural fresheners (an open window, baking soda, essential oils) instead.</li></ul><p><strong>Everywhere Else</strong></p><ul><li>Remove wall-to-wall carpet. If you've been considering wood or tile, here's your sign: many synthetic carpets can emit harmful chemicals for years. If you want a rug, choose wool or plant materials such as jute or sisal.</li><li>Prevent dust build-up. Dust can absorb chemicals in the air and keep them lingering in your home. Vacuum rugs and wipe furniture, trim, windowsills, fans, TVs, etc. Make sure to have a window open while you're cleaning!</li><li>Leave shoes at the door! When you wear your shoes throughout the house, you're tracking in all kinds of chemicals. If you like wearing shoes inside, consider a dedicated pair of "indoor shoes" or slippers.</li><li>Clean out your closet—use cedar chips or lavender sachets instead of mothballs, and use "green" dry-cleaning services over traditional methods. If that isn't possible, let the clothes air out outside or in your garage for a day before putting them back in your closet.</li><li>Say no to plastic bags!</li><li>We asked 22 endocrinologists what products they use - and steer clear of—in their homes. <a href="https://www.ehn.org/nontoxic-products-2648564261.html" target="_blank">Check out their responses here</a>.</li></ul>Learn More
<ul><li>For more information and action steps, be sure to check out <em>Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts, Altering Male and Female Reproductive Development, and Imperiling the Future of the Human Race</em> by EHS adjunct scientist Shanna Swan, PhD: <a href="https://www.shannaswan.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">available for purchase here.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ehn.org/st/Subscribe_to_Above_The_Fold" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sign up for our Above the Fold Newsletter </a>to stay up to date about impacts on the environment and your health.</li></ul>From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Seattle-based Community Loaves uses home bakers to help those facing food insecurity during the pandemic. Sol de Zuasnabar Brebbia / Getty Images
The irony hit Katherine Kehrli, the associate dean of Seattle Culinary Academy, when one of the COVID-19 pandemic's successive waves of closures flattened restaurants: Many of her culinary students were themselves food insecure. She saw cooks, bakers, and chefs-in-training lose the often-multiple jobs that they needed simply to eat.
<p>"The pandemic has leveled the most marginalized members of our society—the people working two, three jobs at minimum wage," Kehrli says. She knows the statistics by heart: FeedingAmerica.org says <a href="https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">50 million people may experience hunger and food insecurity this year</a>. "Its tendrils," she adds, "are nasty."</p><p>Kehrli knew she wouldn't be able to make the entire U.S. food system more equitable and just, but she did have an idea to help her local community. Six years before, after spending time in the culinary school's bake shop, she'd gotten hooked on the alchemy of flour, water, yeast, and salt. She took workshops with master bakers and built a library of cookbooks on bread. Kehrli even started a regional network of people who shared her hobby: Northwest Bread Bakers. She loved to bake, and during the pandemic, other homebound Americans were beginning to feed sourdough starters by the millions. Kehrli wondered: Could a trending private hobby help meet wider needs?</p><p>A little policy research showed that, in Washington, bread was one of the few homemade foods the state health department allowed to be donated to food banks without needing to be made in a licensed commercial kitchen. And so in April, from Kehrli's home—where giant bags of flour eventually displaced the family car from the garage—<a href="https://communityloaves.org/" target="_blank">the Community Loaves initiative</a> was born. She called on a hive of baking friends to develop a sandwich-friendly, easy-to-execute sourdough recipe, the "honey oat pan loaf." The group found a food bank in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland called Hopelink that agreed to take the bread if they could make and package it in a standardized way. That first batch, the initiative donated 19 loaves.</p><p>Ten months later, the numbers have mushroomed. Nearly 700 volunteer bakers, drivers, and flour packers have contributed to the donation of nearly 15,000 loaves to 11 food pantries around Seattle. Two Sundays a month, the individual bakers each make four loaves (three to donate, one to keep) that get distributed among 36 neighborhood hubs. Community Loaves is on track to give away more than 30,000 loaves before the end of 2021.</p>
