Gleanings of the Week Ending October 10, 2026

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

09/30/2026 NPR Swiss glaciers suffer another year of record ice loss - Switzerland's glaciers lost more than 5% of their ice in 2026, marking another year of rapid decline. The loss reflects a wider global trend: Glaciers around the world have been shrinking at increasingly rapid rates, a phenomenon scientists link directly to global warming.

09/30/2026 Clean Technica Ameren Missouri Proposes Pollution-Heavy Future to Power Data Centers -Ameren Missouri filed a proposed long-range energy plan with its regulators at the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC). If approved as proposed, Ameren Missouri would significantly increase its reliance on fossil fuels, including a large increase in gas-burning power plants and extended coal-burning at its Labadie and Sioux plants. Labadie is the deadliest coal plant in the country.

09/29/2026 Smithsonian Magazine Rare, Double-Headed Turtle Hatchling Discovered on Cape Cod - The tiny diamondback terrapin was brought to a wildlife center on September 17. At the time, the creature weighed about as much as a nickel.

09/29/2026 Science Daily The ice blasting from Saturn's moon Enceladus is stranger than scientists realized - Saturn's moon Enceladus is covered in ice, but beneath that frozen shell lies a global ocean. Near the moon's south pole, fractures in the crust release water vapor and ice particles into space. Those particles give scientists an unusual way to study an alien ocean without having to drill through kilometers of ice. These salt-rich grains are far more chemically diverse than an average ocean composition would suggest

09/29/2026 BBC Future The US state replacing power plants with home batteries - Spread across thousands of ordinary homes, this "power plant" has become Vermont's largest power source. It's protecting owners from outages and providing cheaper, cleaner energy. Whichever technologies end up powering virtual power plants, they're likely to involve local communities more than traditional energy systems have. People working in large groups, he says, can be as big as a power plant.

09/25/2026 Yale Environment 360 Alaska’s ‘Rusting’ Waters More Acidic Than Mining Wastewater - As the Arctic warms and tundra thaws, minerals long trapped in frozen soil are leaching into rivers, turning them orange and acidic. Analyzing records of water quality, researchers also determined that rusting began in the summer of 2019, the hottest summer on record in the state of Alaska. Since then, rusting has been recorded in more than 200 rivers in Alaska, as well as in waterways across much of northern Canada. There are fears that rusting may have led to the collapse of the chinook salmon fishery in the region.

09/30/2026 Clean Technica Is the US Going to End DEAD LAST In Vehicle Electrification? - If current trends continue, it’s very easy to see the US being the last country in the world — not just the last major auto market or major economy — to electrify its light vehicle market.

09/30/2026 Science Daily NASA's Perseverance Mars rover finds groundwater, lakes, and hot fluids in one place - The Margin Unit was not shaped by a single lake environment. Instead, it became a meeting point for several different water systems that altered the same rocks at different stages of Mars' history.

10/01/2026 Planetizen Evidence-based planning in a time of information overload - Information has exploded in the past few decades, including research information relevant to planning. The new landscape of open-access publications has benefits…and some problems. An important problem is that the onus of judging the quality of the research is left to the reader. And yet it may not be obvious to the reader which kind of journal they are accessing. Furthermore, researchers face publication fees. There may be an emerging role for librarians to help the profession manage information more effectively, though the enduring question is: who would pay?

10/01/2026 The Conversation 3 iconic animals show the value of the US Endangered Species Act – and the harm in stripping it away - The new interpretations, if they hold up to court challenges, could leave a vast number of endangered species at higher risk. Many of the country’s shipping, logging, mining and development practices are influenced by the Endangered Species Act’s protections. In some cases, entire species could face extinction. Featured species: Florida panther, North Atlantic right whale, Monarch butterfly. Hunting is not the primary threat today to the Florida panther, the North Atlantic right whale or the monarch butterfly. Their survival instead relies on the pine flatwoods being in good health, the ocean remaining quiet, and milkweed corridors existing across the continent.

Missouri Woodland Mentor Series

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The Missouri Extension offered a 9-part Woodland Mentor series of webinars from January to September 2026. I managed to see all 9 of them as they were recorded! The webinar schedule was:

  • January - Introduction

  • February – How we value Missouri woods

  • March – Why we cut trees to manage trees

  • April – Birds need managed woods

  • May – Forest species of concern

  • June – Enhancing the woods for desired wildlife

  • July – Threats to the woods

  • August – Know your woods

  • September - Where do we go from here?

