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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Toxic algae bloom chokes Lake Okeechobee, threatening drinking water and more in Florida; Ohio takes belated steps to curb toxic algae on Lake Erie; Summer night temperatures are rising faster than daytime temperatures; Record number of Americans now accept that climate change is real, and caused by humans; PLUS: Ireland set to become the first nation in the world to divest from fossil fuels... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Clean energy is catching up to natural gas; Watch 10 billion tons of ice fall into the ocean; Nobel-winning economist to testify in children’s climate lawsuit; Trump and Putin are clearly in cahoots — over propping up fossil fuels; How Trump’s wildlife board is rebranding trophy hunting as good for animals; Plutonium is missing, but the government says nothing; Airlines prepare for flying in hotter temps as climate change brings more extreme heat; Rising seas could cause problems for internet infrastructure... PLUS:UN security council considers ‘cycle of conflict and climate disaster’
... and much, MUCH more! ...

STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY'S 'GREEN NEWS REPORT'...

• Florida: Toxic algae bloom chokes Lake Okeechobee, triggers state of emergency:
• VIDEO: Gov. Rick Scott issues state of emergency for Lee, Martin counties following tour of algae blooms (Fort Myers News-Press):
  
  "I still get frustrated with the federal government because they’ve not been a great partner," Scott said. "If they had funded all the projects that should be funded like the state has been doing over the last seven-and-a-half years, some of these events might not have happened."...This is the third year in a row the region has suffered from excess water flows from Lake Okeechobee and algae blooms.
• Algae Bloom in Florida Prompts Fears About Harm to Health and Economy (NY Times):
  
  An unusually large algae bloom has filled the lake with a pea soup-like mixture that has built up because of rain, hot weather and a heavy concentration of phosphorus and nitrogen from fertilizer, Richard P. Stumpf, an oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said.
• Army corps resumes flushing water from Lake Okeechobee (AP)
• What’s an algae bloom and how did it wind up sliming Florida’s biggest lake? (Miami Herald)
• Living with Florida's algae crisis: What do you do when the water is your home? (Fort Myers News-Press)
• Warming drives spread of toxic algae in U.S., researchers say (AP)
• Ohio takes belated steps to curb toxic algae in Lake Erie
• Kasich wants new farm rules to fight Lake Erie algae (AP):
  
  Ohio’s governor is calling for regulations on thousands of farms as part of a new strategy to combat the fertilizer and manure that flows into streams and feeds persistent toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie...Some relief on those costs could come from legislation that Kasich also signed Wednesday. It provides $20 million for farming practices that are designed to reduce fertilizer runoff.
• Gardner bill aims to help farmers be part of solution to algae problem (Cleveland Courier)
• Kasich Signs Order Aiming To Curb Lake Erie Algae Blooms From Farm Runoff (WOSU Public Radio)
• Toxic algae leads Ohio to designate western Lake Erie as "impaired" (AP)
• Peak Lake Erie algae season keeps scientists, politicians and lawyers busy (Great Lakes Now, Detroit Public Television)
• Summer nights are warming faster than days, thanks to global warming:
• Summer Nights Are Getting Hotter. Here's Why That’s a Health and Wildfire Risk. (Inside Climate News):
  
  Higher nighttime temperatures as the climate changes can leave homes and humans little chance to cool off. It’s affecting agriculture and wildfire activity, too.
• Nights Are Warming Faster Than Days. Here’s Why That’s Dangerous. (NY Times):
  
  Derek S. Arndt, chief of the climate monitoring division at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, called the increase in summer nighttime temperatures a “dramatic example” of how small shifts in average temperature can lead to big consequences in the extremes.
• Heat Advisory - Hot Weather Makes Us [dummer] Dumber! - Cool End to July? (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
• Something Else Adding Fuel to California's Fire Season: Warmer Nights (KQED)
• Poll: Record number of American accept climate change is real, caused by humans:
• As Americans Experienced the Warmest May on Record Their Acceptance of Global Warming Reaches a New High (University of Michigan)
• Heatwave seems to make manmade climate change real for Americans (Guardian UK):
  
  The record-breaking high temperatures across much of North America appear to be shaping people’s thinking, a survey finds.
• American belief in global warming reaches 10-year high (Axios)
• How Americans Think About Climate Change, in Six Maps (NY Times, 3/21/2017)
• US oil and gas drilling industry just not into Gulf of Mexico anymore:
• U.S. Sets Gulf Of Mexico Oil, Gas Lease Sale Despite Lackluster Demand (Reuters):
  
