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We are a national legal organization whose mission is to achieve full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and everyone living with HIV.

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lgbtq

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We are a national legal organization whose mission is to achieve full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and everyone living with HIV.

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Pollution: it isn't all bad, in fact it can be pretty useful

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Governments aren't the only ones taking action to tackle air pollution. Innovators, entrepreneurs and even artists are developing ways to turn it into useful products, while simultaneously cleaning up our air.

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The Oxford Handbook of the French Revolution brings together a sweeping range of expert and innovative contributions to offer engaging and thought-provoking insights into the history and historiography of this epochal event. Each chapter presents the foremost summations of academic thinking on key topics, along with stimulating and provocative interpretations and suggestions for future research directions.

Placing core dimensions of the history of the French Revolution in their transnational and global contexts, the contributors demonstrate that revolutionary times demand close analysis of sometimes tiny groups of key political actors - whether the king and his ministers or the besieged leaders of the Jacobin republic - and attention to the deeply local politics of both rural and urban populations. Identities of class, gender and ethnicity are interrogated, but so too are conceptions and practices linked to citizenship, community, order, security, and freedom: each in their way just as central to revolutionary experiences, and equally amenable to critical analysis and reflection.

This volume covers the structural and political contexts that build up to give new views on the classic question of the 'origins of revolution'; the different dimensions of personal and social experience that illuminate the political moment of 1789 itself; the goals and dilemmas of the period of constitutional monarchy; the processes of destabilisation and ongoing conflict that ended that experiment; the key issues surrounding the emergence and experience of 'terror'; and the short- and long-term legacies, for both good and ill, of the revolutionary trauma - for France, and for global politics.

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The Oxford Handbook of the French Revolution

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The Oxford Handbook of the French Revolution brings together a sweeping range of expert and innovative contributions to offer engaging and thought-provoking insights into the history and historiography of this epochal event.

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Right to Education : Situation around the world - Humanium

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Situation of children’s right to education worldwide Today, education remains an inaccessible right for millions of children around the world. More than 72 million children of primary education age are not in school and 759 million adults are illiterate and do not have the awareness necessary to improve both their living conditions and those of […]

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Pollution, we probably hear of this term every other day at school, college, and offices. We also come across the term in newspapers, online journals, and media in general. So what is it and why is it deemed harmful?

Pollution occurs when pollutants contaminate the natural surroundings; bringing about changes that affect our normal lifestyles adversely.

Pollutants are the key elements or components of pollution which are generally waste materials of different forms.

Pollution disturbs our ecosystem and the balance in the environment. With modernization and development in our lives, pollution has reached its peak; giving rise to global warming and human illness.

Different Forms of Pollution

Pollution occurs in different forms; air, water, soil, radioactive, noise, heat/ thermal, and light.

Every form of pollution has two sources of occurrence; the point and the non-point sources. The point sources are easy to identify, monitor, and control, whereas the non-point sources are hard to control.

To understand this occurrence better, let us now discuss the different types of pollution and their effects on mankind and the environment in general.

Major Types of Pollution Affecting Our Planet

Following is a list of the different types of Pollution that evidently destroy us and our earth.

1. Air Pollution

While there are many types of pollution, Air Pollution is probably the most prominent and dangerous form of it. Pollution may occur due to many reasons. Here's a brief list.

Burning of Fuel

Excessive burning of fuel which is a necessity of our daily lives for cooking, driving, and other industrial activities; releases a huge amount of chemical substances in the air every day. Over time, these substances pollute the air.

Chimney Smoke

Another common cause of air pollution may be attributed to the smoke from chimneys, factories, vehicles, or the burning of wood. These activities, individually and collectively release sulfur dioxide into the air thereby making it toxic.

The effects of air pollution are evident too. The release of sulfur dioxide and other hazardous gases into the air causes global warming and acid rain; which in turn lead to increased temperatures, erratic rains, and droughts worldwide.

These effects don't just debilitate the lives of humans, but they also end up making it tough for the animals to survive.

As humans, we breathe in every polluted particle from the air which results in the potential chances of asthma and lung cancer. Either way, unless we address this issue, it may take a bigger and worse shape.

2. Water Pollution

Water Pollution has taken a toll on all the surviving species of the earth. Almost 60% of the species live in water bodies and when the water is polluted, it severely impacts their lives and hinders their health in general. But what are the specific causes of water pollution? Let's take a closer look.

Industrial Waste

Water pollution may occur due to multiple factors. One of the biggest instances may be industrial water pollution where the industrial wastes are dumped into the rivers and other water bodies thereby causing an imbalance in the water. Over time, it leads to severe contamination thereby resulting in the death of aquatic species.

If you suspect that nearby water sources have been contaminated by a corporation then it might be a good idea to hire an expert to see your options.

Groundwater Pollution

Water pollution may also be caused when insecticides and pesticides like DDT are sprayed on plants. While this may not seem much, over time, this simple activity pollutes the groundwater system which most of us use. If left unchecked for long, the same groundwater will turn out to be hazardous, leading to a range of health issues in the long run.

Note that in addition to the spraying of pesticides, groundwater may also be polluted from the toxic chemical spills occurring from industrial operations.

Oil spills in the oceans too have caused irreparable damage to the water bodies. Oil spills are usually caused due to accidents from large ships, tankers, or any other form of an oil pipeline.

Eutrophication

Eutrophication is another big source of water pollution, it occurs due to daily activities like washing clothes, utensils near lakes, ponds, or rivers; this forces detergents to go into the water which blocks sunlight from penetrating, thus reducing oxygen and making it inhabitable.

Water pollution not only harms the aquatic beings but it also contaminates the entire food chain by severely affecting humans dependent on these. Water-borne diseases like cholera, diarrhea have also increased in all places.

3. Soil Pollution

Soil pollution occurs due to the incorporation of unwanted chemicals in the soil due to human activities. The use of insecticides and pesticides absorbs the nitrogen compounds from the soil making it unfit for plants to derive nutrition from.

The release of industrial waste, mining, and deforestation also exploits the soil. Since plants can't grow properly, they can't hold the soil which in turn leads to soil erosion.

4. Noise Pollution

Noise pollution is caused when noise which is an unpleasant sound affects our ears and leads to psychological problems like stress, hypertension, hearing impairment, etc. It is caused by machines in industries, loud music, noise from traffic, noise fro construction activities, and so on.

As with the other forms of pollution, noise pollution is extremely dangerous and can lead to multiple fatalities in both humans and animals.

In humans, it affects our overall well-being, sleep, and total hours of rest. It may also adversely impact the development of kids and create an imbalance in the blood pressure and heart rate of elderly individuals.

5. Radioactive Pollution

Radioactive pollution is highly dangerous when it occurs. It can occur due to nuclear plant malfunctions, improper nuclear waste disposal, accidents, etc. It causes cancer, infertility, blindness, defects at the time of birth; it can sterilize soil and affect air and water.

6. Thermal/Heat Pollution

Thermal/heat pollution is due to the excess heat in the environment creating unwanted changes over long time periods; due to the huge number of industrial plants, deforestation, urban sprawl, and air pollution. It increases the earth's temperature, causing drastic climatic changes and extinction of wildlife.

Thermal pollution can result in an increase in temperature and can prove to be disastrous for humans and wildlife. The increase in temperature can make wildlife populations vulnerable and they may never be able to recover.

7. Light Pollution

Light pollution occurs due to prominent excess illumination of an area. It is largely visible in big cities, on advertising boards and billboards, in sports or entertainment events at the night.

In residential areas, the lives of the inhabitants are greatly affected by this. It also affects astronomical observations and activities by making the stars almost invisible.

Serious Effects of Pollution on Our Humans and Environment

1. Environment Degradation

The environment is the first casualty for the increase in pollution weather in air or water. The increase in the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere leads to smog which can restrict sunlight from reaching the earth.

This very scenario affects the process of photosynthesis in plants, thereby hindering their growth. Gases like Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide can also cause acid rain. Again, water pollution in terms of the oil spill may lead to the death of several wildlife species.

2. Human Health

The decrease in the quality of air leads to several respiratory problems including asthma or lung cancer. Chest pain, congestion, throat inflammation, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease are some of the diseases that can be caused by air pollution.

Water pollution occurs due to contamination of water and may pose skin related problems including skin irritations and rashes. Similarly, noise pollution leads to hearing loss, stress, and sleep disturbance.

It is worth noting that while the results of pollution tend to vary, it has one specific impact: degrading the quality of human life. Pollution has an adverse impact on humans in general and regardless of its extent, all of us have encountered its ill-effects at some point of time or the other.

3. Global Warming

The emission of greenhouse gases particularly CO2 is leading to global warming. Every other day new industries are being set up, new vehicles come on roads and trees are cut to make way for new homes.

All of them, in a direct or indirect way, lead to an increase in CO2 in the environment. The increase in CO2 leads to the melting of polar ice caps which increases the sea level and pose danger for the people living near coastal areas.

It is worth noting that Global Warming is almost entirely caused by humans and unless we check our pollution levels, it can completely destroy the world as we know it.

While Global Warming is already a reality, when it becomes even more pronounced over the next few years, we will possibly encounter the worst. There'll be fluctuations in temperature, a significant and persistent temperature rise, forest fires, and so much more.

4. Ozone Layer Depletion

The ozone layer is the thin shield high up in the sky that stops ultraviolet rays from reaching the earth. As a result of human activities, chemicals, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), are released into the atmosphere thereby contributing to the depletion of the ozone layer.

5. Infertile Land

Due to the constant use of insecticides and pesticides, the soil may become infertile. Plants may not be able to grow properly. Various forms of chemicals produced from industrial waste are released into the flowing water which also affects the quality of the soil.

Bottom Line

Pollution not only affects humans by destroying their respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological systems; it also affects the nature, plants, fruits, vegetables, rivers, ponds, forests, animals, etc, on which they are highly dependent on survival. It is crucial to control pollution as nature, wildlife and human life are precious gifts to mankind.

Remember, unless we embrace sustainable living, go green, and take tangible steps to lie with less- our world is likely to witness dramatic transformations due to pollution. So, follow the right guidelines and take the right steps to make way for a better world.
Resources: Air Pollution Water Pollution Thermal Pollution
About Rinkesh

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Various Types and Effects of Pollution - Conserve Energy Future

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Pollution, we probably hear of this term every other day at school, college, and offices. We also come across the term in newspapers, online journals, and media in general. So what is it and why is it deemed harmful? Pollution occurs when pollutants contaminate the natural surroundings; bringing about changes that affect our normal lifestyles adversely.

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Here's How Many People Die from Pollution Around the World

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Air pollution and water pollution affect many countries, especially China. Find out how many air pollution deaths occur around the world.

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https://greenliving.lovetoknow.com › Green Living › Healthy Living

Water pollution has been documented as a contributor to a wide range of health problems and disorders in humans. It has also been shown to have drastically negative impacts on wild animals and the environment a

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Water pollution is a large set of adverse effects upon water bodies (lakes, rivers, oceans, groundwater) caused by human activities.

Although natural phenomena such as volcanoes, storms, earthquakes etc. also cause major changes in water quality and the ecological status of water, these are not deemed to be pollution.

Water pollution has many causes and characteristics.

Increases in nutrient loading may lead to eutrophication.

Organic wastes such as sewage and farm waste impose high oxygen demands on the receiving water leading to oxygen depletion with potentially severe impacts on the whole eco-system.

Industries discharge a variety of pollutants in their wastewater including heavy metals, organic toxins, oils, nutrients, and solids.

Discharges can also have thermal effects, especially those from power stations, and these too reduce the available oxygen.

Silt-bearing runoff from many activities including construction sites, forestry and farms can inhibit the penetration of sunlight through the water column restricting photosynthesis and causing blanketing of the lake or river bed which in turns damages the ecology.

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water; pollution; environmental issues; drought research; sustainability; recycling and waste

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Water pollution is a large set of adverse effects upon water bodies (lakes, rivers, oceans, groundwater) caused by human activities. Although natural phenomena such as volcanoes, storms, earthquakes etc. also cause major changes in water quality and the ecological status of water, these are not deemed to be pollution.

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global warming, ways to block sunshine to slow global warming.

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global warming, ways to block sunshine to slow global warming.

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Scientists in developing nations plan to step up research toward dimming sunshine to curb climate change, hoping to judge if a man-made chemical sunshade would be less risky than a harmful rise in global temperatures.

Research into "solar geo-engineering," which would mimic big volcanic eruptions that can cool the Earth by masking the sun with a veil of ash, is now dominated by rich nations and universities such as Harvard and Oxford.

Twelve scholars, from countries including Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Ethiopia, India, Jamaica and Thailand wrote in the journal Nature on Wednesday that the poor are most vulnerable to global warming and should be more involved.

"Developing countries must lead on solar geo-engineering research," they wrote in a commentary.

"The overall idea (of solar geo-engineering) is pretty crazy, but it is gradually taking root in the world of research," lead author Atiq Rahman, head of the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, said by telephone.

The solar geo-engineering studies would be helped by a new $400,000 fund from the Open Philanthropy Project, a foundation backed by Dustin Moskovitz, a co-founder of Facebook, and his wife, Cari Tuna, they wrote.

The fund could help scientists in developing nations study regional impacts of solar geo-engineering such as on droughts, floods or monsoons, said Andy Parker, a co-author and project director of the Solar Radiation Management Governance Initiative.

Rahman said the academics were not taking sides about whether geo-engineering would work. Among proposed ideas, planes might spray clouds of reflective sulfur particles high in the Earth's atmosphere.

"The technique is controversial, and rightly so. It is too early to know what its effects would be: it could be very helpful or very harmful," they wrote.

A U.N. panel of climate experts, in a leaked draft of a report about global warming due for publication in October, is skeptical about solar geo-engineering, saying it may be "economically, socially and institutionally infeasible."

Among risks, the draft says it might disrupt weather patterns, could be hard to stop once started and might discourage countries from making a promised switch from fossil fuels to cleaner energies.

Still, Rahman said, most developed nations have "abysmally failed" so far in their pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions, making radical options to limit warming more attractive.

The world is set for a warming of 3 degrees Celsius (5.7 Fahrenheit) or more above pre-industrial times, he said - far above a goal of keeping a rise in temperatures "well below" 2 C (3.6 F) under the 2015 Paris Agreement among almost 200 nations.

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Developing nations will study ways to block sunshine to slow global warming | The Japan Times

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Scientists in developing nations plan to step up research toward dimming sunshine to curb climate change, hoping to judge if a man-made chemical sunshade would be less risky than a harmful rise in global temperatures.

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Researchers at the University of Notre Dame are developing a renewable energy approach for synthesizing ammonia, an essential component of fertilizers that support the world's food production needs. The Haber-Bosch process developed in the early 1900s for producing ammonia relies on non-renewable fossil fuels and has limited applications for only large, centralized chemical plants.

The new process, published in Nature Catalysis, utilizes a plasma - an ionized gas - in combination with non-noble metal catalysts to generate ammonia at much milder conditions than is possible with Haber-Bosch. The energy in the plasma excites nitrogen molecules, one of the two components that go into making ammonia, allowing them to react more readily on the catalysts. Because the energy for the reaction comes from the plasma rather than high heat and intense pressure, the process can be carried out at small scale. This makes the new process well-suited for use with intermittent renewable energy sources and for distributed ammonia production.

"Plasmas have been considered by many as a way to make ammonia that is not dependent on fossil fuels and had the potential to be applied in a less centralized way," said William Schneider, H. Clifford and Evelyn A. Brosey Professor of Engineering, affiliated member of ND Energy and co-author of the study. "The real challenge has been to find the right combination of plasma and catalyst. By combining molecular models with results in the laboratory, we were able to focus in on combinations that had never been considered before."

The research team led by Schneider; David Go, Rooney Family Associate Professor of Engineering in aerospace and mechanical engineering; and Jason Hicks, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, discovered that because the nitrogen molecules are activated by the plasma, the requirements on the metal catalysts are less stringent, allowing less expensive materials to be used throughout the process. This approach overcomes fundamental limits on the heat-driven Haber-Bosch process, allowing the reaction to be carried out at Haber-Bosch rates at much milder conditions.

"The goal of our work was to develop an alternative approach to making ammonia, but the insights that have come from this collaboration between our research groups can be applied to other difficult chemical processes, such as converting carbon dioxide into a less harmful and more useful product. As we continue studying plasma-ammonia synthesis, we will also consider how else plasma and catalysts could benefit other chemical transformations," said Hicks.

For the study, Prateek Mehta, graduate student in chemical and biomolecular engineering at Notre Dame and lead author, created models to be used by Patrick Barboun, graduate student of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Notre Dame and co-author, and Francisco A. Herrera, graduate student of aerospace and mechanical engineering at Notre Dame and co-author. Together, Barboun and Herrera used the models to conduct lab experiments.

Additional contributors include Jongsik Kim, former graduate student at Notre Dame and senior research scientist at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, and Paul Rumbach, assistant special professional faculty in aerospace and mechanical engineering at Notre Dame. Both Go and Hicks are also affiliated with ND Energy. Resources for this project were provided by Notre Dame's Center for Research Computing, ND Energy's Materials Characterization Facility and the Notre Dame Integrated Imaging Facility.

Learn more about the study, which was funded by the Department of Energy, at https://www.nature.com/natcatal/.

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Marketing Communications: Web // University of Notre Dame

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Notre Dame researchers developing renewable energy approach for producing ammonia

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Researchers at the University of Notre Dame are developing a renewable energy approach for synthesizing ammonia, an essential component of fertilizers that support the world's food production needs. The Haber-Bosch process developed in the early 1900s for producing ammonia relies on non-renewable fossil fuels and has limited applications for only large, centralized chemical plants.

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Huricanes

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2017 was an expensive, deadly year of natural disasters on Earth.

Wildfires relentlessly scorched dry land from California to Portugal. Super-strength hurricanes and tropical storms slammed homes from the Caribbean to Ireland. Famine continued in Somalia and Yemen, while avalanches killed more than a hundred people in Afghanistan.

People around the world recorded record-breaking devastation, much of it caused by higher-than-usual temperatures on land and at sea. Climate experts say that in a warming world, these fatal events will continue to worsen. A November 2017 report released by the Trump Administration cautioned that "extreme climate events" like heavy rainfall, extreme heatwaves, wildfires, and sea-level rise will all get more severe around the globe, and that some of these events could result in abrupt, irreversible changes to the climate as we know it.

