Week of May 13, 2013

News from Across the USM Campuses

Towson University and Port Deposit formalize northern map turtle partnership (By Kiel McLaughlin, TU News, 5/8/13)

Nearly 1 in 3 U.S. Honeybees Lost in Winter 2012-13 (UMD Right Now, 5/7/13) [Survey was conducted by University of Maryland entomologist Dennis vanEngelsdorp]

Study: Restored Oyster Reefs Better at Absorbing Pollution (By Tom Pelton, The Bay Daily, 5/6/13) [Article cites study by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science]

State of Maryland News

May 17^th - Bike to Work Day - Bike to Work Day 2013 - Sponsored by the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, will be celebrated in the Baltimore region and across the nation on Friday May 17, 2013. This year marks the 16th annual event in the Baltimore region and will feature events at locations around the region. To register for an event in your area, click on the location you'd like to attend a rally or pit stop, on the linked page. The first 1,400 registered riders that attend an event will receive a mesh hat. Some rallies will also have free bike checks, prizes, t-shirts, and other great info and giveaways.

Patent filing claims solar energy ‘breakthrough' (By Greg Gordon, McClatchy Washington Bureau, 5/8/13)

Maryland Recognizes Drinking Water Week 2013: What Do You Know About Your H2O? (Maryland Department of the Environment, Press Release, 5/7/13)

National and International News

America's First Climate Refugees: Newtok, Alaska is losing ground to the sea at a dangerous rate and for its residents, exile is inevitable. (By Suzanne Goldenberg, The [UK] Guardian, 5/13/13)

Human Indifference on Climate Imperils 50,000 Species Worldwide: Study: Biodiversity loss related to the impact of global warming will negatively effect 57 percent of plants and 34 percent of animal species across the planet (By Jon Queally, CommonDreams.org, 5/13/13)

Healthy foods are destroying the environment: Efforts to reduce the risk of foodborne illness are having unforeseen effects on California's biodiversity (By Erin Brodwin, Salon.com, 5/13/13)

USM Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change Initiative

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• Climate Change Definitions
• Facilities Master Planning
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• Useful Links and References

Climate change 'will make hundreds of millions homeless': Carbon dioxide levels indicate rise in temperatures that could lead agriculture to fail on entire continents (By Robin McKie, The [UK] Observer as reported by The [UK] Guardian, 5/11/13)

400 PPM (By Al Gore, Chairman - Generation Investment Management and The Climate Reality Project, 5/10/13)

No Need to Worry About Global Warming, Folks: More Carbon Dioxide Will Be Awesome (By Phil Plait, Slate.com, 5/10/13)

Atmospheric CO2 Concentrations Surpass 400 PPM Milestone (By James Gerken, The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 5/10/13)

The most controversial chart in history, explained (By Chris Mooney, Grist.org, 5/10/13)

Norway, Canada, the United States and the Tar Sands (By Dr. James Hansen, The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 5/10/13)

How a Legal Loophole Allows Untested Pesticides in Everything From Cosmetics to Clothing: The EPA is abusing a legal loophole to let products like nanosilver be used in your clothing and baby blankets without ensuring their safety. (By Laura Fraser, OnEarth.org as reported by Alternet.org - Environment Blog, 5/10/13)

Climate milestone is a moment of symbolic significance on road of idiocy: The only way forward is back: to retrace our steps and seek to return atmospheric concentrations to around 350ppm (By George Monbiot, The [UK] Guardian - George Monbiot's Blog, 5/10/13)

Obama administration outlines new policy for protecting, drilling in the Arctic (By Erika Bolstad, McClatchy Washington Bureau, 5/10/13)

Ignoring Bee Crisis, EPA Greenlights New 'Highly Toxic' Pesticide - Green group: 'The EPA continues to put industry interests first to exacerbate an already dire pollinator crisis.' (By Lauren McCauley, CommonDreams.org, 5/9/13)

The Coming GOP Civil War Over Climate Change: Science, storms, and demographics are starting to change minds among the rank and file. (By Coral Davenport, The National Journal, 5/9/13)

California town of Sebastopol will require solar panels on all new homes (By John Upton, Grist.org, 5/9/13)

Deeper Than Deepwater: Shell Plans World's Riskiest Offshore Well Ignoring risks, Shell gears up for production of world's deepest offshore well (By Jacob Chamberlain, CommonDreams.org, 5/9/13)

Prince Charles attacks global warming sceptics: Prince uses speech at St James's Palace to single out 'confirmed sceptics' and environmentally unfriendly businesses (By Fiona Harvey, The [UK] Guardian, 5/9/13)

Fracking Water Use Draining Resources, Especially In Western U.S., New Studies Find (By John Platt, Mother Nature Network as reported by The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 5/9/13)

Google Earth GIFs, 'Timelapse' Project, Show Startling Impact Of Humans On The Planet (Google Earth as reported by The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 5/9/13)

Is Climate Change Fueling a Deadly Disease in California and Other Parched States? Environmental changes may be to blame for spiking rates of an often misdiagnosed and potentially fatal disease. (By Tara Lohan, Alternet.org - Environment Blog, 5/8/13)

Will cities ever get smart about water use? (By Robert Lalasz, Grist.org, 5/8/13)

US honeybees threatened as 31% of colonies died out in 2012, report shows: Survey shows heavy loss of pollinators is further evidence of mysterious disorder that has destroyed colonies for seven years (By Suzanne Goldenberg, The [UK] Guardian, 5/8/13)

Study: Media Ignore Climate Context Of Midwest Floods (By Jill Fitzsimmons and Shauna Theel, ThinkProgress.org - Climate Progress Blog, 5/7/13)

Mayor wants to increase fines for reckless cyclists, motorists (By Fran Spielman, The [Chicago] Sun Times, 5/7/13)