  The U.S. Department of the Interior said on Thursday it would hold a record-sized auction for oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico next month, in an attempt to spark interest in offshore drilling months after a similar sale received a weak response from energy companies.
• U.S. sets GoM O&G lease sale despite poor demand (Kallanish Energy)
• Drillers give tepid response to record U.S. offshore lease sale (Reuters, 3/21/2018)
• Ireland to become first nation in the world to divest from fossil fuels:
• Ireland becomes world's first country to divest from fossil fuels (Guardian UK):
  
  The state’s €8bn national investment fund will be required to sell all investments in coal, oil, gas and peat “as soon as is practicable”, which is expected to mean within five years...“The [divestment] movement is highlighting the need to stop investing in the expansion of a global industry which must be brought into managed decline if catastrophic climate change is to be averted,” said Thomas Pringle, the independent member of parliament who introduced the bill. “Ireland by divesting is sending a clear message that the Irish public and the international community are ready to think and act beyond narrow short term vested interests.”
• Ireland Set to Divest from Fossil Fuels, First Country in Global Climate Campaign (Inside Climate News):
  
  Nearly 900 institutions worldwide have committed to some level of divestment from oil, gas and coal. Others believe they can push climate action more effectively as investors.
• Ireland Moves to Divest From Fossil Fuels (NY Times):
  
  The vote in the Irish Parliament follows a recommendation by Norway’s central bank in late 2017 for its $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund to drop its oil company investments. While Norway, the largest oil producer in Europe, has not yet decided on whether to divest, the very suggestion is a signal of waning confidence in the future of the petroleum business by one of its major players.

'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (Stuff we didn't have time for in today's audio report)...

For a comprehensive roundup of daily environmental news you can trust, see the Society of Environmental Journalists' Daily Headlines page

• Clean energy is catching up to natural gas (Vox)
• VIDEO: Watch 10 billion tons of ice fall into the ocean (Washington Post)
• Nobel-Winning Economist to Testify in Children’s Climate Lawsuit (Inside Climate News)
• UN security council considers ‘cycle of conflict and climate disaster’ (Climate Change News)
• Trump and Putin are clearly in cahoots — over propping up fossil fuels (Grist)
• How Trump’s wildlife board is rebranding trophy hunting as good for animals (Guardian UK)
• North Dakota: The Flash Drought Brought Misery, but Did It Change Minds on Climate Change? (Inside Climate News)
• Plutonium is missing, but the government says nothing (Center for PUublic Integrity)
• Temporary EPA Chief Could Keep Gig for Years Without Senate Vote (Bloomberg)
• Airlines prepare for flying in hotter temps as climate change brings more extreme heat (CNBC)
• Heatwave blankets Japan, kills 14 people over long weekend (Reuters)
• Rising Seas Could Cause Problems For Internet Infrastructure (NPR)
• How Brett Kavanaugh Could Reshape Environmental Law From the Supreme Court (NY Times)
• The great nutrient collapse: The atmosphere is literally changing the food we eat, for the worse. And almost nobody is paying attention. (Politico)
• The world's bleak climate situation, in 3 charts: We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there. (Vox)
• AUDIO: An Inconvenient 'BradCast' with Al Gore (The BRAD BLOG):
  
  Guest Host Angie Coiro's exclusive interview with the former Vice President on elections, pollution, persuasion, activism, and hope...
• The Climate Risks We Face (NY Times):
  
  To stabilize global temperature, net carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced to zero. The window of time is rapidly closing to reduce emissions and limit warming to no more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, the goal set in the Paris climate accord. The further we push the climate system beyond historical conditions, the greater the risks of potentially unforeseen and even catastrophic changes to the climate - so every reduction in emissions helps.
• The Uninhabitable Earth: When will climate change make earth too hot for humans? (New York Magazine):
  
  Famine, economic collapse, a sun that cooks us: What climate change could wreak - sooner than you think.
• A beginner's guide to the debate over 100% renewable energy (Vox):
  
  Clean-energy enthusiasts frequently claim that we can go bigger, that it's possible for the whole world to run on renewables - we merely lack the "political will." So, is it true? Do we know how get to an all-renewables system? Not yet. Not really.
• No country on Earth is taking the 2 degree climate target seriously (Vox):
  
  If we mean what we say, no more new fossil fuels, anywhere.

FOR MORE on Climate Science and Climate Change, go to our Green News Report: Essential Background Page

• NASA climate change video: This is the U.S. in 2100 (NASA).

                 

Article Categories: Ohio, Florida, Environment, Green News, Natural gas, Oil, Climate change, Extreme weather, Ireland, Agriculture, Oceans/Sea Level Rise, Water, John Kasich, Dept. of Interior