Here's a look at some of the deadly power Mother Nature wielded in 2017:

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Natural disasters set records around the world in 2017 - these were the worst

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2017 was an expensive, deadly year of natural disasters on Earth. Wildfires relentlessly scorched dry land from California to Portugal. Super-strength hurricanes and tropical storms slammed homes from the Caribbean to Ireland. Famine continued in Somalia and Yemen, while avalanches killed more than a hundred people in Afghanistan.

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Mayan History

The Maya are probably the best-known of the classical civilizations of Mesoamerica. Originating in the Yucatan around 2600 B.C., they rose to prominence around A.D. 250 in present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala, western Honduras, El Salvador, and northern Belize.

Building on the inherited inventions and ideas of earlier civilizations such as the Olmec, the Mayans developed astronomy, calendrical systems and hieroglyphic writing. The Mayans were noted as well for elaborate and highly decorated ceremonial architecture, including temple-pyramids, palaces and observatories, all built without metal tools. They were also skilled farmers, clearing large sections of tropical rain forest and, where groundwater was scarce, building sizable underground reservoirs for the storage of rainwater. The Mayans were equally skilled as weavers and potters, and cleared routes through jungles and swamps to foster extensive trade networks with distant peoples.

Many people believe that the ancestors of the Mayans crossed the Bering Strait at least 20,000 years ago. They were nomadic hunter-gatherers. Evidence of settled habitation in Mexico is found in the Archaic period 5000-1500 BC - corn cultivation, basic pottery and stone tools.

The first true civilization was established with the rise of the Olmecs in the Pre-Classic period 1500 BC -300 AD. The Olmecs settled on the Gulf Coast, and little is known about them.

The Mayans are regarded as the inventors of many aspects of Meso-American cultures including the first calendar and hieroglyphic writing in the Western hemisphere. Archeologists have not settled the relationship between the Olmecs and the Mayans, and it is a mystery whether the Mayans were their descendants, trading partners, or had another relationship. It is agreed that the Mayans developed a complex calendar and the most elaborate form of hieroglyphics in America, both based on the Olmec's versions.

Mayans seem to have entered Yucatan from the west. As usual with ancient nations, it is difficult in the beginning to separate myth from history, their earliest mentioned leader and deified hero, Itzamn, being considered to be simply a sun-god common to the Mayan civilization. He is represented as having led the first migration from the Far East, beyond the ocean, along a pathway miraculously opened through the waters.

The second migration, which seems to have been historic, was led from the west by Kukulcan, a miraculous priest and teacher, who became the founder of the Mayan kingdom and civilization. Fairly good authority, based upon study of the Mayans chronicles and calendar, places this beginning near the close of the second century of the Christian Era.

Under Kukulcan the people were divided into four tribes, ruled by as many kingly families: the Cocom, Tutul-xiu, Itz and Chele.

To the first family belonged Kukulcan himself, who established his residence at Mayanspan, which thus became the capital of the whole nation. The Tutul-xiu held vassal rule at Uxmal, the Itz at Chichen-Itz, and the Chel at Izamal.

To the Chele was appointed the hereditary high priesthood, and their city became the sacred city of the Mayans. Each provincial king was obliged to spend a part of each year with the monarch at Mayapan. This condition continued down to about the eleventh century, when, as the result of a successful revolt of the provincial kings, Mayapan was destroyed, and the supreme rule passed to the Tutul-xiu at Uxmal.

Later on Mayapan was rebuilt and was again the capital of the nation until about the middle of the fifteenth century, when, in consequence of a general revolt against the reigning dynasty, it was finally destroyed, and the monarchy was split up into a number of independent petty states, of which eighteen existed on the peninsula at the arrival of the Spaniards.

In consequence of this civil war a part of the Itz emigrated south to Lake Petn, in Guatemala, where they established a kingdom with their capital and sacred city of Flores Island in the lake.

Mayan Classic Period - 300-900 AD

Most artistic and cultural achievement came about during the Classic period 300 - 900 AD. The Mayans developed a complex, hierarchical society divided into classes and professions. Centralized governments, headed by a king, ruled territories with clearly defined boundaries. These borders changed as the various states lost and gained control over territory. Mayansn centers flourished in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. The major cities of the Classic period were Tikal (Guatemala), Palenque and Yaxchiln (Chiapas, Mexico), Copn and Quirigua (Honduras). For most of this period, the majority of the Mayans population lived in the central lowlands of Mexico and Belize.

The Northern Yucatan (where present day Cancun is located) was sparsely populated for most of the Classic period with only a few cities such as Dzibilchaltn (near Mrida) and Xpuhil, Becn and Chicann (near Chetumal). During the 9th century the population centers of the central lowlands declined significantly. This decline was very rapid and is attributed to famine, drought, breakdowns in trade, and political fragmentation. Fragmentation from large states into smaller city-states focused resources on rivalries between cities including not just wars, but competitions of architecture and art between rival cities. As the cities in the lowlands declined, urban centers sprung up in the Northern Yucatn, including Uxmal (near Mrida).

Anthropologists used to contrast the "peaceful" Mayans with the bloodthirsty Aztecs of central Mexico. Although human sacrifice was not as important to the Mayans as to the Aztec, blood sacrifice played a major role in their religion. Individuals offered up their blood, but not necessarily their lives, to the gods through painful methods using sharp instruments such as sting-ray spines or performed ritualistic self mutilation. It is probable that people of all classes shed their blood during religious rites. The king's blood sacrifice was the most valuable and took place more frequently. The Mayans were warlike and raided their neighbors for land, citizens, and captives. Some captives were subjected to the double sacrifice where the victims heart was torn out for the sun and head cut off to pour blood out for the earth.

The Mayansn civilization was the height of pre-Columbian culture. They made significant discoveries in science, including the use of the zero in mathematics. Their writing was the only in America capable of expressing all types of thought. Glyphs either represent syllables or whole concepts and were written on long strips of paper or carved and painted on stone. They are arranged to be red from left to right and top to bottom in pairs of columns. The Mayansn calendar begins around 3114 BC, before Mayans culture existed, and could measure time well into the future. They wrote detailed histories and used their calendar to predict the future and astrological events. Fray Diego de Landa, second bishop of the Yucatn ordered a mass destruction of Mayansn books in 1562 and only three survived.

Post Classic Period - 1000 - 1500 AD - Growth and Ruin

After the Classic period, the Mayans migrated to the Yucatn peninsula. There they developed their own character, although their accomplishments and artwork are not considered as impressive as the Classic Mayans. Most of the ruins you can see South of Cancun are from this time period and are definitely worth a visit.

Chichen Itza (near Valladolid), Uxmal (near Merida) and Mayanspn (west of Chichen Itza) were the three most important cities during the Post Classic period. They lived in relative peace from around 1000 - 1100 AD when Mayanspn overthrew the confederation and ruled for over 200 years. In 1441 the Mayans who had previously ruled Uxmal destroyed the city of Mayanspn and founded a new city at Mani. Wars were fought between rival Mayansn groups over the territory until the region was conquered by the Spanish.

Chichen Itza was first populated between 500 and 900 AD by Mayans and for some reason abandoned around 900, the city was then resettled 100 years later and subsequently invaded by Toltecs from the North. There are numerous reliefs of both Mayan gods including Chac and the Toltec gods including Quetzalcoatl.

For some reason the city was abandoned around 1300. If the Spanish did not make it a policy to kill all of the Mayan priests and burn books when they arrived in Mexico, we would all have a few more answers.

Post Columbian Period - Conquest and Rebellion (1500 AD)

On his second voyage Columbus heard of Yucatan as a distant country of clothed men. On his fifth voyage (1503-04) he encountered, south-west of Cuba, a canoe-load of Indians with cotton clothing for barter, who said that they came from the ancient Mayan civilization.

In 1506 Pinzon sighted the coast, and in 1511 twenty men under Valdivia were wrecked on the shores of the sacred island of Cozumel, several being captured and sacrificed to the idols.

The Spanish colonization of the islands of Hispaniola and Cuba allowed them to launch exploratory forays around the Caribbean. Crdoba discovered Isla Mujeres in 1517 and sailed down the Yucatn Gulf coast to were he suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Mayans. Corts set sail in 1519 and landed in Veracruz. He conquered the Aztecs in a year, but it took another 20 years to conquer the Yucatn. In 1526 Francisco Montejo set out to conquer the Yucatan.

The Mayans fought the invaders for 20 years, but eventually succumbed. The Mayans were slaughtered during the battles with the Spaniards, but imported European diseases decimated the population. The Mayans were moved into villages and paid heavy taxes to the Spanish government. There were periodic rebellions against the Spanish.

The Yucatan Mayans launched a major uprising starting in July 1847 called the Caste War. The Spanish were distracted by the war between the US and Mexico and nearly lost the peninsula. The Mayans attacked Spanish villages armed by English settlers from Belize and with guns distributed to defend Yucatn's secession in 1846. They regained 90% of their lands and held all of the Yucatn except Campeche and Merida.

At the height of their revolutionary success, the Mayans inexplicably withdrew to their villages - reputedly to plant corn for the season. The war with the US ended in 1848 and reinforcements were sent to the Yucatn, where they drove the Mayans back to Chan Santa Cruz. The Mayans resisted for several years, but disease and weapons shortages forced them to surrender in 1901.

After 50 years of independence, their lands became federal territory. In reality, the Southern and Eastern half of the peninsula remained a virtual no man's land to outsiders where the Mayans lived almost as they pleased. This changed in the late 1960s when coastal development began.

Father Alonso Gonzalez, who accompanied this expedition, found opportunity at one landing to explore a temple, and bring off some of the sacred images and gold ornaments. In 1518 a strong expedition under Juan de Grijalva, from Cuba, landed near Cozumel and took formal possession for Spain.

For Father Juan Diaz, who on this occasion celebrated Mass upon the summit of one of the heathen temples, the honour is also claimed of having afterwards been the first to celebrate mass in the City of Mexico.

Near Cozumel, also, was rescued the young monk Aguilar, one of the two survivors of Valdivia's party, who, though naked to the breech-cloth, still carried his Breviary in a pouch. Proceeding northwards, Grijaba made the entire circuit of the peninsula before returning, having had another desperate engagement with the Mayans near Campeche.

After the conquest of Mexico in 1521, Francisco de Montejo, under commission as Governor of Yucatan, landed (1527) to effect the conquest of the country, but met with such desperate resistance that after eight years of incessant fighting every Spaniard had been driven out. In 1540, after two more years of the same desperate warfare, his son Francisco established the first Spanish settlement at Campeche.

In the next year, in a bloody battle at Tihoo, he completely broke the power of Mayans resistance, and a few months later (Jan., 1542) founded on the site of the ruined city the new capital, Mrida. In 1546, however, there was a general revolt, and it was not until a year later that the conquest was assured.

In the original commission to Montejo it had been expressly stipulated that missionaries should accompany all his expeditions. This, however, he had neglected to attend to, and in 1531 (or 1534), by special order, Father Jacobo de Testera and four others were sent to join the Spanish camp near Campeche.

They met a kindly welcome from the Indians, who came with their children to be instructed, and thus the conquest of the country might have been effected through spiritual agencies but for the outrages committed by a band of Spanish outlaws, in consequence of which the priests were forced to withdraw.

In 1537 five more missionaries arrived and met the same willing reception, remaining about two years in spite of the war still in progress. About 1545 a large number of missionaries were sent over from Spain. Several of these - apparently nine, all Franciscans - under the direction of Father Luis de Villalpando, were assigned to Yucatan.

Landing at Campeche, the governor explained their purpose to the chiefs, the convent of St. Francis was dedicated on its present site, and translations were begun into the native language. The first baptized convert was the chief of Campeche, who learned Spanish and thereafter acted as interpreter for the priests.

Here, as elsewhere, the missionaries were the champions of the rights of the Indians. In consequence of their repeated protests a royal edict was issued, in 1549, prohibiting Indian slavery in the province, while promising compensation to the slave owners.

As in other cases, local opposition defeated the purpose of this law; but the agitation went on, and in 1551 another royal edict liberated 150,000 male Indian slaves, with their families, throughout Mexico.

In 1557 and 1558 the Crown intervened to restrain the tyranny of the native chiefs. Within a very short time Father Villalpando had at his mission station at Mrida over a thousand converts, including several chiefs.

He himself, with Father Malchior de Benavente, then set out, barefoot, for the city of Mani in the mountains farther south, where their success was so great that two thousand converts were soon engaged in building them a church and dwelling. All went well until they began to plead with the chiefs to release their vassals from certain hard conditions, when the chiefs resolved to burn them at the altar.

On the appointed night the chiefs and their retainers approached the church with this design, but were awed from their purpose on finding the two priests, who had been warned by an Indian boy, calmly praying before the crucifix. After remaining all night in prayer, the fathers were fortunately rescued by a Spanish detachment which, almost miraculously, chanced to pass that way.

Twenty-seven of the conspirators were afterwards seized and condemned to death, but were all saved by the interposition of Villalpando.

In 1548-49 other missionaries arrived from Spain, Villalpando was made custodian of the province, and a convent was erected near the site of his chapel at Mani. The Yucatan field having been assigned to the Franciscans, all the missionary work among the Mayans was done by priests of that order.

In 1561 Yucatan was made a diocese with its see at Mrida.

1562 - the famous Diego de Landa, Franciscan provincial, and afterwards bishop (1573-79), becoming aware that the natives throughout the peninsula still secretly cherished their ancient rites, instituted an investigation, which he conducted with such cruelties of torture and death that the proceedings were stopped by order of Bishop Toral Franciscan provincial of Mexico, immediately upon his arrival, during the same summer, to occupy the See of Mrida.

Before this could be done, however, there had been destroyed, as is asserted, two million sacred images and hundreds of hieroglyphic manuscripts - practically the whole of the voluminous native Mayans literature. As late as 1586 a royal edict was issued for the suppression of idolatry.

In 1575-77 a terrible visitation of a mysterious disease, called matlalzahuatl, which attacked only the Indians, swept over Southern Mexico and Yucatan, destroying, as was estimated, over two million lives. This was its fourth appearance since the conquest.

At its close it was estimated that the whole Indian population of Mexico had been reduced to about 1,700,000 souls. In 1583 and 1597 there were local revolts under chiefs of the ancient Cocom royal family. By this latter date it was estimated that the native population of Mexico had declined by three-fourths since the discovery, through massacre, famine, disease, and oppression.

Up to 1593 over 150 Franciscan monks had been engaged in missionary work in Yucatan.

The Mayans history of the seventeenth century is chiefly one of revolutions, viz., 1610-33, 1636-44, 1653, 1669, 1670, and about 1675.

Of all these, that of 1636-44 was the most extensive and serious, resulting in a temporary revival of the old heathen rites. In 1697 the island capital of the Itz, in Lake Petn, Guatemala, was stormed by Governor Martn de Ursua, and with it fell the last stronghold of the independent Mayans. Here, also, the manuscripts discovered were destroyed.

In 1728 Bishop Juan Gomez Parada died, beloved by the Indians for the laws which he had procured mitigating the harshness of their servitude. The reimposition of the former hard conditions brought about another revolt in 1761, led by the chief Jacinto Canek, and ending, as usual, in the defeat of the Indians, the destruction of their chief stronghold, and the death of their leader under horrible torture.

In 1847, taking advantage of the Government's difficulties with the United States, and urged on by their "unappeasable hatred toward their ruler from the earliest time of the Spanish conquest", the Mayans again broke out in general rebellion, with the declared purpose of driving all the whites, half-breeds and negroes from the peninsula, in which they were so far successful that all the fugitives who escaped the wholesale massacres fled to the coast, whence most of them were taken off by ships from Cuba. Arms and ammunition for the rising were freely supplied to the Indians by the British traders of Belize.

In 1851 the rebel Mayans established their headquarters at Chan-Santa-Cruz in the eastern part of the peninsula. In 1853 it seemed as if a temporary understanding had been reached, but next year hostilities began again. Two expeditions against the Mayans stronghold were repulsed, Valladolid was besieged by the Indians, Yecax taken, and more than two thousand whites massacred.

In 1860 the Mexican Colonel Acereto, with 3,000 men occupied Chan-Santa-Cruz, but was finally compelled to retire with the loss of 1,500 men killed, and to abandon his wounded - who were all butchered - as well as his artillery and supplies and all but a few hundred stand of small arms.

The Indians burned and ravaged in every direction, nineteen flourishing towns being entirely wiped out, and the population in three districts being reduced from 97,000 to 35,000. The war of extermination continued, with savage atrocities, through 1864, when it gradually wore itself out, leaving the Indians still unsubdued and well supplied with arms and munitions of war from Belize.

1868 - fighting broke out again in resistance to the Juarez government.

1871 - a Mexican force again occupied Chan-Santa-Cruz, but retired without producing any permanent result.

1901 - after long preparation, a strong Mexican force invaded the territory of the independent Mayans both by land and sea, stormed Chan-Santa-Cruz and, after determined resistance, drove the defenders into the swamps.

1910 - Mexican troops put down a serious rising in the northern part of the peninsula.

Modern Mayans

Mayans are around today

In spite of the invasion of foreign tourism, Mayan culture has remained amazingly intact. Many of the Yucatan Mayans whose ancestors were hunters, chicle farmers and fisherman now work in hotels and other tourist related businesses. More than 350,000 Mayans living in the Yucatan speak Yukatek Mayans and most speak Spanish as a second language, primarily learned in school.

The clothing worn is as it was in the past. It is relatively easy to determine the village in which the clothing was made by the the type of embroidery, color, design and shape.

Mayans women can be seen wearing huipils, simple cotton dresses decorated with embroidery. The designs in their embroidery and weaving can be traced back to pre-Columbian times.

Although Mayans in other parts of Central America choose to limit contact with outside influences, Mayans working in the tourist industry are generally open to conversation with polite strangers and if asked will teach you a Mayan phrase or two.

In the Indian communities, as it was with their Mayan ancestors, the basic staple diet is corn.

Mayan dialects of Qhuche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi, and Mam are still spoken today, although the majority of Indians also speak Spanish.

Maya Civilization Wikipedia

The Maya were resourceful in harnessing energy, creating amazingly sophisticated works of art and engineering and sustaining a civilization for approximately 1,500 years. It has been shown that the Maya had attributes of the supernatural, and were masters of their environment. Their secret wisdom remains unknown, some people attributing it to extraterrestrials races, whose space ships are seen to this very day in Central and South America.

