Maryland's Public System of Higher Education

Week of March 26, 2012

News from Across the USM Campuses

March 29^th - Mark Imhoff - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center?- "Gray wave of the great transformation: A satellite view of urbanization, population growth, and food security." The event is  hosted by Andrew Elmore. Seminar will be held on Thursday at 3:30pm and located in Room 109 of the Appalachian Laboratory.

April 16 - 17^th - Register now for the "Smart and Sustainable Campus Conference" to be held at the University of Maryland, University College Inn and Conference Center. This conference is hosted by the University of Maryland, College Park. Conference tracks are: Life Cycle of the Built Environment; Community Connections; The Campus as a Learning Laboratory; Fostering Behavior Change; and Strategic Implementation.

State of Maryland News

Maryland watershed one of most polluted in nation: Gunpowder-Patapsco Watershed responsible for most of state's water pollution (By Steve Kilar, The Baltimore Sun - B'More Green Blog, 3/22/12)

Contaminant search limited around Sparrows Point: Judge approves deal to sample for steel-making pollution only 50 feet offshore (By Tim Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun - B'More Green Blog, 3/22/12)

MPT looks at fracking: Documentary examines pros, con in Pa. (By Tim Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun - B'More Green Blog, 3/21/12)

USM Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change Initiative

• Practices
• Programs
• Policies

• Presentations
• Climate Change Definitions
• Facilities Master Planning
• Statewide Sustainability Efforts
• ACUPCC National Benchmarking
• Useful Links and References

Auburn scientists find tar balls are better left alone: The April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the waves of tar balls deposited on the beaches shortly thereafter prompted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to produce a tar ball fact sheet. Among the factoids was one stating that those sticky, coin-sized clumps of weathered oil, though unsightly and annoying, are not a human health hazard. (By Jamie Creamer, PhysOrg.com, 3/26/12)

Climate scientists: It's basically too late to stop warming (By Christopher Mims, Grist.org, 3/26/12)

Captivity could help polar bears survive global warming assault, some zoos say (By Juliet Eilperin, The Washington Post - National, 3/25/12)

David Suzuki: Dirty fuel should be consigned to the coal bin of history (By David Suzuki, Georgia Straight [Vancouver, Canada], 3/20/12)

90 Degrees in Winter: This Is What Climate Change Looks Like (By Bill McKibben, The Nation as reported by CommonDreams.org, 3/20/12)

As gas prices rise, so does push for bicycle trails (By Larry Copeland, USA today, 3/19/12)