Get Started with Standup Paddleboards
Paddleboards. You’ve seen them everywhere, eyeing them longingly as they glide effortlessly through the water like waterborne angels. “It’s not for me,” you thought, eyeing the ground as you plod about like a boar, “standup paddleboards are for other people; special people. There’s no way I could do that”. Well I’ve got news for you, […]
Pacific NW
Follow the Great Umpqua Food Trail
Caption: Great Umpqua Food Trail: Umpqua Valley Farmers Market in Roseburg, Oregon. Photo Credit: Joni Kabana. Editor’s note: The following article was prepared by Travel Oregon. Heading out on a Southern Oregon road trip and need a great cup of coffee, an amazing farm-to-table dinner or a tasting room with a view around Roseburg? Now […]
Our fun family RV trip to Fort Flagler
Written by Emily Helgeson Editor’s note: The following article is reprinted with permission from the Northwest RVing Blog hosted by MHRV (Manufactured Housing and Recreational Vehicle) Show Association. Camping at Fort Flagler annually has been a long-standing tradition for my husband, Brad’s side of the family. I wrote an article two years ago about our […]
‘Plant Blindness” poses threat to humanity
Caption: Our inability to notice or care about the plants around us could pose an existential threat to humanity. Credit: Francesca Zama, Pexels. Dear EarthTalk: What on Earth is “plant blindness?” – Betsy Carlucci. New York, NY Botanists James Wandersee and Elizabeth Schussler coined the term “plant blindness” in 1998 to describe “the inability to see or notice the plants in one's own environment, leading to the inability to recognize the importance of plants in the biosphere and in human affairs.” An additional aspect of plant blindness is the “inability to appreciate the aesthetic and unique biological features” of plants andInvasive insects on the rise with warming climate
Caption: The Emerald Ash Borer hitched a ride on wood from Asia decades ago and has decimated ash forests in 35 states and five Canadian provinces. Credit: B Smith, FlickrCC. Dear EarthTalk: Where I live in Southeast Michigan, an invasive insect called the Emerald Ash Borer is wreaking havoc on our forests. Are other parts of the country dealing with this pest or others that are killing large numbers of trees? — John D., Sterling Heights, MI In a growing number of U.S. states, residents have been dealing with a different kind of quarantine that began back in the early 2000’s
Young Republicans joining climate change fight
Caption: Benji Backer and other young Republicans started the American Conservation Coalition in 2017 to merge their conservative and conservation values. Dear EarthTalk: How can it be that climate change—the major planetary issue of our time and a primary issue for Democrats—isn’t even on the agenda for Republicans in the upcoming elections?-- Will Harris, Bridgeport, CT Americans, regardless of political affiliation, all live on this planet together and share its ecosystems and resources. Yet there is a deep divide among us with regard to environmental policies and climate change. Nothing underscores this divide more than Donald Trump’s rolling back of nearly
Avoid COVID-19 waste with reusable masks
Caption: PPE waste is a big environmental concern now given we are discarding hundreds of billions of disposable masks and gloves every month globally. Credit: Kaspars Misins, Pexels. Dear EarthTalk: What’s the environmental impact of all the single-use PPE we are throwing away now in huge numbers as a result of responding to the COVID-19 crisis?-- Jay M., Cary, NC There’s no question about it: all the disposable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in our waste stream is taking a toll on the environment. A recent study in the journal Environmental Science & Technology found that we are using some 129 billionTrump threatens Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Caption: The polar bears of Alaska's arctic are already threatened by global warming but now they may have to contend with oil drilling apparatus in one of the most ecologically sensitive and important parts of their habitat. Credit: Cheryl Strahl, FlickrCC. Dear EarthTalk: Is Trump going to be able to finally open up the contentious coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling before his first term ends?-- J.P, Maumee, OH The debate over whether to open up the most ecologically sensitive part—the so-called 1002 area, or coastal plain—of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil drilling
Solar storms are common occurance
Caption: While solar storms may be harmful to our communications technologies, they are also behind the amazing galactic light show visible from some northern latitudes in winter called the Aurora Borealis. Credit: Keith Williams, FlickrCC. Dear EarthTalk: Are there any environmental or health risks associated with the solar storms that have been hitting the Earth recently?-- Betsy R., Suwanee, GA Solar storms have been in the news lately, but the truth is these naturally occurring solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the Sun happen all the time—or at least a few hundred times a year from what we can
Researchers find pesticides shorten honeybee lives
The lives of honeybees are shortened – with evidence of physiological stress – when they are exposed to the suggested application rates of two commercially available and widely used pesticides, according to new Oregon State University research. In a study published in the journal PLOS ONE, honeybee researchers in OSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences found […]
OSU expands Coronavirus testing to Newport
TRACE-COVID-19, the groundbreaking Oregon State University project to determine community prevalence of the novel coronavirus, expanded to include two days of sampling in Newport on June 20-21. The addition of Newport to the study follows the positive tests of more than 120 workers at Pacific Seafood, which operates five processing facilities in the city. In […]
Powerful crystal may someday power homes
Photo caption: Researchers at the University of Oxford in the UK are experimenting with perovskites as the semiconductor in these small tin solar cells that could someday be on your rooftop supplying your home with free electricity. Credit: University of Oxford Press Office FlickrCC. Dear EarthTalk: What is perovskite-based solar all about, and how does […]
Portland tech firm creates virtual COVID-19 screening
Photo Caption: A novel coronavirus, named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China in 2019. The illness caused by this virus has been named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Portland-based Bright.md has helped health systems evaluate and treat tens of […]
Portland’s Elephants Delicatessen honored
The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) honored Portland-based Elephants Delicatessen during a special VIP dinner in Washington, in early March where they shared their story of giving back to the community and being a good neighbor to the planet. The NRAEF’s Restaurant Neighbor Award (RNA), developed in partnership with American Express, highlights outstanding local […]
