Standing on a beach on the Albemarle Peninsula in North Carolina, Brian Boutin, a Nature Conservancy biologist, points to a rusted piece of rebar with a green tag a few inches from the water’s edge. “That was our original marker to show what was happening here three years ago,” he says. “It was 20 meters from the shoreline. Now, it is the shoreline.” To the south, waves hit the shore and explode into the air, little eruptions of erosion. To the north, the waves break, but more gently. Offshore, Boutin and his Nature Conservancy colleagues have built 500 feet of reefs designed to ... Read More
Mississippi River Flooding Creates Louisiana, Venice Comparison
May 13, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
As spring thaws and storms dump water into middle America's rivers, floods have been wreaking havoc along the Mississippi River and its watershed. Memphis has been hard hit, and thousands of acres of farmland have been submerged. Some 12,000 acres of farmland flooded on May 12 in Louisiana when the river overtopped a natural levee. Emergency steps are being planned to protect Baton Rouge, New Orleans and the string of petrochemical and petroleum plants between the two, but flooding is simply the natural state of the river in spring. At this time of year, the river carries a large load of ... Read More
Could Tidal Flow Fix Your Airport?
March 21, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
Out with the Canadian geese, in with the least sandpipers. That’s a New Year’s resolution nearly 25 years in the making for the public airport in Santa Barbara, Calif., where big-bird-fearing pilots and small-bird-loving environmentalists are both celebrating the return of Pacific Ocean tides to the surrounding wetlands. The once controversial idea — which required flexibility on the part of the Federal Aviation Administration and plenty of patience from everyone else involved — will improve the environment while making flying safer and, therefore, cheaper. One airport has ... Read More
Micro-Reserves Renew Life in Oaxacan Agriculture
December 29, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
In 2010, Mexico suffered "one of the most intense rain and hurricane seasons in its history, after having experienced, in 2009, the second-worst drought in 60 years," noted President Felipe Calderon during his opening remarks at the recent Cancun conference on climate change. How does this actually play in people's lives? Far away from Cancun, I visited a small community on the Oaxacan coast to find out. Although the municipality of San Pedro Tututepec looks like one of the many anonymous communities along the highway, it is unique in offering people hope. It is near Lagunas de Chacahua ... Read More
The Big Friendly Giants of Escuinapa
July 23, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
In mid-May of this year, an entire town moved to the beach for five days of partying. School was canceled and work was deferred for the thousands attending the annual Fiesta de Mar de las Cabras. They came mostly from Escuinapa, a town located one hour south of Mazatlán and 20 minutes inland from Playa Cabras. According to organizers, it is the 105th year of the event, which had roots as an indigenous "pagan" festival to celebrate the sun god Yequi. Kids, parents and grannies listen to live music on the isolated beach. There is nothing around for miles except coconut trees and two ... Read More
