Dozens of Sloths Die at Shady Roadside Zoo Operation

On a busy tourist strip in Orlando, behind noisy bars and souvenir shops, 21 sloths in crates arrived at a warehouse at the end of a grueling international trip.  Soon, they would all be dead.

The new home of the tree-dwelling mammals was the off-site facility of a new roadside attraction called “Sloth World,” a $49 animal encounter marketed as a conservation-focused center scheduled to open soon.   Nothing could have prepared the sloths for this. Until recently, they lived wild in the forest canopies of Guyana.  The animals' new home wasn't ready to receive them.  There was no running water. No electricity. The space heaters meant to keep them warm were plugged in with extension cords running from another building, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission incident report that Inside Climate News obtained through an open-records request. But the heaters repeatedly tripped the fuse and shut off. At least one night in December 2024, the agency said, the sloths were left alone in the cold warehouse without heat.   One by one, they died. 

U.S. Government is Accelerating Coral Reef Collapse

Widely referred to as the “tip of the spear” in the American arsenal, Guam—which is smaller than New York City but home to a military community of nearly 23,000—is a dichotomy of majestic nature and military might.  But the real powerhouse of the Pacific exists not on land but just below the water’s surface in its biological resilience, which is now threatened by the Pentagon’s quest for strategic deterrence. The weapons that miss their target on the testing range will soon find a different one, sinking down to the most diverse coral reef of any U.S. jurisdiction. A battle between the two is now emerging.

The U.S. government is accelerating coral reef collapse around Guam, alleges a team of international researchers in a letter released this month in Science. They warn administration pressures to prioritize national security—through dredging projects, increased military infrastructure and live firing ranges—will cause harm to endangered habitats.

Additionally, a fundamental misunderstanding of coral taxonomy in the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is exacerbating the ecological harm to fisheries and reefs. Without intervention, these Pacific habitats now risk the same “functional extinction” experienced in Florida.

Mark Zuckerberg Shown to Be a Hypocrite, Once Again

Tech nerd Mark Zuckerberg has found himself at the center of an embarrassing climate change flip-flop, thanks to his $300 million mega yacht. The 41-year-old Meta boss, worth roughly $230 billion, has reportedly been burning hundreds of thousands of gallons of diesel fuel since launching his personal, 387-foot vessel last year.

The yacht, dubbed Launchpad, runs on four diesel engines that use about 291 gallons of fuel every hour, which allegedly emits 40 tons of CO₂ over that same period of time.

Zuckerberg, an outspoken advocate for climate change policies such as the Paris Agreement and scaling carbon dioxide removal technologies to limit global warming, has been roasted on social media over the yacht's massive carbon footprint.

 "Another reminder that Net Zero is only for the peasants," one person wrote on X next to a video of the massive luxury vessel sailing near Florida.  "Meanwhile ordinary people drive electric cars and recycle, because the planet matters. But for him, apparently, the planet doesn't matter," another social media user added.  Others called the multi-million-dollar yacht the ultimate "symbol of hypocrisy," as Zuckerberg has spent more than $100 million funding climate advocacy and related initiatives through his philanthropic organization.

Some critics of Zuckerberg's lavish mode of transportation noted that Launchpad was just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to climate hypocrisy.  The mega yacht has been accompanied on its journeys by a 220-foot, $30 million support ship called Wingman, which can carry smaller boats, a miniature submarine for exploration and even a helicopter.  "Rich people when they say "we’re all in this together" then fire up four diesel engines," an X user commented.

In just nine months between 2024 and this year, the $300 million super-yacht burned more than 528,000 gallons of diesel fuel, before docking in France’s La Ciotat shipyard in August, according to the Greek Reporter.  That usage amounted to more than 5,300 tons of carbon emissions being released by the one ship alone, the same as nearly 400 US households over one year.

The revelations about Zuckerberg's boat sharply contradict the Meta CEO's past comments about the dire situation Earth faces because of climate change, which has been largely blamed on human activities such as burning fossil fuels.  "Stopping climate change is something we can only do as a global community, and we have to act together before it’s too late," Zuckerberg said in 2017 while condemning President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Accord.