<p>The initiative has already expanded to three locations in Oregon, and Kehrli expects to inspire other cities. She's already gotten calls from bakers in Connecticut, California, and Minnesota wondering how they can replicate the idea.</p><p>The proud but visibly fatigued founder is braced for more in early January when she beams in for a virtual interview. Kehrli had been up until 3:44 a.m. the night before, she reports wearily, then up again at 7 and back in action with no shower or makeup. "I can't sleep anymore," she says."I have stuff to do."</p><p>One of her two college-age sons slips in a veggie bowl for her to snack on, because she hasn't had time for lunch. Things will only intensify from here. The Today show is scheduled to air a <a href="https://www.today.com/food/seattle-bakers-donate-1-300-loaves-bread-local-food-bank-t205271" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">national segment on Community Loaves</a> in two days, and the project's new website needs to be ready. In the middle of it all, someone shows up at the door needing labels, which had been delayed in shipping. Kehrli's supportive, operationally involved husband, Tim, makes a quick decision: "I'm going to give her bags and twist ties," he declares, "because that's all I have."</p><p>The work continues, because demand isn't letting up.</p>
<h2>Inspiration and Limitations</h2><p>During the pandemic, mutual-aid societies have cropped up around the country, reviving an old concept with roots in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The idea was that everyone had something to contribute, and everyone had something they needed. By 1920, a presidential report estimated that one in three adult men in the U.S. was a member of a fraternal society. During the 1918 flu pandemic, <a href="https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/06/mutual-aid-united-states-unions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mutual-aid societies organized by and for women also multiplied</a>. New Orleans, in particular, developed a strong mutual-aid tradition, with an estimated 135 organizations dedicated to supporting Black people, nearly one-third of them for women. </p><p>For today's mutual-aid societies, the <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/coronavirus-community-power/2020/05/09/coronavirus-mutual-aid-low-income-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">catch line is often "solidarity, not charity</a>." </p><p>Community Loaves, too, draws on the model of neighbors helping neighbors. And Kehrli took inspiration from an earlier time as well. Her grandmother, Ruth Wiesen, was known for making cookies, pies, or fudge for every bake-sale fundraiser, neighborhood social, funeral luncheon, or other community need. And she participated in the interfaith CROP Walks against hunger for as long as she physically could. When Kehrli told Wiesen about Community Loaves, her grandmother said, "I would've loved to have [baked for] that." Wiesen died in 2020, at 105—but not before helping Kehrli put labels on Community Loaves bread bags, marshaling her frail 85-pound body and still-powerful will to help even from her nursing home.</p>
<p>Sourdough donation isn't widespread yet, but related efforts are out there. Kehrli drew on one Midwestern model, <a href="https://graincollaborative.com/neighbor-loaves/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Neighbor Loaves</a>, that uses commercial bakeries. And celebrated artisanal baker Guy Frenkel has started a similar initiative in L.A., <a href="https://www.castyourbreadlosangeles.com/#3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cast Your Bread</a>, that has inspired chapters in Baltimore and Israel. Kehrli gets calls from around the country—she logs them on a "New Cities Interest" spreadsheet—and she's expecting more. By April, she hopes to have expansion support in place, including a training session for others wanting to start something similar.</p><p>Still, Kehrli is dissatisfied with a food system that leaves people hungry—and is ever-conscious of her project's limitations. "It is just one piece of work on a scale that is extremely large in terms of what's needed," she says. "Yes, we're doing our part, and yes, I want us to feel good about it, and yes, it's still not enough."</p><p>Still, recipients who learn that volunteers are doing the baking appreciate the effort. Teresa, a Hopelink client in the Kirkland area who preferred that her last name not be used, says she was touched when she found out that fellow community members made the loaves. "This to me is the representation of community, people stepping in and learning and sharing love by trying to help the community," she says. "Baking is a special genre. There's no guarantees. But when the loaves are perfect, they're amazing."</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CBrS8qIpqzx/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CBrS8qIpqzx/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"> View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"><div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div></div></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div></a><p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CBrS8qIpqzx/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Cast Your Bread (@cast_your_bread)</a></p></div></blockquote> <script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>
