Milk weed, bergamot, cone flowers

Photos: Marge Ishmael

 

Activitism vs Terrorism?

Michigan vs EPA

Intrigued to see how the Supreme Court votes on this case tomorrow: http://legal-planet.org/2015/06/24/whats-at-stake-in-michigan-v-epa-the-u-s-supreme-court-hazardous-air-pollutant-case/

Update: Very sad to report that the EPA lost this vote today by 5 votes to 4; so mercury, arsenic, hydrochloric acid emissions (and other not so friendly neurotoxins) will continue to be pumped into our atmosphere: http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/06/29/3675111/scotus-epa-kagan-dissent/

 

Earthquakes may lead to tighter fracking regulations in Oklahoma

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/25/oklahoma-fracking-regulations-earthquakes

Egret

This stately great egret was on our walk today:

Photo: Jane Masterson

Japanese iris and lavender

My Japanese irises and lavender are in bloom this weekend.

Photos: Marge Ishmael

Indiana Sunset

Last night's sunset was spectacular:

Photo: Marge Ishmael

French ban "Round Up" weedkiller

The French have decided to ban the use of Monsanto's Round Up herbicide due to a potential link to cancer, as reported earlier this year by World Heath Organization: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/roundup-weedkiller-banned-from-french-garden-centres-over-probable-link-to-cancer-10319877.html

Earth enters new extinction phase

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33209548

Papal encyclical on climate change

This is huge and makes me want to run to my local Catholic church and sign up. It needed a heavyweight like him to help make governments/people take climate change and environmental matters more seriously, especially in developing countries with a large Catholic population, like Brazil.  I hope more world leaders will follow his example and step up to the plate… http://t.co/LAzvmZmsN6

Photograph: Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images

"Unusually for Papal teaching, this encyclical is not just addressed to Roman Catholics but to everyone on Earth: calling on all humans to help save the planet that the Pope says we are in danger of destroying." (BBC)

New Moon Nature Walk

Here are some photos from last night's New Moon nature walk with Jane Masterson in and around Bobolink Meadow. http://www.passitonchicago.com

Tiny tuna crabs washing up on California beaches

Experts say the 1- to 3-inch long crabs, which normally live off Mexico's Baja Peninsula, are going farther north because of the warm water that has lingered off Southern California for the past year.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/15/california-tuna-crabs-washed-up-shore

Polar bears eat dolphins as Arctic warms

This has never happened before:

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/12/polar-bears-eat-dolphins-as-arctic-warms

Green heron and killdeer protecting nest

On our walk at Bobolink Meadow this afternoon, we saw green herons and a killdeer:

http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/green-heron 
http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/killdeer

Photos: Marge Ishmael

Mysterious Blood Falls of Antarctica

http://earthsky.org/earth/blood-falls-five-stories-high-seeps-from-an-antarctic-glacier

Hyde Park Art Fair

Out and about at our local art fair today. I particularly liked the garden sculptures at the StudioBridges stall: http://www.studiobridges.com/

Photo: Marge Ishmael

And another interesting garden piece at another stall:

Snake in the grass

Came across this snake when gardening this morning. Trying to decide what sort it is...

Photo: Marge Ishmael

At first I thought it might be a garter snake but now I think it "could" be a Northern Water Snake: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_water_snake

Busy beaver dam

We came across this beaver dam on our walk at Bobolink Meadow yesterday afternoon:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver_dam

Photo: Marge Ishmael

 Here is a photo of the North American beaver: (Castor canadensis), one of two species of beaver that build dams:

Photo: Wikipedia

Burlington is first U.S. city to be powered 100% by renewable energy

Burlington, Vermont is powered 100% by renewable energy, becoming the first city in the USA to do so. http://www.offgridworld.com/congratulations-burlington-vermont-first-city-in-usa-powered-by-100-renewable-energy/

Saving Canada's Boreal Forest

"STRETCHING from interior Alaska across Canada to Newfoundland, and sandwiched between the prairies and the Arctic, North America’s boreal forest is a mind-boggling 1.5 billion acres in size — bigger even than the vast rain forests of the Brazilian Amazon or the Congo. And despite the relentless pace of development and industrialization worldwide, 80 percent of it remains wild and intact." http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/30/opinion/saving-canadas-boreal-forest.html

FIFA Exec. kept a $6,000 a month condo for his cats

Today I was at my local pet store and there was a lovely cat called Amethyst for adoption: http://hydeparkcats.org

Photo by Marge

If I was a FIFA Exec. I could keep her in a $6,000 Trump Tower cat condo:
http://www.catchannel.com/cat-news/2015/05/fifa-exec-kept-6000-dollar-apartment-for-cats.aspx

Here's a funny FIFA rant on "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver":
http://www.digitaltrends.com/movies/video-john-oliver-sepp-blatter-rant/ 

Update: Fifa President Sepp Blatter has now resigned!