Earth, Environment, and Geosciences
- ‘We can feel our ancestors’: one First Nation’s fight to save Canada’s old forests; The Wet’suwet’en Nation never signed treaties with the Canadian or provincial governments, yet their land was leasedwww.theguardian.com ‘We can feel our ancestors’: one First Nation’s fight to save Canada’s old forests
The Wet’suwet’en Nation never signed treaties with the Canadian or provincial governments, yet their land was leased to timber companies
cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/3534540
> >As the helicopter approached Caas Tl’aat Kwah (also known as Serb Creek), a 1,600-hectare (about 3,953-acre) watershed, the forest became a blanket of deep green, cleaved only by yellow-green wetlands threaded with glacial blue streams. > > >“We want to conserve it for future generations,” said Charlotte Euverman, the Wet’suwet’en woman leading a fight to save this area, which includes a traditional feasting site. “We have to leave them something.” > > >Like most First Nations here, Wet’suwet’en never signed treaties with the Canadian or provincial governments. Nevertheless, the latter took the land and leased forested acreage to logging companies. Today just 20% of British Columbia’s old-growth forests remain. > > >In 2020, after decades of activist pressure, the province identified about a quarter of the remaining old growth as at high risk for logging and recommended a pause while deciding their fate. Yet today, logging has been deferred in less than half of the high-risk area > > >Now Caas Tl’aat Kwah is in the crosshairs of a debate over the scope of First Nations’ agency, biodiversity loss and protection – and the role industrial logging plays in amplifying Canada’s forest fires, the effects of which are being felt across the globe. > > >In summer 2023, more than 150,000 sq km (58,000 sq miles) burned across the country, an all-time record, carrying smoke across the continent and air pollution all the way to Europe and China. > > >Caas Tl’aat Kwah is not yet accessible by road, so the helicopter ride was the first opportunity for Nation member Sandra Harris to see it, despite the fact that her great-grandfather, Jack Joseph, once had a cabin there. The pilot set the helicopter down upon a boggy meadow, and DeWit, who is acting director of the Office of Wet’suwet’en, led the way through the trees to a newer cabin, where he gave a framed photo of Joseph pride of place. > > >Harris explained the significance of seeing the land, saying: “We have a lot of stress in our lives with racism, working with colonial systems that are so unkind to our ways.” The land is healing, she said. > > >“Today, we can feel our ancestors,” Harris said. “We remember our stories when we are able to put our feet on the land … There’s lots of good medicine there for us.” > > >Conventional wisdom has long held that increased fire severity is due not just to climate change but also dense overgrowth from fire suppression. The prescription has been to thin forests and set controlled burns. But a growing number of scientists now say that approach fails to recognize the role of industrial logging in increased fire severity: it kills complex communities of life that stabilize the water cycle. > > Full Article !kkkanada
- A new study unpacks the last 485 million years of Earth's temperature historywww.salon.com A new study unpacks the last 485 million years of Earth's temperature history
Among other things, the study demonstrates how carbon dioxide in the atmosphere influences temperatures
- Antarctica's Ozone Hole Is Healing And Set To Recover Fully By 2066www.iflscience.com Antarctica's Ozone Hole Is Healing And Set To Recover Fully By 2066
The ozone layer is looking as fit as a fiddle at the moment.
- Greenland landslide caused freak wave that shook Earth for nine dayswww.newscientist.com Greenland landslide caused freak wave that shook Earth for nine days
Seismologists were mystified by a strange signal that persisted for nine days in 2023 – now its source has been identified as a standing wave caused by a landslide in Greenland
- India’s new mega-dam will roil lives downstream with wild swings in water flow every daytheconversation.com India’s new mega-dam will roil lives downstream with wild swings in water flow every day
The hydropower dam is part of a huge effort to boost India’s homegrown energy. But it will radically disrupt the lives and livelihoods of indigenous communities in the flood plains downstream.
- Coral reefs are getting sick, and this human medicine might helpwww.motherjones.com Coral reefs are getting sick, and this human medicine might help
Antibiotics, it turns out, are a useful tool for keeping Caribbean ecosystems alive.
- As ‘doomsday’ glacier melts, can an artificial barrier save it?grist.org As ‘doomsday’ glacier melts, can an artificial barrier save it?
Relatively warm ocean currents are weakening the base of Antarctica’s enormous Thwaites Glacier, whose demise could raise sea levels by as much as 7 feet. To separate the ice from those warmer ocean waters, scientists have put forward an audacious plan to erect a massive underwater curtain.