 

Trump is Making Your Halloween Candy More Expensive

Has anyone else felt a chill while walking down the candy aisle this year?   It's not the unseen ghosts of the Biden administration causing a shudder, but the price of chocolate. The cost of the popular sweets has been on the rise for quite some time, and this past year was no exception.

According to research conducted by Finance Buzz, the price tag of 100-piece candy bags rose on average by about $2 this year (after Trump was elected).  Convicted felon Donald Trump promised he would do something to lower the prices affecting families, but that (like most everything else coming out of his mouth) was complete bullshit. 

Chocolate has been facing a cost crisis since Trump took office. When Trump’s chaotic tariffs came for major cocoa exporters like Brazil, West Africa, and Ecuador over the summer, that set the stage for higher Halloween candy prices. 

Trump later issued an exemption for cocoa products coming out of Indonesia, but that was peanuts compared to the largest exporters of cocoa.  Trump continued to hold a personal grudge against Brazil, since former Brazilian president Bolsonaro was convicted of crimes related to the Brazilian coup.  As for West Africa and Ecuador, who knows-- maybe they haven't yet nominated Trump for the Nobel Prize. 

But it’s climate change that’s emerging as the major challenge for chocolate makers trying to keep prices low.  Major cocoa exporters like West Africa have been hit hard by increasingly tumultuous weather patterns. And with dwindling supply—well, you know how it goes. 

The spookiest part of all of this geopolitical chocolate talk is that the Trump administration has been doing its part to ensure cocoa—and all other crops—might never see their glory days again.   Environmental Protection Agency Secretary Lee Zeldin has dismantled programs studying climate change while proudly announcing he was prepared to “drive a dagger through the heart of climate change religion.”  To make matters worse, Zeldin has openly said that he no longer believes in the harmful effects of greenhouse gases. 

In other words, don’t expect the Trump administration to help make your candy bars any cheaper.

   

Data Centers Are Screwing Up the Water Supply

When Beverly Morris retired in 2016, she thought she had found her dream home - a peaceful stretch of rural Georgia, surrounded by trees and quiet.  Today, it's anything but.  Just 400 yards from her front porch in Fayette County sits a large, windowless building filled with servers, cables, and blinking lights.

It's a data center - one of many popping up across small-town America, and around the globe, to power everything from crypto currencies to artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT.  "I can't live in my home with half of my home functioning and no water," Ms Morris says. "I can't drink the water."

She believes the construction of the center, which is owned by Meta (the parent company of Facebook), disrupted her private well, causing an excessive build-up of sediment. Ms Morris now hauls water in buckets to flush her toilet.  She says she had to fix the plumbing in her kitchen to restore water pressure. But the water that comes of the tap still has residue in it.  "I'm afraid to drink the water, but I still cook with it, and brush my teeth with it," says Morris. "Am I worried about it? Yes."

Naturally, Meta claims the two aren't connected.  In a statement to the BBC, Meta said that "being a good neighbor is a priority."  Of course, nobody believes that.  The company commissioned a groundwater study to investigate Morris's concerns.  To no one's surprise, the report said Meta's data center operation did "not adversely affect groundwater conditions in the area".  In Ms Morris' estimation, there's no doubt, that the company has worn out its welcome as her neighbor.   "This was my perfect spot," she says. "But it isn't anymore."

"Demon" Sea Lions Attack Surfer

California surfer RJ LaMendola said he was surfing recently, when he was attacked at Oxnard State Beach in Ventura County, California, by a "demonic" sea lion that bit him and dragged him off his board, he wrote on Facebook.  LaMendola described the sea lion as "feral" and "almost demonic." The surfer was struck that the mammal was "devoid of the curiosity or playfulness" he usually associates with sea lions. "This isn’t normal sea lion behavior -- it’s something darker, something dangerous," he wrote, saying he won't be surfing again "anytime soon."

Marine researchers are saying that sea lions on the California coast are displaying strange behavior, likely due to a harmful algae bloom impacting the region.  The sea lions are likely being poisoned by domoic acid, a neurotoxin within the algae blooms, which they ingest through the fish they eat, according to marine experts. Ingesting domoic acid can cause amnesic shellfish poisoning in humans and marine mammals, according to the Marine Mammal Care Center.

