Assignment Earth

Assignment Earth, Environmental Journalism, Environmental Protection, Sustainable Living / 23.03.2011

  Making the growing season grow longer, that’s the idea for Daphne Yannakakis, an organic farmer in western Colorado. Along with husband Don Lareau on Zephyros Farm, they’re growing vegetables in wintertime as part of a study by Colorado State University. The vegetables grow under the protection of unheated green houses called high tunnels, which hold in heat stored by the Earth at night and capture solar heat during the day. They also provide protection from the wind. These farmers plant a variety of cold hardy vegetables at monthly intervals and record weather data electronically with custom software. The data is collected from five farms across Colorado and will be compiled and made available to other small-scale farmers. Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and called the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program or SARE, the study is intended to help small-scale farmers in the Rocky Mountains remain productive and profitable through much of the winter by utilizing high tunnels. Even when outside temperatures reach sub-zero extremes these simple structures allow vegetables to survive harsh winter conditions and enable farmers to grow more.
Assignment Earth / 17.03.2011

It is one of the most ecologically rich places on Earth. It harbors the highest diversity of mammals in the United States and the second highest in the world. In southern Arizona, the San Pedro River flows north from Mexico across the U.S. border. And with it flows a stunning variety of life. “The San Pedro riparian corridor is such a huge influence on migratory patterns for all kinds of animals but especially birds,” said Randy Serraglio of the Center for Biological Diversity. “For the entire continental United States it’s a very precious place.” But like many desert rivers the San Pedro has lost a good deal of its flow because the ground water pumping in the area has drawn down the water table. Expanding industry and development in nearby Sierra Vista and the Fort Huachuca army installation are the biggest users of water in the region. As more water is pumped from underground, less water makes it to the river itself. As a result the river is shrinking. Along with a diminishing water supply laws designed to protect the river’s many threatened and endangered species, and by extension the San Pedro itself were recently relaxed for the sake of local industry. The Renzi Rider as the legislation was called exempts Fort Huachuca and the surrounding community of Sierra Vista from the requirements of the endangered species act. Activist hope to reverse the exemption but for now, without laws that would ensure adequate water flow, community members are doing what they can to preserve this disappearing natural resource.
Assignment Earth, Environmental Journalism, Environmental Protection / 11.03.2011

  Collisions with automobiles make it pretty clear where Mule Deer don’t make it across the road. But what researchers want to find out is where they do. The answer is important as officials in Wyoming get ready to expand major highways -some up to five lanes- that run through this wildlife rich gateway to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.   “If we can figure out where animals are crossing, we can at least hope to reduce some of those wildlife vehicle collisions, which will help from a population perspective to keep the animals alive,” said Embere Hall of Teton Science Schools. “Secondly it will help improve human safety. No one wants to hit an animal with their car.” A three-year study is underway to better understand the highway-crossing behavior of mule deer. At a cost of my more than $300,000 this labor intensive project aims to discover exactly how animals maneuver through this increasingly busy valley.
Assignment Earth, Sustainable Living / 23.02.2011

Molly Jones Gray is working hard to make sure that her toddler Paxton has a safe and healthy home. This Seattle mother and her husband Zack are keenly aware of what’s in the food, toys and cleaning products in their home. “You can’t tell a baby what is a food, what’s not a food, what’s a toy, what’s not a toy,” Gray said. “Because everything is a food and everything is a toy to them.” A wide variety of harmful toxins can be easily ingested throughout an average American home. The Grays first learned of environmental health risks when there was a problem in their attempts to become pregnant. Repeated miscarriages caused them seek out information on how commercial products and chemical substances in their home might impact their reproductive health. Taking part in a study conducted by the Washington Toxics Coalition (WTC), the Grays discovered that their home was filled with compounds that could adversely affect their unborn children.
Assignment Earth, Environmental Journalism, Environmental Protection, Video / 16.02.2011

The Rio Grande flows through some of the oldest continually inhabited land in the United States. In northern New Mexico, the river follows a deep gorge formed by the separation of the Earth’s crust. Because of its wild and pristine state it’s home to a rich population of birds and mammals and is one of the world’s great migratory fly-aways linking the United States and Canada for hundreds of migrating bird species.

For the past 30 years concerned citizens and lawmakers have been working to create the Rio Grande Del Norte National Conservation Area along New Mexico’s northern boarder. The proposed NCA consists of 235,000 acres of rolling sagebrush hills and 70 miles of the Rio Grande, the first section of wild and scenic river established in the United States. The goal is not only to preserve this rare and wild landscape, but also a way of life that dates back hundreds of years.

Assignment Earth, Climate Change, Environmental Journalism, National Parks, Video / 03.02.2011

A love of backcountry skiing explains David Gonzales’ obsession with white bark pines. A writer and photographer, he spends a lot of time beneath these ancient trees. But the white barks are under attack. And that has this skier marshaling forces to fight back. Once the snow melts, he leads volunteers called Tree Fighters into the forest surrounding Yellowstone National Park. Tree Fight is an organization that is working to curb the loss of white bark pines due to the escalating impact of climate change. Scientists say rising temperatures have opened the door to a mountain pine beetle invasion. White barks live at the highest, harshest elevations in the northwestern United States and Southwestern Canada. Extremely cold temperatures used to keep this native pest at lower elevations. Now these beetles are capitalizing on warmer temperatures, killing white barks at a staggering rate. Tree Fight aims to stop them.