There was at least one other in in the class that is like me – a master naturalist in a suburb that does not own a woodland and I hope to start an interaction with them and share ideas. I’ve already decided that my primary path forward is to transition my yard into a savanna…and encourage other people in my neighborhood to move in that direction. I’ve been posting about the suburban savanna idea monthly and my winter project will be to pull together a presentation for any audience I can find that might be interested!

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 26, 2026

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

09/22/2026 The Conversation Bangladesh has lost 900 children to measles – a warning to other countries where vaccine rates have slipped - Almost 900 people in Bangladesh are suspected to have died in a measles outbreak that began in March. Most of those affected are children. Vaccines only work if people actually receive them. The science has already done its job: measles vaccines are safe, effective, and have protected children for decades. What’s missing is trust, access, and the urgency needed to close the gap – until that changes, outbreaks like this one won’t be the last.

09/18/2026 Yale Environment 360 Microplastics in Soil a ‘Trojan Horse’ for Toxins - To protect long-term food production and soil health, policy must catch up. We urgently need standardized plastic monitoring, full manufacturer transparency, and risk assessments that evaluate through different species how microplastics interact with co-pollutants.

09/17/2026 Science Daily This popular fermented food may help flush nanoplastics from the body - A kimchi-derived bacterium can bind to nanoplastics under gut-like conditions and may help carry them out of the body. In mice, the probiotic more than doubled the amount of nanoplastics detected in feces, pointing to a surprising potential use for microbes from fermented foods.

09/16/2026 BBC Future To save scarlet macaws, scientists are rescuing chicks from their lethal parents - Scarlet macaws are an iconic but declining tropical bird…and they intentionally starve their youngest chicks. Wild fostering techniques for those rejected chicks might contribute to the faster recovery of some populations.  

09/19/2026 The Prairie Ecologist A Simple Guide to Identifying Red-Tailed Hawks – A one page identification guide.

09/22/2026 NPR Abortion is on the ballot again as post-Roe policies continue to evolve – Again in Missouri - the state's Republican-dominated legislature is asking Missouri voters to overturn the abortion protections they recently supported. The conflicting measures even have the same title: Amendment 3. But while a "yes" vote in 2024 supported adding protections to the state constitution, a "no" vote in 2026 would keep them. (A citizen with a 2024 sign) covered the "YES" on her yard sign with a "NO" made from black duct tape before placing the sign back in her yard.

09/21/2026 Smithsonian Magazine An Armadillo Found in Ohio Is the Latest Surprise in the Armored Animals’ Expansion North. Where Are They Now, and What’s Driving Their Movement? - Over the past decades, scientists have tracked the armadillo’s steady northward crawl, from Texas to wider expanses of the South, Southeast and Midwest. Now, the recent discovery indicates that the mammals might soon gain a foothold in the Buckeye State. The animals moved across the Rio Grande in the mid-1800s, passing from Mexico into Texas. From there, they generally expanded north and east, reaching Louisiana by the 1920s and Kansas by the 1940s. With their strong leg muscles and long front claws, the mammals will root through soil in search of insects and create extensive burrows that can reach several feet underground. This behavior can damage gardens, agriculture, building infrastructure or golf courses. The burrows have positive effects, too. In a 2022 study in Arkansas, researchers used motion-triggered cameras to find 64 other species interacting with armadillo burrows—19 mammals, 4 reptiles, 1 amphibian and 40 birds.

09/15/2026 My Modern Met Amazing Winners of the 2026 BMC Ecology and Evolution and BMC Zoology Image Competition - The photo contest is an opportunity for people in biology to showcase their research to a broad audience. Ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and zoologists worldwide submitted work for the 2026 competition.

09/17/2026 Yale Environment 360 Why Germany Is Building an Ark for U.S. Climate Data - As researchers around the world begin work on the next U.N. climate assessment, fears are growing that the Trump administration could meddle with critical U.S. climate data. In response, scientists are preparing to transfer vast troves of that data to repositories in Germany. In a world where political upheaval is growing, storing data in one place is increasingly thought to be precarious. Assumptions that U.S. government agencies will store data long-term “are proving tenuous at best.”