There have been reports of the marine mammals acting aggressively in some cases, and in others, they appear lethargic, Jeni Smith, rescue supervisor at SeaWorld San Diego, told ABC San Diego affiliate KGTV. Smith described one sea lion who appeared to be "star-gazing."  "Some animals seem very, very sleepy, maybe right after having a seizure," Smith said. "They may be abnormally aggressive."

Harmful algal blooms occur when colonies of algae grow out of control and produce toxic or harmful affects on people, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Some blooms produce toxins that can kill fish, mammals and birds. In some cases, the algal blooms can cause illness or death in humans, according to NOAA. 

Researchers are now seeing multiple consecutive years of harmful algal blooms, Dave Bader, chief operations and education officer at the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro, told KGTV.  The Marine Mammal Care Center has taken in nearly 150 sea lions since February, Bader said. There have been reports of dolphins and seabirds falling ill as well, and this event could be worse than the bloom that occurred in 2023, which killed 1,000 sea lions, according to the marine conservation group.

The Marine Mammal Care Center has taken in nearly 150 sea lions since February, Bader said. There have been reports of dolphins and seabirds falling ill as well, and this event could be worse than the bloom that occurred in 2023, which killed 1,000 sea lions, according to the marine conservation group.  

SeaWorld's Jeni Smith urged the public to do their part to create a better environment for marine life and prevent pollution.  "Throwing away their trash, not allowing anything toxic to go down the storm drain, because everything goes back to the ocean," Smith said.

 

River of "Blood" in Buenos Aires

A river in a suburb of Buenos Aires in Argentina has turned red, sparking concern among residents. Footage and images of the Sarandi watercourse - which flows into the Rio de la Plata estuary - show the sudden change in color.  Many residents and officials suspect the color change was due to chemical waste from the many industrial facilities in the area, particularly leather tanneries.

It is not the first time it has changed color, according to local media reports, with residents raising fears of contamination.  "I have lived here all my life. Today, we have this red water. It has been grey, it has been green, it has been violet, bluish... very brown," one resident told La Nacion.  "On other days we have a thick yellow layer that left the top hard and had an acidic smell," another local told Pagina 12.

Officials went to the site to take away samples of the red water for testing.  The region's environment ministry told La Nacion samples of the water would be analyzed to find out what "is causing the discoloration".  Later, the Buenos Aires Ministry of the Environment identified an "organic dye" as the probable cause and officials also noted the presence of aniline, a chemical used in dyes and other products.

 

Donald Trump Jr. Caught Illegally Hunting Ducks in Italy

Donald Trump Jr. has been accused of illegally hunting rare ducks in Italy as Italian activists blast him for his actions.  Environmentalists and local MPs have demanded an inquiry after claiming footage of a camouflaged Don Jr showed him shooting at the rare birds in a protected area. 

In the video published by the American website Field Ethos, which brands itself as a 'premier lifestyle publication for the unapologetic man', a group of people can be seen taking part in a hunting trip in a lagoon close to Venice and amongst the men is Don Jr.  In the almost six-minute footage, shot just before Christmas, Don Jr is seen popping out of a foxhole – in his camouflage gear - shooting at the ducks with several falling from the sky.

He is joined by a group of half a dozen other men who are enjoying their time in the marshes of north-eastern Italy.  One participant in the hunt says: 'It was a great duck shoot with a little bit of good eating in Venice,' and ends with one shooter saying: 'Don got about 50.' 

At one point in the video Don Jr is surrounded by an array of dead birds including an unusual amber colored duck which he says: "Is a rather uncommon bird in the area. I'm not even sure what it is."   The unidentified duck in question appears to be a Ruddy Shelduck which is a rare species in Europe and is reportedly believed to have a declining population. 

According to activists, the species is protected under the EU's Birds Directive and under Italian law it is illegal to kill the bird.  The video has sparked controversy in Italy with Italian environmentalist and Green party politician Andrea Zanoni accusing Don Jr of breaking a number of laws in the country. 

