NOAA’s Fisheries Service is accepting public comment on a proposed rule requiring turtle excluder devices (TEDs) for skimmer, pusher-head, and wing-net shrimp trawls in Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic shrimp fisheries.
Danny Who would have thought a farm 20 miles from Washington, DC would directly affect the Chesapeake Bay? Did you know the Chesapeake Bay watershed reaches into six states? Clagett Farm, in Upper Marlboro, MD was donated nearly 30 years ago by a family to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. What once…
Warmer and drier than average temperatures continued for much of the nation in April. These temperatures, when combined with the first quarter and previous 11 months, calculate to the warmest year-to-date and 12-month periods on record for the contiguous United States.
By Melissa Payne Imagine that you’re a child- or even a teenager- with asthma. Every day you go to school. It’s up to you to tell someone when you start to feel wheezy or your breathing is uncomfortable. But, sometimes it’s hard to stop or slow down what you’re doing and tell an adult.…
Posted by USDA's National Invasive Species Information Center -- Ohio State Ask an Expert Now Online (May 4, 2012) Ohioans who have questions -- on everything from personal finance to agricultural enterprise budgets, from gardening to crop production, from nutrition to producing fruits and…
Posted by USDA's National Invasive Species Information Center -- Biocontrol Agent Tested to Battle Invasive Kudzu Bug (May 3, 2012) ARS is studying a potential biological control for the kudzu bug, which does feed on the kudzu vine, but also could be a major pest of soybeans, peanuts and other…
Posted by USDA's National Invasive Species Information Center -- Sizing Up Destruction-Managing for Results at Largest EAB Delimitation Survey in New York (Apr 4, 2012) Volunteers from 30 agencies from New York and New England were part of the effort to identify the extent of the New York…
By Kathy Sykes The older I get, the more I like to play. Did you know that May is Older Americans Month and that this year’s theme is “Never Too Old to Play.” The theme encourages Older Americans to stay engaged, active and involved in their communities. This year also marks the 50th…
By Jeanethe Falvey Having my father read the tales of the Berenstain Bears, night after night, left a few impressions on my developing mind. What really stuck were the examples he provided, much like the illustrated situations Papa Bear would end up in. Life is an adventure and quite rarely does it…
By Lina Younes This past weekend I attended the Second USA Science and Engineering Festival at Washington, DC Convention Center. The first day I went as a volunteer to help staff EPA’s booth and the second day I took my daughter’s Girl Scout troop. There was so much to do and so much to see…
NOAA scientists and their colleagues have discovered a biological marker in the blood of laboratory zebrafish and marine mammals that shows when they have been repeatedly exposed to low levels of domoic acid, which is potentially toxic at high levels.
NOAA’s Fisheries Service is issuing two incidental harassment authorizations to Shell for energy exploration activities in shallow waters in the Arctic during a limited period this summer. The authorizations specify measures to protect marine mammals and the subsistence interests of Alaskan…
On May 1, two students from Oak Park High School in Oak Park, Calif. deployed a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ocean drifter into the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, contributing to a global array that yields vital environmental data. Calvin Earp and Nirupam Nigam…
By Cameron Davis I know phrases like “we need to save the Great Lakes for the next generation” are so often uttered that it can risk becoming a biological bromide (as opposed to a chemical one)…it can become as worn as an old pair of shoes. In the waning days of Earth Month, I had [...]
Posted by USDA's National Invasive Species Information Center -- Escargot? More like Escar-No! (Apr 19, 2012) USDA and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services have been fighting to stop the spread of the giant African snail. In six, months, more than 40,000 of these snails…
Starting today, NOAA is using a sophisticated new weather forecast computer model to improve predictions of quickly developing severe weather events including thunderstorms, winter storms and aviation hazards such as clear air turbulence.
Posted by USDA's National Invasive Species Information Center -- Use of Common Pesticide Linked to Bee Colony Collapse (Apr 5, 2012) The likely culprit in sharp worldwide declines in honeybee colonies (colony collapse disorder) since 2006 is imidacloprid, one of the most widely used pesticides,…
By Gina McCarthy May first is World Asthma Day and the start of Asthma Awareness Month. Each year EPA takes this opportunity to amplify its public awareness campaign, strengthen its partnerships with community level asthma organizations, and further the discussion on the asthma epidemic. Asthma is a…
NOAA’s National Weather Service has improved its ability to support the Tampa Bay community and its ecologically valuable environments before, during and after severe weather and other disasters. As part of its Weather-Ready Nation initiative, the National Weather Service is launching this project…
By: Brittney Gordon If there is one thing that I have learned in my time with the ENERGY STAR program, it is that it takes the collective effort of many people to achieve real gains in the fight against climate change. ENERGY STAR is a great program, but without the power of partnership and the…