A Recent Study Looked At The Demographics Of An Elephant Population In Samburu, Kenya, And The Impact

In the U.S., clean energy and carbon pollution regulation are very popular. What is the disconnect between public opinion on these issues, and Federal actions?

This graph shows greenhouse gas emissions from major point sources (power plants, industrial boilers) by state. It becomes clear immediately that Texas is a major outlier, representing far greater emissions than any other state. Indiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Louisiana, Illinois and Florida are other states with large emissions.

From the Washington Post:

Map from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showing how much electricity each state gets from wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal. Maine was the clear winner in 2011, getting 27 percent of its electricity coming from renewable sources — a lot of it wind power and biomass. But Maine had a lot of renewable energy back in 2001, too. South Dakota and Iowa, at 21 percent and 17 percent, have seen far more impressive growth. Both of those states got almost none of their electricity from renewable sources a decade ago.

Climate change is hitting Georgia’s peach industry, where an unusually warm winter this year let to a dramatically reduced peach harvest.

From FiveThirtyEight:

For trees that fruit each year (such as peaches, cherries, blueberries, almonds and other fruits and nuts), cool weather is as important as warm. Cold air and less sunlight trigger the release of chemicals that halt trees’ growth, prepare them to withstand freezing temperatures and enable them to resume growing the following spring. When a tree enters this dormant state, it sets a kind of internal seasonal alarm clock that goes off once the tree has spent enough time in chilly temperatures. This countdown is measured in so-called chill hours — the amount of time the temperature is between 32 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit. When crops don’t get the chill hours they expect, they can’t properly reset. Buds are delayed, and instead of ripening into juicy, delicious fruit, they remain small and underdeveloped.

This last winter, middle Georgia got about 400 chill hours during what Chavez described as the usual dormancy period for peaches (roughly Oct. 1 to Feb. 10). The winter before, while still on the low side, had closer to 600 chill hours. But that 200-hour difference meant several peach varieties that had produced fruit in 2016 never bloomed this year.

As shown in the last image, this reduction in chill hours is not unique to Georgia, and will impact farmers growing fruit and nut trees.

The most recent Living Planet Report (May 2012), compiled by the Zoological Society of London, examined more species (2,600) and more populations of those species (9,014) than ever before. Overall, these populations show a decline of about 30% since 1970. Tropical species (light green) show a decline of more than 60%, while in temperate regions (dark green) there has been an average recovery of about 30%. The worst affected species are those in tropical lakes and rivers, whose numbers have fallen by 70% since 1970.

Geographical distributions of penguin species

From USA Today:

U.S. Geological Survey data released Wednesday shows [Glacier National Park’s] 37 glaciers, along with two others on federal Forest Service land, have shrunk an average of about 40% since 1966... In fact, they'll all be gone within our lifetime, warns Daniel Fagre, a research ecologist with the USGS's Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center... Some masses deteriorated so much, they're no longer large enough to be considered glaciers, which must be at least 25 acres. Some of the glaciers lost up to 85% of their mass.

Per capita CO2 emissions in Europe

On the two year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, it's worth putting the size of that spill into context. By the time it was capped on July 15, 2010, the well had released 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf, making it the largest accidental oil spill in history.