Zanoni has claimed that Don Jr killed a protected species without a regular license and also hunted in a conservation area protected by the European Union. He said the video was filmed recently in the Pierimpie valley south of the city of Venice.  The area is a special conservation area protected by European regulations that is known as the Middle Lower Lagoon of Venice. 

He added: "Like any foreigner, in Italy he was not allowed to hunt by law. In fact, in our country only residents of one of the Italian regions can hunt.  You need a hunting license issued by the police headquarters, but above all you need a hunting license issued only and exclusively to residents of one of the Italian regions, a mandatory document where you can note the date, place of hunting and quantity of animals killed divided by individual species."

 

Awe-inspiring Crystal Cave Has a Deadly Secret

A stunning underground cavern, hailed as the "Sistene Chapel of crystals”, has been found to have a deadly secret. The cave, which is located in Chihuahua, Mexico, is filled with some of the largest natural crystals on the planet – with some as big as trees.

It lies some 980 feet beneath the earth and was discovered by chance in 2000.  Miners were drilling a tunnel into a lead, zinc and silver mine in the town of Naica, 65 miles southeast of Chihuahua City when they unearthed a chamber full of towering, milky white crystals.

These incredible formations, the largest of which measures more than 37 feet long and a 3 feet wide, are made of selenite gypsum, a sulphate mineral that forms from salts dissolved in groundwater, Live Science reports.  This mineral is so soft, you can scratch it with a fingernail and is often used by crystal lovers for meditation (it allegedly possesses “cleansing” and “charging properties”).

"It's the Sistine Chapel of crystals," Juan Manuel García-Ruiz, a geologist with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), who has studied the cave, told National Geographic in 2007. A number of crystal-filled caves have been discovered since mining operations began in Naica back in 1974-- but the Cave of Crystals, which is shaped like a horseshoe, is the biggest by far, with a maximum volume of more than twice an Olympic swimming pool (7,800 cubic yards).  The cavern, which is made of limestone, sits above a magma reservoir buried 2-3 miles beneath Naica, and is also on a fault line. 

Its crystals were formed when, 26 million years ago, magma rose from this reservoir, forcing mineral-rich waters upward through cracks in the rock, Live Science notes. Nevertheless, while conditions in the cave are ideal for crystals, they are deadly to humans.Hum idity stands at more than 90 per cent – a level at which sweating has no cooling effect on the body. Because of this, people need proper protection to stay in the cave for longer than 10 minutes.

 

Governor Gordo Still Stoking the Culture Wars

Ron DeSantis is continuing his ideological rampage, despite his embarrassing showing in the presidential race.    The goofy governor signed a new law this week which removes the phrase "climate change" from all Florida laws, and also bans power-generating wind turbines offshore or near the coast while reducing regulation on gas pipelines.

The move ignores the threat of climate change in Florida, which is the the hottest state in the mainland U.S.  The so-called "Sunshine State" experienced a record-breaking heat wave last summer as temperatures in its southern waters briefly topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8C).

"Climate change is an indisputable fact, not a topic open for debate," said Frederica Wilson, a member of Florida's congressional delegation.  "The dire consequences of the climate crisis are evident every day in Florida, and attempts to undermine efforts to combat this existential threat are utterly reckless and irresponsible."

Of the state's 19.6 million people, 15 million live in coastal areas.  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) assessed the 2023 heat wave's impact at multiple locations along its 255-mile barrier reef -- home to sea turtles, stingrays, sharks, dolphins and many species of fish.  They found less than 22 percent of approximately 1,500 staghorn coral -- a species that is listed as a candidate for endangered species protection -- remained alive.

Temperatures have also been surging to hot levels even by central and South Florida standards. Last week Fort Lauderdale set an all-time May high-temperature record of 98 degrees.  Fueling the culture wars isn't going to protect Floridians from the harsh realities of climate change, I'm afraid.

Freaky Dust Storm Turns Athens Orange

A dramatic orange haze has descended over Athens as clouds of dust have blown in from the Sahara desert. It is one of the worst such episodes to hit Greece since 2018, according to officials.

