On behalf of the Columbia River Treaty Universities Consortium, The University of British Columbia, One River, Ethics Matter, and the North American Youth Parliament for Water we invite you to attend a virtual symposium on November 29th and 30th, 2023 from 8:30 am until 12:30 pm daily PST.
You can register here.
Please join us on November 29th & 30th for a virtual gathering to begin the process of revitalizing public education and dialogue on transboundary issues and governance in the Columbia River Basin following the pandemic hiatus. Much has happened in the Basin since the last major in-person transboundary symposium led by Columbia Basin Trust in Kimberley, British Columbia in 2019. You may register at this link: https://columbiabasingovernance.org/
At the conference convened in Kimberley, participants made it clear that formal transboundary public engagement is critical to the future governance of the shared Columbia River Basin. Since then, issues such as water quality, salmon reintroduction, and transition to carbon neutral energy have moved to the forefront, but with the limitations of the pandemic, a forum for public engagement has not been convened.
We have organized this virtual forum to provide a platform for an exchange of deliberative dialogues for the future governance of the Columbia River Basin. We have over 30 distinguished speakers from across the Basin and beyond such as Tribes and First Nation Sovereigns, not-for-profit, private, and public sectors, including youth and students who will present on topics such as Indigenous-led salmon revitalization initiatives in the basin, water quality in the Elk and Kootenai/y watersheds, global perspectives on governance models, ethical and intergenerational aspects of public engagement in water governance and other pressing issues facing the third largest watershed in North America.
This dialogue will form the basis for the organization of an anticipated in-person transboundary conference in May 2024 which will lead the Basin in a new and exciting direction, build upon the web of relationships built over the last decade of transboundary dialogue, create new, longer-term linkages, and initiate new collaborations across the Basin where the Symposium will most importantly act as a centre for dialogue and knowledge-sharing through face-to-face and virtual interaction. Through open invitations to not only Basin residents but to participants globally, this
Symposium will be designed to engage a broader public through synthesis, exchange, networking, and co-creation beyond the Columbia River Treaty.
All the items below were obtained by E.J. Hanford. Duplicate items are the fault of M.E. Campana as is the humor at the very bottom.
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Geoscience Bulletin Board – 27 November 2023 – compiled by Elaine J. Hanford
Flagg Ranch ignimbrites associated with Lava Creek Tuff in Grand Teton National Park
EU debating sanctions package that would finally ban imports of diamonds from Russia
SpaceX massive Starship rocket explodes and becomes space junk
Journey into the Morton Salt Mine beneath Lake Erie
We have better maps of Mars than of the ocean floor
Visualizing all the metals mined in 2022 – almost 2.8B tonnes
How crystallization occurs
Landslide in Wrangell, Alaska, causes several deaths
- https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2023/11/21/multiple-landslides-reported-southeast-alaska-rain-winds-snow-hit-area/
- https://apnews.com/article/alaska-highway-landslide-c4a5c3c6af3a2e4d37d38d8b8ff1d001
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/one-person-dead-five-believed-missing-in-alaska-landslide/ar-AA1kk9q9
Investigating how the Appalachians formed by examining kyanite
Landslide vulnerability in Washington and elsewhere in the midst of landslide season
Anticipating the next Uttarkashi-like collapse in the Himalayas
The what, where and why of earthquakes
Combining laser-induced shock with high-speed x-ray diffraction to study mantle conditions
Two remarkably preserved ceratopsian dinosaur fossils found in Hebei province of north China
Grand Mesa in Colorado is largest flattop mountain in the world
Weakening of Stratospheric Polar Vortex could signal Ice Age on the horizon (video)
- https://eightify.app/summary/climate-science/impending-new-ice-age-polar-vortex-weakens-alarming-signs#
- Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h5yNJIVAVk
Asbestos – the good and the bad
JOIDES Resolution research vessel will be retired in 2024 – 4 decades of ocean research
Quartz grains may offer new method to study historic wildfires and heat effects on soil
