"Despite decades of research, the trigger that causes algal blooms to begin poisoning their environment has long confounded scientists. Now, researchers from Scripps and UC San Diego have found the genetic underpinning of domoic acid, a harmful neurotoxin."
"Even as coal ash storage basins are leaking massive amounts of pollution in the wake of Hurricane Florence, the coal industry is working on a novel legal strategy to stop the federal regulation of this toxic byproduct of coal combustion."
"The Atlantic’s warmer waters triggered the unusual number of major hurricanes last year, according to a new study that predicts the region could see a couple of extra whopper storms each year by the end of the century."
"The United States and Canada have reached a last minute deal to salvage the North American Free Trade Agreement, according to people familiar with the negotiations, overcoming deep divisions to keep the 25-year-old trilateral pact intact."
"Just three years ago, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declared that St. John the Baptist Parish had the highest cancer risk from airborne pollutants of any similar jurisdiction nationwide because of the “likely carcinogen” chloroprene, resulting in controversy and a federal lawsuit aimed at a local chemical plant."
"Last month, deep in a 500-page environmental impact statement, the Trump administration made a startling assumption: On its current course, the planet will warm a disastrous seven degrees by the end of this century."
"The Trump administration has completed a detailed legal proposal to dramatically weaken a major environmental regulation covering mercury, a toxic chemical emitted from coal-burning power plants, according to a person who has seen the document but is not authorized to speak publicly about it."
Local dams are threatened with floods brought by Hurricane Florence. But already, many of these dams were being removed after decades of building them up, as part of a growing effort to limit harm to the environment and hazards to local communities. This week’s TipSheet explains the trend, highlights some examples and points the way to databases and other resources to find and report on dams in your area.
Millions of Americans are served by private rather than public water systems. And while that may be helpful in the case of the tens of thousands of smaller systems that lack key resources, it also raises controversial questions about privatization, as well as about what’s best to insure drinking water safety in a post-Flint era. The latest Backgrounder explains this complex issue, considers the most critical issues and offers resources to report the story in your area.
"Researchers study how microscopic organisms, key to carbon sequestration, evolve in the ocean, and implications for a warming planet."