As with ancient Egyptian Pharaohs, Mayan rulers filled vast cities with sky high pyramids, ornate and lavish palaces personifying the power of the great kings and their connections to the gods, and astronomical observatories which helped them created their calendars and plan their lives.

The cause of the Mayan collapse came over decades with no one quite sure what happened. There is no one single explanation for this implosion, but some scholars seem to believe that environmental catastropy lead to a full blown meltdown - lack of food and polluted water which produced malnutrition and disease.

As with all civilizations, we discover that their Gods - like those some people worship today our Gods - did not help - as they do not exist - only our own consciousness to guide us in the wastelands of realities.

Mayan archaeology is coming into it's Golden Age with the help of satellite imagery and photography. There are innumerable Mayan cities, temples, and settlements still to be discovered. We have learned that the Maya were an innovative, creative, and majestic people with their own particular taste for violence. The allure of the Maya is coming to the fore. Like the mystique of Egypt, people are drawn to the land of the Maya, each year. There is something they are guided to find, perhaps linked to major planetary grid points that awaken consciousness.

Could other attractions to the land of the Maya include:

Mayan architecture with its serene palaces and temples

the intricacies of hieroglyphs and art in a complex writing system

the astounded comprehension of astronomy and mathematics with a concept of zero unparalleled in antiquity

is it simply because these remarkable people carved magnificent cities, not just villages and towns, right out of some of the most inhospitable landscape in the entire world? In the rain forest between Honduras and the Yucatan, there are literally thousands of Maya sites that remain untouched. In Palanque alone there are approximately 1,550 buildings that lie unexcavated with endless archaeological treasures yet to be found.

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MAYA INDEX

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS INDEX

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PSYCHIC READING WITH ELLIE

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Mayan History The Maya are probably the best-known of the classical civilizations of Mesoamerica. Originating in the Yucatan around 2600 B.C., they rose to prominence around A.D. 250 in present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala, western Honduras, El Salvador, and northern Belize.

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On dangerous ground: land degradation is turning soils into deserts

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On dangerous ground: land degradation is turning soils into deserts

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PARIS: Even if humanity stops global warming in its tracks at two degrees Celsius, long seen as the guardrail for a climate-safe world, Arctic sea ice will still disappear in some years, scientists have warned.

Holding the line at 1.5 degrees Celsius, however, would make a huge difference, according to two separate studies published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.

In a 2 degrees Celsius world, the Arctic Ocean would be ice-free roughly one-in-four years, whereas if warming does not exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius, the odds drop to one-in-40, the researchers concluded.

"I didn't expect to find that half-a-degree Celsius would make a big difference, but it really does," said Alexandra Jahn, author of one of the studies and an assistant professor at Colorado University in Boulder.

The 197-nation Paris climate pact enjoins the world to halt warming at "well under" 2 degrees Celsius above mid-19th-century levels, and "pursue efforts" to cap the rise at 1.5 degrees Celsius.

With one degree of warming so far, Earth has already seen a crescendo of droughts, heatwaves, and storms ramped up by rising seas.

The loss of Arctic sea ice is not only a consequence of global warming, but also an accelerant when millions of square kilometres of snow reflecting the Sun's radiation back into space are replaced with dark blue ocean that absorbs it instead.
ICE-FREE ARCTIC
Recent studies have also fingered dwindling sea ice as a likely driver of topsy-turvy winter weather that has seen days when the North Pole is tens of degrees Celsius warmer than Europe and North America.

In 2017, summer sea ice shrank to 4.64 million sq km in September.

That was well above the record low of 3.39 million sq km set in 2012, but long-term trends are unmistakable: over the last four decades, minimum sea ice extent has dropped by about 40 per cent.

The Arctic Ocean is projected to become ice-free in summer - defined as less than one million sq km - by mid-century unless greenhouse gas emissions are rapidly and deeply reduced.

After remaining flat for three years, global CO2 emissions in 2017 went up by 1.4 per cent, dashing hopes that they had peaked, the International Energy Agency (IEA) reported last week.

Voluntary national pledges made under the Paris pact to cut CO2 emissions, if fulfilled, would yield a 3 degrees Celsius world at best.

That would transform the Arctic, which has thus far warmed at double the rate of the world as a whole.

"Under 3 degrees Celsius global average warming, permanent summer ice-free conditions are likely," concluded the second study, led by Michael Sigmond, a researcher at the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis in Victoria.

The two modelling studies are among hundreds published since the Paris treaty was inked in 2015 exploring the feasibility and impacts of halting the rise in global temperature at 1.5 degrees Celsius, a goal some climate scientists say is likely out of reach.

They are also the most recent to conclude that a 2 degrees Celsius world will not prevent severe impacts such as mass migrations due to rising seas, regional food and water shortages, and an increase in extreme weather, including heatwaves, droughts and floods.

Only a few years ago, the 2 degrees Celsius target was upheld as the threshold for avoiding such consequences.

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2 degrees Celsius cap on global warming won't save Arctic sea ice: Studies

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Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via E-Mail PARIS: Even if humanity stops global warming in its tracks at two degrees Celsius, long seen as the guardrail for a climate-safe world, Arctic sea ice will still disappear in some years, scientists have warned.

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The first-ever chemical analysis of plastic collected from beaches around Lake Geneva detected cadmium, mercury and lead -- sometimes in very high concentrations that exceed the maximum permitted under EU law. The abundance of toxic chemicals that are now restricted or banned in plastic production reflects how old the plastic litter could be, reports the study published in Frontiers in Environmental Science. The study -- one of very few to examine plastics in freshwater lakes -- indicates that like oceans, freshwater habitats are also affected by plastic pollution.

"Plastic debris in freshwater lakes are likely to pose the same problems to wildlife as marine plastics. In this respect, entanglement and ingestion are of greatest concern," says Dr. Montserrat Filella, lead author of this research, based at the Department F.-A. Forel, University of Geneva, Switzerland.

"The hazardous chemicals we find associated with these plastics is also worrying. When they are eaten by animals mistaking them for food, the acidic and enzyme-rich conditions in the stomach could accelerate how quickly these toxins are released into the body, affecting the animals concerned."

Dr. Filella collected litter from 12 different pebble beaches around Lake Geneva, one of western Europe's largest freshwater bodies. She found more than 3,000 pieces of plastic debris, which included identifiable objects (toys, pens, cotton buds), bits of identifiable objects (piping, plant pots, food wrappers), and plastic fragments that couldn't be identified to their original source, including expanded foam and polystyrene.

"A lot of the plastic was similar to that found on marine beaches, such as bottle tops, straws and polystyrene," says Dr. Filella. "In contrast, there was an absence of nurdles -- pellets used as a basis for plastic production -- and a lower incidence of plastic filamentous fibers from commercial fishing, such as rope, netting and cord."

The lack of these items, often dominant on marine beaches, can be attributed to differences in the use of the marine environment and the freshwater Lake Geneva.

More than 600 of the collected plastic items, representing the different types of litter found, were subsequently analysed for toxins using X-ray fluorescence. This is a non-destructive technique that can determine the chemical composition of materials.

"We detected the frequent presence of hazardous elements, such as bromine, cadmium, mercury and lead, in very high concentrations in some cases," says Dr. Andrew Turner, co-author of the study, based at the University of Plymouth, UK. "The abundance of these toxic elements, which are now restricted or banned, reflects just how long the plastic has been in the lake. For example, mercury is a metal that to our knowledge has not been used in plastics for decades."

Bromine, present in compounds used in flame retardants, was above the maximum level allowed under RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances - a European Union directive) in 19 plastic items. High levels of cadmium, associated with bright colours, were present in 57 items. Mercury was found in plastic items that were red or reddish-brown, suggesting its use as pigmentation -- a process believed to have ended in the 1950s. Lead, used to stabilize or color plastics, was present in nearly a quarter of the items analysed, with 65 of these exceeding RoHS levels.

"Freshwater systems have been largely overlooked with regards to the impact of plastic; most studies thus far have focussed on the oceans. This is one of only a handful of studies of plastics in lakes, and the first of its kind to be undertaken in Lake Geneva," explains Dr. Turner.

Dr Filella continues, "The impacts of plastic-bound toxic elements on lake wildlife are currently unknown but should form the basis of future research."

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Study finds high levels of hazardous chemicals in plastics collected from Lake Geneva

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The first-ever chemical analysis of plastic collected from beaches around Lake Geneva detected cadmium, mercury and lead -- sometimes in very high concentrations that exceed the maximum permitted under EU law. The abundance of toxic chemicals that are now restricted or banned in plastic production reflects how old the plastic litter could be, reports the study published in Frontiers in Environmental Science.

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GLOBAL WARMING  IS KILLING BUTTERFLIES!! 0_0

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GLOBAL WARMING  IS KILLING BUTTERFLIES!! 0_0

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LSU researchers have discovered a new relationship between climate change, monarch butterflies and milkweed plants. It turns out that warming temperatures don't just affect the monarch, Danaus plexippus, directly, but also affect this butterfly by potentially turning its favorite plant food into a poison.

Bret Elderd, associate professor in the LSU Department of Biological Sciences, and Matthew Faldyn, a Ph.D. student in Elderd's lab from Katy, Texas, published their findings today with coauthor Mark Hunter of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan. This study is published in Ecology.

"A lot of global climate change research focuses on a single species, and how that species will be affected by climate change," Elderd said. "But we know that in reality, species interact, and they are often tightly linked together."

One such species interaction is that of the monarch butterfly and the milkweed plant, genus Asclepias. The monarch is an obligate feeder on milkweed. Individuals always lay their eggs on a milkweed plant, and the larvae only develop on various species of this particular plant.

"We wanted to explore how species interactions, like that of the monarch and the milkweed, change with climate change, or the indirect effect of climate change on monarch butterflies through the plants they eat and lay their eggs on," Elderd said.

Faldyn and Elderd found that the local warming associated with climate change can produce chemical changes in milkweed that in turn affect monarch butterflies when they and their larvae feed on certain species of this plant, particularly the non-native milkweed, Asclepias curassavica.

"It's important to understand how changes mediated through milkweed impact monarch butterflies," Faldyn said.

There are several different species of milkweed, but they all share a common trait. They produce toxic chemicals in their leaf tissue called cardenolides that deter most vertebrate predators. These chemicals are in the class of cardiac glycosides that interfere with sodium potassium-pumps in the heart and other tissues, and can even affect humans if ingested in large quantities. Monarchs, however, have evolved to become cardenolide-tolerant up to a certain point. By laying their eggs on milkweed plants that contain levels of cardenolides that are toxic for their predators, monarchs protect their caterpillar offspring from being eaten. After hatching and chowing down on milkweed leaves, the caterpillars are full of cardenolides that make them taste nasty to most predators, such as birds. Monarch butterflies also sequester this compound in their wings. Their contrasting bright orange and black wings signal "do not eat me" to birds such as blue jays.

But if a milkweed plant produces too much of this toxic chemical, caterpillars that feed on the plant's leaf tissue may inadvertently poison themselves.

"It's a Goldilocks situation for monarch butterflies. Too few of these chemicals in the milkweed, and the plant won't protect monarch caterpillars from being eating," Elderd said. "But too high of a concentration of these chemicals can also hurt the monarchs, slowing caterpillar development and decreasing survival."

The trick lies in monarchs finding a milkweed species that is just right in terms of the amount of cardenolides it produces. In the southern U.S., this ideal species turns out to be the invasive milkweed A. curassavica, as known as "tropical milkweed," which is commonly sold in gardening stores.

" A. curassavica is hardy. It holds onto its leaves longer than most other species, and it flowers throughout the year making it attractive to gardeners and homeowners," Faldyn said. The plant is often sold to homeowners with a catchphrase such as, "Beautify your Yard, Save the Butterflies."

And monarchs do love the invasive A. curassavica. In fact, under current climatic conditions, adult monarchs that feed on this species of milkweed demonstrate a higher survival rate and weight. That's because A. curassavica contains the perfect amount of cardenolides -- just on the edge of too much. But environmental conditions that increase cardenolide levels in this plant, such as warmer temperatures, can set up an ecological trap for monarchs.

As this plant senses rising temperatures, it produces more cardenolides, perhaps as a defense mechanism.

Temperature-dependent increases in cardenolide concentrations in A. curassavica, which Elderd and Faldyn observed in the field within three days of placing tiny greenhouse-like structures around these plants, push monarchs over a tipping point, poisoning their larvae, delaying larval growth and leading to butterflies with stunted forewing length.

In essence, with climate change, too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing, specifically when it comes to the tropical milkweed plant. The native A. incarnata milkweed naturally produces fewer toxic chemicals than the tropical milkweed, but warmer conditions don't radically change these levels. Under conditions of global warming, monarchs feeding on the non-native milkweed fare much worse in terms of growth and survival than monarchs feeding on native milkweed.

"If I'm a monarch butterfly, and I'm responding to past environmental conditions, I'll lay my eggs on A. curassavica," Elderd said. "But under conditions of global warming, I'll be doing my offspring a disservice without knowing it."

The warming conditions Elderd and Faldyn applied to milkweed plants in the field mimic temperatures projected to occur in Baton Rouge, La. within the next 40 years or sooner. If for example, there's a heat wave.

"It has become increasingly recognized that species interactions, especially interactions between tightly-linked species, need to be considered when trying to understand the full impacts of climate change on ecological dynamics," wrote the authors.

Unfortunately, invasive milkweed plants are everywhere throughout the southern U.S. Faldyn hopes to raise awareness among plant sellers, gardeners and home owners that given global climate change, it's better to plant the native milkweed rather than the pervasive, non-native tropical milkweed plant for the monarchs.

What's next?

Faldyn and Elderd are involving undergraduate students at LSU in follow-up research, for example to evaluate conditions that might bolster native milkweed plants in areas where they have to compete with invasive species.

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nature; endangered plants; insects (including butterflies); new species; global warming; climate; environmental issues; environmental awareness

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Global warming can turn monarch butterflies' favorite food into poison

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Researchers have discovered a new relationship between climate change, monarch butterflies and milkweed plants. It turns out that warming temperatures don't just affect the monarch, Danaus plexippus, directly, but also affect this butterfly by potentially turning its favorite plant food into a poison.

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Here's How Many People Die from Pollution Around the World

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Air pollution and water pollution affect many countries, especially China. Find out how many air pollution deaths occur around the world.

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Decontamination of landfills and open dumpsites could prove profitable -- both financially and for the environment. This is demonstrated by Yahya Jani in a new dissertation in environmental science from Linnaeus University.

Environmental pollution, health threats and scarcity of raw materials, water, food and energy are some of the greatest challenges our world is facing today. At the same time, landfills and open dumpsites are still the dominant global waste disposal options, despite the fact that the long-term environmental impact in the form of emissions of greenhouse gases and contaminated leachates is significant. However, much of the environmentally hazardous waste that has been dumped at landfills can be recycled as energy or reused as valuable raw materials in different industries according to Yahya Jani, doctor of environmental science and chemical engineering.
Landfill mining -- the tool of the future
In his dissertation, landfill mining is suggested as a tool to achieve an enhanced circular economy model. Viewing the landfill waste as a potential resource instead of as a problem is a common thread in Yahya's research.

"More than 50% of the deposited waste dumped at landfills and open dump sites can be recycled as energy or reused as raw materials. These materials can be used as secondary resources in different industries instead of being forgotten or viewed as garbage," Jani explains.

His research also includes the extraction of metals from Småland's art and crystal glass waste and different fine fractions.
Extracting 99 % of the metals
"I developed a method that enables the extraction of 99% of the metals from the glass waste that was dumped at Pukeberg's glassworks and published the results. It is the first published article in the world that deals with recycling of metals from art and crystal glass," says Jani.

In his research study at Glasriket, Jani also used chemical extraction to recycle materials from a mix of glass waste and soil fine fractions smaller than 2 mm. The technology involves mixing old glass waste with chemicals to reduce the melting point of the glass waste in order to extract the metals.

"The methods I've developed to extract metals from Småland's glass waste can be used to extract metals from all types of glass, like, for instance, the glass in old TV sets and computers. Thus, this method can be further developed at an industrial facility for the recycling of both glass and metals of high purity. This can also contribute to a restoration of Småland's glass industry by providing the industry with cheap raw materials. In addition, the extraction of materials from old landfills contributes to the decontamination of these sites and reduces the environmental impact and health threats" Jani concludes.

According to the European commission in 2017, 60% (that is to say, 1,800 million tons) of the annually produced waste from 500 million EU inhabitants end up in landfills. In his dissertation, Jani shows that the extraction of valuable materials from this waste could contribute to reducing the overuse of natural resources on Earth and reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and contaminated leachates, which are responsible for pollution of water resources. Decontamination of these places will contribute to a significantly reduced impact on both human health and the environment.

The results from Jani's dissertation shed light on the need to view the dumped waste as a secondary resource and landfills and dumpsites as future bank accounts where future raw materials can be extracted instead of viewing them as a burden for human health and the environment.

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civil engineering; materials science; engineering and construction; energy and resources; recycling and waste; environmental science; environmental issues; hazardous waste

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Landfills: A future source of raw materials

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Decontamination of landfills and open dumpsites could prove profitable -- both financially and for the environment. This is demonstrated by Yahya Jani in a new dissertation in environmental science from Linnaeus University. Environmental pollution, health threats and scarcity of raw materials, water, food and energy are some of the greatest challenges our world is facing today.

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On dangerous ground: land degradation is turning soils into deserts

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On dangerous ground: land degradation is turning soils into deserts

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If any of us still has the slightest doubt that we are facing an ecological crisis on an unprecedented scale, then a new report on land degradation, released this week by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services ( IPBES), provides yet another piece of evidence.

Land degradation can take many forms, but always entails a serious disruption of a healthy balance between five key ecosystem functions. These are: food production; fibre provision; microclimate regulation; water retention; and carbon storage.

Its impacts can be far-reaching, including loss of soil fertility, destruction of species habitat and biodiversity, soil erosion, and excessive nutrient runoff into lakes.

Read more: The immense challenge of desertification in sub-Saharan Africa

Land degradation also has serious knock-on effects for humans, such as malnutrition, disease, forced migration, cultural damage, and even war.

At its worst, land degradation can result in the desertification or abandonment of land (or both). Protracted drought and loss of fertile land may have been contributing factors in the wars in Sudan and Syria.

According to the new report, 43% of world populations live in regions affected by land degradation. By 2050, the report estimates, 4 billion people will be living in drylands. These are defined by the United Nations as land with an "aridity ratio" of less than 0.65, meaning that the amount of water lost far outweighs the amount received in precipitation.

