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In a First, California Moves to Protect People from Toxic PFAS Chemicals in Carpets

Carpets and rugssare a major source of potentially toxic chemicals and can be especially harmful to children. They cover more than half of all U.S. homes and workplaces. California’s Safer Consumer Products program wants to identify sources of toxicity in consumer products and find alternatives.

Will the world come together to end ocean plastic pollution? It depends

The global community has solved significant environment problems, such as the ozone hole, but has fallen far short on others.

Why Mexico’s massive new marine reserve is a model for ocean protection

The Revillagigedo Archipelago National Park puts 57,176 square miles of the Pacific Ocean off limits to commercial fishing – and comes with funding to enforce the ban.

The U.K. has banned microbeads. Why?

They’re tiny, colorful and harmless-looking, but these little pellets are being blamed for causing big problems for the world’s oceans and seas.

Scientists find surprising evidence of rapid changes in the Arctic

Scientists have found surprising evidence of rapid climate change in the Arctic: In the middle of the Arctic Ocean near the North Pole, they discovered that the levels of radium-228 have almost doubled over the last decade.

A deep dive into the year in oceans 2017

The ocean may cover more than 70 percent of the planet, but it doesn’t get covered nearly enough in the news.

The best countries to escape the worst effects of climate change

While the US ranked among the top 10 countries most likely to survive climate change in 2015, it slipped to 12th place this year.

Deeply Talks: Why plastic straws are key to fighting ocean pollution

Oceans Deeply talks with experts about how the city of Seattle pioneered a ban on plastic straws.

Scotland plans to ban plastic straws by end of 2019

Scottish Environment Secretary says she would like to see more single-use plastics banned as a means of tackling marine pollution.

In a fight for much-needed green spaces, these Latino advocates bring a winning formula

Green spaces and parks have been linked to a multitude of positive outcomes including better health, less stress and stronger communities. But in neighborhoods where these places aren't available or easily accessible, residents aren't able to enjoy these benefits.

NOTABLE CITIES/COUNTIES WITH PLASTIC BAG BANS AND FEES

In 2014 California became the first state to enact legislation banning single use plastic bags at large retail stores. Some U.S. counties and cities now ban or charge fees for plastic bags to reduce their harmful impact to the environment. Check the link to see what places are on the path to a #HealthyWorldForAll and visit our website for the latest news.

Climate Friendly Parks Program

Our national parks are especially susceptible to the effects of #ClimateChange. That’s why the National Park Service which has established the Climate Friendly Parks (CFP) Program. Learn how more than 120 National Parks plan to respond to Climate Change issues such as sea level rise in the Everglades and the shrinking range of the Joshua Tree.

STRAWLESS OCEAN

We use 500 Million Plastic Straws Every Day in the U.S.sMany of those plastic straws end up in our oceans, polluting the water and harming sea life. If we don’t act now, by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.

Economic benefits of green spaces

According to a research report by the Forestry Commission, a non-ministerial government department responsible for forestry in England and Scotland, evidence exists that investments in green space have a positive impact on constituent components such as job creation, new business start-ups and private investment.sRead more at https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2017/06/17/economic-benefits-of-green-spaces/#42mkspoIKFJg54yU.99

Sea level rise accelerating: acceleration in 25-year satellite sea level record

Global sea level rise is not cruising along at a steady 3 mm per year, it's accelerating a little every year, like a driver merging onto a highway, according to a powerful new assessment led by CIRES Fellow Steve Nerem.

Safe Drinking Water for Californian

Most of us take for granted our ability to turn on the tap and drink the water that flows from it. More than 1 million Californians, however, cannot take this basic human right for granted. Their water is not safe to drink and, in some cases, may not be safe for any household use. Instead they have to spend thousands of dollars a year on bottled water—dollars that residents of the impoverished communities most impacted by this problem don’t likely have. Flint, Michigan may have brought a national spotlight to water issues, but many low-income families have been living with the lack of safe water for years.