<h2>Added Benefits</h2><p>Despite its limited scale, Community Loaves has a range of impacts, even beyond addressing hunger. One of them: expanding the market for locally grown, locally milled grains. The initiative uses high-extraction and whole grain flour. It's bought wholesale from two regional mills, Cairnspring Mills and Fairhaven Organic Flour Mill, and then purchased in smaller units by bakers as part of their contribution. "Flour has been relegated to the commodity market for a long time. Just like coffee and craft beer have gone through their days, flour is having its moment," Kehrli says. "We are helping to educate and share that not all flour is the same. I think we are helping support an improved foundation for choosing local ingredients that have been minimally processed."</p><p>The high-extraction flour has higher nutritional content, Kehrli asserts, including fiber and protein. People with celiac disease and gluten intolerance still can't eat bread—but anecdotally, many with gluten sensitivity have reported the Community Loaves iteration doesn't disagree with them. "We attribute that to the longer sourdough fermentation process and the quality of the flour," she says.</p><p>Then there's the effect on bakers, who not only give to others, but also benefit from connecting and contributing, safely and from home, during a pandemic. They come from a range of ages and backgrounds. Kinsley Ogunmola, for instance, a millennial software engineer, leads a hub in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood. Up to 20 volunteers, ranging from 20-somethings to retirement age, drop off their loaves with him biweekly (he wrote a special code to let them into the building). From there, he coordinates transportation to the food pantry. "Our lobby smells like a bakery every other Sunday," he says. "My neighbor keeps asking me about bread now whenever I see him. I hope it spreads."</p>
<p>Community Loaves starts volunteers off with an online introductory session, which Kehrli leads. She's done more than 50 to date. At one orientation, in September, the range of the bakers' experience was apparent. There was Diane Moore, who had celebrated her 50th birthday with a weeklong baking course in France. And there was Clare Chan, who had zero baking experience but wanted to volunteer along with her teenage sons Caelen Yoong, 16, and Lucien Yoong, 14.</p><p>By January, Moore and Chan were both still involved and loving it. Chan reported that her family hadn't missed a single bread-donation Sunday since they started. In her native Singapore, she used to volunteer in senior homes, but she loves that the whole family can be involved in this service, and she hopes they'll keep it up even after the pandemic. "It's a humbling and rewarding experience for us to put in the time to make the bread and know that it's going to families in need," she says. "When you take the loaves out of the oven, that's the best part."</p><p>Moore had thought she might get bored making a sandwich loaf over and over, but found that consistency is its own challenge. "It turns out it's hard to perfect the pan loaf. It's not as forgiving in some ways as an artisan loaf. I feel like each time I'm learning more," she says. "This project nourishes me. It's been a gift. I was just ready to hand off bread, but there's a lovely connection to a community of bakers who share resources and recipes. It's a joyful project, and rewarding."</p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/authors/lynn-freehill-maye/" target="_blank"><em>LYNN FREEHILL-MAYE</em></a><strong><em> </em></strong><em>writes about sustainability and related topics from her home in New York's Hudson Valley. Her work has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, CityLab, Civil Eats, and Sierra, among other publications.</em></em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/health-happiness/2021/02/25/bread-baking-mutual-aid/" target="_blank">YES! Magazine</a>.</em><br/><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2650842254#/" target="_self"></a></p>
Read More
Show Less
Trending
Storks in a nest near a construction crane. In the past 50 years, America's bird populations have fallen by a third. Maria Urban / EyeEm / Getty Images
By Tara Lohan
What does a biodiversity crisis sound like? You may need to strain your ears to hear it.
