In a study this last April by Pacella et al., the authors projected the rise of carbon dioxide (CO2) in seagrass environments is about twice the projected rate of change in the open ocean. This indicates that these habitats and estuaries in general may be especially sensitive to ocean acidification. But what is ocean acidification?
While our city, county, and state governments are trying to curb the abuse of prescription drugs and the illicit drug markets, environmentalists are waging a different war.
Painkillers, antidepressants, high-blood pressure, and countless of other types of medications are continually being prescribed and used throughout the country. While many of these medications are legally prescribed, they are also often disposed in an improper manner by the general public.
The Northwest public recently saw the second publication of quarterly oil train data for Washington. Although much about the industry is still not widely known, the Department of Ecology reports add considerably to our understanding of oil-by-rail in the region.
Apparently, our "president" did it again! Tuesday morning Trump signed a moratorium on rolling back President Obama restrictions for coal mining on federal lands.
According to the Washington Post, “This is an important moment for EPA,” chief of staff Ryan Jackson wrote. “As the Administrator has mentioned many times, we do not have to choose between environmental protection and economic development.”
On Thursday, President Trump outlined his plans to slash 31% of the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget. The specifics on exactly what programs will be slashed in that included 31% reduction is still hazy, with no real detailed plan released by the White House. But, the bold statement beckons back to the Trump campaign theme to significantly reduce government spending in environmental and social services.
In 2001, the lower part of the Duwamish River, also known as the Lower Duwamish Waterway (LDW) in Seattle, WA, was put on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Priorities List. This list puts priority to cleanup toxic contaminated sites throughout the nation. These are known as Superfund sites and the agencies responsible for overseeing the LDW cleanup are the EPA and the Washington State Department of Ecology.
After enormous amounts of rain today in the Western Washington area, the King County Wastewater Treatment Division reported that they had experienced flooding at their West Point Treatment Plant in Seattle, WA.
As a result, they've had to shut down some of their operations and divert 150-200 million gallons of combined stormwater and wastewater to an emergency bypass outfall into Puget Sound since about 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning.
On Thursday Myron Ebell, former head of President Trump's transition team at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said in an interview with The Associated Press that he expects to see massive cuts in the agency's budget. The results of a cut in budget allocation would result in significant staffing reductions.
Though not completely relevant to Environmental Issues, if you happened to miss Obama's farewell speech, you can catch it here!
Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved