Environment

Explore Space At Summer Family Evening Wednesday

Head to the Los Alamos Nature Center Wednesday, July 17 for a space-themed Summer Family Evening starting at 6:30 p.m. Enjoy crafts and activities from Mesa Public Library and join PEEC’s astronomers to look at the sky with telescopes and solar filters and for a planetarium open house. This program is sponsored by Del Norte Credit Union. Photo by Minesh Bacrania
 
PEEC News:
 
Join Mesa Public Library’s Melissa Mackey and the Pajarito Environmental Education Center’s astronomers this Wednesday, July 17 at the Los Alamos Nature Center for a space-themed Summer Family Evening.
 
Read More

AGU: Study Bolsters Case That Climate Change Is Driving Many California Wildfires

Area burned by California wildfires in thousands of square kilometers, 1972-2018. Specific regions studied are at upper left. Courtesy/Williams et al., 2019
 
A satellite image, Aug. 6, 2018, shows smoke from multiple large California wildfires. The fires themselves, detected by thermal imagery, are in red. Courtesy/NASA
 
AGU News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. Against a backdrop of long-term rises in temperature in recent decades, California has seen ever higher spikes in seasonal wildfires, and, in the last two years, a string of disastrous, record-setting blazes.
 
Read More

Udall, Heinrich, Torres Small: Over $3.2 Million To Help Modernize Pueblo Of Laguna Wastewater Systems

CONGRESSIONAL News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small have announced that the Pueblo of Laguna was awarded $3,242,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development for three projects to renovate and improve wastewater infrastructure in Seama Village, Paquate Village, and New Laguna Village.
 
The funding will help modernize the Pueblo of Laguna’s wastewater systems, eliminating the use of septic tanks and connecting residents to sewer services.
 
The projects will benefit
Read More

New Mexico Congressional Delegation Fights For Communities Impacted By PFAS Contamination

 
Congressional Delegation News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and U.S. Representatives Ben Ray Luján, Deb Haaland and Xochitl Torres Small continued to fight last week for communities and businesses impacted by PFAS contamination in groundwater around Air Force bases in New Mexico and across the country.
 
Earlier this year, the New Mexico delegation introduced the PFAS Damages Act to provide relief to communities and businesses affected by PFAS, including farms and ranches in New Mexico that have been upended by PFAS contamination from
Read More

Researchers Find Probiotic Bacteria Reduces Impact Of White-Nose Syndrome In Bats

A little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) covered in the fungus, P. destructans, which causes white-nose syndrome. Photo by Joseph Hoyt
 
VT News:
 
It is widely accepted that probiotic bacteria are beneficial to human health, but what if they also could be used to reduce wildlife disease and conserve biodiversity?
 
Researchers from Virginia Tech and UC Santa Cruz did just that in a field trial on the effect of probiotic bacteria on white-nose syndrome in bat populations.
 
They found that it reduces the impact of the disease about five-fold. These findings were published
Read More

Daily Postcard: Bobcat Spotted At Valles Caldera

Daily Postcard: A bobcat is spotted walking at the Valles Caldera, home to the second largest elk population in New Mexico and other residents such as Gunnison prairie dogs, coyotes, badgers, black bears, Eastern mountain bluebirds and golden eagles. It is illegal to willfully remain near or approach wildlife, including birds, within ANY distance that disturbs or displaces the animal – Source: VCNP. Courtesy/VCNP Read More