Trump's war on the environment ramps up

Not a good week for the environment.

The Donald surprised no one when he announced he would remove the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, in which almost every nation in the world has agreed to put policies into place that would help reduce global warming.  From the beginning, The Donald said he did not believe global warming was real, calling it a hoax created by China (which he later denied saying).  News clips showed him sitting at the conference without headphones, demonstrating he was not even interested in listening to the speakers.  Simply childish.

Last week, scientists published a report refuting Scott Pruitt's claim that warming had levelled off.  Of course, Pruitt offered no evidence corroborating his statement, but scientists have collected mountains of data proving he is wrong.  The day after Pruitt's irresponsible rambling, NASA reported a "pulse of melting ice" was so large it actually put a dent into Earth's crust. The study indicates that as the Artic continues to warm, pulses like this could occur more frequently, and earthquakes can be created by Greenland's glaciers calving.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/05/24/scientists-just-published-an-entire-study-refuting-scott-pruitt-on-climate-change/?utm_term=.324d8aa55b7c

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/05/25/so-much-water-pulsed-through-a-melting-glacier-that-it-warped-the-earths-crust/?utm_term=.56bc1452f52f

The Pointer Sisters release "Steppin'" 1975

The third studio album from the Pointer Sisters, Steppin', was released May 1975.  The first single, How Long (Betcha Got a Chick on the Side), was their first #1 R&B hit from the album.  The second release, Going Down Slowly (my all-time favorite), made it to #16 on the R&B charts.

The album also included a tribute to Duke Ellington, I Ain't Got Nothin' but the Blues:

Happy birthday, Alexey Leonov (first EVA)!

Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov, born May 30, 1934, became the first human to step out of a capsule and take an extra-vehicular activity (EVA), walking in space.  His historic event was scheduled to take place on Voskhod 1, but that was cancelled and rescheduled on Voskhod 2.  Everything (almost) went as planned during the Voskhod 2 mission.

Leonov stepped through the hatch and spent the next 12 minutes in space.  However, when he tried to re-enter the capsule, his spacesuit had ballooned so much from the air pressure inside, Leonov could not get through the hatchway.  He had to vent some of the pressure so his suit would fit.

He was selected to be the first Russian man to step onto the moon, but that project was scrapped along with many other programs, due to failures, design problems or budget restraints.  Leonov's second and last spaceflight was aboard Soyuz 19 as the commander of the Russian half of the historic meeting between the U.S. and Soviet Union, the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission.

Sally Ride, first U.S. female astronaut, born 1951

Sally Ride, born May 26, 1951, was the first American woman and first known gay astronaut in space.  Her first mission was in June 1983 on STS-7, aboard Space Shuttle Challenger, the seventh flight of NASA's space shuttle program and the second for Challenger.

She returned to space in October 1984 on Challenger again, STS-41-G, the first mission to carry two women (Kathryn Sullivan) and the first EVA for a woman (Sullivan).

Ride was scheduled to go back to space on Challenger in 1986, STS-61-M, but the Challenger disaster in January 1986 cancelled that mission among many others.  Ride was selected as part of the panel to investigate the Challenger explosion.

She passed away July 23, 2012 of pancreatic cancer, survived by her partner of 27 years, Tam O'Shaughnessy.

Happy birthday, Klaus Meine! (The Scorpions)

Klaus Meine, lead singer of The Scorpions, was born May 25, 1948 in Hannover, Germany.  In 2006, Hit Parader ranked him #22 of Top Heavy Metal Vocalists of All Time.  Despite losing his voice in 1981, he came back and continues to sing with them.

My all-time favorite Scorpions song is The Zoo!

Skylab 2 - first manned mission to Skylab launched 1973

Joseph Kerwin, Pete Conrad, Paul Weitz

May 25, 1973, Commander Charles “Pete” Conrad, Jr., Science Pilot Joseph P. Kerwin and Pilot Paul J. Weitz blasted off in Skylab 2, the first manned mission to Skylab, which had been launched 11 days prior.  The unmanned portion was damaged during its May 14 launch.  The micrometeorite shield and one of its primary solar arrays tore loose during lift-off.  The other primary solar array, which was to keep the space station cool, was jammed.

Skylab crew had to train on repairing techniques before they could enter the station. Upon reaching the station, Weitz performed an EVA to unjam the solar array while Kerwin held onto his legs.  This did not work so they tried a hard dock to Skylab, but this failed as well, since the lathes did not work.  

After a total of eight attempts, Weitz and Kerwin performed another EVA and were successful at docking by disassembling parts of the station’s mechanism.  Then they deployed a collapsible parasol through the scientific airlock as a sunshade to cool the interior to livable levels. 

For almost a month, the crew continued to make repairs to Skylab, conduct medical experiments and gather scientific data.  They performed a final EVA to fix the stuck solar panel and increasing electrical power to the station.

They spent four weeks in space and returned to Earth June 22.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylab_2

Pruitt's EPA to Ohio: F**k you!

The west end of Lake Erie on the Ohio side is experiencing an algae bloom and not for the first time.  In 2014, an outbreak of blooms contaiminated the tap water in Toledo for about 400,000 people.  The algae blankets the surface of the lake with ugly shades of green, which can last most of the summer.  Algae is toxic and is a health threat to people and wildlife.

And it is recurring more often since global temperatures are on the rise.  Algae reached record levels in 2015.  Ohio and Michigan have taken steps to reduce farm fertilizer runoff and municipal sewage overflows that feed the algae, but these measures have not been successful.

Last month, several environmental groups sued the EPA to make a decision and enforce tighter regulations for polluters.  Molly Flanagan, of the Alliance for the Great Lakes said "By any measure, western Lake Erie does not meet the Clean Water Act's standards of fishable, drinkable, and swimmable for significant portions of the year."

Monday, Pruitt's EPA said it would not declare Lake Erie's wasters "impaired".

A search of the EPA's website does not show any mention of the issue, but this shocks no one who has seen the direction the EPA has taken under Pruitt's administration.  Their silence on the matter is deafening.  One cannot imagine Pruitt taking any action against polluters, but it is no stretch of the imagination to think he ignored the science and data behind the studies.


https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/ohio/articles/2017-05-23/epa-rejects-declaring-lake-eries-waters-in-ohio-impaired
http://www.freep.com/story/news/columnists/2017/05/23/lake-erie-algae-ohio-epa/339448001/
http://www.cleveland19.com/story/35497783/epa-wont-declare-lake-eries-waters-in-ohio-impaired-by-toxic-algae
http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/EPA-rejects-declaring-Lake-Erie-s-waters-in-Ohio-11167144.php