Friday, August 25, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review August 25 2023

 


Aloha National Dog Day! (Aug. 26)
National Dog Day was founded in 2004 by Colleen Paige.  National Dog Day is for all dogs, both purebred and mixed, and the mission of the day is to raise awareness about the number of dogs that need to be rescued each year, as well as to acknowledge the role dogs have played to keep us safe and bring us comfort. Dogs work with law enforcement, are eyes for the blind, and help the disabled, and they enrich our lives in a myriad of ways.

Lolita the orca, captive for more than a half-century, dies at Miami Seaquarium
Lolita, an orca whale held captive for more than a half-century, died Friday at the Miami Seaquarium as caregivers prepared to move her from the theme park in the near future. Following Tokitae's sudden death, Northwest tribes call for repatriation of orca's remains Tokitae, the orca who died suddenly last week before her scheduled return to the Pacific Northwest, has been sent to the University of Georgia for an autopsy.

With TikTok and Lawsuits, Gen Z Takes on Climate Change
With active lawsuits in five states, TikTok videos that mix humor and outrage, and marches in the streets, it’s a movement that is seeking to shape policy, sway elections and shift a narrative that its proponents say too often emphasizes climate catastrophes instead of the need to make the planet healthier and cleaner.

Are WA forests worth more as carbon sponges or timber harvests?
‘Working forests’ like state-run Tiger Mountain retain greenhouse gases — but logging is deeply entrenched in Northwest economies.

Calls to close fishing in Cowichan River as ‘dead zone’ forms
The Sept. 1 fishing opening on the Cowichan River should be cancelled because the river is in a “catastrophic” state due to a perfect storm of factors such as high-water temperatures and drought, say advocates.

Century-old paper mill once famous for wafting ‘Aroma of Tacoma’ to close
A Tacoma paper mill is closing its doors next month, ending operations at a site that, over 94 years of operation, became a local legend for all the rottenest-smelling reasons.

Life’s a Beach — Until You Get E. coli
Understanding the closure of popular BC swim spots. And how to enjoy the water safely.

Great Pacific Garbage Patch cleanup team hauls in 55 tonnes of plastic waste
A fishing expedition of sorts that brought in a mother lode of plastic from the area of the ocean known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch has been delivered to Ogden Point in Victoria for recycling and disposal. The 55-tonne haul was collected in a six-week operation by the Ocean Cleanup project, a Dutch non-profit trying to rid the world's oceans of plastic.

Squabbling Over the Last Fish
The Skeena steelhead is prized by anglers and a major economic boost. But its survival is threatened.

Years After the Blob, the Pacific Still Doesn’t Look the Same
The 2014–2016 marine heatwave transformed the ecosystem of the northeast Pacific. Some of those changes seem here to stay.

These news clips are a selection of weekday clips collected in Salish Sea News and Weather which is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe at no cost to the weekday news clips, send your name and email to mikesato772 at gmail.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told

Friday, August 18, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review August 18 2023

 


Aloha Helium Friday!
Helium was discovered onAugust 18 and October 20, 1868 by Pierre Janssen and Joseph Norman Lockyer. Despite being the second most abundant element in the observable universe, helium is relatively rare on Earth, the product of the radioactive decay of elements like uranium. (American Physical Society)

Researchers examine eelgrass wasting disease in Padilla Bay
Labyrinthula zosterae, the pathogen that causes eelgrass wasting disease, is what is known as a marine slime protist. Protists are mostly simple organisms that are not plants or animals or fungi.

Judge sides with youth in Montana climate change trial, finds two laws unconstitutional
Judge says failure to consider emissions, climate impacts violates state constitution.

Bird flu outbreak stokes fears for Washington’s wild birds
A new strain of avian flu has killed dozens of birds on a small Puget Sound island. Cases have turned up elsewhere as well. Officials are trying to better understand the disease’s spread.  

‘Forever Chemicals’ Are Everywhere. What Are They Doing to Us?
PFAS lurk in so much of what we eat, drink and use. Scientists are only beginning to understand how they’re impacting our health — and what to do about them.

Extra cap-and-trade auction may net $62M for Washington
A special auction of pollution allowances on Aug. 9 likely generated $62.5 million for Washington, revenue that the state can funnel into programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change.

Biden administration proposes $106 million for Western salmon and steelhead recovery
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is recommending sending $106 million to 16 salmon and steelhead recovery efforts in five Western states, the federal agency said Thursday.


These news clips are a selection of weekday clips collected in Salish Sea News and Weather which is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe at no cost to the weekday news clips, send your name and email to mikesato772 at gmail.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate


Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told

Friday, August 11, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review August 11 2023

 


World Elephant's Day (August 12)
World Elephant's Day is a day to express concern, share knowledge, and support solutions for the better care of captive and wild elephants; it is a day to honor elephants, spread awareness about the critical threats they face, and to support solutions to help ensure their survival.