Such areas are highly vulnerable to food and water insecurity, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.

A global threat

It would be wrong to infer that land degradation is purely a problem for developing countries. Overall, land is generally more degraded in the developed world - as shown, for example, by greater declines in soil organic carbon content, a measure of soil health. However, in richer nations the rate of degradation has slowed, and people in these regions are generally less vulnerable to its effects.

It is in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and South and Central America that the problem is growing most rapidly. But climate change, especially where droughts and forest fires are becoming more frequent, can cause land degradation even in affluent places such as California and Australia.

What's more, a decline in the overall availability of agricultural land is bound to affect food prices globally. By 2050, the report states, humans will have transformed almost every part of the planet, apart from uninhabitable stretches such as deserts, mountains, tundra and polar regions.

Perhaps most chillingly, the report predicts that the combined effects of land degradation and climate change will have displaced between 50 million and 700 million people by 2050, potentially triggering conflict over disputed land.

Some of this migration will inevitably be across international borders - how much is impossible to tell. While the impacts on migrants are almost always devastating, the ripple effects, as we have seen recently with the Syrian war, can spread far and wide, affecting electoral outcomes, border controls and social security systems throughout the world.

Globalised causes

The two most significant direct causes of land degradation are the conversion of native vegetation into crop and grazing lands, and unsustainable land-management practices. Other factors include the effects of climate change and loss of land to urbanisation, infrastructure and mining.

However, the underlying driver of all these changes is rising per-capita demand from growing populations for protein, fibre and bioenergy. This in turn leads to more demand for land and further encroachment into areas with marginal soils.

Market deregulation, which has been a global trend since the 1980s, can lead to the destruction of sustainable land management practices in favour of monocultures, and can encourage a race to the bottom as far as environmental protection is concerned. The vast geographical distance between demand for consumer goods and the land needed to produce them - between, in other words, the cause of land degradation and its effect - makes it much harder to address the problem politically.

Sadly, the timid history of attempts to create global governance regimes over the past century - from human rights, to conflict prevention, arms control, social protections and environmental treaties - has seen more failures than successes.

On the positive side, success stories in land management are well documented: agroforestry, conservation agriculture, soil fertility management, regeneration and water conservation. In fact, the new report states that the economic case for land restoration is strong, with benefits averaging ten times the costs, even when looking at very different types of lands and communities of flora and fauna. A common feature of many of these success stories is major involvement by indigenous populations and local farmers.

And yet these achievements remain far short of the scope of the problem. Significant obstacles remain - including, according to the report, increasing demand for land, lack of awareness of the extent of land degradation, fragmented decision-making within and between countries, and increased costs of restoration as time goes by.

On the other hand, the report's authors emphasise that a host of existing multilateral agreements, including conventions on desertification, climate change, biodiversity and wetlands, provide a strong platform for combating land degradation. However, whether these agreements will be successful in overcoming the obstacles mentioned above remains to be seen.

Read more: If the world's soils keep drying out that's bad news for microbes (and people)

What can we do as citizens, especially those of us who live in cities and have little direct interaction with the land? The most obvious action is to eat less meat and, more generally, to inform ourselves about the sources and impacts of the food we buy - including its packaging, fuel and transport.

But the problem is not just about individual choices, important as these are. Underlying systemic causes need to be addressed, including deregulated international trading systems, lack of protection for local communities powerless to resist global market forces, ideologies of unfettered growth and perverse incentives for more consumption.

Arguably, what is needed is a broadening of the active scope of national politics, from an almost exclusive concern with short-term economic well-being to the making of global futures. Next time you meet your local representative, ask them what they are doing to protect the interests of your children and grandchildren. Or, even better, inform yourself, talk to others about it, form your own opinion about what should be done, then try to make it happen.

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On dangerous ground: land degradation is turning soils into deserts

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If any of us still has the slightest doubt that we are facing an ecological crisis on an unprecedented scale, then a new report on land degradation, released this week by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services ( IPBES), provides yet another piece of evidence.

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Top federal regulator says nuclear energy problems 'geographic,' not nationwide

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Top federal regulator says nuclear energy problems 'geographic,' not nationwide

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Nuclear power plant closures and strain facing the industry are a "geographic" problem, not a national one, the head of the federal nuclear energy regulator said Tuesday.

"Some of the units in the regions they operate in are operating at kind of breath-taking losses, and are not economic," said Kristine Svinicki, the chairwoman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on its fiscal 2019 budget request.

However, the situation that is causing nuclear power plants to not be financially viable in one region is not the same across the nation, she said.

"Others operate in other markets in the country, and have other regulatory, rate-recovery mechanisms that they are profitable," Svinicki said. "So it appears to be a very geographic situation."

Her statements were in response to Rep. Gerald Mark McNerney, D-Calif., who asked if conventional power plants can be viable in the future. He followed up by asking Svinicki if new designs, such as smaller, less expensive, reactors, are more viable.

The chairwoman said the designs do possess "efficiencies," but their success "is dependent on natural gas prices and other things into the future that I'm not really even an expert on."

NRC is primarily a safety regulator for power plants. It also licenses the design and construction of new nuclear power plants. It does not get involved in more market-related activities like some of its sister agencies do. Nevertheless, it is being pressured by the closures of power plants, which has reduced the fees it charges the industry that make up a large chunk of its annual budget.

Nevertheless, top Democrats on the committee began the hearing by denouncing the administration's push for nuclear and coal power plant incentives through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the nation's electric market regulator.

Reps. Frank Pallone of New Jersey and Paul Tonko of New York, the top Democrats on the energy committee and the environment panel, respectively, used their time to repudiate Energy Secretary Rick Perry's proposed plan at FERC to provide market incentives to ensure the reliability and resilience of the electric grid.

NRC had no role in the Perry plan, but that didn't stop Democrats from using the hearing on the commission's budget to praise FERC for rejecting the Perry grid plan.

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Top federal regulator says nuclear energy problems 'geographic,' not nationwide

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Nuclear power plant closures and strain facing the industry are a "geographic" problem, not a national one, the head of the federal nuclear energy regulator said Tuesday. "Some of the units in the regions they operate in are operating at kind of breath-taking losses, and are not economic," said Kristine Svinicki, the chairwoman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on its fiscal 2019 budget request.

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We need to stop this

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Plastic island: How our trash is destroying paradise

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Eight million tons of plastic end up in our oceans every year. What it's done to this island is a stark warning.

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Anarchy is the type of government where there is no government at all. Every person is left to fight for themselves. People must continue to live through farming on their own land, find water, and build a home on there own. No one tells you what to do and there is no voting.

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One of the mines supplies coal to a power plant in Minnesota's Sherburne County, and the company operates a mine in Beulah, N.D.

The Colorado company, which feeds the Colstrip power plant from the Rosebud Mine, and whose Absaloka Mine has been a major source of income for the Crow Tribe, revealed in its late-filed annual report that neither mine had coal sales contracted beyond 2019. The company also operates Savage Mine, a small producer in Eastern Montana. The company's problems were not limited to its Montana holdings.

"We may seek protection from our creditors under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, or an involuntary petition for bankruptcy may be filed against us," Westmoreland stated in its annual report, "Either of which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows and could place our shareholders at significant risk of losing all of their investment in our shares."

The company indicated in its filing that bankruptcy would be a last resort. Westmoreland has not responded to phone calls and emails from The Gazette since February. A Tuesday attempt to reach the company's chief financial officer, Gary Kohn, was unsuccessful.

In a news release, Kohn suggested Westmoreland was trying to stabilize.

"Our aim is to create a capital structure that better aligns with our cash flow and allows for an improved balance sheet," Kohn said in the news release. "During the restructuring process, we have remained focused on safety and on providing our customers with the level of service they have come to expect from Westmoreland."

The news comes two weeks after Montana's Department of Environmental Quality heard Westmoreland make a case for expanding Rosebud Mine. DEQ officials last week told The Gazette that Westmoreland's wherewithal to continue mining was not discussed during the four-day hearing.

Westmoreland faces strong headwinds at Rosebud and Absaloka mines. Rosebud is run by Westmoreland subsidiary Western Energy and feeds the nearby four-unit Colstrip power plant. Units 1 and 2 are scheduled to shut down within five years to settle an air pollution lawsuit.

In its annual report, Westmoreland indicates that it has a contract to deliver coal to Units 1 and 2 only through the end of next year. Westmoreland reports selling 2.3 million tons of coal annually to fuel Units 1 and 2. Likewise, the company's contract to feed Units 3 and 4 also expires in 2019. Units 3 and 4 burn roughly 6.2 million tons of Rosebud Mine coal annually.

However, the power plant's owners indicated last year they are negotiating new contract terms beyond 2019. Westmoreland indicated the same Monday.

Six utilities have unequal shares in Colstrip. The owners include Pennsylvania-based Talen Energy; Washington-based utilities Puget Sound Energy and Avista Corp.; Oregon utilities PacifiCorp and Portland General Electric; and NorthWestern Energy, the largest regulated utility in Montana.

Both Puget and Avista have agreed to be financially ready by 2027 to exit Colstrip Units 3 and 4, though neither has committed to an actual closure date. PacifiCorp is bound by law to stop delivering coal power to its Oregon customers by 2030. Portland General Electric has until 2035 to meet the same Oregon mandate, but will be mostly off coal power by 2030, the same year it is expected to be financially ready for exit.

Absaloka Mine teetered on closure as recently at 2016 when in late summer Westmoreland informed the Crow Tribe the mine would close by October if the tribe didn't agree to a cut in its share of coal proceeds. The Crow Tribe agreed to cut its tribal severance tax by 85 cents a ton through the end of 2016 and then by $1.10 a ton from January 2017 to December 2018.

A 40-cent-per-ton cut to tribal gross proceeds was also granted to keep the mine afloat. Royalty payments to the Crow Tribe were zeroed out.

The tax cuts alone were a $5.35 million loss to the Crow Tribe in 2017, based on a reported 3.573 million tons of coal mined from Absaloka that year, which was listed in the annual report filed by Westmoreland on Monday.

Demand for Absaloka coal declined 2.2 million tons from 2015 through 2017. Sherburne County Station, a large coal-fired power plant in Minnesota, which burns Absaloka coal, is phasing out of coal. Westmoreland has historically had three-year rolling contracts to supply Sherburne, but now has contracts with one Sherburne owner through this year and a contract through 2019 with another owner. One Sherburne coal-fired unit will be retired by 2023; another will be retired in 2026.

Westmoreland's troubles come as no surprise, said data analyst Seth Feaster, who warned in February that the coal company's stock value had fallen 97 percent and that the company appeared headed for bankruptcy.

Feaster, of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, noted two months ago the Westmoreland mines in New Mexico, North Dakota and Texas had lost core customers. Emerging energy policies in Canada threatened Westmoreland properties there. At the time of Feaster's February report, Westmoreland's stock was worth 55 cents a share, more than double its worth Tuesday. The company is more than $1 billion in debt.

"This is really bankruptcy in slow motion here," Feaster said. "I have to be careful using that word because they haven't declared bankruptcy, but they're in a very challenging financial situation. What's going to be interesting to see is what Westmoreland is going to do to get this resolved."

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis is a New York-based institute that researches economic and environmental issues related to energy.

Feaster said he doesn't expect Westmoreland mines to close anytime soon, but as the coal industry evolves there will be environmental cleanup and community challenges, for which state and local governments should be preparing now.

There are fewer customers for the coal now than there were just 10 years ago, Feaster said. As a result, coal companies will be fighting for profits from a smaller market. There will be losers among companies not financially healthy enough to compete.

As many as 19 power plants that once burned Montana coal have closed since 2012, according to a report by Montana's Legislative Services Division. Another 18 power plants burning Montana coal have published plans to close or partially close by 2030.

"The coal industry has lost a lot of bargaining power and that's an important part of what's happened here," Feaster said. "So, the utilities are driving harder bargains, waiting longer to renew contracts and making shorter contract offers."

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Coal company with ties to ND, Minn., eyes bankruptcy

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BILLINGS, Mont. - Westmoreland Coal Co. stock fell to 26 cents a share Tuesday, April 3, after the company with three Montana mines indicated it would consider bankruptcy.One of the mines supplies coal to a power plant in Minnesota's Sherburne County, and the company operates a mine in Beulah, N.D...

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The Conversation: In-depth analysis, research, news and ideas from leading academics and researchers.

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Curated by professional editors, The Conversation offers informed commentary and debate on the issues affecting our world. Plus a Plain English guide to the latest developments and discoveries from the university and research sector.

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Android Police - Android news, reviews, apps, games, phones, tablets

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Google announced plans in late 2016 to increase its spending on renewable energy. In fact, Google intended to go 100% renewable. Today, Google announced it met the goal last year of matching all of its global energy usage with purchases of renewable energy.

This does not mean Google's facilities all run on 100% renewable energy. It's logistically difficult to get enough power from wind or solar in all locations to only use renewables. However, Google has offset its non-renewable usage by financing wind and solar power farms. It takes a year or two to get these new projects up and running, but Google accelerated its move into renewable energy throughout 2016. At the end of 2016, Google was already covering 57% of its energy usage with renewable sources.

Today, Google has purchased around 3 gigawatts of output from renewables at a cost of $3 billion. That offsets all the power used in Google's offices and data centers. It also makes Google the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy by a wide margin-Amazon and Microsoft are a little more than a third of the way there, but everyone else is far behind. Google plans to continue its renewable investments as it keeps building new facilities.

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Google announced plans in late 2016 to increase its spending on renewable energy. In fact, Google intended to go 100% renewable. Today, Google announced it met the goal last year of matching all of its global energy usage with purchases of renewable energy. This does not mean Google's facilities all run on 100% renewable energy.

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its killing fish and polluting sea food!!!

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Horizon: the EU Research & Innovation magazine

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Fledgling birds disorientated by lights can collide with human structures on the ground and then get hit by cars, or become more vulnerable to predation, starvation or dehydration. Or newly hatched turtles may set out in the opposite direction to the sea, exposing themselves to similar dangers.

And our skies are getting brighter. A recent study found that our planet's artificially lit outdoor area grew by about 2% each year between 2012 and 2016, while already lit areas brightened at the same rate.

'Global growth in lighting at that kind of level is quite profound,' said Kevin Gaston, a professor of biodiversity and conservation at the University of Exeter, UK. 'We know that lighting is getting steadily worse.'

Researchers say one big problem has been a lack of awareness about light pollution. That is growing, but in the meantime, certain factors are potentially heightening its impact.

For example, white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been swiftly replacing traditional outdoor lighting such as yellow sodium street lights because of their higher energy efficiency. But because they emit light across a broad part of the visible spectrum, LEDs can affect a wider range of photosensitive cells in different organisms.

'The negative consequences of light pollution are as unknown by the population as those of smoking in the 80s.'

Professor Oscar Corcho, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain

In a project called ECOLIGHTS FOR SEABIRDS, which ran from 2014 to the end of 2016, researchers found that the threat to fledgling shearwaters of being grounded on Phillip Island in south-eastern Australia was higher from broader-spectra metal halide and LED lights than from sodium lights. This suggests that using certain types of lights in different areas could be used to limit the effects on these birds.
Grounded
Separate studies on the Spanish island of Tenerife found that half of the Cory's shearwater fledglings grounded around lights were within 3 kilometres of their nest sites and tended to be from inland colonies.

Dr Airam Rodríguez, a postdoctoral researcher at Doñana Biological Station in Seville, Spain, who worked on the project, said that knowing such information makes it easier to do things such as arrange safe corridors between breeding colonies and the ocean.

Many effects of light pollution on such seabirds have been poorly understood before, because of factors such as their breeding in remote locations and the fact they need to be tracked at night. Advances in technology are helping though, with the team using miniature GPS trackers and nocturnal high-resolution satellite imagery to follow the birds' routes.

Dr Rodríguez said his team is now using GPS to look in more detail at what happens to birds rescued after being grounded by lights during their first days out on the ocean. He would also like to look more into the physiology of their eyes to find out which wavelengths the birds are more sensitive to.

Another little-known facet has been how much artificial lighting affects whole communities of organisms rather than just individual species, but recent research shows the effects can be significant.

As part of a project called ECOLIGHT, which finished last year, researchers set up 54 outdoor experimental environments, known as mesocosms, at the University of Exeter. These took the form of mesh-covered containers that held different combinations of plants, invertebrates and types of lighting, or were unlit. From this, they discovered that lighting seemed to suppress the flowering of the trefoil Lotus pedunculatus, and, in turn, the pea aphid population that feeds on them.

The team found similar effects in an experiment with bean plants and aphids.
Pervasive
Prof. Gaston, who was principal investigator on ECOLIGHT and also used field experiments to investigate the impact of light pollution, said: 'This leads to the conclusion that lighting is having pretty pervasive ecological impacts. The effects are exceedingly widespread and are shaping the way that communities are structured - which was something that people hadn't observed before.'

He also pointed to other research showing that bud burst in trees can happen a week earlier in the brightest compared with the darkest areas. 'When we've discovered these kinds of things for climate change and they've shifted by about a week, we've said that's profoundly worrying,' he said.

His team is now looking more into the impacts of different intensities and colours of lights to build a more detailed picture.

In addition, they are scouring through images of Earth photographed by astronauts on the International Space Station so they can map how the colours of lights are changing as cities introduce more white LEDs.

Prof. Gaston explained that satellites are effectively colour-blind to the shift to white light, so using the pictures that astronauts take is a good way to track this, with about half a million pictures taken at night between 2003 and 2015.

This work complements the Cities at Night project, a citizen science initiative that gets help from volunteers to classify, locate and georeference these pictures.

Also involved in Cities at Night is the STARS4ALL project, coordinated by Oscar Corcho, a professor at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid in Spain, which acts as a platform to raise awareness of the issues involved in light pollution and inspire further research and better planning in lighting programmes. It seeks to engage people through methods such as games, broadcasting of astronomical events and a citizen-sensor network of low-cost photometers for people to measure light pollution in their area.

'The negative consequences of light pollution are as unknown by the population as those of smoking in the (19)80s,' said Prof. Corcho. 'It's still a very difficult problem to understand. Light pollution does not have the same immediate effects over animals as other forms of pollution.'
Regulation
Prof. Corcho said that one of STARS4ALL's main aims this year is to run a petition on its website to ask for more overarching regulation to avoid light pollution at an EU level. STARS4ALL will collect signatures from citizens and hopes to present the petition in Brussels by the end of the year.