Plastic waste 'building up' in Arctic

Plastic waste is building up in the supposedly pristine wilderness of the Norwegian Arctic, scientists say. Researchers are particularly concerned about huge concentrations of microplastic fragments in sea ice.

Mass Die-Off of Farmed Salmon Linked to Climate Change

Scientists have attributed an algal bloom that killed off $800 million worth of salmon in Chile to rising ocean temperatures, and they say other aquaculture operations around the world are at risk.

March for the Ocean Set for June 9, 2018

On Saturday June 9, 2018, World Oceans Day weekend and the beginning of the 2018 hurricane season, the March for the Ocean (M4O) campaign will mount mass marches, flotillas and rallies in our nation’s capital and around the country.

California lawmakers are stuck on Trump, but there's a problem at home that needs attention: dirty water

While President Trump and his California resistors dominate the spotlight, a little outfit without much pizazz is trying to draw state government’s attention to sickening drinking water in the San Joaquin Valley.

American drinking water could soon get a lot dirtier

The Trump administration's new infrastructure plan aims to ease regulatory checks on US waterways. The administration says this will help fast-track more building projects and reduce permit delays. But some water experts are worried that it could put some of the country's most fragile drinking water systems at risk, and put the expensive burden of water cleanup onto cities.

Heart-breaking moment mother turtle is forced to lay eggs on a huge pile of rubbish at a filthy beach

This is the shocking moment a mother turtle struggled to nest on a beach filled with rubbish and marine debris.

Great Barrier Reef: rising temperatures turning green sea turtles female

Rising temperatures are turning almost all green sea turtles in a Great Barrier Reef population female, new research has found.

We just discovered these places (national parks;) now you want to take them from us?

National Park Service plans to double fees at some of the most spectacular parks around the country.

Oceans suffocating as huge dead zones quadruple since 1950, scientists warn

Areas starved of oxygen in open ocean and by coasts have soared in recent decades, risking dire consequences for marine life and humanity.

These are the countries where air pollution is the deadliest

These are the 10 countries with the highest mortality rates (per 100,000 people) associated with air pollution in 2016.

Entry fees could double at some national parks

The park service said that the increase in funds would be used to address maintenance issues that affect the visitor experience, such as roads, campgrounds and bathrooms.

The most accurate climate change models predict the most alarming consequences, study finds

The climate change simulations that best capture current planetary conditions are also the ones that predict the most dire levels of human-driven warming.

Mysterious disease wastes South Florida's corals, and scientists are racing to find a cure

Called white plague, white blotch and other names, depending on the pattern of damaged or destroyed tissue, the disease has infected more than 20 South Florida coral species from the mid-Florida Keys through Palm Beach County.

Seven charts that explain the plastic pollution problem

Marine life is facing "irreparable damage" from the millions of tons of plastic waste which ends up in the oceans each year, the United Nations has warned.

When climate change becomes a credit problem

Climate change is now a credit issue for city and state governments vulnerable to extreme weather events and natural disasters made worse by global warming.

Silicon Valley wants to solve our water problems

Despite a lack of VC funds, there’s a steady flow of entrepreneurs. The entrepreneur started investing in water tech startups a few years ago. A small fraction of venture capital dollars currently goes into tech to manage or clean water.

Humans have dumped tons of plastic into oceans. Now it’s reached the deepest depths, study finds

Most of that plastic isn’t recycled. 91 percent of the world’s plastic ends up as waste that threatens fish, birds, mammals and even the crustaceans seven miles below the ocean’s surface.

Lobster's Pepsi 'tattoo' highlights major ocean problem

A lobster fished from waters off the coast of New Brunswick, Canada, was found earlier this month with an unusual marking on its claw—what appears to be the image of a Pepsi can.

Here's how cities can get the most out of their parks

A neighborhood park can be a powerful tool to help nearby residents lead healthier lives. According to one study, every dollar spent on creating and maintaining park trails saves nearly $3 in healthcare expenses.

