Environment
Ropeless Fishing Shows Promise, But There’s a Catch: Financial, Safety, Technology Challenges
The lobster industry could be getting a new sound. On a cold January morning, a lobster trap sitting on a table at a manufacturing facility in Wareham is rhythmically beeping. Two final beeps have a special meaning. “So that’s the release confirmation,” explained Rob Morris, who sells acoustic release systems for the underwater technology company…
Read MoreIs ‘Ropeless’ Fishing the Solution to End Fatal Entanglements for Endangered Whales?
Rob Martin has been fishing from the Sandwich Marina for 29 years off his boat, Resolve. “It’s only 40 feet. It was big when I first got it and now it seems small,” he said, while warming up inside his boat’s cabin on a cold January morning. Over the last few decades, Martin, 56, has…
Read MoreLocal EPA Staffers Look Forward To Life With Biden
Less than a week into his presidency, Joe Biden has already signed executive orders emphasizing the importance of science, environmental justice and climate change within the Environmental Protection Agency. And Undine Kipka says the biggest thing she’s feeling right now is relief. Kipka is an environmental engineer and union vice president at the EPA’s New…
Read MoreSome In New England Unhappy With End Of Emerald Ash Borer Quarantine
The U.S. government has lifted a quarantine on an invasive insect, the emerald ash borer, that’s killed many trees in Massachusetts and Connecticut. But critics of the change have been more vocal outside those states. The emerald ash borer was first discovered in the U.S. in 2002 in Michigan. The federal government soon instituted a…
Read MoreALS And Algae Blooms? Scientists Say A State Registry Is Needed To Study Possible Link
In the midst of a global pandemic, it’s easy to forget that there are other terrible diseases in the world, ones that we know very little about. Consider amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — ALS. Also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, ALS is an illness whose outcome is never in doubt. The always-fatal neurological disorder traps its…
Read MoreAmericans Are Moving To Escape Climate Impacts. Towns Expect More To Come
The impacts of climate change could prompt millions of Americans to relocate in coming decades, moving inland away from rising seas, or north to escape rising temperatures. Judith and Doug Saum have moved already, recently leaving their home outside Reno, Nev. “It was with a view of the Sierra [Nevada Mountains] that was just to…
Read MoreOffshore Wind Backers Hope Vineyard Wind Permitting Woes Will End Under Biden
For Massachusetts to meet its 2050 climate change emission goal, the state is going to have to green the grid, replacing fossil fuel power plants with clean renewable energy sources. To do this, the commonwealth is banking on offshore wind. “Offshore wind is the linchpin of Massachusetts clean energy strategy and critical to our success,”…
Read MoreProgram Offers A Lifeline To Fishermen, And A Home For Unwanted Oysters
Standing on a cold, wet beach, Bruce Silverbrand rummages through a metal basket of oysters. He picks out a huge one — almost as big as a mitten, with a knobbed and lumpy shell. It’s what people in the shellfish industry call a “big ugly,” though Silverbrand abhors the term. “I would never call an…
Read MoreNENC/America Amplified Special: What The Biden Administration Will Mean For Climate Change In New England
Premieres: Thursday, Jan. 14, 2020 Severe storms. Heat waves. Rising seas. New England is already seeing the impacts of climate change, and scientists project they will become more severe and deadly, shaping how we live and work in the northeastern U.S. Ahead of Inauguration Day, the New England News Collaborative and America Amplified will look…
Read MoreState Workers’ Switch To Telework During Pandemic Brings ‘Seismic’ Drop in CO2 Emissions
Maine government workers have reduced their car travel by 1 million vehicle miles a week since the start of the pandemic, thanks to the rapid, wholesale adoption of telework policies. The preliminary data are opening an unexpected window on the future of telecommuting and its potential to deliver substantial reductions in global warming pollution. Last…
Read More