Greece had already been struck by similar clouds in late March and early April, which also covered areas of Switzerland and southern France. The skies are predicted to clear on Wednesday, says Greece's weather service.

Air quality has deteriorated in many areas of the country and on Wednesday morning the Acropolis in Athens was no longer visible because of the dust. The cloud has reached as far north as Thessaloniki.  Greeks with respiratory conditions have been urged to limit the time they spend outdoors, wear protective masks and avoid taking physical exercise until the dust clouds clear.

The Sahara releases 60 to 200 million tons of mineral dust per year. Most of the dust quickly descends to Earth, but some of the small particles can travel huge distances, sometimes reaching Europe.  The atmosphere especially in southern Greece has become stifling because of the combination of dust and high temperatures.

Dust plumes from the Sahara are not uncommon across Europe and can vary in intensity, however, they tend to occur most often during the spring and autumn. This current event across the Eastern Mediterranean was caused by an area of low pressure over Libya that brought strong southerly winds, drawing in high concentrations of dust and sand from North Africa into Greece. The southerly winds also brought hot desert air with them. Temperatures rose to well above the average for late April across the Greek mainland and islands, with 36.6C recorded in the Chania region of Crete. 

 

New Hope for the Last Two Northern White Rhinos on Earth

Last November, Curra-- a southern white rhinoceros at Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy died.   Heavy rains had flooded the animal’s enclosure and it was discovered she had been infected by free dormant bacteria spores which eventually resulted in her death.  But amid the tragedy comes a beacon of hope — one that might save an entire subspecies from extinction.

 During the postmortem, a 70-day-old male fetus was found in Curra’s womb. She had been pregnant.  A couple of months earlier, scientists with the BioRescue consortium implanted Curra with two southern white rhino embryos, hoping that she would become a surrogate mother. Never before had a rhino been impregnated via in vitro fertilization.  “We knew that if it was from the embryo transfer, it would be a huge breakthrough,” said  JanStejskal, BioRescue's project coordinator.  Weeks later, DNA analysis confirmed that the pregnancy was the result of the embryo transfer. It was the world’s first IVF rhino pregnancy.

Scientists and conservationists are now hoping that IVF can be used to save another rhino subspecies: the northern white rhino, which is critically endangered because of poachers who have relentlessly hunted them for their horns. 

Mystery of Japan's Dead Fish - Maybe It's Fukushima Water

Thousands of tons of dead fish have washed up on a beach in northern Japan and nobody knows why.  The haul – mostly sardines and some mackerel – washed ashore in Hakodate on the northernmost main island of Hokkaido.  It created a sliver blanket stretching half a mile along the coastline.

Locals said they have never seen anything like it. Officials posted a warning online urging people not to consume the fish after some bagged them up to eat or sell. Takashi Fujioka, a Hakodate Fisheries Research Institute researcher, said he has heard of similar phenomena before, but it was his first time to see it.

"One possible cause is that the school of fish was chased by a larger fish, became exhausted, and was washed up by the waves," he suggested.  "Another possible cause is that the school of fish entered cold waters during their migration and were then washed ashore. But details are uncertain."

The decomposing fish could lower oxygen levels in the water and affect the marine environment, Fujioka said.   "We don’t know for sure under what circumstances these fish were washed up, so I do not recommend eating them," he added.

 

 

 

Toxic Haze in Dehli After Diwali Festival

Residents of India's capital, Delhi, woke up to smoky skies as air quality dropped after the festival of Diwali.  People in the city had set off fire crackes late into Sunday night despite a ban on fireworks due to high pollution levels. Delhi has been battling toxic air for weeks, with the government announcing an early winter break for schools in an effort to protect children.  The city has high pollution through the year due to factors including vehicular emissions and dust.

But the problem becomes worse in winter as farmers in neighboring states burn crop stubble. Low wind speeds also trap pollutants - such as those produced by firecrackers - in the lower atmosphere, making it hard to breathe.

