Watch these #Australian #turtles #Myrtle and #Dash #swim their ways to #victory in this adorable race! - http://clapway.com/2015/08/03/the-8th-annual-tour-de-turtles-a-slow-and-steady-race-around-the-world-242/

Over 1,000 spectators gathered at Brevard County, Florida this past Sunday to participate in the 8th annual Tour de Turtles, where they got to cheer on a couple of speedy sea turtles, who set off to compete with 11 other lovable giants in a race around the world.

Slow And Steady

The checkered flag waved yesterday, officially starting the Tour de Turtles, as two sea turtles were released off the coast of Melbourne Beach. Hundreds of children cheered them on as they carefully inched their way down the sandbar, taking a moment for dramatic pause at the water’s edge before slipping into the Atlantic Ocean.

Myrtle and Dash—two loggerhead sea turtles from Melbourne Beach—will soon join 11 other rivals in a 3-month race around the world, with their scaly competition hailing from Costa Rica, the Bahamas, Vero Beach, Marathon Key, Anna Maria Island, Nevis, and Panama.

The winner will be the turtle who swims the farthest distance, which will be determined using satellite technology in three months, but each contestant’s progress will be followed closely for years. You can watch each reptile’s progress here.

Keeping a Close Eye

Each of the 13 sea turtles were equipped with instruments that will relay information to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) weather satellites. Researchers, from both the Sea Turtle Conservancy and the University of Central Florida will then be able to monitor the sea turtles’ progress—both for the sakes of the Tour de Turtles race, as well as for further understanding the migratory patterns and life cycles of the endangered species.

All for a Good Cause

The Tour de Turtles started eight years ago as an event organized by the Sea Turtle Conservancy, as a way to spread love for these animals, as well as raise awareness for their sharp and steady decline in numbers.

According to researchers at the Conservancy, thousands upon thousands of sea turtles hatch from around the world every year. However, only about 1,000 of these baby sea turtles will survive long enough to become adults, as the vast majority of them get gobbled up by sea birds and other underwater creatures.

But that isn’t the worst part. Sea turtles have been an endangered species on the brink of extinction for some time now, mostly thanks to human intervention. Incidents such as boat strikes, choking on plastic debris, climate change, and commercial fishing (among many others) are all leading causes for such a sharp decline in their numbers. Commercial fishing alone either kills or seriously injures more than 200,000 loggerheads and 50,000 leatherbacks every year.

Those who wish to donate to the Conservancy’s cause can do so by either emailing stc@conserveturtles.org, or by visiting their website.

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The 8th Annual Tour de Turtles: A Slow and Steady Race Around the World

Obama"s New Climate Change Plan: "The Most Important Step We Have Ever Taken" - http://clapway.com/2015/08/02/obamas-new-climate-change-plan-the-most-important-step-we-have-ever-taken895/

Last night President Barack Obama announced plans to release what he is calling “the most important step we have ever taken to combat climate change” in the United States on Monday. In a video that Obama posted to Facebook, he explains that decades of collected data warn us to take action fast in the fight against climate change, or else face a future of rising sea levels, droughts, extreme weather conditions, and crippled economies around the world (you can watch the video here ). With Obama’s new climate change plan, which promises stricter industry regulation and a huge cut in greenhouse gas emissions, he hopes to ensure the safety of the nation’s future, as well as secure his legacy as one that dealt with climate change head-on.

A Plan in the Works

In 2014, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a plan that would set a limit on the amount of carbon emissions from power plants—the first bill of its kind in the US. In action, the Clean Power Plan promised a 30 percent cut in carbon emissions from US power plants by 2030. By setting standards for carbon pollution from power plants—the single largest source of carbon pollution in the nation, accounting for nearly one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions—the EPA hopes to protect the health of the nation’s future, and aid the environment in the fight against climate change.

In November 2014, the US and China came to a landmark agreement in which both parties agreed to cut carbon emissions and investigate new sources of cleaner, alternative energy. In this agreement, Obama initially planned to cut greenhouse gas emissions made by US power plants by 28 percent from 2005 numbers by 2025.

A New and Improved Climate Change Plan

Obama’s new climate change plan will actually be a revised version of the Clean Power Plan, re-written to include more ambitious goals and stricter regulation on industry. Instead of the initial plan to cut carbon emissions 28 percent by 2025, the revised plan calls for a 32 percent cut by 2030. But that’s not all—the new plan also calls for power plants to start investing in finding cleaner alternative sources of fuel, as it promises credit and resources to industries that comply.

Structurally, Obama’s new climate change plan is nearly identical to the initially-proposed Clean Power Plan, setting up a “cap-and-trade” system in which limits are placed on how much pollution industries can emit, forcing them to pay for additional permits and credits in order to be able to pollute as much as they have to. Obama hopes that by forcing industries to pay in order to pollute, states and corporations will have enough incentive to investigate cleaner and renewable sources of energy.

States will be given target statistics—individually customized for each state—that they must match by 2030. However, how each state goes about meeting these standards is left completely open for their choosing. States have until 2018 to come up with their plans to fight climate change before Congress.

The Long Road Ahead

Many states and industries, even before the bill was proposed threatened to sue immediately, as Obama’s new climate change plan would impose much harsher restrictions on corporations and state economies, threatening profit margins across the nation. Many states and industries have already openly refusing to comply at all, and plan to appeal for the bill to be put on hold until further negotiations can be made. Many government officials such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Rep.) of Kentucky have openly stated a complete defiance to the bill, leading to certain confrontation with the Environmental Protection Agency.

However, it is in the courts where Obama’s new plan will likely face the most danger of getting shut down. A coalition of industry lobbyists called The Electric Reliability Coordinating Council recently stated that roughly 25 states—that’s more than half the country—are ready to join industries in filing lawsuits against the bill.

