Sierra club on sustainable agriculture, global warming impacts on economy and polluted beaches: this week in environmental news

By Kary Askew Garcia, MNA Intern

Every Friday, MNA gathers news related to the environment from around the state and country. Here are a few highlights from what happened this week in environmental news:

Sierra club launches sustainable agriculture testimonials, Western Michigan University student project (MLive): Western Michigan University senior Erin Denay has been working on a project in collaboration with the Sierra Club asking Michiganders at farmer’s markets their thoughts on buying food from local farmers. Denay created a series of one-minute video testimonials to address the topic of local farming.

Innovative farm energy projects clash with Wisconsin policy (Great Lakes Echo): Central Wisconsin’s farming area has been known to produce a lot of waste with its methods of farming. Now New Chester Dairy and Brakebush Brothers are collaborating with New Energy North America to eliminate their waste and turn it into usable energy.

 

Graphic by the NRDC, courtesy of the Huffington Post.

1 in 10 U.S. beaches so polluted they’re not safe for swimming, report says (Huffington Post): The Natural Resources Defense Council produced findings that one in 10 beaches in the U.S. are unsafe for swimmers due to pollution according to their 24th annual report.The organization collected water samples from 3,500 beaches and tested them according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s newer more health-conscious standards.

Global warming takes toll on U.S. economy, not just environment (Nature World News): The economic future of the U.S. economy seems bleak if climate change continues at its current rate, and could cost hundreds of billions of dollars by 2100. The U.S. has already been hit with several tropical storms, rising sea levels, droughts and flooding, already incurring costs which will continue to rise.

 

Photo courtesy of Conservation Magazine.

Western  snowpack could plummet this century (Conservation Magazine): Snowfall on lower elevation mountain peaks in the American west will change to rainfall in the next few decades, according to projections. The rainfall could drastically change how water supply reaches farmers who are used to snowpack accumulation for their water supply.

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Protecting the sturgeon, transforming agriculture and a grey wolf shot dead: this week in environmental news

By Kary Askew Garcia, MNA Intern

Every Friday, MNA gathers news related to the environment from around the state and country. Here are a few highlights from what happened this week in environmental news:

Children holding a sturgeon. Photo by Michigan State University, courtesy of The Great Lakes Echo

Volunteers guard Michigan’s spawning sturgeon (Great Lakes Echo): The lake sturgeon, a threatened fish species in Michigan, will have several guardians ensuring its safety at the Black River in Northern Michigan. Volunteers will stand watch on the banks through June to ensure no fish are illegally snatched and are able to leave the Black Lake and reproduce in the Black River.

Grey wolf appears in Iowa for the first time in 89 years — and is shot dead (The Guardian): It was just recently confirmed that an animal shot dead in February in Iowa was a grey wolf, an animal which hadn’t been seen in the area since 1925. Because the hunter who shot the animal believed it to be a coyote and cooperated with the authorities, he has not been cited even though grey wolves are protected in that area.

California’s thirst shapes debate over fracking (The New York Times): Opponents of fracking have a new argument on their side. A drought that was declared early this year in California may have an impact on decisions made about fracking. Last year, fracking one oil well took 87 percent of water which would normally consumed by a family of four in one year.

Smart soil: transforming american agriculture one class at a time: (The Huffington Post Blog):

John Reganold, soil scientist and professor at Washington State University speaks of his study and success with creating sustainable agriculture in the United States. Reganold advocates for organic soil systems as a more sustainable way of growing and producing better crops.

 

A fish swimming near the reef. Photo courtesy of Conservation Magazine

Reef fish don’t care where conservation lines are drawn (Conservation Magazine): Over the years there have been increasing amounts of established marine protected areas, or MPAs, particularly near the Caribbean. Despite establishing these areas, fish often tend to migrate in and out, swimming outside of the bounds of protection. A research group of the Marine Institute of the United Kingdom tracked several different reef species and determined that conservation efforts must take this migration into account.

Hope for the honey bees? Experts pitch plans to curb deaths (NBC News): Honey bees throughout the world have been suffering from colony collapse disorder and scientists think they may have found a way to lower the death rate. It was found that certain types of pesticides played a role in largely killing the bees — some of the world’s largest contributors to the food and crop industry because of their pollinating role in nature.

Farm bill, lake sturgeon, and blueberries: this week in environmental news

By Allison Raeck, MNA Intern

Every Friday, MNA shares recent environmental news stories from around the state and country. Here’s some of what happened this week in environmental and nature news:

International Joint Commission issues Great Lakes report card (Great Lakes Echo): According to the International Joint Commission’s latest progress report, Michigan’s Great Lakes are experiencing some new problems, mainly linked to warmer temperatures. According to Lana Pollack, former Michigan Environmental Council president, warm temperatures are taking their toll on lake ecology, dramatically impacting species that were once considered stable in these areas. The commission summarized that, tough protection measures have greatly improved the quality of the Great Lakes in recent decades, the area now requires a new type of conservational attention.

Stabenow calls for passage of Senate farm bill (East Village Magazine): U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow joined with Michigan agricultural and conservationist leaders Wednesday to call for the passage of her 2013 Farm Bill. The bill is a major reform of past agriculture programs, and yields $24 billion in spending cuts. The reforms increase investments to create more jobs in the agriculture industry while aiming to save taxpayer dollars overall. The Senate Committee passed the bill by a strong bipartisan vote on May 15, and a final Senate vote is expected next week.

Lake Sturgeon.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Restoring an ancient Great Lakes fish (Michigan Water Stewardship Program): Federal and state officials have joined with the Gun Lake Band of Potawatomi to rebuild the lake sturgeon habitat in the Kalamazoo River. Currently, the lake sturgeon population is declining below sustainable levels in the area, and fewer than 125 exist in the Kalamazoo River today. Conservationists are attempting to raise these numbers by reconstructing areas of cobblestones, rock and sand at the bottom of the river, which the sturgeon use for spawning.

Does Climate Change Impact Tornadoes? The Scientific Jury Is Still Out (TakePart): Though multiple theories exist, some scientists are beginning to suspect that stronger tornadoes, such as the twister that hit Moore, Oklahoma on May 20, may be linked to climate change. Humid air masses coming off the Gulf of Mexico could increase from warmer global temperatures and, as a result, increasingly clash with cold northern air masses to form more tornadoes. Still, while the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change acknowledges this hypothesis, the organization does not believe there is enough data to prove it true at this time.

Honeybees, other bees put to the test pollinating Michigan blueberries (mlive): Planting wildflowers near blueberry plants may increase the crop’s yields, according to a recent study conducted at Michigan State University. The wildflowers attract bees and other pollinating insects, which additionally support blueberry plants. These findings will lead to a larger study funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, testing ways to make full use of pollination on a broader scale.