Biodiversity Bottlenecks

by Chuck Cannon Over the past couple of centuries, we have witnessed a dramatic decline in wildlife populations (1, 2) and the extent of natural areas (3), with an increasing…

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Lizardfall

by Bill Schlesinger Along the mid-coast of California, amidst carefully protected ranches of Silicon Valley executives, one finds rolling hills of oak trees. A few years ago, with colleagues from…

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Air Conditioning

by Bill Schlesinger Hot town, summer in the cityBack of my neck getting dirty and grittyThe Lovin’ Spoonful, 1966 We may be entering a vicious circle—what scientists call a positive…

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The Methane Mystery

Methane is a strong absorbent of infrared (heat) radiation leaving the Earth’s atmosphere, and thus implicated in the ongoing global warming of our planet. After a lull in the 1990s,…

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The Smell of the City

Translational Ecology <[email protected]>10:13 AM (24 minutes ago) The Smell of the City by Bill Schlesinger Even before COVID-19 cleared the air in major world’s cities—New York, Los Angeles, Beijing and…

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Gutting protections for migratory birds

Wood Thrushes have just arrived in our yard in North Carolina, having completed their migration from Central America that began a few weeks ago. Their flutelike singing from the treetops…

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Behind the Smoke Screen

While we have been closely focused on the painful nightly White House briefings on coronavirus, at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Trump’s minions have been busy dismantling decades of regulations…

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In Hot Water with Covid and Climate

An oft-told story in the world of climate change considers the behavior of frogs in hot water. Put a frog in a pan of hot water and it will jump…

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Shopping in Troubled Times

Go to the mall or shop on-line—a nagging question for those who want to minimize their environmental footprint. And, of course, now with the social distancing recommended to combat the…

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The Woody Biomass Hoax

Forests are too valuable to burn, but growing interest in using wood to replace fossil fuels to help mitigate climate change stems from the wood-pellet industry, led by Enviva, in…

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