He says the good news is that there are easy fixes. 'There are good technology options. For instance, there are types of lamps that could be used that are both respectful to the environment in terms of light pollution and at the same time as energy-efficient as white LEDs.' He cites PC amber LEDs, for example.

If we move to solve these issues, there might well be an added bonus for us all. 'As an indirect result... our recommendations for public lighting may result in having more populated places where we can see more and more stars in our sky,' said Prof. Corcho.
The research in this article has been funded by the EU. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.

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Light pollution is altering plant and animal behaviour

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Fledgling birds disorientated by lights can collide with human structures on the ground and then get hit by cars, or become more vulnerable to predation, starvation or dehydration. Or newly hatched turtles may set out in the opposite direction to the sea, exposing themselves to similar dangers. And our skies are getting brighter.

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http://www.gogreenacademy.com/causes-and-effects-of-water-pollution/

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Water covers 70% of the Earth's surface and makes up over 60% of the human body. Water pollution affects marine ecosystems, wildlife health, and human well-being. The answer to solving pollution is to make changes in our daily habits and pay more attention to the types of products we consume. The following lists display causes of water pollution and the effects it has on human health and the environment.

Causes of Water Pollution

Sewage from domestic households, factories and commercial buildings Sewage that is treated in water treatment plants is often disposed into the sea. Sewage can be more problematic when people flush chemicals and pharmaceutical substances down the toilet.

Dumping solid wastes and littering by humans in rivers, lakes and oceans. Littering items include cardboard, Styrofoam, aluminum, plastic and glass.

Industrial waste from factories, which use freshwater to carry waste from the plant into rivers, contaminates waters with pollutants such as asbestos, lead, mercury and petrochemicals.

Oil Pollution caused by oil spills from tankers and oil from ship travel. Oil does not dissolve in water and forms a thick sludge.

Burning fossil fuels into the air causes the formation of acidic particles in the atmosphere. When these particles mix with water vapor, the result is acid rain.

An increase in water temperature is caused by global warming and thermal plants that use lakes and rivers to cool down mechanical equipment.

Effects of Water Pollution

Groundwater contamination from pesticides causes reproductive damage within wildlife in ecosystems.

Sewage, fertilizer, and agricultural run-off contain organic materials that when discharged into waters, increase the growth of algae, which causes the depletion of oxygen. The low oxygen levels are not able to support most indigenous organisms in the area and therefore upset the natural ecological balance in rivers and lakes.

Swimming in and drinking contaminated water causes skin rashes and health problems like cancer, reproductive problems, typhoid fever and stomach sickness in humans. Which is why it's very important to make sure that your water is clean and safe to drink.

Industrial chemicals and agricultural pesticides that end up in aquatic environments can accumulate in fish that are later eaten by humans. Fish are easily poisoned with metals that are also later consumed by humans. Mercury is particularly poisonous to small children and women. Mercury has been found to interfere with the development of the nervous system in fetuses and young children.

Ecosystems are destroyed by the rising temperature in the water, as coral reefs are affected by the bleaching effect due to warmer temperatures. Additionally, the warm water forces indigenous water species to seek cooler water in other areas, causing an ecological damaging shift of the affected area.

Human-produced litter of items such as plastic bags and 6-pack rings can get aquatic animals caught and killed from suffocation.

Water pollution causes flooding due to the accumulation of solid waste and soil erosion in streams and rivers.

Oil spills in the water causes animal to die when they ingest it or encounter it. Oil does not dissolve in water so it causes suffocation in fish and birds.

Water Pollution Facts

Following are some facts on water pollution:

Fourteen billion pounds of garbage, which is mostly plastic, is dumped into the ocean every year.

The Ganges River in India is one the most polluted rivers in the world with sewage, trash, food, and animal remains.

According to United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) estimates, 1.2 trillion gallons of untreated sewage, stormwater, and industrial waste is dumped into U.S. waters annually.

About 700 million people globally drink contaminated water.

Aquatic animals face an extinction rate of five times more than that of terrestrial animals.

Over 30 billion tons of urban sewage is discharged into lakes, rivers and oceans every year.

The massive oil spill that was caused by British Petroleum (BP) in the year 2010 caused over 1,000 animals to die. Many of them were on the endangered species list.

According to UNICEF, more than 3,000 children die every day all over the world due to consumption of contaminated drinking water.

Pollution is one of the biggest killers in the world, affecting over 100 million people.

Lack of proper sanitation in water leads to diseases like cholera, malaria and diarrhea.

At least 320 million people in China do not have access to clean drinking water

Water pollution has been extensively documented as a contributor to health problems in humans and marine animal ecosystems. It has a huge impact on our lives, and if we do our part by not throwing trash or chemicals into our water supplies and drains, we can contribute to the improvement of aquatic life and of our health in general. Since most of the Earth is covered by water, it's important for you to do your part to keep our waters.

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Water covers 70% of the Earth's surface and makes up over 60% of the human body. Water pollution affects marine ecosystems, wildlife health, and human well-being. The answer to solving pollution is to make changes in our daily habits and pay more attention to the types of products we consume.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Water covers 70% of the Earth's surface and makes up over 60% of the human body. Water pollution affects marine ecosystems, wildlife health, and human well-being. The answer to solving pollution is to make changes in our daily habits and pay more attention to the types of products we consume. The following lists display causes of water pollution and the effects it has on human health and the environment.

Causes of Water Pollution

Sewage from domestic households, factories and commercial buildings Sewage that is treated in water treatment plants is often disposed into the sea. Sewage can be more problematic when people flush chemicals and pharmaceutical substances down the toilet.

Dumping solid wastes and littering by humans in rivers, lakes and oceans. Littering items include cardboard, Styrofoam, aluminum, plastic and glass.

Industrial waste from factories, which use freshwater to carry waste from the plant into rivers, contaminates waters with pollutants such as asbestos, lead, mercury and petrochemicals.

Oil Pollution caused by oil spills from tankers and oil from ship travel. Oil does not dissolve in water and forms a thick sludge.

Burning fossil fuels into the air causes the formation of acidic particles in the atmosphere. When these particles mix with water vapor, the result is acid rain.

An increase in water temperature is caused by global warming and thermal plants that use lakes and rivers to cool down mechanical equipment.

Effects of Water Pollution

Groundwater contamination from pesticides causes reproductive damage within wildlife in ecosystems.

Sewage, fertilizer, and agricultural run-off contain organic materials that when discharged into waters, increase the growth of algae, which causes the depletion of oxygen. The low oxygen levels are not able to support most indigenous organisms in the area and therefore upset the natural ecological balance in rivers and lakes.

Swimming in and drinking contaminated water causes skin rashes and health problems like cancer, reproductive problems, typhoid fever and stomach sickness in humans. Which is why it's very important to make sure that your water is clean and safe to drink.

Industrial chemicals and agricultural pesticides that end up in aquatic environments can accumulate in fish that are later eaten by humans. Fish are easily poisoned with metals that are also later consumed by humans. Mercury is particularly poisonous to small children and women. Mercury has been found to interfere with the development of the nervous system in fetuses and young children.

Ecosystems are destroyed by the rising temperature in the water, as coral reefs are affected by the bleaching effect due to warmer temperatures. Additionally, the warm water forces indigenous water species to seek cooler water in other areas, causing an ecological damaging shift of the affected area.

Human-produced litter of items such as plastic bags and 6-pack rings can get aquatic animals caught and killed from suffocation.

Water pollution causes flooding due to the accumulation of solid waste and soil erosion in streams and rivers.

Oil spills in the water causes animal to die when they ingest it or encounter it. Oil does not dissolve in water so it causes suffocation in fish and birds.

Water Pollution Facts

Following are some facts on water pollution:

Fourteen billion pounds of garbage, which is mostly plastic, is dumped into the ocean every year.

The Ganges River in India is one the most polluted rivers in the world with sewage, trash, food, and animal remains.

According to United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) estimates, 1.2 trillion gallons of untreated sewage, stormwater, and industrial waste is dumped into U.S. waters annually.

About 700 million people globally drink contaminated water.

Aquatic animals face an extinction rate of five times more than that of terrestrial animals.

Over 30 billion tons of urban sewage is discharged into lakes, rivers and oceans every year.

The massive oil spill that was caused by British Petroleum (BP) in the year 2010 caused over 1,000 animals to die. Many of them were on the endangered species list.

According to UNICEF, more than 3,000 children die every day all over the world due to consumption of contaminated drinking water.

Pollution is one of the biggest killers in the world, affecting over 100 million people.

Lack of proper sanitation in water leads to diseases like cholera, malaria and diarrhea.

At least 320 million people in China do not have access to clean drinking water

Water pollution has been extensively documented as a contributor to health problems in humans and marine animal ecosystems. It has a huge impact on our lives, and if we do our part by not throwing trash or chemicals into our water supplies and drains, we can contribute to the improvement of aquatic life and of our health in general. Since most of the Earth is covered by water, it's important for you to do your part to keep our waters.

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Water covers 70% of the Earth's surface and makes up over 60% of the human body. Water pollution affects marine ecosystems, wildlife health, and human well-being. The answer to solving pollution is to make changes in our daily habits and pay more attention to the types of products we consume.

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Pollution, we probably hear of this term every other day at school, college, and offices. We also come across the term in newspapers, online journals, and media in general. So what is it and why is it deemed harmful?

Pollution occurs when pollutants contaminate the natural surroundings; bringing about changes that affect our normal lifestyles adversely.

Pollutants are the key elements or components of pollution which are generally waste materials of different forms.

Pollution disturbs our ecosystem and the balance in the environment. With modernization and development in our lives, pollution has reached its peak; giving rise to global warming and human illness.

Different Forms of Pollution

Pollution occurs in different forms; air, water, soil, radioactive, noise, heat/ thermal, and light.

Every form of pollution has two sources of occurrence; the point and the non-point sources. The point sources are easy to identify, monitor, and control, whereas the non-point sources are hard to control.

To understand this occurrence better, let us now discuss the different types of pollution and their effects on mankind and the environment in general.

Major Types of Pollution Affecting Our Planet

Following is a list of the different types of Pollution that evidently destroy us and our earth.

1. Air Pollution

While there are many types of pollution, Air Pollution is probably the most prominent and dangerous form of it. Pollution may occur due to many reasons. Here's a brief list.

Burning of Fuel

Excessive burning of fuel which is a necessity of our daily lives for cooking, driving, and other industrial activities; releases a huge amount of chemical substances in the air every day. Over time, these substances pollute the air.

Chimney Smoke

Another common cause of air pollution may be attributed to the smoke from chimneys, factories, vehicles, or the burning of wood. These activities, individually and collectively release sulfur dioxide into the air thereby making it toxic.

The effects of air pollution are evident too. The release of sulfur dioxide and other hazardous gases into the air causes global warming and acid rain; which in turn lead to increased temperatures, erratic rains, and droughts worldwide.

These effects don't just debilitate the lives of humans, but they also end up making it tough for the animals to survive.

As humans, we breathe in every polluted particle from the air which results in the potential chances of asthma and lung cancer. Either way, unless we address this issue, it may take a bigger and worse shape.

2. Water Pollution

Water Pollution has taken a toll on all the surviving species of the earth. Almost 60% of the species live in water bodies and when the water is polluted, it severely impacts their lives and hinders their health in general. But what are the specific causes of water pollution? Let's take a closer look.

Industrial Waste

Water pollution may occur due to multiple factors. One of the biggest instances may be industrial water pollution where the industrial wastes are dumped into the rivers and other water bodies thereby causing an imbalance in the water. Over time, it leads to severe contamination thereby resulting in the death of aquatic species.

If you suspect that nearby water sources have been contaminated by a corporation then it might be a good idea to hire an expert to see your options.

Groundwater Pollution

Water pollution may also be caused when insecticides and pesticides like DDT are sprayed on plants. While this may not seem much, over time, this simple activity pollutes the groundwater system which most of us use. If left unchecked for long, the same groundwater will turn out to be hazardous, leading to a range of health issues in the long run.

Note that in addition to the spraying of pesticides, groundwater may also be polluted from the toxic chemical spills occurring from industrial operations.

Oil spills in the oceans too have caused irreparable damage to the water bodies. Oil spills are usually caused due to accidents from large ships, tankers, or any other form of an oil pipeline.

Eutrophication

Eutrophication is another big source of water pollution, it occurs due to daily activities like washing clothes, utensils near lakes, ponds, or rivers; this forces detergents to go into the water which blocks sunlight from penetrating, thus reducing oxygen and making it inhabitable.

Water pollution not only harms the aquatic beings but it also contaminates the entire food chain by severely affecting humans dependent on these. Water-borne diseases like cholera, diarrhea have also increased in all places.

3. Soil Pollution

Soil pollution occurs due to the incorporation of unwanted chemicals in the soil due to human activities. The use of insecticides and pesticides absorbs the nitrogen compounds from the soil making it unfit for plants to derive nutrition from.

The release of industrial waste, mining, and deforestation also exploits the soil. Since plants can't grow properly, they can't hold the soil which in turn leads to soil erosion.

4. Noise Pollution

Noise pollution is caused when noise which is an unpleasant sound affects our ears and leads to psychological problems like stress, hypertension, hearing impairment, etc. It is caused by machines in industries, loud music, noise from traffic, noise fro construction activities, and so on.

As with the other forms of pollution, noise pollution is extremely dangerous and can lead to multiple fatalities in both humans and animals.

In humans, it affects our overall well-being, sleep, and total hours of rest. It may also adversely impact the development of kids and create an imbalance in the blood pressure and heart rate of elderly individuals.

5. Radioactive Pollution

Radioactive pollution is highly dangerous when it occurs. It can occur due to nuclear plant malfunctions, improper nuclear waste disposal, accidents, etc. It causes cancer, infertility, blindness, defects at the time of birth; it can sterilize soil and affect air and water.

6. Thermal/Heat Pollution

Thermal/heat pollution is due to the excess heat in the environment creating unwanted changes over long time periods; due to the huge number of industrial plants, deforestation, urban sprawl, and air pollution. It increases the earth's temperature, causing drastic climatic changes and extinction of wildlife.

Thermal pollution can result in an increase in temperature and can prove to be disastrous for humans and wildlife. The increase in temperature can make wildlife populations vulnerable and they may never be able to recover.

7. Light Pollution

Light pollution occurs due to prominent excess illumination of an area. It is largely visible in big cities, on advertising boards and billboards, in sports or entertainment events at the night.

In residential areas, the lives of the inhabitants are greatly affected by this. It also affects astronomical observations and activities by making the stars almost invisible.

Serious Effects of Pollution on Our Humans and Environment

1. Environment Degradation

The environment is the first casualty for the increase in pollution weather in air or water. The increase in the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere leads to smog which can restrict sunlight from reaching the earth.

This very scenario affects the process of photosynthesis in plants, thereby hindering their growth. Gases like Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide can also cause acid rain. Again, water pollution in terms of the oil spill may lead to the death of several wildlife species.

2. Human Health

The decrease in the quality of air leads to several respiratory problems including asthma or lung cancer. Chest pain, congestion, throat inflammation, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease are some of the diseases that can be caused by air pollution.

Water pollution occurs due to contamination of water and may pose skin related problems including skin irritations and rashes. Similarly, noise pollution leads to hearing loss, stress, and sleep disturbance.

It is worth noting that while the results of pollution tend to vary, it has one specific impact: degrading the quality of human life. Pollution has an adverse impact on humans in general and regardless of its extent, all of us have encountered its ill-effects at some point of time or the other.

3. Global Warming

The emission of greenhouse gases particularly CO2 is leading to global warming. Every other day new industries are being set up, new vehicles come on roads and trees are cut to make way for new homes.

All of them, in a direct or indirect way, lead to an increase in CO2 in the environment. The increase in CO2 leads to the melting of polar ice caps which increases the sea level and pose danger for the people living near coastal areas.

It is worth noting that Global Warming is almost entirely caused by humans and unless we check our pollution levels, it can completely destroy the world as we know it.

While Global Warming is already a reality, when it becomes even more pronounced over the next few years, we will possibly encounter the worst. There'll be fluctuations in temperature, a significant and persistent temperature rise, forest fires, and so much more.

4. Ozone Layer Depletion

The ozone layer is the thin shield high up in the sky that stops ultraviolet rays from reaching the earth. As a result of human activities, chemicals, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), are released into the atmosphere thereby contributing to the depletion of the ozone layer.

5. Infertile Land

Due to the constant use of insecticides and pesticides, the soil may become infertile. Plants may not be able to grow properly. Various forms of chemicals produced from industrial waste are released into the flowing water which also affects the quality of the soil.

Bottom Line

Pollution not only affects humans by destroying their respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological systems; it also affects the nature, plants, fruits, vegetables, rivers, ponds, forests, animals, etc, on which they are highly dependent on survival. It is crucial to control pollution as nature, wildlife and human life are precious gifts to mankind.

Remember, unless we embrace sustainable living, go green, and take tangible steps to lie with less- our world is likely to witness dramatic transformations due to pollution. So, follow the right guidelines and take the right steps to make way for a better world.
Resources: Air Pollution Water Pollution Thermal Pollution
About Rinkesh

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Various Types and Effects of Pollution - Conserve Energy Future

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Pollution, we probably hear of this term every other day at school, college, and offices. We also come across the term in newspapers, online journals, and media in general. So what is it and why is it deemed harmful? Pollution occurs when pollutants contaminate the natural surroundings; bringing about changes that affect our normal lifestyles adversely.

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The term 'energy crisis' is used quite loosely so it pays to be clear about what's under discussion. Broadly speaking the term poses three distinct questions:

Will we run out of energy?

We rely on coal, oil and gas (the fossil fuels) for over 80% of our current energy needs - a situation which shows little sign of changing over the medium-term without drastic policy changes. On top of this energy demand is expected to grow by almost half over the next two decades. Understandably this is causing some fear that our energy resources are starting to run out, with devastating consequences for the global economy and global quality of life.

The potential for crisis if we run out of energy is very real but there is still time before that occurs. In the past two decades proven gas reserves have increased by 70% and proven oil reserves by 40%. At expected rates of demand growth we have enough for thirty years supply. Moreover, better technology means that new oil and gas fields are being discovered all the time while enhanced recovery techniques are opening up a potentially huge array of unconventional sources, including tar sands, shale gas and ultra-deepwater. Ultimately, the near-unlimited supply potential of renewable energy sources should ensure that the world does not fall short of its energy needs.

How secure is our access to energy?

