Very sad news about the death of Wangari Maathai. She founded the Green Belt movement in Kenya and empowered women to plant millions of trees and work for peace through environmental restoration. She gave a powerful talk at SU a few years ago.
Saturday was Moving Planet Day and the celebrations/protests around the world were truly moving. There were two in Syracuse as well.
Do Americans support the EPA’s efforts to slow climate disruptions by reducing greenhouse gas emissions? Check out these poll results.
New phrases to learn:
“Trophic downgrading” — what happens when large predators disappear from an ecosystem. See “Loss of Large Predators has Caused Widespread Disruption of Ecosystems,” by Tim Stephens of UC Santa Cruz, July 14, 2011, which summarizes the findings of an article published in Science in July, 2011.
“Global Weirding” — many climatologists prefer this term to “global warming,” because the surest effects of rising global temperatures will be extreme weather events of all kinds. See “Warning: Extreme Weather Ahead” by John Vidal, The Guardian (U.K.), June 13, 2011.