Updates

11/11/25 UPDATE              

Re: Chapter 3.5.C. DECENTRALIZATION: SUN AND WIND ARE EVERYWHERE

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Plug-in solar panels, common in Europe, are coming to the U.S. Inexpensive solar panels that plug into an ordinary wall receptacle are popular in Europe, helping to reduce high electrical bills. They are hung on apartment balconies or backyard decks. In the U.S. they face regulatory hurdles. Utah is the first state to pass legislation, in 2025, exempting plug-in panels from costly interconnection requirements that go through the electric utility. Several other states are expected to follow suit.

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9/27/25 UPDATE              

Re: Chapter 9.10. AND KELP FOREST?

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The culprit responsible for the starfish wasting disease that led to the loss of kelp forests has been identified. Researchers have found a bacterium, a strain of Vibrio pectenicida, which infects starfish and causes the disease. The loss of starfish has allowed their sea-urchin prey to multiply and eat up the kelp. The spread of the bacterium is likely aided by warming waters. The discovery will help guide starfish management and recovery efforts. These findings were published in Nature Ecology & Evolution.

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6/1/25 UPDATE              

Re: Chapter 9.2. WOLVES AND BIODIVERSITY IN YELLOWSTONE PARK​

 

Biologists find the Yellowstone ecosystems changes following wolf introduction were more complex that a simple wolf-caused cascade of beneficial changes. The elk population did decline, but partly from elk-hunting outside the park. Also beavers were introduced, helping to restore the wetlands. Meanwhile overgrazing by an expanding population of bison off-set some of the gains from fewer elk. Still there is little doubt that re-introduction of wolves contributed to ecosystem recovery.

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5/25/25 UPDATE           

Re: Chapter 8.7. TIRES vs COHO SALMON

 

Scientists have found that the tire additive that kills salmon when tire dust washes off roadways into their habitat, can be effectively filtered out of the water with inexpensive soil mixtures. These mixtures could be spread along the edges of streams to filter out the chemical (6PPD-quinone) before it reaches the salmon.

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4/10/25 UPDATE

Re: Chapter 6.5. PLASTICS BREAK UP: MICRO- AND NANO-PLASTICS

 

Scientists find that polysaccharides that are abundant in fenugreek and okra plants are effective in removing microplastics from water as reported in the American Chemical Society journal Omega