The security of global energy supplies continues to be problematic. Today, oil and gas reserves are in the hands of a small group of nations, several of which are considered political unstable or have testy relationships with large consuming countries. Eighty per cent of the world's proven oil reserves are located in just three regions: Africa; Russia and the Caspian Basin; and the Persian Gulf. And more than half of the world's remaining proven gas reserves exist in just three countries: Russia, Iran, and Qatar.

Concerns over energy security prompt policymakers to seek independence from foreign sources of energy. In Europe, new coal-fired power stations are back on the political agenda, partly because Russia is no longer seen as a reliable supplier of gas. In the US, home-grown biofuels have been promoted by successive administrations as an alternative to Middle Eastern oil imports, despite being more expensive. These reactions are a natural consequence. The more governments can extract themselves from the dependence on foreign energy resources, the more secure they feel.

How does climate change affect the energy we use?

Emissions of carbon dioxide into the Earth's atmosphere - primarily as a result of burning fossil fuels for energy - are thought to be the cause of rising global temperatures. The scientific evidence to support this assertion has become increasingly compelling in recent years, suggesting a need for urgent and concerted action by all nations to prevent ecological degradation on a massive scale.

For the first time in history we face an energy crisis not because we might run out of energy, but because we are using it in the wrong way. Up to now the energy industry was judged by two metrics: its contribution to energy security and the cost of energy delivered to the consumer. To this we must now add a third: its success in reducing the emission of greenhouse gases, chiefly carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere.

Fortunately, finding solutions to these differing energy crises demands a broadly similar response:

Solution 1

Reduce growing energy demand through improved energy efficiency and conservation.

The first step to reducing global emissions is to arrest the growth in energy demand with an aim to eventually setting it on a downward trend. The key for continued economic progress is to learn how to create more wealth with less energy. This has additional benefits in improving energy security, preserving precious natural resources and saving money for businesses and the ordinary consumer.

However, unlocking the potential savings from improved energy efficiency will be very difficult without government coordination to change consumer behaviour. This will involve stricter product regulations as well as public education programmes to encourage people to think differently about energy. Governments should also address the issue of financing, providing cheap loans to households and small businesses with which they can carry out the necessary improvement works.

Solution 2

Research, develop and deploy a broad range of energy sources, both domestic and international, to work with properly functioning global markets to help meet future energy demands.

We need to look at both the short-term and long-term. In the short-term we can push existing technologies to help reduce carbon emissions. Fortunately we already have many technologies at our disposal: from wind, wave, solar and biomass for heat and power, to liquid biofuels, biogas and electric motors for transport. In the long-term, evolutionary technologies need to be further developed and research into revolutionary ones pursued.

A crucially important technology will be carbon capture and storage (CCS) which allows for the continued use of fossil fuels in the future energy mix. Coal is widely used to generate electricity in many of the world's largest economies (especially the USA, China and India) and without CCS technology there is little chance that their energy demands can be met whilst at the same time reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Solution 3

The so-called 'developed countries' along with large developing countries such as China, India, Russia and Brazil, should agree and adopt a common position on climate change, focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions through an effective cross-border market and technology transfer mechanism.

Put simply, we cannot hope to avoid the dangerous consequences of climate change unless global emissions are halved from current levels by 2050. At current rates of population growth and with current technologies this will be impossible without a global agreement to limit and disperse the negative consequences. Developed countries must shoulder the initial burden with an agreement for immediate emissions cuts. In return, the largest developing countries must agree to cut their own emissions in the future, but only after having achieved some recognisable level of economic development.

All countries must agree to, and participate in, a carbon market framework with the aim of reducing emissions where it is most efficient and least costly. Whatever its design, the carbon market must create and defend a long-term price for carbon which is stable enough for businesses to factor it in to their forward planning. Where the flow of finance through the carbon market is insufficient to make the necessary reductions in emissions, additional funds should be made available. These should be used to allow non-OECD countries to develop alternative energy sources and help their citizens adapt to global warming. The OECD nations should seek to create a $100bn fund for this purpose.

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The Energy Crisis and Climate Change - Global Economic Symposium

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The term 'energy crisis' is used quite loosely so it pays to be clear about what's under discussion. Broadly speaking the term poses three distinct questions: Will we run out of energy? We rely on coal, oil and gas (the fossil fuels) for over 80% of our current energy needs - a situation which shows little sign of changing over the medium-term without drastic policy changes.

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Here is a look at LGBTQ milestones in the United States. LGBTQ is an acronym meaning lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning. The term sometimes is extended to LGBTQIA, to include intersex and asexual groups. Queer is an umbrella term for non-straight people; intersex refers to those whose sex is not clearly defined because of genetic, hormonal, or biological differences; and asexual describes those who don't experience sexual attraction.

Timeline:

1924 - The Society for Human Rights is founded by Henry Gerber in Chicago. It is the first documented gay rights organization.

1950 - The Mattachine Society is formed by activist Harry Hay and is one of the first sustained gay rights groups in the United States. The Society focuses on social acceptance and other support for homosexuals.

April 1952 - The American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic manual lists homosexuality as a sociopathic personality disturbance.

April 27, 1953 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order that bans homosexuals from working for the federal government, saying they are a security risk.

September 1955 - The first known lesbian rights organization in the United States forms in San Francisco. Daughters of Bilitis (DOB). They host private social functions, fearing police raids, threats of violence and discrimination in bars and clubs.

July 1961 - Illinois becomes the first state to decriminalize homosexuality by repealing their sodomy laws.

September 11, 1961 - The first US-televised documentary about homosexuality airs on a local station in California.

June 28, 1969 - Police raid the Stonewall Inn in New York City. Protests and demonstrations begin, and it later becomes known as the impetus for the gay civil rights movement in the United States.

June 28, 1970 - Community members in New York City march through the local streets to recognize the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots. This event is named Christopher Street Liberation Day and is now considered the first gay pride parade.

1973 - Lambda Legal becomes the first legal organization established to fight for the equal rights of gays and lesbians. Lambda also becomes their own first client after being denied non-profit status; the New York Supreme Court eventually rules that Lambda Legal can exist as a non-profit.

January 1, 1973 - Maryland becomes the first state to statutorily ban same-sex marriage.

March 26, 1973 - First meeting of "Parents and Friends of Gays," which goes national as Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) in 1982.

December 15, 1973 - By a vote of 5,854 to 3,810, the American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in the DSM-II Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

1974 - Kathy Kozachenko becomes the first openly LGBTQ American elected to any public office when she wins a seat on the Ann Arbor, Michigan City Council.

1974 - Elaine Noble is the first openly gay candidate elected to a state office when she is elected to the Massachusetts State legislature.

January 14, 1975 - The first federal gay rights bill is introduced to address discrimination based on sexual orientation. The bill later goes to the Judiciary Committee but is never brought for consideration.

March 1975 - Technical Sergeant Leonard P. Matlovich reveals his sexual orientation to his commanding officer and is forcibly discharged from the Air Force six months later. Matlovich is a Vietnam War veteran and was awarded both the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. In 1980, the Court of Appeals rules that the dismissal was improper. Matlovich is awarded his back pay and a retroactive promotion.

1976 - After undergoing gender reassignment surgery in 1975, ophthalmologist and professional tennis player Renee Richards is banned from competing in the women's US Open because of a "women-born-women" rule. Richards challenges the decision and in 1977 and the New York Supreme Court rules in her favor. Richards competes in the 1977 US Open but is defeated in the first round by Virginia Wade.

October 14, 1979 - The first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights takes place. It draws an estimated 75,000 to 125,000 individuals marching for LGBTQ rights.

March 2, 1982 - Wisconsin becomes the first state to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation.

1983 - Lambda Legal wins People v. West 12 Tenants Corp., the first HIV/AIDS discrimination lawsuit. Neighbors attempted to evict Dr. Joseph Sonnabend from the building because he was treating HIV-positive patients.

October 11, 1988 - The first National Coming Out Day is observed.

November 1995 - The Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act goes into effect as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The law allows a judge to impose harsher sentences if there is evidence showing that a victim was selected because of the "actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation of any person."

September 21, 1996 - President Clinton signs the Defense of Marriage Act, banning federal recognition of same-sex marriage and defining marriage as "a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife."

December 3, 1996 - Hawaii's Judge Chang rules that the state does not have a legal right to deprive same-sex couples of the right to marry, making Hawaii the first state to recognize that gay and lesbian couples are entitled to the same privileges as heterosexual married couples.

April 1997 - Comedian Ellen DeGeneres comes out as a lesbian on the cover of Time magazine, stating, "Yep, I'm Gay."

April 30, 1997 - DeGeneres' character, Ellen Morgan, on her self-titled TV series "Ellen," becomes the first leading character to come out on a prime-time network television show.

October 6-7, 1998 - Matthew Shepard is tied to a fence and beaten near Laramie, Wyoming. He is eventually found by a cyclist, who initially mistakes him for a scarecrow. He later dies due to his injuries sustained in the beating.

October 9, 1998 - Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney from Laramie, Wyoming, make their first court appearance after being arrested for the attempted murder of Shepard. Eventually, they each receive two life sentences for killing Shepard.

June 2003 - The US Supreme Court strikes down the "homosexual conduct" law, which decriminalizes same-sex sexual conduct, with their opinion in Lawrence v. Texas. The decision also reverses Bowers v. Hardwick, a 1986 US Supreme Court ruling that upheld Georgia's sodomy law.

May 17, 2004 - The first legal same-sex marriage in the United States takes place in Massachusetts.

September 6, 2005 - The California legislature becomes the first to pass a bill allowing marriage between same-sex couples. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoes the bill.

October 25, 2006 - The New Jersey Supreme Court rules that state lawmakers must provide the rights and benefits of marriage to gay and lesbian couples.

May 15, 2008 - The California Supreme Court rules in re: Marriage Cases that limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples is unconstitutional.

November 4, 2008 - Voters approve Proposition 8 in California, which makes same-sex marriage illegal. The proposition is later found to be unconstitutional by a federal judge.

August 12, 2009 - Milk is posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.

October 28, 2009 - Obama signs the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law.

September 20, 2011 - "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is repealed, ending a ban on gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military.

May 9, 2012 - In an ABC interview,Obama becomes the first sitting US president to publicly support the freedom for LGBTQ couples to marry.

September 4, 2012 - The Democratic Party becomes the first major US political party in history to publicly support same-sex marriage on a national platform at the Democratic National Convention.

November 6, 2012 - Tammy Baldwin becomes the first openly gay politician and the first Wisconsin woman to be elected to the US Senate.

June 26, 2013 - In United States v. Windsor, the US Supreme Court strikes down section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, ruling that legally married same-sex couples are entitled to federal benefits. The high court also dismisses a case involving California's proposition 8.

October 6, 2014 - The United States Supreme Court denies review in five different marriage cases, allowing lower court rulings to stand, and therefore allowing same-sex couples to marry in Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, Indiana and Wisconsin. The decision opens the door for the right to marry in Colorado, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming.

May 17, 2016 - The Senate confirms Eric Fanning to be secretary of the Army, making him the first openly gay secretary of a US military branch. Fanning previously served as Defense Secretary Carter's chief of staff, and also served as undersecretary of the Air Force and deputy undersecretary of the Navy.

June 30, 2016 - Secretary of Defense Carter announces that the Pentagon is lifting the ban on transgender people serving openly in the US military.

November 9, 2016 - Kate Brown is sworn in as governor of Oregon, a day after she was officially elected to the office. Brown becomes the highest-ranking LGBTQ person elected to office in the United States. Brown took over the governorship in February 2016 (without an election), after Democrat John Kitzhaber resigned amidst a criminal investigation.

April 4, 2017 - The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals rules that the Civil Rights Act prohibits workplace discrimination against LGBTQ employees, after Kimberly Hively sues Ivy Tech Community College for violating Title VII of the act by denying her employment.

June 27, 2017 - District of Columbia residents can now choose a gender-neutral option of their driver's license. DC residents become the first people in the United States to be able to choose X as their gender marker instead of male or female on driver's licenses and identification cards. Similar policies exist in Canada, India, Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand and Nepal.

June 30, 2017 - The US Department of Defense announces a six-month delay in allowing transgendered individuals to enlist in the United States military. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis writes that they "will use this additional time to evaluate more carefully the impact of such accessions on readiness and lethality." Approximately a month later, President Donald Trump announces via Twitter that the "United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the US Military..."

November 7, 2017 - Virginia voters elect the state's first openly transgender candidate to the Virginia House of Delegates. Danica Roem unseats incumbent delegate Bob Marshall, who had been elected 13 times over 26 years. Roem becomes the first openly transgender candidate elected to a state legislature in American history.

February 26, 2018 - The Pentagon confirms that the first transgender person has signed a contract to join the US military.

November 6, 2018 - Democratic US Representative Jared Polis wins the Colorado governor's race, becoming the nation's first openly gay man to be elected governor.

June 30, 2019 - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signs a law banning the use of the so-called gay and trans panic legal defense strategy. The tactic asks a jury to find that a victim's sexual orientation or gender identity is to blame for a defendant's violent reaction. New York follows California, Rhode Island, Illinois, Nevada and Connecticut as the sixth state to pass such a law.

February 10, 2020 - The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a ruling that the state of Idaho must provide gender confirmation surgery for Adree Edmo, an inmate in the custody of the Idaho Department of Correction. The ruling marks the first time a federal appeals court has ruled that a state must provide gender assignment surgery to an incarcerated person. According to the court opinion, "the gender confirmation surgery (GCS) was medically necessary for Edmo, and ordered the State to provide the surgery." In July 2020, Edmo receives her gender confirmation surgery and a May 2020 appeal by Attorney General of Idaho, Lawrence Wasden, is denied as moot by the US Supreme Court in October 2020.

August 26, 2020 - The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals rules in favor of former student, Gavin Grimm in a more than four-year fight over restroom policies for transgender students. The ruling states that policies segregating transgender students from their peers is unconstitutional and violate federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education. The decision relies in part on the Supreme Court's decision in June 2020, stating that discrimination against people based on their gender identity or sexual orientation violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 2021, the Supreme Court chooses not to review the opinion by the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals.

February 2, 2021 - Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg becomes the first openly gay Cabinet member confirmed by the Senate.

March 24, 2021 - Dr. Rachel Levine, assistant secretary for health in the Department of Health and Human Services becomes the first out transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate.

June 21, 2021 - Carl Nassib, a defensive lineman with the Las Vegas Raiders, becomes the first active NFL player in league history to announce that he is gay.

June 30, 2021 - The State Department announces it will be updating its procedures to allow applicants to self-select their sex marker for passports and that it "will no longer require medical certification" if an applicant's self-selected sex marker doesn't match the sex listed on other official identity documents.

October 27, 2021 - The State Department announces that the US has issued the first US passport with an X gender marker. "As the Secretary announced in June, the Department is moving towards adding an X gender marker for non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming persons applying for a U.S. passport or CRBA," State spokesperson Ned Price says in a statement.

October 19, 2022 - The Social Security Administration announces that people can now choose their sex marker in their Social Security records.

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LGBTQ Rights Milestones Fast Facts | CNN

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Here is a look at LGBTQ milestones in the United States. LGBTQ is an acronym meaning lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning. The term sometimes is extended to LGBTQIA, to include intersex and asexual groups.

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Portland may be where young people go to retire, but it's also where LGBTQ people go to thrive, thanks to the city's vibrant arts and nightlife scenes, progressive politics and accepting attitude.

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Portland may be where young people go to retire, but it's also where LGBTQ people go to thrive, thanks to the city's vibrant arts and nightlife scenes, progressive politics and accepting attitude.

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The polar regions are particularly sensitive to small rises in the annual average temperature, they are sometimes referred to as "the canary in the coalmine" in that they show changes long before they can be seen elsewhere in the world. The mean annual air temperature of the Antarctic Peninsula has increased by nearly 3°C in the region in the last 50 years, the only comparable regions are in the Arctic. The temperature of the rest of Antarctica shows indications of rising at a slower rate.

The situation in Antarctica is being assessed constantly and changes that may have already occurred (such as with the WAIS ice sheet - below) are being discovered.

New research is being carried out, new things found and understanding is improving. For the foreseeable future, global warming in Antarctica is likely to be a fairly lively topic, for the latest news try here. Though ALWAYS take news reports in the papers, offline or online with a pinch of salt, the real purpose of many newspaper stories is very often to sell newspapers and/or gain some fame or career progression for the journalist or publication. There have also been a number of bandwagons spring up about the whole subject of global warming / climate change which has become a very political subject.

Global warming is real, it is happening more quickly in some parts of the world than others.

The Antarctic Peninsula is particularly sensitive to small rises in the annual average temperature, this has increased by nearly 3°C in the region in the last 50 years, this is about 10 times faster than the average in the rest of the world. This makes it an excellent study area.

The temperature of Western Antarctica has also risen by a comparable amount, this is the region attached to the Peninsula and stretches to the Transantarctic Mountains.

The temperature of Eastern Antarctica has risen by a much smaller amount or has remained stable, this is the region on the other side of the Transantarctic Mountains.
There is no unusual significant loss of ice of any kind from the larger 96% of Antarctica that is not the Peninsula.
Rising temperatures cause ice shelves to break up - as they are floating already this will not affect sea levels, it may cause the glaciers behind them to speed up their flow-rate considerably. These glaciers will add to sea-level rise if they melt.

The temperature of Antarctica as a whole is predicted to rise by a small amount over the next 50 years. Any increase in the rate of ice melting is expected to be at least partly offset by increased snowfall as a result of the warming.

The extent of annual sea-ice has been changing in both the Arctic and Antarctic, in both cases it is explicable in terms of global warming.

What evidence is there from ice?
West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) - a slow motion collapse
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (to the west of the Antarctic Peninsula) has thinned significantly as a result of warmer temperatures in the surrounding Antarctic Ocean. The upper ocean in this region has increased in temperature by more than 1°C since 1955. The greatest degree of thinning has happened in an area called the Amundsen Sea Embayment.

Many glaciers have retreated and 10 ice shelves have been seen to retreat in recent years. 87% of glaciers along the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula have retreated in the last 50 years with most of these showing accelerated retreat in the last 12 years.

Recently (May 2014) it has been revealed that the WAIS is collapsing, an event that seems to be unstoppable. It will still take a very long time to happen however, several centuries or perhaps up to 1,000 years.

