You’re sitting in you living room. Cuddled up on the couch with your dog watching your favorite late night show. You turn to the coffee table to the left of you, pick up your drink, take a sip, and place it back on its coaster where you retrieved it. As you cozy back in place, [...]
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Environmental overload: where can you get involved?
I was always overwhelmed by the idea of environmental issues. I found it nearly impossible to wade through all the technical jargon, politics and constant flood of new dangers and effects. So, I gave up trying to keep track of it all. But I still felt bothered and compelled to do something. But what? I [...]
What happens to abandoned pipelines?
Above you'll see a map of abandoned pipelines in Ohio. That's 39 pipelines that have been identified as abandoned or retired. The question is, what actually happens to a pipeline when it's not in use anymore? In 2016, PHSMA (Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration) issued a bulletin to remind pipeline operators that the companies [...]
Natural gas pipeline vs. Oil pipelines
I spent a lot of time over the last four months researching pipelines. When I first started, I knew absolutely nothing about them. Pipelines are typically used to transport either natural gas or oil. In Ohio, both are widely used and constructed similarly. But I decided to dig into what the differences are. Both have [...]
Digging into the Topic: Soil Erosion in NEO
I’ve written a lot about my time as a young boy in the scouts and going to West Branch. Well, I’m writing about it again. Within the state park, there is a section for “group camps.” Large plots of the park for your scout troop or corporate weekend retreat. At this site there’s a sheer [...]
Flood Control and the Annual Mud Plains of Ravenna
There are few community staples in Ravenna as well known as West Branch State Park and the West Branch Reservoir. The reservoir, built in 1965 by the Army Corps of Engineers, is a gathering place of hunters, fishers, boaters and nearly every other type of outdoor enthusiast that can be found in northeastern Ohio. Driving [...]
This Week in Energy: The Top Headlines
Major American utility pledges to carbon-free energy by 2050 Xcel Energy announced Monday it has committed to going carbon-free by the year 2050 - a first for a major American utility. In addition, the company wants to cut carbon emissions 80 percent by 2030. The company serves 3.6 million people across eight states. The company [...]
Creating an interactive map for invasive species
While we have been investigating some of the most well-known or prolific invasive species in Ohio, we’ve noticed a pattern. There’s great information out there about invasives, but barely anywhere where that information is conglomerated in a helpful manner. For example, say you live in Ohio’s Portage County. You want to know some of the [...]
5 Tips to Safely Live Near Ohio Mines
1) Know the location of your local abandoned mines...if you can ODNR provides maps and data on known abandoned mine locations, but the data is not perfect. In addition, many mines in their data are listed in "unknown" or "partially-known" extent, meaning that complete data is not available, though some evidence of a mine has [...]
Lead leads to health concerns
As a University of California Irvine professor said in my last blog, “The world is facing many life-threatening impacts of climate change, so people having to spend a bit more to drink beer may seem trivial by comparison.” Steven Davis, from the department of Earth System Sciences, means beer is a luxury consumption and people [...]
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