09/15/2026 Archaeology Magazine Landslide Exposes Pre-Roman Burial in Eastern Italy - A landslide in central Italy has exposed a Picene burial estimated to date to the sixth century B.C. The Picenes are known to have lived near the Adriatic Sea and imported pottery, bronzes, and other goods from Greece.

Woodland Management Field Trip

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I signed up for a morning in a managed woodland. It was far enough away and started early enough in the day that my husband and I drove up the day before (more on what we did along the way in tomorrow’s post). The management strategies had been varied across the property were –

No management – Completely closed canopy (no sunlight hitting the ground), only maple and other shade tolerant fast-growing trees, no regeneration, no browse or food sources, no cover

  • Shelter wood cut – a clear cut with a few white oaks left for seed trees

  • Timber stand improvement – cutting all trees except the species that fit your personal goals and thinning the desired species to the best density

  • Forest opening – an island of fresh growth in an otherwise managed and maturing forest

  • Burn – plot was burned

There were signs indicating the type of management and when the action was taken. The goal of the landowner was to produce white oak for harvest and habitat for grouse and turkey.

It was interesting to see the impact of the various strategies that I had learned about in the Woodland Mentor zoom course I am taking…and a pleasant day to be out in the woods.

I did not do a good job of taking pictures of the varying situations just tried to listen….and got sidetracked with trees and sky and under story plants…and a thistle.

On the way our I had my husband stop so I could photograph the stream crossing. It has been a dry summer.

I am thinking more about how this applies in a Suburban Savannah situation than a woodland. There are some aspects of some of these techniques that might skew almost into the Savanna realm – particularly if one of the goals is to provide habitat for birds that like forest ‘edge’ conditions. However – fire is a strategy not available in a suburban situation….and tree harvest would probably not be a goal. My goals for my yard and my community skew toward providing habitat for birds and pollinators (their complete life cycle…not just the adult)…and maybe some less common native plants!

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 19, 2026

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

09/09/2026 Leaf & Limb Right Tree, Right Place: What to Plant and Where to Plant it – The top 4 questions to ask when selecting a tree: what is the goal of the tree; what are the planting area’s soil and light conditions; how big will the tree be at maturity; what are the secondary benefits of a tree.

08/06/2026 Plastic Pollution Coalition Recent Recalls on Plastic Toys—and How to Choose Safer Toys - About 90% of toys on the global market are made primarily from plastic. Plastic toys are also especially dangerous for kids because they are made with hazardous chemical additives and become more brittle over time—breaking into small pieces that pose choking hazards and shedding microplastics. Interactive plastic toys are also often made to hold tiny button batteries, which, if not properly secured, can be swallowed to cause extreme and permanent harm. 

09/09/2026 The New York Times Toxic ‘Forever Chemical’ Cleanups at Military Sites Face Years of Delay -PFAS cleanups at nearly 243 military sites had been pushed back by an average of 5 years, and some as long as 19 years. At many sites, PFAS has contaminated local drinking water sources, prompting the Pentagon to provide bottled water to service members as well as nearby residents. The inspector general also found that the Defense Department’s list of contaminated sites might be incomplete, and that the Pentagon could provide no documentation proving that officials had ever analyzed whether PFAS chemicals were used or released at more than 80 installations.

09/09/2026 Clean Technica Denmark Can Produce 140% Of Its Electricity Demand from Wind Power - The Danish Energy Agency is spearheading an ambitious plan to produce even more wind power for both export and domestic use. The plan is to construct two new “energy islands” in the North and Baltic seas that will serve as wind power hubs, transmitting some electricity directly to coastal grids while reserving the rest for offshore activities including green hydrogen production.

09/09/2026 Yale Environment 360 Chinese Industry Is Starting to Wean Off Fossil Fuels - New clean power more than met the growth in demand across China last year, leading to a small decline in coal output. Analysts identified eight provinces where coal generation is now seeing declines, including industrial centers such as Hunan and Shandong, and it named another nine provinces where the growth of coal generation has slowed substantially….you can see fossil fuel use flattening out, sector by sector and province by province.

