Earth Day Writer

Earth Week, Pollution

Earth Day Read: Air Pollution in Many Large US Cities has Declined Due to A Lack of Transportation

Large cities in the US such as Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York have all seen a decrease of nitrogen dioxide, a gas produced by the burning of fossil fuels in cars and trucks. The lack of traffic is mostly caused by the social distancing rules that prohibit people from going to work and other businesses that are deemed “unnecessary.” It is important to note … Continue reading Earth Day Read: Air Pollution in Many Large US Cities has Declined Due to A Lack of Transportation

Earth Week, Future Implications

Earth Day Read: Will COVID-19 Have a Lasting Impact on the Environment?

Air pollution and carbon emissions have fallen significantly in the past year, which is great news for the environment, but the question of what comes next is still disputed. Although there are many hopeful signs about pollution, the Center for International Climate and Environment Research in Oslo has estimated a drop in carbon emissions by only 0.3%, and some experts are worried that the issue … Continue reading Earth Day Read: Will COVID-19 Have a Lasting Impact on the Environment?

Earth Week, Legislation, Uncategorized

Earth Day Read: Harvard publishes a study linking air pollution to COVID-19 mortality in the United States as the EPA resists tighter stricter controls on fine particulate matter (PM2.5)

Xiao Wu, Rachel C. Nethery and Francesca Dominici of Harvard University published the first national study conducted on COVID-19 and air pollution in the United States on April 7, 2020. Due to the fact that many pre-existing conditions identified to potentially increase risk of death for COVID-19 are the same diseases affected by air pollution, they “investigate whether long-term average exposure to fine particulate matter … Continue reading Earth Day Read: Harvard publishes a study linking air pollution to COVID-19 mortality in the United States as the EPA resists tighter stricter controls on fine particulate matter (PM2.5)

Earth Week, Legislation

Earth Day Read: Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic, the EPA continues to advocate proposed “Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science” Rule

Proposed by the leaders of the Environmental Protection Agency, under Andrew Wheeler, on April 30, 2018, this rule would determine the research taken into account in future environmental decision making in the United States. The proposal states that “This action provides that EPA will ensure that the regulatory science underlying its actions is publicly available in a manner sufficient for independent validation.” Essentially, the EPA … Continue reading Earth Day Read: Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic, the EPA continues to advocate proposed “Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science” Rule

Earth Week, Ecology

Earth Day Read: Becoming Wild During a Pandemic

Orion Magazine is a wonderful source to learn about the natural world and how people perceive and connect to it. This article describes an ecologist, Carl Safina, and his work encouraging us to look at the world around us and realize that for most life on earth, life has not slowed down as ours has. In the article, he responds to a series of questions, … Continue reading Earth Day Read: Becoming Wild During a Pandemic

Earth Week, Sustainability

Earth Day Read: Sustainability in the Time of COVID-19

We are in a time of uncertainty and anxiety, but there is still much we should and can do for the environment. This includes volunteering with environmental efforts (safely) -remotely can be a good option. Many sustainability groups are providing virtual events and opportunities. There are lessons to be learned about climate change from understanding this pandemic. First, early action leads to less impact and … Continue reading Earth Day Read: Sustainability in the Time of COVID-19

Earth Week, Ecology

Earth Day Read: Animals take back the cities

Animals have taken advantage of the lack of people in the streets due to the world wide quarantines. Generic animals that we are accustomed to seeing, such as wild turkeys, raccoons, and squirrels are especially prominent, but more interesting animals have also been spotted. A brazen fox has been seen in San Francisco near the Golden Gate Bridge and a wild boar in Collserola, Spain. … Continue reading Earth Day Read: Animals take back the cities

Earth Week, Legislation

Earth Day Read: EPA announces Enforcement Discretion Policy for COVID-19 Pandemic

As the country came under state stay-at-home orders in the last two weeks of March 2020, American Petroleum Institute executives wrote to Donald Trump and the Environmental Protection Agency, lobbying the administration to waive “non-essential compliance obligations,” such as reporting and monitoring for existing environmental regulations on companies. They claimed that relaxed regulations would allow them to distribute fuel more efficiently during the outbreak. The … Continue reading Earth Day Read: EPA announces Enforcement Discretion Policy for COVID-19 Pandemic

Earth Week, Ecology, Uncategorized

Earth Day Read: 70,000 Sea Turtles Nested on Beaches Emptied by COVID-19

Due to the beaches globally being empty due to the coronavirus, the Olive Ridley sea turtles have been able to lay their eggs in peace. More than 70,000 Olive Ridley sea turtles were seen nesting along the coast of the eastern Indian state of Odisha. Amlan Nayak, a district forest officer in the area, said this was the first time since 2013 that they had … Continue reading Earth Day Read: 70,000 Sea Turtles Nested on Beaches Emptied by COVID-19

Earth Week, Ecology, Pollution

Earth Day Read: How coronavirus is unexpectedly benefiting the environment

The global coronavirus lockdown has had major environmental benefits throughout the world. Firstly, due to the lack of transportation use, the amount of air pollution in big cities has dramatically decreased. The world is thriving. For example, you can now see blue skies in China that have not been seen in years due to factory shutdowns. Not only has the amount of air pollution around … Continue reading Earth Day Read: How coronavirus is unexpectedly benefiting the environment