How dissolved inorganic carbon moves through waterways in SE Alaska
Impacts of sand mining in Mekong River Delta of Vietnam – subsidence, accelerated erosion & depleted resource
Libyan desert glass – the origin of these yellow shards that contain polymorphs of ZrO3 – preferred theory: impact of meteorite – piece incorporated in King Tut’s tomb
- https://phys.org/news/2023-11-libyan-yellow-glass-rare-mysterious.html
- https://theconversation.com/libyan-deserts-yellow-glass-how-we-discovered-the-origin-of-these-rare-and-mysterious-shards-217565
- 1933 Paper: http://www.qattara.it/DESERTO%20EGIZIANO_FILES/silica.pdf
- https://www.iflscience.com/unusual-yellow-gem-in-king-tut-s-tomb-created-by-meteor-crash-in-sahara-67593
Importance of goethite in Australia
Effects of aerosol particles on clouds & climate
- https://phys.org/news/2023-11-capturing-effect-aerosol-particles-clouds.html
- Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-41695-8
New AI formula to predict rogue waves
Amanasaurus nesbitti – New genus & species of Late Triassic silesaur in Brazil
- https://www.sci.news/paleontology/amanasaurus-nesbitti-12466.html
- Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-32057-x
Eomortoniellus handlirschi – 44 myo katydid fossilized in Baltic Amber communicated at high frequency ultrasounds
- https://www.sci.news/paleontology/eomortoniellus-handlirschi-12460.html
- Paper: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(23)01441-0
Dolphins are very clever – video of bait heist
Global population of male green sea turtles is rapidly declining – endangered species due to human activities
10 new species of trilobites discovered in Thailand in late Cambrian-Ordovician Sibumasu tuffs on the coast of Ko Tarutao Island within UNESCO Geopark
- https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1008716
- Paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/spp2.1516
Chemistry & petrography of early 19th Century basaltic andesites & basalts from Kamakai’a Hills in Hawaii
- https://www.usgs.gov/publications/chemistry-and-petrography-early-19th-century-basaltic-andesites-and-basalts-kamakaia
- Paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S037702732300224X
Updates to regional groundwater flow model of New Jersey Coastal Plain 1980-2013 – 21-layer 3D transient model
- https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/sir20235066
- SIR 2023-5066: https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2023/5066/sir20235066.pdf
NASA mapped critical mineral deposits and ecosystem function across the US Southwest
The Ice Core Archive houses glacial ice that records history of climatic & atmospheric conditions on Earth – “"The globe has easily been much warmer than it is today. But that's before humans were there,”
Seafloor mapping identifies 5,249-foot-high seamount off the coast of Guatemala
Numerical simulations suggest shape of meteor impact crater depends on spin and degree of cohesion
More than 46,000 houses have been built in zones impacted by 2023 Turkey earthquake – 680,000 under construction
“Uptick” of activity in New Madrid Seismic Zone is with normal range and not unprecedented
Book Review: “Dust – the modern world in a trillion particles”
Government & private companies once again exploring geothermal potential in Nevada – repeat of the 1970s
Precarious rocks in Antelope Valley
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Environmental Science Bulletin Board – 27 November 2023 – compiled by Elaine J. Hanford
The significance and consequences of Thanksgiving
Multi-part series: over-allocation has created a “crisis” for the Colorado River
- https://www.latimes.com/environment/colorado-river-in-crisis-documentary-123
- https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/colorado-river-in-crisis
Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco) to pay $57M+ for cleanup of Anacostia River in DC & Maryland – pollutants include spills, leaks & intentional releases of PCBs, VOCs heavy metals, pesticides, dioxins
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/company-to-pay-over-50-million-in-largest-environmental-lawsuit-settlement-in-d-c-history-health-risks-to-the-public/ar-AA1k8nPK
- https://oag.dc.gov/release/attorney-general-schwalb-secures-57-million-pepco
- Consent Order: https://oag.dc.gov/sites/default/files/2023-10/BP-V%20CD%20%28Final%29%20%282%29.pdf
Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are driving up health care costs & benefitting Big Pharma – illegal practices
Romancing the River we’ve created – humans have over-allocated the Colorado River with flawed Colorado Compact – toward a framework for sustainability?