The key area is the 182,000 square km (70,000 sq miles) Thwaites Glacier which is being undercut by warmer water from the Amundsen Sea resulting in its retreat. The water is being driven by changes in wind patterns in this part of Antarctica. The collapse of the Thwaites Glacier alone could lead to a 1.2m (4ft) rise in global se levels, though the biggest effect is likely to come from it acting as an "ice dam" a sort of cork in a bottle of the rest of the WAIS behind it. This could lead to another 3-4m (10-13ft) rise in sea level.

The collapse of the glacier and rise in sea levels is thought to progress slowly for about two hundred years, but then it probably will speed up considerably. It is thought that there may be two stable states for the WAIS, as it is at the moment (or rather as it was about 50 years ago) and then for it not to be there at all, currently it is undergoing a change between the two states. From 1992 to 2011, the Thwaites Glacier retreated around 14 km, faster than anywhere else in Antarctica.
The end result of this is the possibility that we have already been committed to a rise in global sea levels by 3m or more over the coming centuries.
The Larsen B Ice Shelf

The break-up of the Larsen B ice shelf in early 2002. This event has been attributed to the effects of global warming. That it occurred is beyond dispute and that it is a result of the warming of the Antarctic Peninsula where it is situated is also beyond dispute. What remains unclear is whether or not this is a taste of things to come and an indicator of an Antarctic-wide phenomena or simply a localized result of the localized warming of the Antarctic Peninsula region alone.

An ice shelf is a thick layer of ice that is floating on the sea. They are fed from the land by glaciers. Where the ice leaves the land and starts to float on the sea is a region known as the "hinge zone" where the ice is particularly chaotic due to cracks, broken-up and a nightmare to try and travel over. Ice shelves surround much of Antarctica.

The Larsen B ice shelf was about 220m thick (720 feet) and during a 35 day period in early 2002 lost about 3,250 km 2 of ice into the ocean. It is thought to have been in existence for at least 400 years prior to this and probably as long as 12,000 years since the end of the last ice age.

Such a disintegration in such a short time period is therefore an extremely significant event. What now remains of the Larsen B is about 40% of what was there in 1995. It had been breaking up at what was considered to be a rapid rate anyway before this major event. The break-up is thought to be a consequence of higher temperatures and large amounts of summer melt-water running down crevasses in the ice shelf so speeding the disintegration process.

Overall in the Antarctic Peninsula, seven ice shelves have between them declined in area by about 13,500 km ² since 1974.

A more recently seen phenomena that follows this ice shelf collapse is that the glaciers that fed the ice shelf seem to now be speeding up their flow down to the sea. This will certainly deposit more water in the oceans, and as this was previously on the land it will add to an increase in sea-level. The Antarctic peninsula doesn't have enough ice to make much of a difference to sea level in itself even if it were all to melt, but it is best seen as an indicator region that can be observed to enhance understandings of the mechanisms in other parts of the world.

Arctic and Antarctic Sea Ice

Seasonal sea-ice, that is ice that forms in the winter and disappears in the summer, in Antarctica and the Arctic are both changing though in opposite directions.

Arctic sea ice trend, 1981-2015:
average decrease of 2.4% per decade

Antarctic sea ice trend, 1979-2015:
average increase of 4.1% per decade

Sea ice can build up and disappear much more quickly than the much thicker glaciers and ice shelves, the average thickness in Antarctica is around 1m, in the Artic it is 2m, glaciers and ice shelves measure in at least 10's of meters and commonly 100's and 1000's. The area of Antarctica approximately doubles each winter due to the formation of sea ice.

The area of Arctic sea ice in April 2015 was the second lowest ever measured, at the same time, the area of Antarctic sea ice in the same month was the highest ever measured (it is measured by satellite). During this time the average temperature in the Weddell Sea was 1-4 °C (2-7°F) above average for the month of April, this was where much of the extra sea ice had formed leading to the record measurement for ice cover.

The reasons for these changes is complex, different areas react in different ways to changing climate, while it may seem intuitive that warmer temperatures mean less ice in Antarctica and not more, it is explicable, in part by the effect of the ozone hole that forms annually over Antarctica.

The depletion of the ozone hole has caused an overall cooling trend on the Antarctic continent, this has masked the effects of warming temperatures at a local level, particularly on the larger part of East Antarctica and areas away from the peninsula region.

The loss of ozone has also led to increased winds and storms, both in frequency and strength. Winds in the Southern Ocean have been estimated to have increased by 15-20%. It has caused a low pressure system to form in the Amundsen Sea again both with increased frequency and strength. This low pressure sucks cold air from the interior of Antarctic and across the Ross Sea leading to a great increase in the amount of sea-ice forming in this area in recent years. This has been exacerbated by cold fresh melt water from the Pine Island glacier, which less dense than the sea-water below, floats above it freezing more easily than sea water due to it's lower salt content. The result is that a combination of more frequent cold storms and more readily frozen surface sea water leads to more sea ice being formed.

In addition to these factors are the effects of the El Nino Southern Oscillation which makes the situation more complicated leading to the large annual variability of sea ice formation.

Note, the two graphs are "opposites" as winter and summer are at different times of the year. Note also how more variable sea ice cover is from year to year in the Arctic than the Antarctic. Prince Gustav Channel

The Prince Gustav Channel is a stretch of sea that is found between the Antarctic Peninsula on its west side and James Ross Island at its east side. It is around 130km (81 miles) long and from 6 to 24 km (4-15 miles) wide. Until 1995 an ice shelf covering around 700 square kilometers (270 square miles) largely filled this channel, by February 1995 this ice shelf had broken up and the channel was open water and navigable once again.

Evidence from seabed sediments in the Prince Gustav Channel on the Antarctic Peninsula after the ice shelf that previously blocked it collapsed has shown that it had disappeared at least once before in the last 10,000 years.

"Thus, the present loss of ice shelves cannot be assumed to be a consequence of Man-made climate change,
unless and until a cause can be identified"
British Antarctic Survey

The ice edge of the Prince Gustav Channel where, here HMS Endurance is moored (1985)

A photograph that may not be able to be taken again for a few hundreds or even thousands of years. In 1985, HMS Endurance is moored up to the ice barrier that blocked the Prince Gustav channel between James Ross Island and the Antarctic Peninsula. Standing by the ship and looking to the left in the picture, the ice slope could be seen to rise to well over 100 feet (30m) altitude into the distance (and 9 to 10 times that thickness under the level of the sea). Today, the whole lot has gone.

Ice Cores

Antarctica has ice that is up to 4700m thick. This ice preserves a record of the conditions at the time it was frozen, of the amounts of gases in the atmosphere and an indication of the temperature. The deeper you drill, the further back in time you go.

Research into ice cores show that current atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane gas levels (both greenhouse gases) are higher than at any time in the last 800,000 years. The rate of increase of these gases is faster than any likely to have happened in the recent geological past. This 800,000 year record came from a 3km long ice core.

Is the whole of Antarctica warming?

No.

The Antarctic Peninsula, particularly the West coast of the Peninsula is warming at a rate about 10 times faster than the global average. This has received a great deal of publicity in recent years and is where the Larsen B ice shelf (see above) is situated. The average annual temperature of this region has increased by nearly 3°C in the last 50 years.

Data on temperatures in Antarctica only really go back about 50 years, anything beyond that is surmised from ice cores or other sources and so we don't accurately know how the temperatures vary over even the medium term in Antarctica. The reason that the Peninsula region appears to be so dramatically warming is that it has a large amount of snow and ice, glaciers, ice shelves and other features, It also has an annual average temperature not far off the freezing point of water. A small increase in the average annual temperature can mean that a few more weeks or even just a few more days per year when melting can occur can result in very visible results of ice features reducing or disappearing.

The vast majority of Antarctica is so cold that even if the temperature was to rise by the same amount as the Peninsula, there still wouldn't be any melting going on at all. The average surface temperature of continental Antarctica is about -37°C as opposed to -5°C for the warmest places on the peninsula.

Scenario 1 - A warmer day in most of Antarctica gives a temperature well below freezing, say -30°C to -20°C
= Nothing much to see.

Scenario 2 - A warmer day in the Peninsula takes temperatures from say -5C to +5C
= Lots of melting and potential ice break up, lots to see.

This is no reason to become complacent however as part of the reason that the Antarctic ice sheet is so cold is that it's so high, due to the thickness of the ice. The melting and flow of the glaciers removing ice from the continent is also slowed by the ice shelves around the continent edge.

Small rises in temperature that start to nibble away a little faster at the edges could eventually speed up the loss of ice from the interior and cause greater temperature rises to take place further inland. Ice shelves seem to act as "corks" in Antarctic "ice-bottles", remove the ice shelf and a huge amount of ice from the interior could start to flow towards the sea where it will melt even though the temperature in the interior may be stable. The "corks" are currently keeping the ice at the coldest places.

The problem with trying to predict the future in these matters is that firstly there is not enough data available to base predictions on and secondly, the way things work is not fully understood. Most models from different researchers and teams tend to agree however that there will be some small changes in temperature over the next 50 years. It is also expected that the rise in global temperature will put more moisture into the atmosphere and more of this will reach Antarctica so giving a greater snowfall to offset the melting ice. Despite all the snow and ice there Antarctica is actually classed as a desert as there is so little snow-fall, it's just that what does fall stays there so it builds up over a long time period.

Are there any biological effects of global warming in Antarctica?

Plants

Antarctica's only two flowering plant species that grow only on the Peninsula have spread considerably in the last few decades in both geographic distribution and also abundance in the areas where they are found. In some areas they are becoming the dominant species. Deschapsia antarctica, Antarctic hair grass shown in picture right.

Part of the reason for this is that there has been a switch from snowfall to rainfall during the summer. This means that more water is available physiologically to the plants rather than being locked up as ice crystals and so unavailable.

Melting ice and permafrost has led to newly available land that has become colonized by plant, animal and microbial communities.

Adelie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) have also been suffering a steady decline in parts of the Antarctic Peninsula region for the last 20 years. Adelies are reducing in number and abandoning certain nesting sites. Until the last 20 years or so, Chinstrap penguins ( Pygoscelis antarctica) were taking their place. Adelies require pack ice for most of the year and feed almost exclusively on Krill, Chinstrap penguins will eat a wider variety of foods and prefer open water. The sea ice has declined over the last 20 years with the rise in temperature in the Peninsula region.

More recently however, Gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) have started to replace both Adelie and Chinstrap penguins and now nest on the Peninsula. Studies of the bones and remains found in abandoned colonies indicates that prior to 1950, no Gentoo penguins nested in these sites at all.
Losers - Adelie and Chinstrap penguins
Winners - Gentoo penguins
On the other side of Antarctica, the Ross Sea region and East Antarctica, Adelie penguin colonies have remained stable or even increased.

Krill
Studies have shown that stocks of krill in Antarctica have declined dramatically in recent years. The reason for this is likely to be a fall in the amount of sea ice in the winter months in the Antarctic Peninsula region.

Krill numbers in this region may have dropped by as much as 80% since the 1970's - so today's stocks are a mere 1/5th of what they were only 30 years ago. The decline in krill may in turn account for the decline in the numbers of some penguin species.

Dr Angus Atkinson from British Antarctic Survey, says:

"This is the first time that we have understood the full scale of this decline. Krill feed on the algae found under the surface of the sea-ice, which acts as a kind of 'nursery'.

The Antarctic Peninsula, a key breeding ground for the krill, is one of the places in the world where there has been the greatest rise in temperatures due to global warming. This region has warmed by 2.5°C in the last 50 years (much more than the mean global rate), with a striking consequential decrease in winter sea-ice cover.

"We don't fully understand how the loss of sea-ice here is connected to the warming, but we believe that it could be behind the decline in krill."

There are commercial implications as well as scientific ones. The Southern Ocean is a valuable fisheries resource, many of the species caught feed on krill. Thousands of tourists are also attracted to Antarctica to enjoy the spectacular wildlife, most of which feed on krill.

There has been previous speculation that krill stocks might have decreased, based on smaller more localized surveys over shorter time periods. This new finding comes from data from nine countries working in Antarctica who pooled their separate data covering 40 Antarctic summers, in the period between 1926 and 2003. This is the first time such a large-scale view of change across the Southern Ocean has been seen.

Another animal that feeds on the same phytoplankton food as krill, jelly-like colonial animals called salps that drift in the ocean currents have increased in the same time the krill have decreased.

This decline in krill will also make it more difficult for the great baleen whales to return to pre-exploitation levels following their decimation in numbers during the years from approximately 1925-1975.

Picture credits, copyright pictures used by permission: Arctic and Antarctic sea ice, images and graphs - National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado. / Deschampsia antarctica - Lomvi2, used under Creative Commons 3.0 Share and Share Alike Unported license. / Ice core - Emily Stone, NSF / Satellite images - NASA

More (lots more!) 555 page report by The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR);"The Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment (ACCE) Report"

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Antarctica, the Effects of Global Warming

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The polar regions are particularly sensitive to small rises in the annual average temperature, they are sometimes referred to as "the canary in the coalmine" in that they show changes long before they can be seen elsewhere in the world.

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People around the world face violence and inequality-and sometimes torture, even execution-because of who they love, how they look, or who they are. Sexual orientation and gender identity are integral aspects of our selves and should never lead to discrimination or abuse.

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In 2014, a crisis took hold in the Michigan city of Flint, once a powerhouse of the US car industry.

The city changed the source of its drinking water to the river which flowed through Flint. The pipes drawing out this water were lead-lined, and lack of investment meant the water treatment plant couldn't filter the lead out of it. More than 100,000 people were told their tap water was no longer safe to drink.

Gitanjali Rao, a 12-year-old scientist who lives in Colorado, was so concerned by the reports she saw that she decided to do something about it.

She created a cheap home kit that could test for pollutants like lead, and named it after Tethys, the Greek god of clean water. The invention garnered her the America's Top Young Scientist award in October 2017.

BBC Future caught up with her to see how the device works - and the life of science she plans to lead.

If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called "If You Only Read 6 Things This Week". A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Earth, Culture, Capital, and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.

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A 12-year-old scientist's invention to beat water pollution

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In 2014, a crisis took hold in the Michigan city of Flint, once a powerhouse of the US car industry. The city changed the source of its drinking water to the river which flowed through Flint. The pipes drawing out this water were lead-lined, and lack of investment meant the water treatment plant couldn't filter the lead out of it.

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An absolute monarchy is a form of government in which the ruling monarch enjoys absolute control without limitations from a constitution or from law. In this form of government, the monarch is the head of state and head of government with unrestricted political power. In most instances, power transmits either through marriage or heredity to offspring of the ruling monarch. Historically, once power was centralized in the person of an absolute monarch, the ruler retained power throughout their lifetime and authority continued through bloodline.

While absolute monarchy theoretically vests all power of a sovereign state in a single ruler, in actuality, the monarch is frequently limited by pressures from other groups such as aristocracy, citizenry or strong special interest groups. Historically, many absolute monarchs were kept in check by the clergy, nobility or other powerful classes of citizens. An absolute monarch may have the power to pass any law or make any decision, but in actuality had to gain the support of others to truly wield absolute power.

Justifications for Absolute Monarchy

The Divine Right of Kings served as the primary justification for absolute monarchies for much of history. This concept implies the monarch enjoys power by divine right and nobody had the right or authority to limit their power. Divine right meant the monarch enjoyed the inspiration of God and served as God's representative. This justification was common in many European countries throughout history and served to underpin the powers of an absolute monarch. Under this theory, the monarch was only accountable to God, preventing the populace from having any right to dispute the monarch's decisions or levels of power.

In some countries, centralizing power in a single person provided the best solution to internal problems. For example, Henry of Navarre centralized power and control in France when he became king. When he took the throne, the country had suffered significant upheaval and conflict from religious wars and disputes between the different classes. While he did not achieve absolute monarchy, he did set the stage for subsequent monarchs to continue centralizing power to deal with the internal problems of the country.

France was not the only country suffering from internal strife. Many European countries suffered significant religious wars and civil wars. After decades of turmoil, many countries viewed absolute monarchs as a peaceful and safe solution. While individual freedoms and rights may be sacrificed, the resulting calm after so much violence was deemed enough of a benefit and reward.

Absolute Monarchy Examples

Throughout history, there have been several examples of absolute monarchs. One of the strongest absolute monarchs was Louis XIV of France. Under his rule, all legislative, judicial and executive powers were consolidated and he exercised final authority in all matters. Louis XIV wielded the power of life and death over his subjects and controlled all significant matters in France during his rule. If he sentenced someone to death for a crime, his ruling was final and the condemned had no option for appeal.

Another example of absolute monarchy is the czars of Russia. In Russia, czars ruled as absolute monarchs until 1905 and wielded absolute power over their subjects. It was not until the 1905 Revolution that Russia had a constitution or any sort of representative government. Even after the revolution, the czar continued to be described as an autocrat in the Russian Constitution of 1906. The concept of divine right and the powers of the czars were so ingrained in Russian culture and history that it took significant time for the country to abolish absolutism.

Realities of Absolute Monarchy

While an absolute monarch theoretically enjoyed complete power and control, in reality many absolute monarchs shared power or were significantly influenced by other interests. The church served as a major influence in many monarchies and the clergy could wield significant power over monarchs due to their influence with the citizenry. In some countries, the nobility also affected the decisions and actions of absolute monarchs. Even in cases where a monarch held absolute power, the nobility surrounding him or her could generate enough opposition to reduce a monarch's actual power.

Throughout history, numerous examples of absolute monarchy exist. Some were considered successful and brought peace and prosperity to their country. Others were not and the monarch abused their power and made life more difficult for their subjects. While most countries moved away from this method of government and towards representative models, absolute monarchy served as a stabilizing factor in the development of many nations.

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Absolute Monarchy Definition - Historic Examples of this Government

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An absolute monarchy is a form of government in which the ruling monarch enjoys absolute control without limitations from a constitution or from law. In this form of government, the monarch is the head of state and head of government with unrestricted political power.

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The ACLU has a long history of defending the LGBTQ community. We brought our first LGBTQ rights case in 1936 and founded the LGBTQ Project in 1986. Today, the ACLU brings more LGBTQ cases and advocacy initiatives than any other national organization does.

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There have been numerous articles stating that the melting of ice caps have been at a record low, but that still does not hide the truth that the polar ice caps are indeed melting and at an alarming rate.

Still Alarming

Even if the ice caps are melting slower than usual, this is not a sigh of relief in saying that all is well, and that humans should ignore the melting polar ice caps along with all the many other effects of climate change.