On Monday afternoon, the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi was 445, with some places recording readings above 520. The AQI measures the level of PM 2.5 particulates in the air-- particulates that can clog lungs and cause a host of diseases.  Levels between 101 and 200 are considered moderate, while those between 201 and 300 are poor. Between 301 and 400 is categorised as "very poor" and a figure higher than 400 is considered "severe".

India's Supreme Court has banned the use of firecrackers during Diwali, only allowing "green crackers" or those with reduced emissions. The Delhi government has also banned firecrackers during Diwali for the past few years, but there is little enforcement of the rule.

The ban on fireworks took on political tones when Hindu nationalist argued that the Supreme Court ban was an attempt to target Hindu festivals.  Delhi's environment minister Gopal Rai alleged that leaders from Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)  had "incited" people to light firecrackers.  "The bursting of firecrackers has increased pollution levels in Delhi. Not many people have burst firecrackers but it was done in some places in a targeted manner," said Mr Rai, who is from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).  Virendra Sachdeva, the BJP's Delhi president, told local media that it wasn't right to blame people celebrating the festival for the rise in pollution levels. He said that instead, the AAP was to blame for not having a concrete plan to deal with the issue.

 In the meantime, the residents of Dehli suffer from the airborne pollutants.  The World Health Organization's guidelines say that exposure to PM 2.5 particulates over a 24-hour-period should be limited to 15 micro grams per cubic meter - but Delhi's AQI in some parts has been 30 times higher than the recommended level.  Lung specialists say breathing the capital's toxic air is akin to smoking 25-30 cigarettes a day. Prolonged exposure to high levels of pollution can cause discomfort and breathing difficulties for people. It can also trigger skin and eye irritation and cause severe neurological, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchitis, lung capacity loss, emphysema, cancer, and increased mortality rates.

 

Dow Inc. Caught Lying About its Recycling Program

In 2021, petrochemical company Dow Inc. announced it would partner with the government of Singapore to collect used shoes and recycle the rubber soles, Reuters reports.  But in 2022, journalists from the news agency tracked several pairs of donated shoes and discovered they weren’t being recycled; they were instead being resold.

Dow’s program was simple: it would place donation bins all across Singapore to receive used shoes, then transport them to a recycling facility. The soles would be removed, ground up, and the rubber would be used to create durable surfaces for athletic facilities in Singapore, including tracks, playgrounds, and sports fields.  However, according to Reuters, Dow has lied about its recycling efforts in the past. In 2021, the company was found to be burning plastic waste that it said was being recycled into clean fuel, and a project to recycle plastic waste from the Ganges river shut down because of failing equipment. 

So journalists from Reuters decided to test the new recycling program by placing hidden trackers in several pairs of shoes and donating them through Dow.  What they found was that the sneakers were not being sent to recycling plants. Instead, the donations were picked up by secondhand clothing exporter, Yok Impex Pte Ltd, and sent to Indonesia, where they were resold. 

Reuters journalists were able to buy back several pairs — even though importing secondhand clothing to Indonesia has been illegal since 2015 due to sanitation concerns.  When Reuters contacted Dow about the issue, Dow said Yok Impex would be removed from the project. However, there is no clear reason for a secondhand goods exporter to have been a partner on the project in the first place.

“Dow promised to pick up these shoes and grind them into materials and make them into playgrounds, and instead, they’re being found all over another country. They literally cannot be believed,” Jan Dell, founder of the nonprofit The Last Beach Cleanup, told Reuters.

Dow’s deceptive recycling programs are just one example of greenwashing — when companies try to appear more eco-friendly than they really are in order to get good press and drum up business.  For buyers trying to live a green lifestyle, and for donators trying to be responsible with their used belongings, greenwashing can seriously undermine their efforts and take away their ability to make informed choices.

If you’re looking for an actual eco-friendly recycling program for your used shoes, try GotSneakers, which will pay you for every pair and also gives cleaned-up, refurbished shoes to people in need.  It also sends some pairs to SneakerCycle, an online thrift store just for shoes that keeps them out of landfills.

