REVIEWING her wardrobe earlier this season, Elizabeth Marvin had a moment of reckoning. “How did this closet become so massively overstuffed?” she mused, disconcerted by the sight of so many Marni jackets, Chloé bags and Jimmy Choo shoes jostling for space on the racks. “From my green perspective, part of me feels guilty about being such a major consumer.”
But Ms. Marvin, the New York sales director for the National Audubon Society and a self-described “major environmentalist,” felt neither so guilty nor so strapped that she planned to stop shopping cold turkey. “Instead of buying that Chloé jacket that I want right now,” she said, “I’m much happier purchasing something at a consignment store that is much less.”
LINK
Showing posts with label New York. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York. Show all posts
Bats- headed out?
Horrifying story here.
"In what is one of the worst calamities to hit bat populations in the United States, on average 90 percent of the hibernating bats in four caves and mines in New York have died since last winter.
Wildlife biologists fear a significant die-off in about 15 caves and mines in New York, as well as at sites in Massachusetts and Vermont. Whatever is killing the bats leaves them unusually thin and, in some cases, dotted with a white fungus. Bat experts fear that what they call White Nose Syndrome may spell doom for several species that keep insect pests under control. " LINK to full NYT article
Wildlife biologists fear a significant die-off in about 15 caves and mines in New York, as well as at sites in Massachusetts and Vermont. Whatever is killing the bats leaves them unusually thin and, in some cases, dotted with a white fungus. Bat experts fear that what they call White Nose Syndrome may spell doom for several species that keep insect pests under control. " LINK to full NYT article
NYC extreme weather
Crikey- flood + 100 degree weather + New Yorkers? Doom, dude.
"Morning rush hour became a quagmire Wednesday as subways, buses and even cabs were slowed by flooding from torrential overnight rains.
The flooding has disrupted service for commuter trains and the metro as well.
"Due to severe flooding throughout the subway system, there are extensive delays on all subway lines," said a statement from the Metro Transit Authority (MTA). "Customers are advised when at all possible to use bus service." LINK
"Morning rush hour became a quagmire Wednesday as subways, buses and even cabs were slowed by flooding from torrential overnight rains.
The flooding has disrupted service for commuter trains and the metro as well.
"Due to severe flooding throughout the subway system, there are extensive delays on all subway lines," said a statement from the Metro Transit Authority (MTA). "Customers are advised when at all possible to use bus service." LINK
Oh, this global warming is doing shocking things to my property values, darling.
New Yorkers can be staggaringly self-absorbed. So, this global warming thing, this sea-level rise thing- how's it going to affect me?
"How could a rising sea level and pummeling storms affect the trillion dollars’ worth of property New Yorkers call home?"
Well, some New Yorkers are apparently hedging their bets. Smart. If you have the money, that is. "Now they’re telling us that one of the main considerations is to make sure it’s not an area of low ground. They’re also considering getting a smaller place here and investing in a property in a city way above sea level.”
"One long-term but unappetizing option is to ring the city with enormous concrete sea walls. In Manhattan, this would require a wall several dozen feet high and wide enough to fit a four-lane highway on top. The higher a sea wall or levee is, the broader it has to be, and in New York City, which is interlaced with rivers, such barriers would encroach on some of the priciest real estate in the world."
And Long Island is screwed- totally.
" ...the barriers wouldn’t prevent wind damage and would fail to protect some areas, including the southern coast of Long Island. (There, said Professor Bowman, looking several decades ahead, “I think people will stay as long as they can and then slowly evacuate if it gets really bad.”)
LINK
"How could a rising sea level and pummeling storms affect the trillion dollars’ worth of property New Yorkers call home?"
Well, some New Yorkers are apparently hedging their bets. Smart. If you have the money, that is. "Now they’re telling us that one of the main considerations is to make sure it’s not an area of low ground. They’re also considering getting a smaller place here and investing in a property in a city way above sea level.”
"One long-term but unappetizing option is to ring the city with enormous concrete sea walls. In Manhattan, this would require a wall several dozen feet high and wide enough to fit a four-lane highway on top. The higher a sea wall or levee is, the broader it has to be, and in New York City, which is interlaced with rivers, such barriers would encroach on some of the priciest real estate in the world."
And Long Island is screwed- totally.
" ...the barriers wouldn’t prevent wind damage and would fail to protect some areas, including the southern coast of Long Island. (There, said Professor Bowman, looking several decades ahead, “I think people will stay as long as they can and then slowly evacuate if it gets really bad.”)
LINK
About 1 out of every 300 people in the US lost power in the ice storm. Wow.
