National Audubon Society

A wetland

Audubon Florida Climate and Energy News Roundup

This week we share news about natural climate solutions, a bill that encourages more solar power in Florida, EPA plans to limit GHG emissions, and more!

A wetland landscape at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples.

Putting Wetlands to Work for Disaster Recovery

From National Audubon Society

“No one will forget the intense challenges that 2020 brought us, from record-breaking hurricanes and wildfires to a global pandemic that devastated our economy and public health. As Congress and the Biden administration look to help our country rebuild and recover from these compounding crises, investing in nature presents an opportunity to deliver multiple benefits for communities, birds, and other wildlife. Audubon presents a new suite of policy recommendations for making our communities and wildlife more resilient to climate change, by putting our wetlands, barrier islands, and other ecosystems to work.”

Read the entire article.

E.P.A. to Sharply Limit Powerful Greenhouse Gases

From the New York Times

“The Environmental Protection Agency moved on Monday to sharply reduce the use and production of powerful greenhouse gases central to refrigeration and air-conditioning, part of the Biden administration’s larger strategy of trying to slow the pace of global warming. The agency proposed to regulate hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, a class of man-made chemicals that are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide at warming the planet. The proposal is the first significant step the E.P.A. has taken under President Biden to curb climate change.”

Read the entire article.

Kathy Castor Wants Energy Department to Back More Community Solar Power Projects

From Florida Daily

“Last week, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., the chairwoman of the U.S. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, introduced the ‘Community Solar Consumer Choice Act,’ claiming it will help create 2 million jobs. Castor showcased the bill on Thursday, which was Earth Day, which will ‘expand a Department of Energy program that encourages community solar projects nationwide and increases accessibility to energy produced by lower-cost solar power.’ The longtime Tampa congresswoman offered some of the rationales behind the legislation, insisting it will help the Sunshine State.”

Read the entire article.

The 'Heat Bombs' Destroying Arctic Sea Ice

From Phys.org

“A team led by physical oceanographers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, and including Bangor University scientist, shows in a new study how plumes of warm water are flowing into the Arctic Ocean from the Pacific Ocean and accelerating sea ice melt from below. The research primarily funded by the Office of Naval Research describes so-called underwater "heat bombs" as one of many mechanisms by which global warming-driven encroachment is changing the nature of the Arctic Ocean faster than nearly any other place on Earth. It adds to a growing body of evidence that suggests that Arctic sea ice, a source of global climate stability, could disappear for larger portions of the year.”

Read the entire article.

NASA Data Helps Builds Resilience as Disasters Grow More Intense

From Phys.Org

“In a decade filled by record-breaking events including raging wildfires, numerous hurricanes, unseasonal flooding and historically cold temperatures, NASA has continued to learn more about how the planet is changing and the effect it has on Earth's systems. In the satellite era, a fleet of Earth-observing satellites have gathered data on world-wide rain and snowfall, air and ocean temperatures, air quality, land use and land cover, along with a myriad of other phenomena that enable researchers and decision makers to study the connections between changes in climate, environment and society. For vulnerable communities these changes can create new risks.”

Read the entire article.

To Mitigate Flooding, States and Communities Increasingly Turn to Nature

From Pew Trust

“As many around the U.S. mark the 51st Earth Day, communities and states are increasingly recognizing that smart conservation can help people as well as the natural world. One example of this is the growing adoption of nature-based solutions to mitigate flooding. Such strategies include replacing impervious surfaces such as asphalt with gravel to allow rainwater to seep into the ground, converting developed areas in flood plains to open green space to absorb floodwaters, and preserving and restoring “living shorelines”—dunes, wetlands, mangrove forests, and other natural features—which diffuse rising waters and help blunt the force of storm-driven waves.”

Read the entire article.

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