 

Great Salt Lake in Utah Could Disappear in 5 Years

Utah’s Great Salt Lake, the largest saltwater lake in the Western hemisphere, could dry up completely within five years if water consumption is not significantly curbed, researchers warn.  “The lake’s ecosystem is not only on the edge of collapse. It is collapsing,” Benjamin Abbott, a professor of ecology at Brigham Young University and the lead author of a new report on the lake, told CNN. “The choices we make over the next few months will affect our state and ecosystems throughout the West for decades to come.”

The lake’s levels have been at record lows for two years in a row. If the water continues to drop at the same rate that it has since 2020, “the lake as we know it is on track to disappear in five years,” the report states.  

The lake has been steadily shrinking because so much water from the rivers and streams that feed it is being redirected for human use. This is exacerbated by the climate change-fueled megadrought that has been parching the U.S. West for years, with less rain and snow entering the water system.  The Washington Post noted that more than 70 percent of the state’s water use goes towards growing crops to feed livestock.

The Great Salt Lake’s unique ecosystem makes it an important resource for migratory birds. An estimated 10 million birds depend on the lake’s brine shrimp and flies. It’s also an essential breeding ground for pelicans.  The lake disappearing poses hazards to human health as well. When salt lakes dry up, their exposed beds become sources of harmful dust that pollutes the air, and the longer the exposed bed stays dry the more dust escapes.

Let Me Tell You a Story of a Hawaiian Hippie Nudist Camp

Where the road ends on Kauai’s north shore, a group of hippies in the early 1970s lived in an off-grid Hawaii community of tree houses, grew their hair long, smoked weed and chose to go nude.

Taylor Camp, as it would become known, was named after Kauai resident Howard Taylor, the brother of actress Elizabeth Taylor. Howard owned the 7 acres of land in Haena, a scenic coastline of white sandy beaches, turquoise waters, and a tropical abundance of streams, caves and green cliffs. It was in 1969 that Howard welcomed homeless men, women and children to live on his beachfront property, with no rules or rent to pay.  “We’ve had no trouble,” Howard said in a 1970 Honolulu Star-Bulletin article. “Most of them are just here while they make up their minds to return to the ‘Establishment’ world and what they want to do there.”

When Howard moved to Kauai, he never expected to create a hippie community. He had been living on Oahu, working at the University of Hawaii, and fell in love with the Garden Island. He bought the beachfront property in Haena, moved his family to Kauai, and planned to build a home for his wife and five kids.  After Howard bought the property, he couldn’t get a building permit and no one would tell him why. He eventually found out that the state had plans to create a state park out of the land.

Left in limbo with no way forward, Howard bought land elsewhere on the island and abandoned his Haena land, until he found a purpose for it in 1969. 

The Art of Protests

Claude Monet has become the latest artist to be the focus of food-related climate protests, after members of a German environmental group threw mashed potatoes over one of his paintings in a Potsdam museum on Sunday.

Nine days after Just Stop Oil emptied tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers at the National Gallery in London, two activists from Letzte (Last) Generation entered the Museum Barberini and doused Monet’s Haystacks with mashed potatoes before gluing their hands to the wall.  The protesters said the stunt was designed as a wake-up call in the face of a climate catastrophe. “People are starving, people are freezing, people are dying,” one of the activists said, going further: “We are in a climate catastrophe and all you are afraid of is tomato soup or mashed potatoes on a painting. You know what I’m afraid of? I’m afraid because science tells us that we won’t be able to feed our families in 2050,” the protester said. “Does it take mashed potatoes on a painting to make you listen? This painting is not going to be worth anything if we have to fight over food. When will you finally start to listen? When will you finally start to listen and stop business as usual?”

The group said it had decided to make “this Monet the stage and the public the audience” to try to get its message across. “If it takes pelting a painting with mashed potato or tomato soup to remind society that the fossil course is killing us all, then we give you mashed potato on a painting,” it added.

A spokesperson for the museum said the painting was protected by glass and the museum later said it did not appear to have been damaged.  The spokesperson said police had arrived quickly and that the protesters’ hands were detached from the wall “relatively easily”.

