B.C. Climate News: Germany warns of increased health threats from climate change | Environmental groups seek to delay $10 billion LNG project in B.C.| Nova Scotia blaze is largest wildfire in provincial history
Breadcrumb Trail Links News National Local News Here’s your weekly roundup of climate change news for the week of May 29 to June 4, 2023. Smoke rises from a wildfire, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, May 28, 2023 in this…
Audit finds California water agency not adequately considering climate change in forecasts
The state auditor has issued a report strongly criticizing the California Department of Water Resources, saying the agency has overestimated the state’s water supply during drought and continues relying on forecasts that don’t adequately factor in the effects of climate…
Northwest waters buck global heating trend (for now) – KUOW News and Information
Temperatures in the world’s oceans surged to new levels in April, nearing an average of 70 degrees Fahrenheit for the first time on record, according to the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute. The seas of the world have been…
Even as he prepares to leave office, Jay Inslee is pushing for climate action – The Washington Post
When Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) announced this week he would not seek a fourth term in 2024, he listed multiple accomplishments he was proud of over the past decade. But atop that list, he said, was that his state…
A Harvard fashion show draws attention to water pollution
The event, titled the “Marine Debris Fashion Show,” was a design competition featuring outfits made from trash commonly found in oceans. Hosted by the Reimagining Experiential Education and Fabrication (REEF) Makerspace and the Lemann Program on Creativity and Entrepreneurship, the show was a highlight of 2023 Arts First Festival, Harvard’s annual public showcase of campus creativity, produced by the Office for the Arts.
The outfits were designed by students, who were given free rein with only one hard rule: None of their materials could be purchased new.
Makerspace Director Christine Braun, who organized the event alongside Director of Creativity and Entrepreneurship Sam Magee, said she hoped the show inspired creativity and also spread awareness about different waste streams.
“A lot of focus is on plastics, but we have fibers from fast fashion polluting our rivers and oceans,” Braun said. “I’m just hoping our audience members take a look at what our participants created, and, through our messaging, are a little bit more conscious of where our waste is going.”
For Harvard Divinity School student Ellen Vaillancourt, participating in the show was an opportunity to shine a light on the negative impact of polyester and poly-blend textile waste on the environment when fast fashion-clothing is thrown away.
“Clothing producers and consumers must intimately understand that there’s no such place as ‘away,’” Vaillancourt said.
Her outfit, titled “Water Is Life,” featured a voluminous white skirt of plastic and bubble wrap, hung with blue polyester fishing ropes resembling jellyfish, and draped in fishing nets. The bodice was decorated with pink and brown rope arranged to depict salmon spawning. The model also wore a white Baroque-style wig, a reference to colonial exploitation. Vaillancourt collected many of her materials while beachcombing in Revere and Winthrop.
“I think it’s so hidden, the devastation that is happening, the exploitation of human beings, mostly the labor of women and girls,” Vaillancourt said. “Nobody really understands that most of what is produced today, 70 percent is made of polyester or a poly-blend, that it doesn’t break down, or it takes an awfully long time, the amounts of toxins that it leaves, the degradation of the soil and the water. Ultimately, we’re eating our shirts.”
Oregon climate change El Nino snowpack Cascades Coast weather – Statesman Journal
In a few decades, the Willamette Valley might feel like California, droughts and floods could be more commonplace and 100-degree days may be par for the course. The next year could provide a preview of what’s to come. That’s according…
Colorado River snaking through Grand Canyon most endangered US waterway – report
A 277-mile stretch of the Colorado River that snakes through the iconic Grand Canyon is America’s most endangered waterway, a new report has found. The unique ecosystem and cultural heritage of the Grand Canyon is on the brink of collapse…
California Salmon Stocks Are Crashing. A Fishing Ban Looks Certain.
This week, officials are expected to shut down all commercial and recreational salmon fishing off California for 2023. Much will be canceled off neighboring Oregon, too. The reason: An alarming decline of fish stocks linked to the one-two punch of…
In Denial: The Latest Casualties Of The Climate Industrial Complex
“Trekkies” should recall this pithy exchange about endangered humpback whales from the 1986 feature film, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, between Leonard Nimoy’s famous character and actor Catherine Hicks, who played “Dr. Taylor,” the cetologist. “Mr. Spock” stated, To hunt…
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