Salish Sea News Week in Review September 30 2022

 

Aloha Koala Friday!
The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the wombats. (Wikipedia)

Old volcanoes, big energy
Volcanoes beneath mountains near Whistler, B.C., hold a big green energy promise. But can scientists and industry deliver?

After 2-year pandemic pause, Seattle-BC train service returns
Amtrak service between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., is back up and running as of Monday, Sept. 26...Just one daily round trip will be offered, at first, while Amtrak gets its staffing and equipment levels back up to par.

BC’s Big Trees Protection Is Toothless. Government Knew It
Officials in British Columbia’s Forests Ministry understood that a regulation introduced in 2020 to protect big trees on public lands would have little impact. They designed it that way.

Biden administration launches environmental justice office
The Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights — comprised of more than 200 current staff members in 10 U.S. regions — will merge three existing EPA programs to oversee a portion of Democrats’ $60 billion investment in environmental justice initiatives created by the Inflation Reduction Act and distribute $3 billion in block grants to underserved communities burdened by pollution.

The racism, and resilience, behind today’s Pacific Northwest salmon crisis
There’s no one in this region whose life isn’t touched by the fish, whether they think about it or not.

Killer whale census shows another down year, with three deaths and two births
Three deaths and two births. Over the past year, the endangered Southern Resident killer whale population has declined by a total of one, according to the annual census report submitted yesterday by the Center for Whale Research. Now the number of whales in all three pods stands at 73, down from 74 last year and declining from 98 animals the past 25 years.

From pavement to gardens: how urban green spaces can alleviate flood problems
By 2050, Vancouver is expected to see more rain during the fall, winter, and spring months due to human-caused climate change. Without new measures to manage heavy rainstorms, the city could see more flooding. A new 'rainway' in Vancouver aims to combat climate change and prevent flooding in the city, while also supporting biodiversity.

River Deltas Are Running Out of Land
Millions of people live on river deltas, occupying land that exists in the delicate balance between a river’s push and the ocean’s pull. Deltas are inherently transient, but according to a new study, many may be even more precarious than once thought, with unexpectedly high levels of land loss threatening to submerge these low-lying landscapes. 

Study raises concerns about contaminants in edible seaweeds
A new study just published by researchers at Western Washington University (WWU) reports concentrations of up to 162 chemical contaminants in three species of edible seaweeds gathered in the Salish Sea. 

State Board awards nearly $76 Million in grants to fund salmon recovery projects
On Sept. 26, the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board announced the award of nearly $76 million in grants across the state to help ensure the survival of salmon in Washington. The grants that were funded went to 138 projects in 30 of the state’s 39 counties.

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.

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