<p>In the past 50 years, America's bird populations have fallen by a third, and worldwide the average mammal population has dropped 60%, writes acclaimed environmental philosopher and nature writer <a href="https://www.riverwalking.com/" target="_blank">Kathleen Dean Moore</a> in her new collection of essays, <a href="https://www.counterpointpress.com/dd-product/earths-wild-music/" target="_blank"><em>Earth's Wild Music: Celebrating and Defending the Songs of the Natural World</em></a><em>.</em></p><p>And with all that loss comes an unsettling silence.</p><p>"Unless the world acts to stop extinctions, I will write my last nature essay on a planet that is less than half as song-graced and life-drenched as the one where I began to write," she explains in the book's preface. "My grandchildren will tear out half the pages in their field guides. They won't need them."</p>
<p>Her book uses sound as a reference point to better understand what we stand to lose as extinction rates climb higher. But the essays are also a celebration of the natural world's chorus and the joy of learning to hear what's still there.</p><p>The essays are also being <a href="https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/feature-story/music-save-earth-s-songs" target="_blank">set to music in a series</a> for Oregon State's Spring Creek Project that will feature 20 4-minute-long concerts combining live musical performance with excerpts from <em>Earth's Wild Music</em>.</p><p>"I've never been so excited about a project in my life," Moore tells us. "It combines everything I care about with the cause that I believe in more than anything else."</p><p><em>The Revelator</em> spoke to Moore about the moral stakes of our environmental crisis, what it's like to find a truly quiet place to listen, and what we lose as wild songs disappear.</p>
<p><strong>You've been writing about nature for 50 years. During that time our environmental problems have become graver. Has this changed how you approach your work?</strong></p><p>At first I was a celebrant. I believed Mary Oliver when she said, "My work is loving the world... which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished." And that went along fine for years and years, but then it became clear that what I was writing celebrations of were disappearing.</p><p>I was right in the midst of an essay on frog song, and bulldozers came and took away the marsh and put in a condominium. I was writing about a bald eagle nest, and the nest — and the tree it was in — burned to the ground in a forest fire. So it was starting to become clear to me that I was going to have to do more than celebrate. I was going to have to demonstrate. I was going to have to protect. I was going to have to defend the natural world.</p>
<p><strong>Why did you decide to focus this collection on sound?</strong></p><p>I started thinking about how I could open people's hearts without breaking them. How I could point to the onrushing extinctions and not force people to turn away in absolute grief. I decided that I was going to have to write in a way that was like a wave — I would lift people and smash them at the same time.</p><p>What is it that reaches people without breaking them? What is it that goes straight into people's hearts? What do they love about the world and will call them to action?</p><p>I decided that of all the things I loved about the world, what I loved the most was the music. What I loved the most was the sound. I've been writing about this for quite some time, so I had a couple of essays already under my belt, and I couldn't think of a more wonderful writing assignment for myself then to go outside and listen.</p>
<p><strong>Nature may be getting quieter. But people are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/04/science/ocean-marine-noise-pollution.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">getting louder</a>. How is our noise affecting wildlife?</strong></p><p>We are deafening. Noise that we create is causing extraordinary harm to the creatures. Think about the pain caused to the whales from the exploratory thudding of those machines that go through the ocean and stamp to try to find oil.</p><p>Think about the meadowlarks that lived in the fracking fields and had to endure endless noise of drilling and trucks. And as a result, the songs of the meadowlarks are fractured and abbreviated. They haven't been able to hear their parents well enough to imitate them.</p>
