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Plastic Water Bottle Pollution [Infographic] | ecogreenlove via @printwand

→ http://ecogreenlove.com/?p=9886

This infographic is a helpful breakdown of the most important facts and statistics that you should know about disposable water bottles, along with the criteria to look for when choosing a reusable alternative.

#plasticpollution #environment #health

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Postcard from the Arctic

It’s never been more important to study the Arctic, which is undergoing rapid change. Here are a couple of photos from students who got a firsthand look this summer. They’re participating in the University of Alaska, Fairbanks “Research Experiences for Undergraduates” (REU) program, which is meant to attract students to arctic sciences: bit.ly/2yVZWMk

Find the REU group in this photo.

Above: A haunting look at the Arctic tundra this summer. It appears barren, but if you look closely on the left, in the distance, there’s the REU group! This photo was taken near Galbraith Lake on the North Slope, part of the trip to one of the permafrost sites. Credit: Sorina Seeley, International Arctic Research Center, https://uaf-iarc.org/

Are you interested in REU? https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.jsp

Above: This summer, the Arctic REU program “adopted” three additional students funded by NOAA. Here they all are on the Dalton Highway, headed to the Toolik field Station on the North Slope with their science advisors. Credit: James White, The Ohio State University, NOAA Hollings Scholar

Arctic REU: bit.ly/2yVZWMk

Below: The Arctic REU program looks at the Arctic system as a whole. This illustration shows how the Arctic is a complex adaptive subsystem of the Earth, undergoing rapid change: bit.ly/2yVZWMk

Credit: Roberts, A. and coauthors 2010. A Science Plan for Regional Arctic System Modeling, A report to the National Science Foundation from the International Arctic Science Community. International Arctic Research Center Technical Papers 10-0001. International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks Report: bit.ly/2yXXW6f

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The accidental enzyme

An enzyme that can digest some of our most commonly polluting plastics has been engineered by scientists at Portsmouth University, UK. It could provide a potential solution to one of the world’s biggest environmental problems – plastic pollution. 

The discovery could result in a recycling solution for millions of tonnes of plastic bottles, made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which currently persists for hundreds of years in the environment. Researchers were able to solve the crystal structure of PETase – a recently discovered enzyme that digests PET – and used this 3D information to understand how it works, and inadvertently engineered the enzyme.

The breakthrough was made when researchers were examining the structure of a natural enzyme thought to have evolved in a waste recycling centre in Japan, allowing a bacterium to degrade plastic as a food source. The goal was to determine its structure, but they went a step further to produce the PET eating enzyme. 

The researchers are now working on improving the enzyme to allow it to be used industrially to break down plastics in a short amount of time.

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Tomorrow’s cover, today

On our cover we look forward to the Paris climate talks, which start on Monday. We argue in a leader and a 14-page special report that today’s tools and thinking cannot deal with global warming. It is time to come up with something bolder

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#Green Documentaries: Cowspiracy | ecogreenlove → http://ecogreenlove.com/?p=6403

“COWSPIRACY: The #Sustainability Secret is a groundbreaking feature-length #environmental #documentary following an intrepid filmmaker as he uncovers the most destructive #industry facing the #planet today, and investigates why the world’s leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it.“

Be #Eco: Join the #Green and Share the Love! 💚

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by Kerstin Langenberger Photography

For tourists and wildlife photographers, the main reason to come to Svalbard is to see polar bears. And yes, usually we find them: beautiful bears, photogenic bears, playful or even at a kill. At first glance, everything is as it has always been in one of the most easily accessible polar bear populations of the world, strongly protected and doing good, so some scientists say. But are they really doing good, the bears up here? I am a critically minded person, and I observe. I see the summers being so pleasant (and warm) as never before. I see the glaciers calving, retreating dozens to hundreds of metres every year. I see the pack ice disappearing in record speed. Yes, I have seen bears in good shape - but I have also seen dead and starving polar bears. Bears walking on the shores, looking for food, bears trying to hunt reindeer, eating bird’s eggs, moss and seaweed. And I realized that the fat bears are nearly exclusively males which stay on the pack-ice all year long. The females, on the other hand, which den on land to give birth to their young, are often slim. With the pack ice retreating further and further north every year, they tend to be stuck on land where there’s not much food. In the first year, they loose their first cub. In the second year, they lose their second (and last) cub. Only once I have seen a mother with a nearly independent cub. Only a few times I have seen beautifully fat mothers with beautifully fat young. Many times I have seen horribly thin bears, and those were exclusively females - like this one here. A mere skeleton, hurt on her front leg, possibly by a desperate attempt to hunt a walrus while she was stuck on land. Experts claim the Svalbard population is stable, even rising. Well, here comes my question: how can a population be stable if it consists of less and less females and cubs? How can a population be doing good if most bear will score a body index of 2-3 out of 5? Only once I have seen a bear getting a big fat „5“, but several times I have seen dead bears and bears like this one: a mere „1“ on the scale, doomed to death. I do not have scientific data to proof my observations, but I have eyes to see - and a brain to draw conclusions. Climate change is happening big deal here in the Arctic. And it is our decision to trying to change this. So: let’s do something about the biggest threat of our time. Maybe we cannot save this bear here. But every little action we do to change our ways is a step in the right direction. We just have to get started and keep on going!