80% of B.C. rivers face high to extreme drought
Persistent dry and hot weather pushed Metro Vancouver to enact Level 2 watering restrictions Friday for the first time since 2015.

Billions spent on hatcheries, habitat fails to help native Columbia River salmon, study finds
Decades of data show that despite billions in taxpayer investment, salmon and steelhead hatchery programs and restoration projects in the Columbia River Basin have failed to support or boost native fish populations and in fact are contributing to their decline.

Group petitions to dump Washington’s new carbon-pricing system
Advocacy organization Let’s Go Washington is gathering signatures on a petition to ask the Washington Legislature to repeal the state’s new carbon pricing system. Conservatives are saying the new program is causing Washington to have the highest gasoline prices in the nation.

Two new baby orcas with no deaths over the past year could make for a remarkable census
This year’s census for the Southern Resident killer whales apparently will document two new calves but no deaths for the 12-month period ending July 1.

Marine heat wave off Pacific coast could prove dangerous for wildlife
A marine heat wave that's been raising the temperatures of waters off the Pacific coast for weeks has experts worried about the health of marine life.

Canada to sell pipeline stake to Indigenous groups through special vehicle
Canada plans to sell a stake in the Trans Mountain oil pipeline to Indigenous groups through a special purpose vehicle that will allow individual communities to buy into the enterprise. The government will provide the groups with access to capital so they don’t have to risk any of their own money to participate.

Cases dropped against 146 Fairy Creek protesters over RCMP's failure to read full injunction at arrests
Prosecutors in B.C. have withdrawn cases against nearly 150 protesters who were arrested for participating in a blockade around old-growth logging on Vancouver Island after a judge this year found Mounties did not read the full text of a court order to the group.

State proposes tighter safety regulations for refinery workers years after tragedy
Regulations proposed by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries in June would update the 1992 “Process Safety Management” guidelines for thousands of workers at Washington’s five refineries, including the BP and Phillips 66 refineries at Cherry Point.

Canada, U.S. negotiate future of Columbia River in Seattle this week
For 60 years, the Columbia River Treaty has guided how water from British Columbia flows downstream in Washington and Oregon, for flood control and hydropower. Parts of that agreement expire next year.


These news clips are a selection of weekday clips collected in Salish Sea News and Weather which is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe at no cost to the weekday news clips, send your name and email to mikesato772 at gmail.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told

Friday, August 4, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review August 4 2023

 

Aloha 'Satchmo' Friday!
Louis Armstrong was among the most influential figures in jazz whose career spanned five decades and several eras in the history of jazz. Happy birthday, Pops.

Ocean temperatures are off the charts. Here’s where they’re highest.
Marine heat waves are affecting about 44 percent of the global ocean, whereas only 10 percent is typical, and they can have “significant impacts on marine life as well as coastal communities and economies,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A Last-Gasp Effort to Resurrect a Mine in Bristol Bay
The state of Alaska has taken its case directly to the U.S. Supreme Court in an 11th hour effort to resurrect a giant, open pit copper and gold mine, proposed for a location in western Alaska that flanks two of Bristol Bay’s renowned salmon spawning watersheds.

A parched summer is posing difficulties for Washington farmers and fish
The record-warm May that burned off a sizable chunk of the state’s snowpack has left flows in many of Washington’s rivers and streams depleted heading into late summer. it’s still bad news for fish that depend on cool water and ample streamflows for survival and farmers who tap snow-fed waterways to irrigate crops.

Watch Site C workers build a massive dam using 16 million cubic metres of earth and rock
B.C. Hydro says it has completed an earth-fill dam made using material from the Site C dam construction site along the Peace River in northeastern B.C.

BC Breaks Records for Area Burned in Wildfires, Data Show
See this season’s damage on our timeline. And the year’s not even over.

Ticks spreading in the Pacific Northwest? Warming trends could worsen health threat
More commonly found in the Midwest and northeast, ticks are expanding their range... Warming trends, exacerbated by climate change, are creating a more hospitable environment for the parasites. Conrad Swanson reports.

Ocean heat wave comes to Pacific Northwest shores
Now the Pacific Northwest has joined the rest of the world in having exceptional ocean heat.

Conservationists Push EPA to Add 1,000+ Pollutants to 'Outdated' List of Toxic Chemicals
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's official documentation, no toxic pollutants have emerged in the United States in nearly five decades—and two advocacy groups on Monday demanded that the agency add more than 1,000 chemicals to its list to bring the inventory up to date.

Site C dam builder fined $1.1 million for discharging contaminated wastewater
In B.C.’s Peace River, home to at-risk species, more than three million litres of wastewater contained a concentration of aluminum ‘acutely lethal’ to fish.


These news clips are a selection of weekday clips collected in Salish Sea News and Weather which is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe at no cost to the weekday news clips, send your name and email to mikesato772 at gmail.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told