Field Notes Blog

Report: San Francisco faces water-related dangers

07/27/2011
By Alison Hawkes

San Francisco  has been identified as one of the most vulnerable cities in the nation when it comes to water-related impacts of climate change. In a report entitled “Thirsty for Answers,” published by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the organization reviewed more than 75 scientific studies and other reports to come up with a...
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Posted in Climate Change & Energy, Field Notes Blog | 1 Comment »

Builders cheer demise of California environmental law

06/27/2011
By Joseph Doolen

Upon attending the West Coast Green events at the Moscone Center in San Francisco this week, I was thrilled to find out that Governor Jerry Brown would be speaking at the larger event for the Pacific Coast Builders Conference (PCBC) on Thursday.  It soon became evident that folks at PCBC were less concerned with...
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Tags: building industry, , , , , west coast green
Posted in Field Notes Blog, Living | Comments Off

Recycling carpets in California will save landfill space

06/09/2011
By Alison Hawkes
Recycling carpets in California will save landfill space

Of the myriad of things cramming California landfills, discarded carpets are taking up lots of space. About 400 million pounds are tossed each year, equating to 39 million gallons of oil, says the non-profit Carpet America Recovery Effort. Could California do better? State lawmakers think so. Last tear they passed a law that requires...
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Tags: landfill, recycling
Posted in Field Notes Blog | 3 Comments »

French radiation organization says exposure risks are no longer negligible

04/12/2011
By Victoria Schlesinger

Just as farmers markets are swinging into full bloom, there’s very disturbing news about radiation from Japan reaching new levels in Europe. And if it’s high there, it’s significantly higher along the West Coast. A French research organization that monitors radiation, CRIIRAD, says the risk of exposure to the radioisotope iodine-131 has risen from...
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Tags: , criirad, foods to avoid, iodine-131, , , risky behavior,
Posted in Contaminants, Field Notes Blog | 3 Comments »

Super graph on normal and abnormal radiation exposures

03/21/2011
By Alison Hawkes

Did you know that sleeping next to someone blitzes you with 0.05 millionth of a sievert of radiation per night? That eating a banana gives you 0.1 millionth, and that a day’s dose at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant would give you .0036 sieverts? For some great perspective on the doses of radiation and...
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Tags: japan nuclear plant,
Posted in Contaminants, Field Notes Blog | Comments Off

UC Berkeley study: Using fear backfires on climate change

01/18/2011
By Alison Hawkes

It’s been a point of maddening frustration for scientists and environmentalists that as the predictions on global warming grow more dire, the public seems to be getting more skeptical. Blame conservatives for fomenting doubt and confusion for sure. But as UC Berkeley psychologist Robb Willer observed in a study recently, crying Cassandra can backfire....
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Posted in Climate Change & Energy, Field Notes Blog | 2 Comments »

A storm of biblical proportions

01/16/2011
By Alison Hawkes

It’s been a long, cold rainy winter this year in California. But it could get worse — much worse. The USGS warned this past week that California is in the eye of a winter storm weather pattern that could be more disastrous than a major earthquake. They’re calling it the ARkstorm Scenario — a reference, one...
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Tags: flood
Posted in Field Notes Blog, Nature | Comments Off

Hidden Treasure: An Eco-City in San Francisco Bay?

01/11/2011
By Alison Hawkes

Listen to WOW reporter Alison Hawkes’ radio story about the greening of Treasure Island, which aired on KQED’s California Watch.
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Tags: , Treasure Island
Posted in Field Notes Blog | Comments Off

Whale swims into Tomales Bay, dazzling onlookers

12/31/2010
By Alison Hawkes

It’s rare that a whale turns up in Tomales Bay. But this week a 25-footer showed up to dine on worms, mollusks, and crustaceans during the annual winter migration from Alaska to the warmer waters of Baja, according to the Marin Independent Journal. A spokeswoman for the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary...
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Tags: grey whale, tomalas bay
Posted in Field Notes Blog, Nature | Comments Off

Demos of SF’s bike sharing program

12/20/2010
By Alison Hawkes

San Francisco is pioneering a new bike-sharing program in the vein of Paris and Barcelona. The project has been trumpeted by Mayor Gavin Newsom’s office for years. With a $4 million grant that eventually came through, the city is readying 500 bikes for deployment in the spring of 2012. That’s a bit of a...
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Tags: bike sharing
Posted in Field Notes Blog, Policy | 2 Comments »

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Field Notes Blog

Report: San Francisco faces water-related dangers

San Francisco  has been identified as one of the most vulnerable cities in the nation when it comes to water-related impacts of climate change....
Read more »

Builders cheer demise of California environmental law

Upon attending the West Coast Green events at the Moscone Center in San Francisco this week, I was thrilled to find out that Governor...
Read more »

Recycling carpets in California will save landfill space

Of the myriad of things cramming California landfills, discarded carpets are taking up lots of space. About 400 million pounds are tossed each year,...
Read more »

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