Maryland's Public System of Higher Education

Week of September 30, 2013

News from Across the USM Campuses

October 3^rd - Todd Katzner - West Virginia University - "Movement ecology of golden eagles and renewable energy development in the central Appalachians." This event is a part of the Fall 2013 Appalachian Laboratory Visiting Scholar Seminar Series.

This seminar will be held on Thursday at 3:30pm and located in Room 109 of the Appalachian Laboratory.  

October 4^th - Dr. Richard Feiock from Florida State University- "The Influence of City Government Structure and Collaboration Networks on Adoption of Sustainability Programs." This seminar is a part of the Fall 2013 Seminar Series sponsored by the Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education (CUERE) at University of Maryland, Baltimore County. The seminar will be held at 2:00pm in the Technology Research Center, Room 206, on the UMBC campus, and is free and open to the public. Registration is not required. Visitor parking passes for the TRC lot may be purchased for $4.00 in the CUERE office in TRC 102/105, on the UMBC campus, shortly before seminar.  

October 12^th - Horn Point Annual Open House - The Horn Point Laboratory invites the public to take part in its annual Open House from 10am to 3pm. Located on the banks of the Choptank River on Maryland's Eastern Shore, the laboratory is renowned for its study of marine ecosystems.

State of Maryland News  

MDE, Baltimore City and partners "plug" charging station opening: First curbside station to be placed on a Baltimore Street; Investment in charging stations, knowledge of the benefits of electric vehicles, strategic partnerships mean better air quality for Maryland residents. (Maryland Department of the Environment, Press Release, 9/27/13)

Governor O'Malley Announces More Than $3 Million in Bikeways Grants: Governor Adds Millions to Popular Bike Program Thanks to Transportation Act (Maryland Department of Transportation, News Release, 9/26/13)

October 5^th - 12^th - From the Bay, For the Bay is Back! Governor Martin O'Malley today announced the return of the From the Bay, For the Bay Dine Out, a week-long celebration of Maryland seafood benefiting the Oyster Recovery Partnership. More than 50 high-profile restaurants have already signed up, including Ryleigh's Oyster House, Woodberry Kitchen, Rocklands, and Matchbox. Last year's inaugural promotion proved a success, raising $20,000 for oyster restoration projects. (Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Access DNR, 9/25/13)

Survey: Majority in Washington D.C. area support more bike lanes (By Michael Graham Richard, Treehugger.com, 9/23/13) [68% of Maryland respondents approve of efforts to increase the number of bike lanes in the DC-Metro area]

National and International News

'Debate on Science is Over': World Reacts to IPCC Report - Report only confirms what steady stream of science for decades has been saying; Time for action is now, declare climate leaders (By Jon Queally, CommonDreams.org, 9/27/13)

What the IPCC found: The big news from the new climate assessment (By John Upton, Grist.org, 9/27/13)

The IPCC, Climate Change and Bad Faith Attacks on Science (By Michael E. Mann, The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 9/27/13)

Climate change: how hot will it get in my lifetime? - interactive -- The UN is to publish the most exhaustive examination of climate change science to date, predicting dangerous temperature rises. How hot will it get in your lifetime? Find out with our interactive guide, which shows projections based on the report (By Duncan Clark, The [UK] Guardian, 9/27/13)

Melting ice and rising seas will make Alaskan villagers America's first climate refugees (By Chris Tackett, Treehugger.com - Climate Change Blog, 9/27/13)

Fukishima crisis continues to spiral with hole in radiation barrier: Fence made of sily that sits in harbor has been breached, TEPCO admits, sparking further concern of ocean contamination (By Andrea Germanos, CommonDreams.org, 9/26/13)

World's biggest solar thermal power plant fired up in California (By John Upton, Grist.org, 9/25/13)

Bike Commuting Continues to Rise (American Consumer Survey as reported by the League of American Bicyclists, 9/25/13)

Gulf Oil Spill Recovery Could Take Decades For Deep-Sea Ecosystem, Study Finds (Reuters as reported by The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 9/25/13)

Arctic warming may be messing with the entire weather system: Scientists may have an explanation for Colorado's floods and other bizarre weather (By Lindsay Abrams, Salon.com, 9/25/13)

China's Disappearing Rivers: Is Climate Change to Blame? (By Mark Byrnes, The AtlanticCities.com, 9/24/13)

Nearly One In 10 U.S. Watersheds Is 'Stressed'; Demand For Water Outpacing Supply: CIRES Study (By Matt Ferner, The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 9/24/13)

Climate Change Costs: The Economic Argument For Global Warming Action (By Amir Bibawy, The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 9/24/13)

Ecological 'Wake-Up' Call Counters Corporate-Friendly 'Free' Trade: Report from UN body on sustainable agriculture stands 'in stark contrast to the accelerated push for new free trade agreements, including the TPP' (By Andrea Germanos, CommonDreams.org, 9/23/13)

Growing Disruption: Climate change, food, and the fight against hunger (Oxfam Issue Briefing, Oxfam.org, September 2013) [PDF]