L.A. parks get their report cards — and the bathrooms get a C

Sixteen parks got D or F grades for their bathrooms, which got an overall C grade across the city. And dirtiness and safety were also a worry beyond the restroom doors, in the face of surging homelessness and a strained budget for the parks department.

Island nations, with no time to lose, take climate response into their own hands

Small islands also are among the smallest contributors to climate change, producing less than 1 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Thousands of tiny baby Adélie penguin starve to death as changing weather forces parents to travel for food

Thousands of tiny baby penguins starved after changing weather forced their parents to trudge across Antarctica in search of food amid the changing climate.

Five shocking facts about the scale of plastic pollution that's choking our seas

Plastics now dominate modern human life, with many throwaway or single-use products such as drinks bottles, nappies and cutlery, ending up in the natural environment.

What’s the most environmentally friendly Christmas tree you can get?

Real Christmas trees are probably better for the environment than fake trees, at least from the perspective of their carbon footprints.

In a warming California, a future of more fire

Increasing year-to-year variability in temperature and precipitation that will create greater contrast between drought years and wet years. Severe wildfire seasons like the one that has devastated California this fall may occur more frequently because of climate change.

New data: 2 million Puerto Ricans risk water contamination

More than 2.3 million Puerto Rican residents were served by water systems which drew at least one sample testing positive for total coliforms or E. coli after Maria devastated the island in September.

US government report finds steady and persistent global warming

The world is changing and all the changes we observe are consistent with a warming world. It is hard to predict where we will be in five or ten decades.

Did climate change worsen the Southern California fires?

The answer isn’t as clear-cut as it was this summer, when drought- and heat-stoked fires raged across the Rockies and Pacific Northwest. Instead, a mix of forces are driving the fires in Southern California, and only some of them have a clear connection to global warming.

"Shame and anger" at plastic ocean pollution

Every piece of plastic rubbish has a story, so it also makes me wonder about the chain of events that led to that particular item ending up in the deep ocean, and whether any of those events could have been prevented.

Marine hotspots raise eastern US sea levels

Sea level rise and catastrophic coastal flooding could come early to the US Atlantic coast. So sea water in the streets of Florida or drowned towns on offshore islands will not necessarily be blamed upon global warming.

Trump plan could open this giant sequoia monument to logging

Undertaking a review of more than two dozen national monuments declared since the 1990s is part of the Trump Administration's determination to roll back regulation and open public land to private industry.

Billions in new spending for housing, water, parks and more could be on the 2018 ballot

Californians could vote on billions of dollars in new spending for low-income housing developments and water and parks improvements next year.

Why we are naively optimistic about climate change

Seventy takes us near the end of this century, when predictions from climate models describe terrifying scenarios. If the world as we know it would cease to be in 70 years, people should start to take notice now.

Sailing to the pacific ocean’s trash vortex

Now, ocean plastic pollution had its Frankenstein trash island. Sea captain Marcus Eriksen and surfer Charles Moore discovered the Pacific trash vortex and the island of floating trash.

How neighborhoods affect the social and economic mobility of their residents

Understanding the mechanisms through which neighborhood conditions can affect long-term social and economic outcomes is a crucial step in promoting mobility from poverty.

How the insurance industry can push us to prepare for climate change

Climate change risk is rising, and yet behavioral economics research argues that we are collectively underinvesting in protecting ourselves. Private insurance has a significant role to play.

Clean water plan for long-suffering San Joaquin Valley Towns derailed

An innovative project would see seven Tulare County towns plagued by polluted wells sharing a water treatment plant, but political infighting stalled the proposal days before a funding deadline.

U.N. report: little known about ocean plastic’s impact on human health

An FAO study finds that more than 100 commercial seafood species ingest microplastic, which can be contaminated with toxins. More worrying are the unknown health effects of even smaller nanoplastics.

Freshwater to sea, the resilience of oceans

Peter Thomson, President of the UN General Assembly encourages us to join together to develop a concerted global action to deliver on the targets of SDG 6.