<iframe src='https://www.xeno-canto.org/612865/embed' scrolling='no' frameborder='0' width='340' height='220'></iframe>
<p><strong>Many of us may be out of practice at listening. In fact, a lot of folks walk around with earphones on so we can't hear what's around us. How do we get better at both listening to and understanding the sounds of nature?</strong></p><p>Listening is an art that we should practice because it does two things. It makes us shut up and it makes us open up. We stop listening just to the songs of "me, me, me." When we set aside our own stories, it opens us up so we can listen to the stories of other beings. It's a skill of empathy, isn't it? Listening to other people's stories and other creatures' sounds is a way of understanding the world from their point of view. It's a moral training.</p><p>When it comes to understanding what we hear, Rachel Carson, who wrote <em>Silent Spring</em>, and cared so much about bird song, took pains to tell us that it doesn't matter if we know the names of what we see. That comes later. But the first thing that has to happen is love.</p><p>So I'm not so concerned about knowing which bird is calling. I'm surrounded by people who could do that in a majestic way. My husband can identify birds by their call. My neighbor can. I think it's a beautiful skill that I don't have.</p><p>But I do have the ability to catch a song. To hear it, which isn't nothing. It can catch my attention and I can seek it out and I can listen to it. Knowing its name — maybe that's not so important as knowing its tune.</p>
<p><strong>How are people affected by this loss of nature's song, and what's the importance of preserving silent places where we can still experience what's left?</strong></p><p>We lose joy. Let's face it — the sounds of the natural world are beautiful and they make us happy. I think we also lose a connection to the world around us.</p><p>In the book, I write about going with acoustic ecologist <a href="https://www.soundtracker.com/about-gordon-hempton/" target="_blank">Gordon Hempton</a> to <a href="https://onesquareinch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">One Square Inch of Silence</a>, a small spot in Olympic National Park [possibly the quietest place in the United States]. It was a wonderful experience. At the time, we were in pouring rain. Nature itself was cacophonous, but we didn't hear a human sound for 20 minutes, which is the definition in Gordon's mind of a quiet place.</p><p>Gordon now is recording in a jungle somewhere that can only be reached by canoeing down a wild river, because it's one of the last places on Earth he can find that's silent.</p><p>He's famous for these recordings called the <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Gordon-Hempton-Dawn-Chorus/release/7648571" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Dawn Chorus</em></a> that captured the outpouring of bird song that's triggered by morning light. But he couldn't do that anymore, because that music box is broken. We're in the process of wrecking what we should be treasuring.</p><p>It's hard to find a balance between grief and celebration. But you know, people often ask me, "What can one person do?" And I say, "Stop being one person."</p><p>You don't have to do it all. Other people are working all around the world on the same causes you believe in. Find them, join up with them. You'll find your place in the choir. [Author and teacher] <a href="https://www.joannamacy.net/main" target="_blank">Joanna Macy</a> says to choose what you love and devote yourself to it. That, she says, is enough.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/earths-music-moore/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
- Is Constant Human Noise Stressing Out Wildlife? - EcoWatch ›
- What We've Lost: The Species Declared Extinct in 2020 - EcoWatch ›
- Traffic Sounds Make It Harder for Birds to Think, Scientists Find ... ›
- Using Sound to Help Imperiled Species and Ecosystems - EcoWatch ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
The Biden administration is temporarily using Obama-era calculations of the "social cost" of three greenhouse gas pollutants while calculating a more accurate estimate. Bloomberg Creative / Getty Images
The Biden administration announced it will use Obama-era calculations of the "social cost" of three greenhouse gas pollutants while an interagency working group calculates a more complete estimate, the White House announced Friday.