- Studying Stones Can Rock Your Worldwww.newyorker.com Studying Stones Can Rock Your World
To think like a geologist is to contemplate timescales that stagger the imagination—and lay bare the planetary forces behind our earthly existence.
- Workers breach key Klamath dams, allowing salmon to swim freely for the first time in a centuryapnews.com Workers breach key Klamath dams, allowing salmon to swim freely for the first time in a century
Workers have breached the final dams on a key section of the Klamath River, clearing the way for salmon to swim freely through a major watershed near the California-Oregon border for the first time in more than a century as the largest dam removal project in U.S. history nears completion.
- Thawing Alaskan permafrost is unleashing more mercury, confirming scientists' worst fearsgrist.org Thawing Alaskan permafrost is unleashing more mercury, confirming scientists' worst fears
A new study reveals mercury levels in melting Arctic permafrost that pose disproportionate dangers for Indigenous peoples.
- California sees ‘winter wonderland’ in summer for first time in 20 yearswww.theguardian.com California sees ‘winter wonderland’ in summer for first time in 20 years
Unusually strong and rare snow system dusted Sierra Nevada mountain range early Saturday
This summer, Californians have had to endure blistering heatwaves, raging wildfires – and now snow.
An unusually strong and rare snow system dusted California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range early Saturday, the first time snow has fallen in August in the so-called Golden State in more than 20 years.
About 3in fell in Lassen Volcanic national park, according to the weather service. But most areas just got a dusting with summertime temps returning 24 hours later.
The rare summer snowstorm nonetheless caused a record amount of rainfall in Redding, Red Bluff and Stockton in northern California on Saturday, the weather service said.
The “anomalous cool conditions” spread over much of the western US through Sunday morning, according to the weather service’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.
- This coral reef has given scientists hope for years. Now they’re worried.www.vox.com This coral reef has given scientists hope for years. Now they’re worried.
Coral around the Dutch island has recovered from past bleaching and hurricanes. Now it faces disease and severe marine heat, putting its strength to the test.
- An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs, not a comet, new study findsarstechnica.com An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs, not a comet, new study finds
Analysis of ruthenium isotopes showed the impactor was a carbonaceous-type asteroid.
- Humans know very little about the deep sea. That may not stop us from mining it.grist.org Humans know very little about the deep sea. That may not stop us from mining it.
With a newly elected leader, the International Seabed Authority must decide the future of more than half of the world’s ocean floor.
- Famous Stonehenge stone came from Scotland not Waleswww.bbc.com Stonehenge: Central Altar Stone from Scotland not Wales
Stonehenge's famous Altar Stone came from Scotland not Wales as previously thought, new analysis shows.
- NOAA Affirms Expectations for Extraordinarily Active Hurricane Seasoninsideclimatenews.org NOAA Affirms Expectations for Extraordinarily Active Hurricane Season - Inside Climate News
The federal agency issued a slight revision down from its May forecast, which called for the most named storms the agency had ever predicted.
- A whole new view on glacier melting in Antarcticawww.gu.se A whole new view on glacier melting in Antarctica
An international research team deployed the unmanned submarine ‘Ran’ from the University of Gothenburg underneath thick ice in Antarctica. They got back the very first detailed maps of the underside of a glacier, revealing clues to future sea level rise.
- Ancient poppy seeds and willow wood offer clues to the Greenland ice sheet’s last meltdown and a glimpse into a warmer futuretheconversation.com Ancient poppy seeds and willow wood offer clues to the Greenland ice sheet’s last meltdown and a glimpse into a warmer future
Our discovery of a tundra ecosystem, frozen under the center of Greenland’s ice sheet, holds a warning about the threat that climate change poses for the future.
- Tropical Glaciers in the Andes Are the Smallest They’ve Been in 11,700 Yearsinsideclimatenews.org Tropical Glaciers in the Andes Are the Smallest They’ve Been in 11,700 Years - Inside Climate News
Four different glaciers along the Andes range no longer have hospitable conditions.
- Plants and their pollinators are increasingly out of syncgrist.org Plants and their pollinators are increasingly out of sync
As global temperatures rise and seasons shift, bees and other pollinators are missing critical connections with flowers and crops.
- How Great was the “Great Oxidation Event”? - Eoseos.org How Great was the “Great Oxidation Event”? - Eos
Geochemical sleuthing amid acid mine runoff suggests that scientists should rethink an isotope signal long taken to indicate low levels of atmospheric oxygen in Earth’s deep past.