However, power companies in many of the states refusing to comply with Obama’s new climate change plan are already starting to plan ways in which to meet their new standards. In fact, newer and cleaner factories are being built where older and less efficient ones once stood, reducing greenhouse emissions by almost 13 percent—already about halfway to meeting Obama’s goal!

“Climate change is not a problem for another generation,” Obama stated in his Facebook video, “not anymore.”

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Obama"s New Climate Change Plan: "The Most Important Step We Have Ever Taken"

#WashingtonDC is the new #Venice? - http://clapway.com/2015/07/29/washington-dc-sinking-fast-according-to-recent-study-235/

Data from a recent study published in the Geological Society of America’s online journal, GSA Today,  shows Washington DC sinking at an alarming rate. Scientists predict that rising sea levels, coupled with settling land beneath the Chesepeake Bay to one day sink the nation’s capital.

A Big “I Told You So”

As it turns out, the idea of Washington DC sinking into its surrounding waters has been guessed at by geologists for generations, due to signs that the land beneath Chesapeake Bay has been settling for quite some time now. Thousands of years ago, an ice sheet pushed up the land beneath Chesapeake—and since the ice melted, it has been settling back down, with Washington DC sinking more every year. “It’s a bit like sitting on one side of a water bed,” says lead researcher Ben Dejong, PhD of the University of Vermont, “filled with very thick honey.

Tide gauges in Chesapeake have also been recording rising sea levels at more than twice the global average rate for more than 60 years—a faster rate than that seen anywhere else on the East Coast.

New Study Shows Proof of Washington DC Sinking

A research team from the University of Vermont, led by Ben DeJong conducted the first thorough geological drilling expedition in Maryland in order to prove these hypotheses. The results of the study are staggering, showing Washington DC sinking at a shocking and unprecedented rate.

The new data collected from the geological drilling samples show that the US capital will sink by at least six inches—a number that DeJong takes very seriously: “Right now is the time to start making preparations. Six extra inches of water really matters in this part of the world.”

The data shows no indications of the rising sea levels having been caused by human means. Instead, natural causes such as groundwater withdrawal, and the settling of land after ancient ice sheets had melted to be the reasons behind Washington DC sinking—two processes that have been occurring for some 20,000 years now, and show no indication of stopping.

Impact on Washington

A symbol of enormous national historical significance, not to mention one of the most tourist-driven economies in the US, officials are already looking for ways in which to prevent rising sea levels from destroying the city’s landmarks and infrastructure. With Washington DC sinking at such a rate, national monuments such as the Lincoln Memorial , as well as a number of important government buildings including the Library of Congress and the White House are at risk of being flooded—not to mention the entirety of the city’s roads, buildings, wildlife sanctuaries and military installations.

“It is ironic,” says Paul Bierman, geomorphologist and geochemist at the University of Vermont, and one of the lead authors on the research team’s paper, “that the nation’s capital – the place least responsive to the dangers of climate change – is sitting in one of the worst spots it could be in terms of this land subsidence.”

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Washington DC Sinking Fast According to Recent Study

Mysterious Whale Deaths in Kodiak, Alaska Baffle Scientists - http://clapway.com/2015/07/28/mysterious-whale-deaths-in-kodiak-alaska-baffle-scientists-345/

The carcasses of 18 highly endangered whales were recently found just off Alaska’s Kodiak Island. These new reports of whale deaths are extremely concerning to both researchers and scientists interested in preserving the dwindling populations of both species. Perhaps even more concerning, scientists are yet to find any kind of answer as to what caused the heartbreaking whale deaths.

A TERRIBLE DISCOVERY

First reports of these whale deaths first started flooding in between mid-June and early July, when researchers found the bodies of 18 whales, 10 of which were humpbacks, alongside 8 fin whales. Curiously, nearly all of the whales reported have been adults, with the exception of one calf. Most of the carcasses, according to Kate Wynne, a marine-life specialist at the University of Alaska, were too decomposed to do any significant sampling, making it incredibly difficult to determine the cause of the whale deaths being reported.

A GLOBAL CAUSE FOR CONCERN

Having long been the target for whaling industries as early as the 18th century, humpback whales have been on the endangered species list for quite some time. This, combined with their vulnerability to collisions with ships, getting tangled in fishing gear, and increased noise pollution in the world’s oceans makes the latest reported whale deaths a huge source of concern among researchers and conservationists alike, with their worldwide population of only 80,000 whales worldwide—down significantly from their number of 125,000 before whaling.

Even more concerning are the deaths of the 8 fin whales, which have been recorded as a species in danger of global extinction by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). Similar to humpback whales, colliding with ships is a major cause of death for fin whales, and share a similar history of being harpooned by whaling industries for centuries.

With the populations of both endangered species slowly dwindling in waters across the globe, the pressure is on for scientists to discover the cause of the recent whale deaths.

NEW EVIDENCE MAY PROVIDE CLUES

Very few leads as to just what caused the reported whale deaths remain. According to Wynn, the only evidence that could potentially help scientists further their understanding include the fact that all the whales seemed to pass away at the same time, and within a small area, as well as the fact that further analysis of the carcasses indicated no signs of killer whale predation. “Other than that,” Wynn says, “we’re at a loss.”

While she admittedly might never know for sure, Wynn is working closely with the Marine Advisory Program in Kodiak to check for evidence of marine life holding toxic residuals in their systems. According to many marine-biologists involved in the case including Wynn, the ingesting of poisonous water and/or marine life is the most likely cause of the reported whale deaths.

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Mysterious Whale Deaths in Kodiak, Alaska Baffle Scientists