- https://sibleysrivers.com/romancing-the-river-weve-created/
- https://www.colorado.edu/center/gwc/sites/default/files/attached-files/policy-brief-2-a-common-vision-for-the-colorado-river-system.pd
You are what you eat – costs of obesity in the US – 73% of food is ultra-processed – 40% of adults are obese
Top ten animals when it comes to endurance (humans do not make the list)
DEI policies are discriminatory against those who disagree – Academia is not a haven for free speech
Candida auris “superbug” found at 42 healthcare facilities in Nevada with nearly 500 cases
Restoration of wetlands on Prairie Band Potawatomie Nation Reservation in Jackson County, Kansas
What’s the problem with pumped storage hydropower? Where will the water come from in White Pine County?
EU reauthorizes glyphosate for another 10-year span while Napa Green in California announce phaseout of glyphosate/Roundup by January 2026 and al synthetic herbicides by January 2028 – costs & health risks
Tourons do stupid things like taunting a moose in Montana
Increase in measles cases (9M cases in population of 8B) globally and estimated 136,000 related deaths in 2022 = less than 0.002% case fatality rate so create another plandemic
Setting the record straight: “The Fall of Minneapolis” - truth buried by so many lies
Oberon solar project in Riverside County, California, covers 2,600 acres of public land with aesthetically ugly
Perspective: When will New York City do something about the “staggering” number of e-bike fire deaths?
Post-pandemic financial impact on Big Pharma – stock-market values plummeting with low vaxx demand
Google removes non-existent trail from maps after another search & rescue of stranded hiker in “extremely steep and dangerous terrain” of North Shore mountains near Vancouver
California company aiming to produce “net-zero” jet fuel from plastic waste has defaulted on $289M in bonds and put $500M on hold – more Biden promoted waste under the Inflation Reduction Act – remember Solyndra??
The ugly history behind Glacier National Park
Class action lawsuit against 4 car manufacturers for spying on consumers
Cannabis use linked to epigenetic changes in humans
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/cannabis-use-linked-to-epigenetic-changes-scientists-reveal/ar-AA1kfQK1
- Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-023-02106-y
Sites Reservoir first proposed in the 1960s gets endorsement from California Governor for “fast-tracking” – “expensive, wasteful and ecologically damaging” - $4.5B and no certainty that it will add to water suply
Plant-based “meat and dairy alternatives” touted for reducing GHG emissions – but what about health impacts?
- https://currently.att.yahoo.com/lifestyle/study-uncovers-shocking-impact-plant-190000181.html
- https://phys.org/news/2023-09-meat-alternatives-slash-food-emissions.html
- Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-40899-2
The cost of “clean energy” transition in rural Minnesota
Cost of repairing & rehabilitating MBTA transit system in Boston area just jumped up by $10B
How many park benches & picnic tables do we need? Wind turbine blades go to landfills
FDA expands recall of pet foods due to possible Salmonella contamination
Asbestos – the good and the bad – now banned in 66 countries – still used in some applictions
The secrets of electric eels in Brazil
Beware: Big Pharma currently developing 28 vaccines and aiming to collect big money ($10B in flu shots by 2030) – calling them therapeutic while sales of covid booster shots have cratered
Finally hinting at what we have known all along – human behaviors have driven covid evolution in the name of “limiting transmissions” with vaxxing and draconian mandates
200,000 Americans have died from fentanyl-related drugs (synthetic opioids) since 2020
BLM rounding up nearly 1,600 wild horses – to treat 81 mares with fertility control vaccine
No plans to recapture Mexican gray wolf F2754
EPA may approve use of neurotoxin Aldicarb pesticide for citrus fruit in Florida – but in 2010 EPA found use of Aldicarb posed unacceptable dietary risk to infants & young children
