Maryland’s most populous county is embarking on an urban heat mapping project to better understand neighborhood heat inequalities, which can affect residents’ health.
Montgomery County has been selected to participate in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Urban Heat Mapping Campaign this summer.
The county is looking for residents who will volunteer to serve as citizen scientists, installing heat sensors on their cars to travel to different neighborhoods one day this summer.
Laura Sivels, climate engagement program manager at the county Department of Environmental Protection, said the data will help determine why some communities are warmer than others.
“The built environment — so all the asphalt, the concrete that happens in urban areas — retains heat at a higher rate than the natural environment, than trees and grass,” Sivels said. “When it’s hot and sunny, urban areas retain that heat. They continue to emit it, throughout the afternoon and evening.”
Heat inequalities will be tracked in 14 states and two international cities as part of the NOAA project. The sensors will record temperature, humidity, time and location.
Sivels said he has received interest from more than 200 volunteers so far and expects to begin training in July.
Affected areas include Gaithersburg, Germantown, Rockville, Silver Spring and Wheaton. Sivels said it was important to look at communities that vary in demographics, to help inform policy decisions going forward.
“Every time we feel that heat, not everyone feels it the same way,” Sivels said. “Not everyone has access to the financial means to adapt to this heat, whether that means driving or commuting to work rather than taking the bus, or finding somewhere with air conditioning. ‘having the option to stay home and work indoors rather than working outdoors.”
Urban heat has historically had a disproportionate impact on low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. NOAA conducted similar research in Baltimore in 2018 and found that some neighborhoods were 16 degrees hotter than others at the same time of day.
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Protecting North Carolina’s rivers and streams is good for residents, wildlife, and even salamanders.
Recent work along Hog Lot Creek and the Bates Branch has repaired the damage and increased habitat for the lord of the hell, North America’s largest salamander species. The project was made possible by Resource Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to the restoration of streams, rivers and wetlands.
Alan Walker, project manager for the Resource Institute, said the team had a specific goal in mind.
“It’s a hell of a move,” Walker explained. “What we have tried to do, in addition to the design of the natural channel and the stabilization of the banks and the restoration of the natural channel through this stretch, has been to put in place specific habitat structures for the masters from hell.”
The project team restored 3,000 feet of badly eroded stream areas, including adding large flat boulders – raised from below – to create a cavity large enough for the hellbenders to find. protection, lay eggs and settle down. Resource Institute is working to identify additional sites for federally endangered species restoration.
Morgan Harris, a private lands biologist at Virginia Tech’s Conservation Management Institute, pointed out that although the project is designed to house a struggling species, the general principle is to repair the damage caused by humans.
“The main thing a lot of these projects do is reduce sedimentation in the creek, when the banks erode,” Harris pointed out. “And the most important thing to make sure the erosion stays under control is to make sure we keep the trees and shrubs on the banks of the creek intact.”
Harris added that North Carolina is home to one of the best remaining populations of hellbenders, which can grow up to two and a half feet long.
Disclosure: Resource Institute contributes to our fund for endangered species and wildlife, environmental, public lands/wilderness and water reporting. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.
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As the debate over the safety of pesticides and other chemicals often used for lawn and property care continues, Oregonians now have more options than ever. But do they know their rights?
Beaver State residents living in homeowners associations can now opt out of previously mandatory chemical sprays.
Rep. Courtney Neron, D-Sherwood/Wilsonville, sponsored House Bill 2409, which took effect Jan. 1.
She said more outreach is needed to ensure her constituents and other Oregon residents understand the change.
“This allows property owners to make informed decisions about whether or not they want pesticides applied to their property,” Neron pointed out. “Including herbicides and insecticides, etc., as may be required by their HOA.”
Neron introduced the measure in the 2021 legislative session, and it was signed into law last May. She explained that there has been some confusion about what the bill allows HOA residents to opt out of, noting that it does not allow Oregon residents to opt out of all accommodation care. landscaped.
Homeowners now have more choice as to which chemicals are or are not sprayed on their property, while having to maintain their lawn in other ways they may believe are safer to their health.
Neron added that an information campaign might be needed to get the word out better.
“Going forward, an education campaign would still be beneficial for people to understand their options,” Neron suggested. “And potentially even understanding and having a bit of education on the common chemicals that are used.”
Jennifer Eisele, pesticide program manager for the nonprofit Beyond Toxics, which supports community environmental justice in Oregon, said more work needs to be done.
“There are a lot of landlords we’ve heard from since this bill was passed,” Eisele noted. “With a lot of concerns about implementation and making sure their homeowners association is aware of this bill and giving them the opportunity to opt out of landscape services.”
Eisele added that stepping back doesn’t necessarily mean taking yard work into your own hands, noting that many companies in Oregon offer landscaping services without using herbicides, insecticides and other harmful chemicals. .
Disclosure: Beyond Toxics contributes to our Environmental, Environmental Justice, Social Justice, and Toxics Reporting Fund. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.
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A new survey finds strong support in Montana for conservation and public lands, including action in Congress to protect more forest land.
In the 2022 Public Lands Election Survey, 85% of Montan residents say the loss of ranches and open space to new developments is a serious problem. And 83% also support the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act, which would add nearly 80,000 acres of public land to the state.
Kristin Cordingley, program director of the Montana Conservation Voters Education Fund, said groups have been working on this effort for a long time.
“It really is a collaborative effort,” Cordingley said. “I mean, we’ve included sawmill workers. We’ve got ranchers, outfitters, conservationists, mountain bikers, business owners. The list goes on and on and basically protects the Blackfoot River and some of its most important tributaries.”
Support for the legislation is up from 75% in the 2020 survey. It was introduced by Sen. Jon Tester – D-Mont – but Sen. Steve Daines – R-Mont – says he won’t support the bill only if it is tied to its efforts to relax protections on some state lands managed as wilderness.
The survey was commissioned by the University of Montana’s Crown of the Continent and Greater Yellowstone Initiative.
The Montana Conservation Voters Education Fund is among the groups doing everything they can to get the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act to get a vote in Congress, including going to the bar.
The group recently teamed up with Gulch Distillers in Helena on a vodka label urging Daines to let the Senate vote on the bill. Cordingly said she hopes there will be movement soon.
“As we get closer to the election and there are so many other things on the agenda, we are nervous and want to see it moving before the end of the year, for sure,” Cordingley said. . “People have been working on it for a very long time. This coalition that put this bill together has been working on it for over a decade.”
The bill is at the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, on which Daines sits.
Disclosure: Montana Conservation Voters & Education Fund contributes to our environmental reporting fund. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.
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