- Simulating worlds on the GPU: Four billion years in four minutesdavidar.io Simulating worlds on the GPU: Four billion years in four minutes
This post delves into the implementation of my procedural earth simulation, written entirely in GLSL fragment shaders. It simulates the complete history of an earth-like planet in a few minutes, with the simulation updating at 60 frames per second.
- Seafloor sediment reveals previously unknown volcanic eruption 520,000 years ago in south Aegean Seatheconversation.com Seafloor sediment reveals previously unknown volcanic eruption 520,000 years ago in south Aegean Sea
A newly discovered half-million-year-old layer of volcanic sediment beneath the Aegean Sea rewrites what scientists know about this area’s volcanic history – and potential future hazards.
- Scientists Shocked by Electric Rocks Producing Oxygen in Deep Oceangizmodo.com Scientists Shocked by Electric Rocks Producing Oxygen in Deep Ocean
The discovery that electric rocks make oxygen challenges the long-held belief that only photosynthetic organisms produce our planet's oxygen.
- Dark oxygen made by deep sea 'batteries'www.bbc.com Dark oxygen made by deep sea 'batteries'
The discovery that lumps of metal on the seafloor produce oxygen raises questions over plans to mine the deep ocean.
- Mystery oxygen source discovered on the sea floor — bewildering scientistswww.nature.com Mystery oxygen source discovered on the sea floor — bewildering scientists
A chemical reaction could be producing oxygen by splitting water molecules, but its source of energy remains unknown.
- ‘Not acceptable in a democracy’: UN expert condemns lengthy Just Stop Oil sentenceswww.theguardian.com ‘Not acceptable in a democracy’: UN expert condemns lengthy Just Stop Oil sentences
Michel Forst, UN special rapporteur, joins growing chorus of voices criticising jail terms handed to five defendants
- Loss of oxygen in lakes and oceans a major threat to ecosystems, society, and planetwww.sciencedaily.com Loss of oxygen in lakes and oceans a major threat to ecosystems, society, and planet
Oxygen is a fundamental requirement of life, and the loss of oxygen in water, referred to as aquatic deoxygenation, is a threat to life at all levels. In fact, researchers describe how ongoing deoxygenation presents a major threat to the stability of the planet as a whole.
- New study reveals that mussels, oysters and other sealife contains an excess amount of fiberglasswww.salon.com New study reveals that mussels, oysters and other sealife contains an excess amount of fiberglass | Salon.com
Award-winning news and culture, features breaking news, in-depth reporting and criticism on politics, science, food and entertainment.
- It's Not Just Shein: Why Are ALL Your Clothes Worse Now?
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- How the last queen of Hawaiʻi is influencing the debate over deep-sea mininggrist.org How the last queen of Hawaiʻi is influencing the debate over deep-sea mining
Indigenous leaders want a say in the future of the oceans, especially when it comes to deep sea mining for minerals.
- Did this citizen scientist develop the perfect, chemical-free lawn?www.washingtonpost.com Did this citizen scientist develop the perfect, chemical-free lawn?
Jackson Madnick has developed a grass seed mix that can thrive without chemicals and with minimal watering.
- Continuous sterane and phytane δ13C record reveals a substantial pCO2 decline since the mid-Miocene, suggesting climate sensitivity far higher than previous IPCC modelswww.nature.com Continuous sterane and phytane δ13C record reveals a substantial pCO2 decline since the mid-Miocene - Nature Communications
Molecular fossils from marine phytoplankton reveal a substantial decline in CO2 values over the past 15 million years and may support higher climate sensitivity than previously reported.
- 'A great sadness': Venezuela is first Andean country to lose all of its glacierswww.nbcnews.com 'A great sadness': Venezuela is first Andean country to lose all of its glaciers
Scientists explain the loss of the Humboldt Glacier, the last in the Sierra Nevada, which they believe makes the South American country the first in modern history to lose all its glaciers.
- Nature interrupted: Impact of the US-Mexico border wall on wildlifearstechnica.com Nature interrupted: Impact of the US-Mexico border wall on wildlife
Scientists are working to understand how the barrier is affecting the area’s biodiversity.
- Surprising Source of the Stinky Gas (DMS) That's Trying to Cool Our Planet
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- The rotation of Earth's inner core is slowing downwww.space.com The rotation of Earth's inner core is slowing down
Decades worth of seismic data confirms the rotation of Earth's inner core is moving slower than the planet's surface.