Scale of covid- relief fraud is nothing short of astonishing – BILLIONS of dollars as government oversight failed
American wood pellet manufacturer in jeopardy – declining foreign market & stock shares down 97% this year
Tonawanda Seneca Nation not consulted regarding adjacent hydrogen project – assault on treaty rights
USEPA approved $92M WIFIA loan to Santa Clara Valley WD for $2.5B Pacheco Reservoir Expansion Project
Wildlife rehabilitation data identifies most frequent ways humans harm wild animals
- https://theconversation.com/digitized-records-from-wildlife-centers-show-the-most-common-ways-that-humans-harm-wild-animals-214819
- Paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320723003968
Gettysburg National Military Park tells story of critical battle of the Civil War & reconciliation that took decades
Dispelling the myth that men evolved to hunt and women evolved to gather – relatively baseless assumption – women well-suited to endurance activities like hunting
- https://www.sciencealert.com/one-of-the-biggest-hunter-gatherers-myths-is-finally-getting-debunked
- Paper: https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/aman.13914
Busting the myth of the man-made global warming crisis: Global Temp exceeded 2 °C and the world did not end – just closer to matching the warmer temperatures in several previous inter-glacials – pledges are meaningless
- https://www.sciencealert.com/global-temperature-exceeds-2-c-threshold-for-first-time-on-record
- https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Earth_to_warm_up_to_29C_even_with_current_climate_pledges_UN_999.html
US Solar Photovoltaic Database & interactive map of all large-scale solar energy facilities in the US
- https://www.usgs.gov/news/national-news-release/usgs-and-lawrence-berkeley-national-laboratory-release-database-and
- Database: https://eerscmap.usgs.gov/uspvdb/data/
- Interactive map: https://eerscmap.usgs.gov/uspvdb/viewer/#3/37.25/-96.25
Cluster of cases in SW Michigan of syphilis of the eye all from the same man – possible new strain
- https://arstechnica.com/health/2023/11/five-women-got-eye-syphilis-from-the-same-man-raising-questions/
- CDC report: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7247a1.htm?s_cid=mm7247a1_w
Book Review: “Horizons: The Global Origins of Modern Science” – globalism vs. the scientific revolution
Numerous miles-long oil spills reported on Monongahela River in Pittsburgh over past 6 months
US NPS & USFS proposes policy to ban climbing bolts & anchors as “permanent installations” under 1964 Wilderness Act – opposed by outdoor recreation groups – open for public comment
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/no-climbing-allowed-federal-proposal-may-limit-access-across-u-s/ar-AA1kl0np
- Comment on Proposal: https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public/CommentInput?project=ORMS-3524
UK Regulatory Agency approves first CRISPR gene-editing treatment for two genetic blood disorders clinical trials on total of 81 patients – FDA determined safe for clinical use with final approval still pending
Mysterious “pneumonia like” illness causing another wave of overwhelming number of sick children in China – mycoplasma pneumoniae “walking pneumonia”
Need for new rules to protect wildlife from hiker and tourons
New Jersey following in the footsteps of California and other states– plans to ban sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035 – all in the name of misguided concept of man-made global warming caused by CO2
True cost of EVs equates to $17 per gallon
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/savingandinvesting/study-finds-the-true-cost-of-owning-an-electric-vehicle-equates-to-17-per-gallon/ar-AA1kpS9b
- Report: https://www.texaspolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/2023-10-TrueCostofEVs-BennettIsaac.pdf
Nigerian troops deactivate 50 illegal oil refining sites – Operation Delta Safe
Population of wild turkeys has declined by about 15% across the US – Why? Habitat loss, hunting, disease, increase in predators? After conservation brought species back from the brink of extinction
Perspective: What if we tolerated diseases? i.e., if we were healthy?!