<p>Often described as "the most important number you've never heard of," the "social cost" of greenhouse gases estimates the harms to society caused by each ton of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emitted into the atmosphere.</p><p> Those estimates are used across government in calculating the costs and benefits of proposed actions. </p><p>Though the administration did not specify the exact costs, multiple outlets report the interim estimate of the social cost of carbon will be approximately $51 per ton. </p>
<p>The interagency working group also set the social cost of methane, a far more potent heat trapping gas, at $1,500 per ton and at $18,000 for nitrous oxide, Politico reported. </p><p>The Trump administration had slashed those estimates to as low as $1 per ton for carbon dioxide and <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/VWc3Ss16j4jqVWBHHP4LN2tpW5n2k0f4nF4btN52hRhc3p_97V1-WJV7Cg_0YW6pZTk92WhPGZW37hr0G4H1BjCW1hRCb65rgpCwW5Dp1C_38qPy9N2lz_9P4cjQTW2Q7ZGb2_Hr8KW7XqZ-N4MFD8BW54d7b08j9gc2W2wYlzG49736YW20Tf_B4_c467VM9dbX1KYGlgW2Ypf4p4TX1tHW4pSwzw2sW2ZXW4rbyBx4v8CkSW8l-CvK9043PvW96NMMm3WC-MKW1sXNd24n6KZDW8JVWhZ74_RjLW7y55q17qm1j0W7MnxFs7g-NvFN15zNdW7tZVVW29PxT_51Z0nqW3Nm3LL3t34rvW8-lpqK12JxWD320g1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">$55</a> per ton for methane. </p><p>The final estimate for the social cost of carbon produced by the interagency working group could reach as high as $125 after accounting for scientific advances and climatic damage over the past four years but the Obama-era estimates were subject to extensive scientific and agency review and public comment, making them more likely to withstand legal challenges.</p>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/02/26/biden-cost-climate-change/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113518301&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--ZE8aiLDfC1QFojOTg1BB2q5abyDKJicVOMcpB29ATwGIsOANclRCPjAsgbaDQFGpYLjgqua9bYwI35knDuFvvTbqToMPVfnZasx76dmkrs1rhgKI&utm_content=113518301&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Washington Post</a>, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-26/biden-turns-back-to-obama-era-method-of-valuing-climate-change?sref=oUjKJw8m&utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113518301&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_a7BG_sgkNJUhtT5UjieNfPpo4xMvuWivfjr9CdY0eWIJW8gCnms5cqr-8twjTAch6UPmHDprjCp7vh9lxWcKwErrkiyWwcehJTz9dxw8-kq4z2_s&utm_content=113518301&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a>, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/26/biden-carbon-price-climate-change-471787?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113518301&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--L7SQELIPyKsbRfozxkJC1QnfZGlSfYGpccTlJNPFW3VRPlcQNF_SiMojxDSE9bPd7f-o3IooLdGiROyX-P1mNnFNNE1V9h8P-IWpmsoi3D1s3Jj4&utm_content=113518301&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Politico</a>, <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/540754-biden-returns-to-obama-era-greenhouse-gas-calculation?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113518301&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--O2t2RIGRoS4Bgo0jBxzJ5W6NFEPzX1h5n_kwd6gdEpPn6IxwmJsS7qbnOmpHLp9rdcI82BLrvjsUX-SRvXNjh1C94yIJpr6hD3RLXnyjSJz6Lc8g&utm_content=113518301&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">The Hill</a>, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-13/why-biden-is-reviving-climate-change-s-magic-number-quicktake?sref=oUjKJw8m&utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113518301&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--d2o4iO9QMaGPCI2xN2SNJYhDsfar9qIurb3_2HeXN4ulu5M5MEZvxFD5C1PeOVvFMUP8PeUI1h2M2UVk_qizhhKIQAH5EQqG9pKMbjC4B5GVuF_A&utm_content=113518301&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a>, <a href="https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2021/03/01/stories/1063726223?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113518301&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--tuTQw9FQncUu6oCfAVaoAegk4MIV09o4wFpoRZsxYBieazAdsMd8nF5Gl6SVgeb3t3Hy_vRdhnRiIq8hqDZy97azF0GJGiHk5qHuMlUiOs75PX7s&utm_content=113518301&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">E&E</a>, <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26022021/carbon-cost-biden-climate-change/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113518301&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_K9P-nN2bNBxNwHRPnnmOAoicP6nmjDyzwZ-GNWPDO9PBs4IXemV4weEB5doyxDn456PLZgjpZmNtnbDoAxTb8u_Pn88benWb0V9VE2noCMvstJMc&utm_content=113518301&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">InsideClimate News</a>, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN2AQ335?