Ok, is my math off on this? This is astonishing. The ice storm has knocked out power to
135,000 homes and businesses in New York and New Hampshire
312,000 homes and businesses in Missouri
112,000 homes and businesses in Oklahoma
127,000 homes and businesses in Michigan
---------
686,000 homes and businesses
Assuming (roughly) 2 people per domicile, so roughly 1.2 million people, that's (roughly) 1 out of every 300 Americans who are sitting in the dark right now. That's some kick-ass weather.
135,000 homes and businesses in New York and New Hampshire
312,000 homes and businesses in Missouri
112,000 homes and businesses in Oklahoma
127,000 homes and businesses in Michigan
---------
686,000 homes and businesses
Assuming (roughly) 2 people per domicile, so roughly 1.2 million people, that's (roughly) 1 out of every 300 Americans who are sitting in the dark right now. That's some kick-ass weather.
Oh damn how sad. Well, we saw that coming. Those confused dolphins at Long Island are dying.
"EAST HAMPTON, N.Y., Jan. 14 — The enchantment with a school of dolphins, feeding and frolicking in the local bays north of here last week, has turned to alarm, after four of them died over the weekend and the others grew increasingly sluggish and showed signs of distress."
LINK
LINK
GROSS! Warm winter = Rats.
Ok, if you ever get a chance to read Rats, Lice, and History by Hans Zisser, you should, because it's a great read.
Rats are so very very nasty. And warm winters = more rats.
Buffalo, NY is dealing with what is being called an infestation- EWWWW.
"Normally, a long hard freeze in winter kills off at least some of the rat population. But the balmy days of December and January mean communities battling rat infestations in metropolitan Erie County won't be able to rely on the weather for a helping hand. " LINK
For just a few reasons rats are totally utterly horrible and dangerous to humans, check out this list of just a few of the deadly diseases associated with rats. (From the CDC)
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome
Murine Typhus
Rat-bite fever
Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium
Leptospirosis.
Eosinophilic Meningitis
And let's not forget my personal favorite rat-spread disease, the Bubonic Plague.
Rats are so very very nasty. And warm winters = more rats.
Buffalo, NY is dealing with what is being called an infestation- EWWWW.
"Normally, a long hard freeze in winter kills off at least some of the rat population. But the balmy days of December and January mean communities battling rat infestations in metropolitan Erie County won't be able to rely on the weather for a helping hand. " LINK
For just a few reasons rats are totally utterly horrible and dangerous to humans, check out this list of just a few of the deadly diseases associated with rats. (From the CDC)
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome
Murine Typhus
Rat-bite fever
Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium
Leptospirosis.
Eosinophilic Meningitis
And let's not forget my personal favorite rat-spread disease, the Bubonic Plague.
Confused dolphins hanging out up by Long Island- warm water blamed.
Wow- now this is messed up. It reminds me of that manatee who was up in Warwick this summer- you know things are off-kilter. Well, these dolphins are apparently enjoying the Hamptons- in January.
"Dolphins have been seen around Long Island before, said William Wise, associate director of Stony Brook University's Marine Sciences Research Center. But such sightings are far from the norm, he said, and more likely to take place in summer."To have this school frolicking in the Peconic Bays in January is most unusual," Wise said."
LINK
"Dolphins have been seen around Long Island before, said William Wise, associate director of Stony Brook University's Marine Sciences Research Center. But such sightings are far from the norm, he said, and more likely to take place in summer."To have this school frolicking in the Peconic Bays in January is most unusual," Wise said."
LINK
??? This is news? Cherry trees here bloomed in November.
"At the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, it hardly seems like the dead of winter. " blah blah blah, "the most bizarre weather-related incident happened in Brooklyn where cherry blossoms decided to make an early appearance."
Well, ok, strange indeed. But the thing that set me off and made me decide to make this blog was the appearance of blooms on a cherry tree on URI campus, back in November. The lovely and talented Jessica was kind enough to comment on the photo I posted at my myspace, and our ensuing conversation led me to go ahead and blog it out.
So read the article, if you have the urge, or go to URI campus between the Engineering Quad and Tyler Hall, and ogle confused nature for yourself.
Or, I think I finally figured out how to get a photo on here, so here's a local tree doing that same, sad thing.
Well, ok, strange indeed. But the thing that set me off and made me decide to make this blog was the appearance of blooms on a cherry tree on URI campus, back in November. The lovely and talented Jessica was kind enough to comment on the photo I posted at my myspace, and our ensuing conversation led me to go ahead and blog it out.
So read the article, if you have the urge, or go to URI campus between the Engineering Quad and Tyler Hall, and ogle confused nature for yourself.Or, I think I finally figured out how to get a photo on here, so here's a local tree doing that same, sad thing.
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