3,000 homes to be built on abandoned Three Kids Mine & Mill site near Henderson, Nevada – manganese, lead and arsenic pollution to be buried – asbestos to be removed
- https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/three-kids-mine-site-cleanup-set-to-begin-in-2024-as-vote-nears-on-plan-for-3000-homes/
- https://yournews.com/2023/11/22/2694671/henderson-city-council-approves-development-of-3000-homes-on-historic/
- Three Kids Mine Project overview - https://www.threekidsmine.com/
- Remediation Act: https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/697
Investigating car explosion (not terrorist attack) at US-Canadian Border – high rate of speed, hit curb & soared into the air before crashing down into CBP booth & bursting into flames
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/government-walks-back-terrorism-claim-after-car-explodes-on-us-canadian-border/ar-AA1ksQbi
- https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/23/us/us-canada-border-rainbow-bridge-explosion-thursday/index.html
Even the New York Times is getting a more balanced perspective on the events of January 6 – 59& to 74% agreed undercover government agents helped provoke the Capitol riot
Is it really wise to ask WHO to declare yet another crisis? – WHO does not have unbiased track record – “co-ordinated editorial” sounds like collusion
- https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/world-health-organization-medical-journals-global-emergency-1.7006682
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/over-200-medical-journals-call-on-who-to-declare-immediate-emergency-we-ve-got-to-act-with-thought-but-also-with-haste/ar-AA1ksDBd
- https://www.bmj.com/content/383/bmj.p2355
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Coastal Zone Management Bulletin Board - 27 November 2023 - Compiled by Elaine J. Hanford
Barge in English Bay broke loose from mooring & ran aground near Sunset Beach in Vancouver
- https://bc.ctvnews.ca/unmoored-barge-has-near-miss-with-vancouver-beach-1.6651923
- https://www.iheartradio.ca/virginradio/vancouver/news/unmoored-barge-has-near-miss-with-vancouver-beach-1.20660333
Oceans are over-fished – can seafood farming in new ways increase food supply? Or simply create more concentrated pollution?
Restrictions on lot consolidation & construction near bluffs of Lake Michigan in Winnetka, Illinois
Lobsterman missing off the coast of Maine near Kennebunkport
Ferry founders & takes on water in rough seas near Blue Lagoon Island in the Bahamas – at least 1 dead
https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/colorado-woman-dies-boat-sinks-bahamas-blue-lagoon
Turkish cargo ship “Kafkametler” sank off the coast of the Black Sea after hitting breakwater during storm
Galaxy Leader is hijacked by Houthis in the southern Red Sea – Israel reacts
US Coast Guard seeking to find source for 1.1M gallon pipeline leak of crude oil along Gulf of Mexico
Conway, South Carolina, wants to address flooding concerns by creating new bay
Continued drought may further reduce traffic through the Panama Canal
Saltwater intrusion along the west coast of Sulawesi Island in Indonesia
Nature doing what Nature does – Nyangai Island in Turtle Island Archipelago of Sierra Leone is slowly eroding & sinking promoted by indiscriminate, unregulated sand mining
- https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/11/19/1213548231/climate-change-disappearing-island-sierra-leone-africa
- https://chinadialogueocean.net/en/governance/19162-sea-level-rise-sierra-leone-sinking-islands/
Aiming for “sustainable tourism” coastal cities are pushing to restrict or ban cruise ships from ports
BOEM approves construction & operation plan for Revolution Wind utility-scale offshore wind farm – despite announcing $2.8B losses, Ørsted claims it will finish Revolution Wind Project as long as it gets subsidies
- https://electrek.co/2023/11/21/connecticut-rhode-island-offshore-wind-farm/
- https://ctexaminer.com/2023/11/01/orsted-announces-big-losses-plans-to-complete-revolution-wind/
Significant questions remain on impacts of offshore wind farms on the ocean and marine life – BOEM asked National Academies to conduct a study – Revolution Wind Project would impact Nantucket Shoals region
Isle of Man to Lancashire ferry disrupted due to freight backlog, strong winds & silting of Heysham Port
“Life at Sea Cruises” inaugural 3-year voyage cancelled because company “has no ship”
The Great Lakes wind boom that never happened – and that is a good thing
"Actually, the college is doing fine without the economists. We just assumed them away." - @ass_deans
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