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113518301&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--Xl9dS7eM0mLl-usTffaL0yg_eHxYvFxS2BDC41G3aqhae6FMlFj8ei_b3GshuaPtIUsIOotjSt1vezMMmvntWES5oTm0OyXgmFuzh3UQ5k3ExQoc&utm_content=113518301&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Reuters</a>, <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/biden-matches-obamas-social-cost-of-carbon-for-now-its-a-figure-roughly-50-times-greater-than-trumps-11614380130?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113518301&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9Oz_wuWo6RCfaqO4enpWn1xsDRPgxFl_q4pxfRGcBQW8rxoPB58Tz62_xHTOe-NwT3oW_jKrM96_Cq8pXEyuy9TdOZVpprDUBNLYcINWFWuHAyRS8&utm_content=113518301&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">MarketWatch</a>, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/carbon-social-cost-raised-by-biden/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113518301&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_ifIfvZnWIMu0aNfHhPZWpAGtI8MvaODgAzJ3YcSqC_dos4p6QduJShsXxWqlLOABHqQXwZSk3Dvk0y6v7Xpu4Agz_rpDGHuEkPsJ8jWqLCfT8ieE&utm_content=113518301&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">CBS</a><br/></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" 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" 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" 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>
Read More
Show Less
Posts about climate change will now automatically be labelled with an information banner that directs people to accurate climate science data at Facebook's Climate Science Information Center. Facebook
By Anne-Sophie Brändlin
Facebook has started tackling dangerous climate change myths and anti-environment propaganda that circulates among the platform's almost 3 billion monthly users.
<p>In a <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2021/02/connecting-people-with-credible-climate-change-information/" target="_blank">new trial</a> that was launched in the UK in late February, posts about climate change will now automatically be labelled with an information banner that directs people to accurate climate science data at the company's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/climatescienceinfo" target="_blank">Climate Science Information Center.</a></p><p>"We do recognize that we have a bigger role to play when it comes to informing people accurately about climate change," Alexandru Voica from Facebook's tech communication team told DW.</p><p>"This will make users more aware of what information they share," he said.</p><h2>Debunking Climate Myths</h2><p>The Climate Science Information Center, which uses research that has been vetted by leading scientific organizations, also has a climate-myth-busting unit that actively debunks false information circulating online.</p><p>It explains, for instance, that the decline of polar bear populations is actually caused by rising temperatures, that global warming is not just part of a natural cycle of temperature fluctuation and that more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere harms Earth's plant life.</p><p>Misinformation about climate change is not new, but experts believe it has been greatly amplified in the new digital world, where the topic is increasingly polarizing.</p><p>"Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube are the most relevant infrastructure for information these days," Markus Beckedahl, editor in chief of Netzpolitik, a German platform advocating the digital right to freedom, told DW.</p><p>"These companies have a monopoly and dominate the market when it comes to how people get informed, communicate and debate society. That's why they carry a huge responsibility."</p>
<h2>Fighting Climate Change Starts With Fighting Misinformation Around It</h2><p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/gch2.201600008" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Research</a> has shown that the best way to counteract the politicization of science is to convey the high-level consensus among experts about the reality of human‐caused climate change. </p><p>That's why Facebook's UK-based trial is putting short, corrective messages into posts containing climate-change misinformation. These messages include information like the fact that 97% of the world's scientific community agree that global warming is real and caused by humans.</p><p>Behavior and communication experts from George Mason University, the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the University of Cambridge helped advise Facebook on how best to debunk such climate myths in a way that is tailored to the psychology of misinformation. Dr. Sander van der Linden is one of the experts behind the UK trial.</p><p>"One common error that we often see media outlets make, for instance, is to prominently repeat the myth in an attempt to debunk it. But that tends to strengthen people's mental associations with the myths and people kind of forget about the correction," van der Linden, who is a professor of social psychology at the University of Cambridge, told DW.</p><p>So instead of repeating the myths, they start by stating the facts.</p><p>The next step "is not to argue with people over the specifics, but to actually show what's misleading about the presentation of a particular argument and what the underlying technique is."</p>