Last year, members of Letzte Generation staged a hunger strike outside the Reichstag building in Berlin to protest about the lack of political action over the climate emergency. Earlier this year, they glued themselves to some of Germany’s busiest motorways.  The group, which accuses the German government of ignoring all warnings and bringing the country to “the edge of the abyss”, says it is part of the last generation that can prevent society from collapsing. “Facing this reality, we accept high [fines], criminal charges and deprivation of liberty undaunted,” it says on its website.

Art galleries have become popular venues for attention-grabbing protests recently. In July, two members of the Italian climate activist group Ultima Generazione (also Last Generation) glued their palms to the glass protecting Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera in Florence’s Uffizi gallery and unfurled a banner that read “Ultima Generazione No Gas No Carbone” (Last Generation, No Gas, No Coal).  Recently, Just Stop Oil campaigners glued themselves to the frame of a 500-year-old painting of The Last Supper at the Royal Academy in London.

 

Shocking Disappearance of Snow Crabs in Alaska

In a major blow to America's seafood industry, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has, for the first time in state history, canceled the winter snow crab season in the Bering Sea due to their falling numbers. While restaurant menus will suffer, scientists worry what the sudden population plunge means for the health of the Arctic ecosystem.

An estimated one billion crabs have mysteriously disappeared in two years, state officials said. It marks a 90% drop in their population.  "Did they run up north to get that colder water?" asked Gabriel Prout, whose Kodiak Island fishing business relies heavily on the snow crab population. "Did they completely cross the border? Did they walk off the continental shelf on the edge there, over the Bering Sea?" 

Ben Daly, a researcher with ADF&G, is investigating where the crabs have gone. He monitors the health of the state's fisheries, which produce 60% of the nation's seafood.  "Disease is one possibility," Daly told reporters.

He also points to climate change. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Alaska is the fastest warming state in the country, and is losing billions of tons of ice each year — critical for crabs that need cold water to survive. 

"Environmental conditions are changing rapidly," Daly said. "We've seen warm conditions in the Bering Sea the last couple of years, and we're seeing a response in a cold adapted species, so it's pretty obvious this is connected. It is a canary in a coal mine for other species that need cold water."

Prout said that there needs to be a relief program for fisherman, similar to programs for farmers who experience crop failure, or communities affected by hurricanes or flooding.  When asked what fishermen can do in this situation, with their livelihoods dependent on the ocean, Prout responded, "Hope and pray. I guess that's the best way to say it."

 

Big Brother Rears His Ugly Head in Colorado

Xcel Energy prevented thousands of customers in Colorado from changing the temperature in their homes for hours during a heat wave on Tuesday due to an “energy emergency,” according to ABC affiliate Denver7.    Colorado is currently experiencing a heat wave which will continue to spike energy demand and test its grid as people move to cool their homes.

Xcel’s "smart thermostats" prevented over 22,000 people, who signed up for Xcel’s Colorado AC Rewards program, from cooling their homes past a certain temperature during a heat wave in which temperatures hit over 90 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Denver7. The smart thermostats locked home temperatures from going below a certain threshold, telling customers that this setting could not be overridden due to an “energy emergency” caused by high temperatures and soaring energy demand.

“Even if it’s a once-in-a-blue-moon situation, it just doesn’t sit right with us to not be able to control our own thermostat in our house,” one customer and Colorado resident told Denver7.  Xcel admitted that it prevented customers’ smart thermostats from lowering the temperature in their homes, according to Denver7.  “It is a bit uncomfortable for a short period of time, but it’s very, very helpful,” Emmett Romine, vice president of customer solutions and innovation at Xcel, told Denver7.

Customers who participate in the rewards program that grants them a smart thermostat receive a one-time $100 enrollment bill credit and earn $25 every year they participate in the program, according to the company website. The energy provider also states that a smart thermostat is a convenient way to manage home temperatures and save energy.

Xcel states that they may control smart thermostats at any time during the summer months but that customers can override control events that are not designated as “system emergencies,” according to its website.  “It’s a voluntary program,” Romine said. “Let’s remember that this is something that customers choose to be a part of based on the incentives.”  How much you wanna bet there will be a spike in cancellations of Xcel's "rewards" program?