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Please please please don’t support the evil disgusting ‘down’ industry. Imagine having your hair ripped out repeatedly AND with no pain relief! Have a go see how much hair you can pull out of your head…. This nightmare happens every time these gentle birds feathers grow back!! Put yourself in their shoes and imagine the agony and terror. No living being should have to live this way. Please go vegan and use your wallet to show these disgusting people and companies you don’t support animal abuse. Use it as another voice for these enslaved and abused victims. No human being on this planet needs a single animal products in their diet or life. Please think before you buy, make the connection. #animalabuse #saynotodown #geese #feathers #crueltyfreelife #Earthlings #veganftw #saynotoanimalproducts #dontpaysomeonetoabuseanimalsforyou #endanimalcruelty #endanimalenslavement #animalsarenotcommodities #sentientbeings #downpillows #downquilt #downcoat #dropdown

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Solutions to Global Warming

Global warming is affecting many parts of the world, excessively. It is a huge threat on on our environment. What causes global warming? Greenhouse gas emissions have impacted the earth thoroughly and they are the cause of the temperature of the earth which is increasing. The more greenhouse emissions we have, the warmer the earth. If we don’t do anything about that, we may have to face severe situations like rising sea levels. The number of polar bears are diminishing due to global warming and within a century, it is possible for them to disappear entirely. Hurricanes can also increase and become more intense in the years to come.

There are ways that you can do to reduce and fight against global warming. Such as, planting a tree in your backyard, recycling, using gas reasonably, reducing coal, oil and natural gas burning, reusing your shopping bags, buying organic, using less hot water. If we can attain to do all of these, it can make a huge difference in our world and we can finally eliminate global warming.

Everything we do makes a difference. 

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Car emissions and the environment

   We are very aware that oil consumption is a major environmental issue that we must be conscious about before it’s too late. Two century’s ago, oil began to form and there was a considerable amount. Today, we have used up half of that supply and in a couple years we will run out. We must be alert of these issues and face them. Oil is mainly used for transportation vehicles and they are a dominant concern for oil’s future generations.

    To reduce the oil consumption on this earth, we encourage people to adapt some new ways of transport other than vehicles. Such as, biking and walking. People have a habit of using their cars excessively, using up a lot of gas. Carpooling is a major issue as well, because they are always active for people who need a ride somewhere. Wouldn’t it be more beneficial for you economically and physically for you to walk or take your bicycle to get to your destination? Staying fit despite a busy schedule is something a bicycle or walking can provide, not a powered vehicle.

   If you are to have or use a car, at least maintain it properly and use it wisely. Abstain from the air conditioner in the car, the overfilling engines, and on going driving.

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Rapidly changing Arctic

Larry Mayer is a long time witness to melting in the Arctic. The University of New Hampshire marine scientist has conducted research there most summers since 2003. Check out these amazing photos and listen to his interview about what’s happening to the landscape and what it means for animals in the Arctic - “The Science Show” podcast featured on NSF’s Science360 Radio: bit.ly/2ANZPhV

Larry Mayer is currently funded by the National Science Foundation to participate in a multi-disciplinary experiment to better understand the response of Petermann Glacier to climate change in the past. 2015 Expedition: http://www.geo.su.se/index.php/en/expedition-logs/1276-petermann-glacier-2015 Petermann’s Glacial History: https://petermannsglacialhistory.wordpress.com/

Petermann Glacier is one of the few remaining glaciers of the Greenland ice sheet that still has a large floating ice shelf connecting to the ocean. These photos were taken by Mayer in the Petermann Fjord. A fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by glacial erosion.

Photo Credits: Larry Mayer, University of New Hampshire

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Wetland key to reducing nitrate pollution

Image credit: Amy Hansen

Fertilizers used by farmers are good for plant growth, but often contain harmful amounts of nitrate. Excess nitrate from crop fertilizer drains into nearby waterways, making it harmful to ecosystems and human health.

In a recent study, NSF-funded researchers found that wetlands significantly reduce nitrate pollution.

Using water samples collected over a four-year period from more than 200 waterways in the 17,000-square-mile Minnesota River Basin, researchers isolated the effects of wetlands on stream and river nitrate concentrations.

They found that when stream flows are high, wetlands are five times more efficient at reducing nitrate than the best land-based conservation practices. The results also demonstrated that the arrangement of wetlands in a watershed is a predictor of the magnitude of nitrate reduction.

Researchers say the study shows that wetland restoration could be one of the most effective methods for improving water quality in the face of climate change and the increasing global demand for food.

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From spinach leaf to heart tissue

Happy National Inventors’ Day! It’s perfect timing for this research story about a lab at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where a spinach leaf has inspired a new way to generate heart tissue. The idea came to them over lunch (of course)… check it out: bit.ly/2EiIMXu

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By 2100, arid cities will suffer from more severe heat waves than temperate cities

Heat waves are among the deadliest and most common of environmental extremes. As the earth continues to warm due to the buildup of greenhouse gases, heat waves are expected to become more severe, particularly for cities, where concrete and a dearth of trees create what’s known as the urban heat island effect. Using a global climate model, researchers measured how severely heat waves interact with urban heat islands, now and in the future, in 50 American cities across 3 climate zones. In terms of relative temperature increase, today’s Eastern and Southeastern cities are more severely affected by heat waves than arid and semiarid Western cities. To learn more about how heat waves will affect cities go to: http://bit.ly/2Et3Ej7  

Photo credit:  Egan Jimenez/Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University