Trump gets report that could open national marine sanctuaries to oil drilling

Oil drilling was banned along the entire Sonoma County coast when President Obama expanded Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary in 2016. Now the Trump administration is considering reversing that decision.

Los Angeles’ Sustainable City “pLAn,” a four-part series (part IV)

Mayor Eric Garcetti's Sustainable City pLAn claims that building equity in our city ensures all Angelenos have access to healthy, livable neighborhoods.

California towns tackle nitrate pollution with local solutions

It will take decades to slow nitrate contamination in groundwater from industrial agriculture in parts of the state of California, so communities are taking matters into their own hands to get clean drinking water.

How climate change canceled the grizzly salmon run

On an Alaskan island, one of nature’s greatest spectacles is shutting down, as brown bears abandon fish in favor of a surprising alternative.

Breakthrough could help predict a catastrophic loss of ocean oxygen

The ocean is losing oxygen due to nutrient pollution, the effects of climate change, and decreased mixing of marine layers. These are a few ways that could help predict catastrophic loss of ocean oxygen.

Meet the brothers kayaking down the world's most polluted river

Plastic Bottle Citarum has been launched to help make people think about the dangers that pollution has on human health to inspire positive change.

Oceans Deeply talks: drowning in plastic

Oceans Deeply talks with experts about the plastic pollution that’s threatening the ocean: What we know, what we don’t know and, crucially, what we can do about it.

5 ways underwater drones are helping citizens save the ocean

Later this year, an army of small swimming robots is set to plumb the mysteries of oceans around the world. Each one will have its own mission, as defined by citizen scientists interested in everything from reefs to "robomussels" that can self-monitor temperature.

California’s plan to tackle a carcinogen widespread in water

Decades after declaring 1,2,3-TCP a carcinogen, California is finally regulating the toxin. But the cost of remediation will be high and communities are turning toward litigation to pay for water treatment.

Trump administration reverses bottled water ban in national parks

The Trump administration has rolled back an Obama-era policy put in place to encourage national parks to end the sale of bottled water.

Climate change could make flights longer and bumpier

Climate change could affect the maximum takeoff weight of planes, which may result in more weight restrictions and even flight cancellations.

Just 10 river systems contribute up to 95 percent of plastic in oceans

We've known that the plastics we throw away — empty water bottles and grocery bags, for instance — pollute our oceans. Every year, about 8.8 million tons (8 million metric tons) of this material ends up in the deep blue sea, imperiling marine ecosystems.

5 years after Superstorm Sandy, the lessons haven't sunk in

Five years after Superstorm Sandy was supposed to have taught the U.S. a lesson about the dangers of living along the coast, disaster planning experts say there is no place in America truly prepared for climate change and the tempests it could bring.

California state parks' blueprint for a more diverse future

Park visitorship should reflect the state’s “ethnic, age and income diversity” and a state park unit providing a “relevant educational, interpretive, spiritual, cultural, familial, community, and recreational experience”.

New global study shows the production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made

A new global study published yesterday estimated that 8,300 million metric tons of plastics have been produced to date Ndthe vast majority has ended up in our environment.

A nearly $17-billion water project is being planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?

Decision time is approaching for the agencies that will have to pick up the nearly $17-billion tab for building two massive water tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the heart of the state’s water works.

Tweet streams: how social media can help keep tabs on ocean health

Environmental monitoring is an expensive and time-consuming endeavor. One solution: Tap data stored in tweets and Instagram photos to track the health of coral reefs and other marine ecosystems.

A controversial California effort to fight climate change just got some good news

A controversial California climate program got a shot of good news this month when a study suggested it is successfully reducing the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and providing other environmental benefits on the side.

Scientists have figured out how much plastic we’ve made since 1950. It’s not pretty.

In just 70 years, more than 8 billion metric tons of virgin plastics have been produced worldwide.

Coral triage: scientists zero in on reefs with best chance of survival

Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s 100 Island Challenge uses 3-D photography to monitor how coral reefs change over time in an effort to help local communities save crucial marine ecosystems.