In passing, many scientists are saying that on the contrary, the melting of the ice caps is in fact accelerating.

In any event, it is nonetheless a serious situation that deserves not only our attention, but also the attention of the media, who will more often than not overlook this issue.

Role of Ice in Regulating Global Temperatures

It is important to remember that ice sheets absorb a great deal of the sun's heat.

Ice caps also to do their part in reflecting the sun's rays which keep the Earth cooler (see albedo).

Without a decent reflective shield and solid heat absorption mechanism, the troposphere will further rise in temperature.

In essence, the melting of the polar ice caps will accelerate global warming which will in turn cause more rapid melting.

This is one of the many feedback mechanisms that will accelerate abrupt climate change.

Rising Sea Levels

We need to be concerned about melting polar ice caps because of the rising sea levels which will ensue.

It is simple science and logic; with excess water comes rising sea levels which have the potential of swallowing islands and nations whole.

Entire areas of major cities and large parts of continents have the potential of being submerged underwater if we do not get a handle on the driving factors behind the melting polar ice caps, namely the greenhouse effect.

In 2007, the IPCC projected that sea levels will rise by about 18 to 59 cm (7.1 to 23 inches) during the 21st century.

However, these numbers don't include "uncertainties in climate-carbon cycle feedbacks nor do they include the full effects of changes in ice sheet flow."

Hence, more recent projections warn that sea levels could rise by at least one meter within this time frame.

Rapid Melting

Studies show that the ice caps are shrinking by nine percent each decade.

In truth, the problem is so urgent that some scientists predict that the Arctic could become ice free by as early as 2020.

Areas Affected

Some of the world's largest cities such as Lagos and Shanghai could be significantly affected by rising sea levels.

Also, island countries such as Maldives would be one of the first nations to be swallowed up whole along with parts of the United States, mainly around the gulf coast region.

Additionally, any city or region in the world that is below sea level will see a drastic rise in floods.

Other Effects

There is the wildlife factor as well.

Polar bears are losing their habitats across the glacier regions, and many are drowning as a result of the excessive floodwaters.

This has severe implications for marine life that dwell in the Arctic and Antarctic along with other animals such as walrus, penguins and seals.

Ultimately, the melting ice caps could render many marine and land mammal species extinct.

At a time when so many other animal species on Earth are already facing extinction, it is important to preserve any animal's habitat wherever possible.

Clearly, we have to do our part each and every day to make sure we are reducing our impact on global warming by decreasing our greenhouse gas emissions.

We must get to the root of the problem by trying to find new solutions to help stop climate change.

Nowadays, factors such as pollution and the increasing carbon dioxide levels must always be considered if we are to solve the climate crisis.

Besides, scientific study as well as innovation in green technology is required to preserve the polar ice caps for the sake of all life within the biosphere.

It is crucial that we do not underestimate the gravity of the situation and that we do not give heed to disinformation regarding this predicament bestowed upon us that will in one way or another, affect all life on Earth.

Return to Effects of Climate Change
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There have been numerous articles stating that the melting of ice caps have been at a record low, but that still does not hide the truth that the polar ice caps are indeed melting and at an alarming rate.

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(Photo: Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images)

Red-faced and with his hair still wet, Hani Abu Amirah's grandson sobbed as he shuffled over to where she sat, looking out on the Mediterranean Sea from Gaza's Shati refugee camp.

The boy's distress stemmed from his decision to go swimming a little earlier that morning, one that incurred his father's wrath when he was yanked out of the water and beaten for disobeying orders to stay away from the sea. A year ago, that childlike act of enjoyment would have gone unnoticed but today 80 percent of Gaza's Mediterranean Sea coastline is thought to be polluted and families who used to rely on it for livelihoods and leisure now fear its waters.

"The sea is a part of us, the sea is our life," said Abu Amirah, 56, who still spends her days sitting by the beach with her grandchildren-even if she struggles to find the same pleasure she once did. "But the pollution affects us now, [the smell of sewage means] we cannot even sit here properly anymore ... we banned the children from going down there."

Through three wars and a decade of blockade by Israel and Egypt, the Mediterranean has given an escape to two million Gazans living in the Palestinian enclave lodged between southern Israel, Egypt, and the sea. Families would bathe in its waters to escape sticky summer days, then line the seafront with coffee and stove-roasted corn by night.

Many now worry they have lost even that, especially over the past year during which an acute electricity crisis has caused 110 million liters of raw or poorly treated sewage to gush into the sea daily, according to the United Nations. The newest figures are almost one year old.

From her customary position outside the family home, Abu Amirah waves her hand out toward the brown scum seeping out from Gaza's coastline that now dominates her view because of the 17 wastewater pipes that empty straight into it from various points along the 25-mile shore. The blue waters they have replaced over the past year are now only noticeable as she points to the unpolluted waters further out, sitting on the horizon beyond Gaza's coast.

Gaza's problems with water have been a recurring theme since Israel imposed an air, land, and sea blockade on the coastal enclave in 2007 to squeeze the government set up by Hamas, a group Israel has been tangled in conflict with since the early 2000s, when it carried out dozens of suicide bombings against Israeli civilians. With nowhere else to turn in a water-scarce region, Gaza has been drawing much of its water from the sea but also expels effluent into the same source. While Israel has met its water needs with desalinated water, building the world's largest reverse osmosis plant only 30 miles north of Gaza, similar facilities in Gaza lack the electricity to run at full capacity.

Its power problems became critical last March when an internal dispute between Gaza's ruling leadership, Hamas, and the rival West Bank-based Palestinian Authority left fuel duties unpaid, forcing the only local power plant's closure and leaving Gaza with such little electricity that pumps used to funnel sewage to cleansing plants could no longer function. The wastewater instead headed straight to the sea, where pollution levels have reached four times the international standard. It has caused alarm in Israel as well, where beaches close to the enclave have been shut down because of the spreading pollution. The most recent figures are about six months old.

Tightly Packed

With two million people living in their coastal territory, Gaza's population is almost as tightly packed as notoriously cramped Hong Kong, putting pressure on everything from the aquifer most draw their water from to the electricity needed to power factories, sewage cleansing facilities, and desalination plants.

Though the ongoing electricity crisis has exacerbated those pressures, they have been consistent sources of concern since Hamas took control of Gaza. A 2017 report by the U.N. predicted the damage done to Gaza's aquifer, its only water source, will be irreversible by 2018 -sooner than previous estimations.

Much of that population lives in places like the Shati refugee camp, founded to house an influx of Palestinians displaced from nearby villages during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. At Shati, the industrial pipe spewing into the sea also carries medical waste from Gaza's main hospital, al-Shifa. Residents said their children have complained of itchiness after going swimming and that even the sand smells strongly of sewage. Their fears deepened after five year-old Mohammad al-Sayis died in July of 2017 from a form of shigellosis-a disease spread through fecal matter.

Parasites, including many that affect humans, were found in almost half the samples collected for a 2014 study into the quality of water on Gaza's coast led by Ahmed Hillis, an expert with the Palestinian Environment Quality Authority.

"It's a perfect indicator that the shoreline has been polluted by the wastewater," said Hillis, who believes his study shows there is a strong link between the damage being done to the environment and health risks for Gazans.

According to the World Health Organization, water-related diseases are the main cause of child deaths in Gaza and estimated to account for a quarter of all illnesses.

"This water is a source of pollution and a source of diseases, for the people and also for the environment," Hillis said. "Visitors to the sea suffer from a lot of illnesses related to the skin because of the direct contact from swimming in this polluted water."

Fishing

All along Gaza's coast, there are pipes expelling wastewater from the towns and refugee camps where most of the population are concentrated. That pollution diffuses outwards over the first six nautical miles, according to Mohammed Abu Thaer, a marine biologist in the Hamas government's agriculture department-the same distance Israel's navy has limited Gaza's fishermen to since the blockade, despite the 1990s Oslo Peace Accords signed by Israeli and Palestinian leaders which allowed them to travel up to 20 nautical miles.

Thaer said most of the fish sold in Gaza's market is safe however, because after the first three miles, most catches are of deepwater fish that live well below the sea's surface, where the floating film of effluent becomes diluted.

He also claimed his department has tested the fish as safe by taking samples of incoming hauls but much of Gaza's population still seem worried about eating the fish, crabs, and shrimp their cuisine is known for among Palestinians, according to the fishermen themselves anxious about how few people now pass through Gaza's almost deserted fish market. They have already struggled for years with catches diminished because of the Israeli restrictions on where they can fish. Now they have to contend with local concerns over their stock.

"We try to persuade people but they are still too scared to eat fish because of what they hear, not what they see here," said Muhammad Mustafa Abu Khair, 32, who insists he fishes in unpolluted waters.

The gloomy wet market's stock is sparse-small presentations of local sea bream, buckets of crabs, and the odd baby shark-but Abu Khair is adamant if customers visited, they would see it is all healthy. The problem is that hardly anyone passes through anymore apart from fishermen who sit in circles on its edges, drinking Arabic coffee from paper cups.

A 2016 study led by Palestinian Environment Quality Authority researcher Hossam Zaqoot found traces of heavy metals like copper and lead were found in the muscles of fish caught near Gaza's coast, and warned that, though they were not yet at levels dangerous to humans, they could be in the future if continued rises in pollution further poisoned the fish. The more immediate impact of the pollution, said Abu Thaer, has been in reducing the fish stocks off Gaza's coast.

"The wastewater consists of a lot of dangerous materials like chlorine, ammonia, and soap. This affects the fish itself-their growth is slowed and their stock doesn't increase," he said.

Some of the fishermen believe that problem has been made worse by overfishing. The blockade prevents Gaza's ever-growing population from traveling abroad for work while also hindering its own industry. By September of 2017, the unemployment rate had soared to 44 percent as factories closed down because of the electricity crisis.

For many of the jobless, the sea seems an obvious place to search for an income with a boat and some nets. But fisherman Hani Abu Riyal accuses unlicensed fishermen of putting a strain on the industry by crowding out professionals and using fine nets that pick up even the smallest fish.

"What ended the jobs here is the government itself because there are no jobs. Everyone can be a fisherman," said Abu Riyal, who himself returned to the family tradition of fishing after the blockade meant he could no longer travel to nearby Israeli towns where he had worked as a weaver.

"They fish everything, even the young fish during the breeding season," he said, noting the weak governance in Gaza, which has been fractured since PA officials boycotted the Hamas leadership after it seized control of the territory in 2007. "In another country, there would be a system to stop this."

Environmental expert Hillis said Gaza's water problem is not just limited to the sea; its aquifer, shared with Israel, is also being polluted.

Damaged Ecology

Just south of the built-up and congested Gaza City, Bedouin fishermen of Gaza Valley live a much quieter life, preparing their nets in corrugated iron beach huts and digging through the shallows for worms they use as bait. Their isolation is interrupted, however, by the imposing stench from a refuse pipe that reaches hundreds of meters away.

Starting in the West Bank and winding through southern Israel's Negev desert before it arrives in Gaza, the 65-mile-long valley was once a valued ecological site that hosted migratory birds, like flamingos, and Great White Pelicans, and was declared a nature reserve in 2000 by the PA. But instead of being protected, the previous wetland has become a wasteland used by local municipalities to dump both liquid and solid waste from nearby towns.

A local Bedouin fisherman said their protests against installing wastewater pipes at the site were ignored, but he and the other fishermen all refuse to say anything more.

According to Hillis, Gaza receives only half of the 7.7 billion cubic feet of rain its aquifer requires a year, even less of which recharges the groundwater, allowing salt water to intrude. It also means there's space for leachate, a liquid produced by dissolving waste in landfill sites, and cesspools used to store sewage to seep through Gaza's porous sedimentary rock in places like the Gaza Valley.

Dealing With It

Concern about pollution and the wider electricity crisis has spread to the Israeli sphere, not only because of the physical impact made by intruding pollution but also as Israeli politicians and the military worry that deteriorating conditions increase the chance of another conflict. They accuse Hamas of causing the crisis by allegedly spending money on building its military capacity instead of the population.

"Israel has an interest in positive dynamics in Gaza, but one cannot demand from the State of Israel to use its state budget for infrastructure that is harmed because of an internal Palestinian conflict, while Hamas invests money in terrorism," Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot told the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in July of 2017.

Israel did agree in late January, however, to begin supplying electricity to a sewage cleansing plant in northern Gaza. The move followed recommendations made in a state review that criticized the military for refusing to provide a power line to the plant when it was built in 2013.

For Hillis, Gaza's environmental challenges cannot be separated from the blockade, which increases the overpopulated enclave's dependence on whatever resources are available to it. He highlights that more than 3,000 items needed to develop Gaza's water and sanitation sector await Israeli approval to enter the strip because of restrictions on "dual-use items," which Israel claims could also be used to build weapons to be used against it.

"Life in Gaza has become more and more complicated by these issues and we need quick solutions for our problems and the environment is the most important," Hillis said. "All of the international community is responsible."
This originally appeared at the website of global conservation news service Mongabay.com. Get updates on their stories delivered to your inbox, or follow @Mongabay on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

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Red-faced and with his hair still wet, Hani Abu Amirah's grandson sobbed as he shuffled over to where she sat, looking out on the Mediterranean Sea from Gaza's Shati refugee camp.

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In order to combat climate change, we need to rapidly move from fossil fuel energy to clean, renewable energy. The two energy sources I am most interested in are wind and solar power; however, there are other sources that have great potential.

Some people doubt how much wind and solar can supply to a country's electricity grid. This is a particularly challenging question to answer in part because both solar power and wind power fluctuate in both space and time. We all know solar panels work well during the day, when the sun shines - they don't work so well at night. And wind turbines only send electrons when the wind is blowing.

Fortunately, these two sources of energy fluctuate in ways that complement each other. For instance, solar power generation is highest in the summer and lowest in the winter. Wind power is greatest in the spring and fall. Wind turbines work at night when solar panels are dormant. So, can these complementing variations help balance out the power that the two technologies can provide?

This question was addressed in a very recent paper published in the journal Energy and Environmental Science. The author list included Dr. Ken Caldeira, who is extremely well known for his years of work in environmental science and energy.

The authors analyzed 36 years of hourly weather data (1980-2015) in the US. They calculated the available wind and solar power over this time period and also included the electrical demand in the US and its variation throughout the year.

With this information, the researchers considered two scenarios. In scenario 1, they imagined wind and solar installations that would be sufficient to supply 100% of the US electrical needs. In the second scenario, the installations would be over-designed; capable of providing 150% of the total U.S. electrical need. But the authors recognize that just because a solar panel or a wind turbine can provide all our energy, it doesn't mean that will happen in reality. It goes back to the prior discussion that sometimes the wind just doesn't blow, and sometimes the sun isn't shining.

With these two scenarios, the authors then considered different mixes of power, from all solar to all wind. They also included the effect of aggregation area, that is, what sized regions are used to generate power. Is your power coming from wind and solar in your neighborhood, your city, your state or your region?

The authors found that with 100% power capacity and no mechanism to store energy, a wind-heavy portfolio is best (about 75% wind, 25% solar) and using large aggregate regions is optimal. It is possible to supply about 75-80% of US electrical needs. If the system were designed with excess capacity (the 150% case), the US could meet about 90% of its needs with wind and solar power.

The authors recognized that sometimes these systems generate too much power to be used. Under this situation, you could store the energy for later use. Imagine a solar panel generating excess energy during the day and able to store that power for night use. Power can be stored in several ways, for example in batteries or by pumping water into elevated tanks and then letting the water fall at night and turn a turbine.

The authors modified their study to allow up to 12 hours of US energy storage. They then found that the 100% capacity system fared even better (about 90% of the country's energy) and the optimal balance was now more solar (approximately 70% solar and 30% wind). For the over-capacity system, the authors found that virtually all the country's power needs could be met with wind, solar, and storage.

This study considered only wind and solar. If other sources, such as hydroelectricity, biofuels, or even nuclear power were added, it would be relatively straightforward to reach 100% clean energy. Furthermore, people are learning to use energy more wisely, either by using more efficient products or purchasing electricity during off-peak hours. These behavioral changes can also help us reach a 100% clean energy target.

The point is, the use of clean energy to power an entire country (or a group of countries) is achievable. It's no longer viable to say "we can't."

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Study: wind and solar can power most of the United States | John Abraham

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In order to combat climate change, we need to rapidly move from fossil fuel energy to clean, renewable energy. The two energy sources I am most interested in are wind and solar power; however, there are other sources that have great potential. Some people doubt how much wind and solar can supply to a country's electricity grid.

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Windfarms and solar panels produced more electricity than the UK's eight nuclear power stations for the first time at the end of last year, official figures show.

Britain's greenhouse gas emissions also continued to fall, dropping 3% in 2017, as coal use fell and the use of renewables climbed.

Energy experienced the biggest drop in emissions of any UK sector, of 8%, while pollution from transport and businesses stayed flat.

Energy industry chiefs said the figures showed that the government should rethink its ban on onshore wind subsidies, a move that ministers have hinted could happen soon.

Lawrence Slade, chief executive of the big six lobby group Energy UK, said: "We need to keep up the pace ... by ensuring that the lowest cost renewables are no longer excluded from the market."

UK electricity generation graph Q4 2017

Across the whole year, low-carbon sources of power - wind, solar, biomass and nuclear - provided a record 50.4% of electricity, up from 45.7% in 2016.

But in the fourth quarter of 2017, high wind speeds, new renewables installations and lower nuclear output saw wind and solar becoming the second biggest source of power for the first time.

Wind and solar generated 18.33 terawatt hours (TWh), with nuclear on 16.69TWh, the figures published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy show.

But renewables still have a long way to go to catch up with gas, the UK's top source of electricity at 36.12TWh, which saw its share of generation fall slightly.

Greenpeace said the figures showed the government should capitalise on its lead in renewables and "stop wasting time and money propping up nuclear power".

Horizon Nuclear Power, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Hitachi, is in talks with Whitehall officials for a financial support package from the government, which it says it needs by midsummer.

By contrast, large-scale solar and onshore wind projects are not eligible for support, after the Conservative government cut subsidies in 2015.

However the energy minister, Claire Perry, recently told House Magazine that "we will have another auction that brings forward wind and solar, we just haven't yet said when".
Topics

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Wind and solar make more electricity than nuclear for first time in UK

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Windfarms and solar panels produced more electricity than the UK's eight nuclear power stations for the first time at the end of last year, official figures show. Britain's greenhouse gas emissions also continued to fall, dropping 3% in 2017, as coal use fell and the use of renewables climbed.