<h2>Social Media Business Model a 'Catalyst for Misinformation'</h2><p>The Climate Science Information Center was launched in the US, Germany, the UK, and France last year and was just expanded to Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, Nigeria, South Africa, Spain, India, Indonesia and Taiwan. If the UK trial goes well, these countries could see climate information banners and corrective message next, says Voica.</p><p>"We'll need to see the results from the UK tests first before we either expand the test or we make it into a real feature."</p><p>But for Markus Beckedahl, the climate misinformation trial comes years too late. He believes social media giants haven't done enough in the past years to combat misinformation. On the contrary, he says, they have actually promoted it through their own business model of collecting data and selling ads to keep people on the site.</p><p>"And the easiest way to do that is by showing content that creates emotions and anger. That's why disinformation and conspiracy theories have been shared and promoted massively on these sites in past years," he said.</p>
<h2>Opinion Loophole Makes Fact-Checking Even Harder</h2><p>Facebook has been coming under increasing pressure in recent years for failing to weed out false information, including myths about the climate crisis.</p><p>"The future of our planet is at stake, and there should be no company too big, too powerful, and too opaque to be held accountable for its role in the climate crisis. Facebook is no exception," U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and her colleagues <a href="https://www.warren.senate.gov/oversight/letters/warren-carper-whitehouse-schatz-call-on-mark-zuckerberg-and-facebook-to-stop-the-deliberate-spread-of-climate-disinformation-on-the-companys-social-media-platforms" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wrote in a statement</a> last year.</p><p>One way the company tried to combat this problem is by outsourcing fact-checking to more than 80 independent organizations, including journalists who review and rate public Facebook and Instagram posts.</p><p>"Fact-checking posts is often very complex. There are some parts that are true, others that are not. So there is a need for explanation; this is why we need the expertise of journalists to do this work," Basak Tezcan, who leads Facebook's sustainability team in Germany, told DW.</p><p>Content that has been rated false or altered will be labelled and will be limited in its distribution. It won't be deleted, though, unless it contributes to "the risk of imminent violence or physical harm," according to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/business/help/315131736305613?id=673052479947730&recommended_by=2593586717571940" target="_blank">Facebook's Community Guidelines</a>.</p><p>Here's the catch, though: "The fact-checking program is not meant to interfere with individual expression or debate," which means that opinion and speech from politicians, for example, isn't necessarily subjected to a fact check.</p><p>This has led to a backlash from climate activists, saying the policy is a huge loophole for climate change deniers.</p>
<h2>Pre-Bunking Instead of Debunking</h2><p>Considering the risk to society of climate misinformation, Van der Linden believes Facebook's climate misinformation trial is at least a small step in the right direction.</p><p>In the future, van der Linden hopes Facebook will work not just on debunking, but also "pre-bunking." In his <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/gch2.201600008" target="_blank">previous research</a> he has found that facts about scientific consensus can also be used to "pre-bunk" – pre-emptively debunk – the public against climate misinformation.</p><p>"Once people are exposed to a falsehood already, it's so much more difficult to undo the damage. So the better thing is a pre-bunk."</p><p>Another question is whether, as Beckedahl sees it, tech giants will agree to give independent scientists and government agencies access to their internal data so they can better understand how misinformation and climate myths spread exactly and what impact this has on society and our planet.</p><p><span></span>"Right now, it's a big black box, and the only ones who know what's really going on are the tech giants themselves — and they won't share their information. And that's a huge and dangerous asymmetry of power."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/facebook-launches-climate-project-to-tackle-misinformation/a-56713217" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.</em></p>
Read More
Show Less