Blue-green algae has plagued the pond for a decade, but never to the extent it has in the last few years. In July 2014, when cyanobacteria bloomed anew in Georgica, masses of fish died off, and, according to some accounts, one or two deer. Within days — and at the height of the summer season — the East Hampton Town Trustees were forced to do the inconceivable: close the pond to swimming and wading, and shut down shellfishing and fishing. Photo: Priscilla Rattazzi
eastmag.co - by Christopher Walsh - July 22, 2016
JACK RUSSELL TERRIERS are not water dogs. “She just happened to go down to the pond,” says Annie Gilchrist Hall, “because we had two of our kids here sailing.” Annie and John Hall’s pet was familiar with Georgica Pond, East Hampton’s serene, 290-acre body of water — a stunning backdrop to some of the most desirable real estate on the planet. The Halls live on the pond.
It was just after Labor Day in 2012. The little dog, Rosie, frolicked in the water, then licked her paws. Almost instantly “she went into neurotoxic shock,” Hall says. “It’s so graphic: She put her four legs out straight. She was breathing, but couldn’t move.”
An aerial view shows a tract of Amazon rain forest that has been cleared by loggers and farmers for agriculture near the city of Santarem, Para State, April 20, 2013. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)
washingtonpost.com - by Chris Mooney - July 14, 2016
In an ambitious study that represents the latest merger between big data approaches and the quest to conserve the planet, scientists have found that across a majority of the Earth’s land surface — including some of its most important types of terrain and its most populous regions — the abundance or overall number of animals and plants of different species has fallen below a “safe” level identified by biologists.
The reason is not exactly a surprise — from grasslands to tropical forests, humans are using more and more land for agriculture, to live on, to build roads and infrastructure upon. When we take over, we clear the land or otherwise convert it for our purposes.
longislandpress.com - June 12th 2016 - Rich Murdocco
The 2016 Atlantic hurricane season may have officially begun June 1, but there’s already been significant activity. Recently making waves, Colin was the third named tropical storm to churn up the coast before going out to sea, marking an early record.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted that 10 to 16 named storms will form this year, with four to eight of them becoming hurricanes. (VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)
The South Fork Clean Energy Forum, a free public event we are hosting at LTV Studios in Wainscott.
This educational forum will serve to discuss the challenges and opportunities of building a renewable and resilient energy system for the South Fork. Participants are invited from the towns and hamlets of East Hampton and Southampton townships, community organizations and leaders, as well as energy experts and industry representatives.
East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell is a confirmed speaker, and we are inviting Southampton Town officials. Members from both town’s energy and sustainability advisory committees will be participating. The event is co-sponsored by the Town of East Hampton, Town of Southampton Sustainability Committee, and the East End Resilience Network.
There will be informative presentations, panel discussions and plenty of opportunity for Q & A.
The event is open to the public and free of charge.
RSVPs are recommended as space is limited. Stay tuned for further updates and a list of speakers.
Danish architectural firm EFFEKT envisioned a future where self-sustaining communities could grow their own food and produce their own energy. They incorporated that vision into the ReGen Village, a planned off-grid community that addresses issues ranging from climate change to food security through sustainable design. They plan to start building these utopian communities this summer.
I am reaching out to you on very short notice today to see if you can still alert your membership about the important Public Hearings on the NYS Clean Energy Standard scheduled for this Tuesday, May 17th in Riverhead. It is crucial we show a solid turnout and explain why New York needs to switch to renewables without further delay.
Below are the details and relevant web links for the event. People interested in attending can RSVP via Renewable Energy Long Island’s website (or the Facebook event). People unable to attend can submit a comment online. We have posted some basic talking point on reLI’s website.
With its miles of low-lying coast land and population pressures, the East End of Long Island is vulnerable to disaster. It could come suddenly in the form of a storm like Hurricane Sandy. Or creep inexorably toward us on the encroaching tide of sea level rise or the degradation of our land and water resources. Or from some other completely unexpected direction, like a pandemic.
Yet we are also a community rich in people committed to the health and well-being of the region. We also have fisheries and farmland to sustain us.
Bringing our resources to bear on building community resilience is the goal of the East End Resilience Network.
We talk today with the organizer of that network, Michael McDonald. As Coordinator of the Global Health Response and Resilience Alliance and Chairman of Global Resilience Systems, Inc., McDonald has been involved in building resilience networks all over the world.
We outline a comprehensive approach for developing a cross-sectoral, multi-dimensional and dynamic understanding of resilience. This underpins the core message of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that development is multi-faceted and the achievement of many of the individual development goals is dependent on the accomplishment of other goals. It also acknowledges that shocks and stresses can reverse years of development gains and efforts to eradicate poverty by 2030. Crucially, this approach to understanding resilience draws on data that countries will collect for the SDGs anyway and entails only a small additional burden in this regard.
Image: The Svalbard Global Seed Vault was opened on Feb. 26, 2008. Carved into the Arctic permafrost and filled with samples of the world's most important seeds, it's a Noah's Ark of food crops to be used in the event of a global catastrophe. AFP/Getty Images
npr.org - September 23rd, 2015
A tall rectangular building juts out of a mountainside on a Norwegian island just 800 miles from the North Pole. Narrow and sharply edged, the facility cuts an intimidating figure against the barren Arctic background. But the gray building holds the key to the earth's biodiversity. (VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)
Peconic Institute is committed to promoting a sustainable and resilient future. It is our mission to be an International Center of Excellence that communicates information and encourages new thinking. The Institute’s desire is to enhance the local environmental, social, and economic systems by moving toward a more sustainable and resilient future.
Blue-green algae has plagued the pond for a decade, but never to the extent it has in the last few years. In July 2014, when cyanobacteria bloomed anew in Georgica, masses of fish died off, and, according to some accounts, one or two deer. Within days — and at the height of the summer season — the East Hampton Town Trustees were forced to do the inconceivable: close the pond to swimming and wading, and shut down shellfishing and fishing. 
An aerial view shows a tract of Amazon rain forest that has been cleared by loggers and farmers for agriculture near the city of Santarem, Para State, April 20, 2013. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)
