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Rethinking the New Zone Hardiness Map
Posted by New York Times: Joanna M. Foster on September 14th, 2012
New York Times: For gardeners sad to see the summer drawing to a close, there`s some comfort to be drawn from the fall planting season for perennials, trees and shrubs, which is just around the corner. What`s more, there`s the novelty of this year`s updated Plant Hardiness Zone Map, released early this year.
The previous version of the map was issued in 2003, but the agency fielded so much criticism over the ways in which it incorporated climate change into the equation - too little and too much - that the map...
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East Coast National Parks at Risk From Sea Level’s Rise
Posted by New York Times: Joanna M. Foster on August 31st, 2012
New York Times: Labor Day is summer`s last hurrah, and families from across the country will be flocking to the beach this weekend to soak in some final rays.
Beachgoers on the East Coast making their way to Cape Cod or one of six other National Seashores, however, might want to pause and take an extra look around at the wind-tossed dunes and sloping sands. Not just because summer is coming to an end, but because these areas are some of the most susceptible to the effects of climate change and may look very different,...
A Plea for Southern Treasures
Posted by New York Times: Joanna M. Foster on January 30th, 2012
New York Times: The Southern Environmental Law Center, a Virginia-based nonprofit legal advocacy group, has released its 2012 list of the top 10 endangered places in the Southeast, environmentally speaking. While the list changes from year to year, certain places like Chesapeake Bay remain a top concern - and issues like pollution from coal-fired power plants and the protection of public lands and old-growth forest are recurring themes. While the list only considers six states, the issues raised by each site resonate...
Did a Storm Distort Mapping of a Gulf ‘Dead Zone’?
Posted by New York Times: Joanna M. Foster on August 2nd, 2011
New York Times: As the Midwest reeled from catastrophic flooding this spring, scientists warned of devastating consequences for the Gulf of Mexico this summer.
They feared that chemicals and waste rushing down the Mississippi would result in the largest-ever oxygen-depleted "dead zone" measured in the gulf since monitoring began in 1985.
New results are in: on Monday, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration announced that a team of scientists mapping the dead zone had just returned from a...
Volleys Fly in House Debate on E.P.A. and Interior
Posted by New York Times: Joanna M. Foster on July 25th, 2011
New York Times: The House of Representatives began heated debate on Monday on an appropriations bill for the Department of Interior and Environmental Protection Agency that pits Republican critics of environmental regulation against Democrats who fear that landmark protections could be gutted.
The legislation, which could come to a floor vote this week, would cut Interior`s funds by $750 million, or about 7 percent, and the E.P.A.`s budget by $1.5 billion, or 18 percent. (The latter cut would bring reductions...