09/08/2026 Science Daily Caffeine may flip an ancient cellular switch linked to slower aging - Scientists found that caffeine activates an ancient cellular energy system involved in stress resistance, DNA repair, and growth. The discovery could help explain caffeine’s links to healthier aging and may point toward new ways to target the same pathway.

09/09/2026 Planetizen 15 million people rely on the Rio Grande — in 2 years, it may run dry - The Rio Grande is one of the most threatened rivers in the country — even more so than the Colorado River. The river fuels billions of dollars in agricultural production, and roughly 15 million people depend on it for drinking water. In Mexico, taps could run dry within a year. In two years, the river may be completely depleted, resulting in millions of Texans losing their source of fresh water. The only thing that can help now is reducing agricultural water use.

09/07/2026 The Conversation Farmers can now produce more of their own energy than ever – but will they? - We’re unlikely to see the farm diesel tank disappear any time soon. But we are likely to see many more shed rooftops covered in panels – and new ways to make use of clean, cheap power from the sun.

09/06/26 Cool Green Science A Nature Conservancy Volunteer’s Hunt for Champion Trees – Gary Williamson, age 82, has devoted his career and free time to conservation and natural history. He has been a Nature Conservancy volunteer for more than 40 years, contributing to the organization in many ways. He’s a herpetologist, park ranger, author and canoeist. And he’s always on the lookout for big trees.

09/08/26 The New York Times California’s Ambitious Plan for Textile Waste - California is trying to become the first state to make fashion brands, manufacturers and retailers pick up the tab for textile waste, and the details of the plan are taking shape now. California residents discarded nearly 1.2 million tons of textiles in 2021 alone. The vast majority of textile waste is landfilled. In the new system - fees will be lower for clothes designed to be easily repaired and for clothes made from recycled materials. Fees will be higher for clothes that are difficult to recycle, like those made of blended fibers or that contain toxic chemicals.

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 12, 2026

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

08/27/2026 Plastic Pollution Coalition The Plastic We Wear: Hidden Fibers, Chemical Dyes, and the Future of Clean Textiles - Washing synthetic clothing releases hundreds of thousands to millions of microplastic fibers per load, many of which are not captured by wastewater treatment and instead are often discharged directly into waterways. Synthetic dyes and chemical finishes used on many mass-produced textiles have been linked to skin irritation and allergic contact dermatitis.

0 9/3/2026 Smithsonian Magazine Leaf-Peeping Season Is Almost Here. These Interactive Maps Can Help You Figure Out When Fall Foliage Will Peak in Your Area – The article points to several site but Explore Fall is my favorite. I’ve always enjoyed fall foliage road trips!

9/2/2026 Science Daily Too much coffee may weaken bones - Following nearly 10,000 older women for 10 years, researchers found that tea drinking was associated with slightly higher hip bone density. Moderate coffee consumption did not appear harmful, but drinking more than five cups a day was linked to lower bone density. The findings suggest tea may offer a small bone-health boost, while excessive coffee could carry some drawbacks.

09/1/2026 Clean Technica Most EU Ships Are Being Scrapped in South Asia Despite Sufficient Domestic Recycling Capacity - The vast majority of EU-owned or EU-flagged ships are being scrapped under poor conditions in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, while EU-located ship recycling facilities operate under capacitya new study from the NGO Shipbreaking Platform and T&E shows. This is both an environmental scandal and a loss of high-quality materials for the EU economy, say the NGOs, who issued a report concluding that the EU has enough domestic capacity to recycle all EU-flagged and EU-owned vessels.

08/31/2026 NWF Blog 5 Benefits of Using Fallen Leaves in Your Garden - One of the best things you can do for wildlife, the environment, and even your wallet is to intentionally use the fallen leaves and other organic matter in your garden.

08/31/2026 Our World in Data Beef production in Brazil has been the largest driver of global deforestation in recent decades - When we look at the largest drivers of this deforestation, beef production is the standout. The clearing of forests to make space for grazing pastures has driven 41% of global deforestation in recent decades. Almost two-thirds of it has taken place in Brazil. The expansion of cattle pastures has not just come at the expense of natural forests, but particularly of biodiverse regions in the Amazon rainforest and Cerrado savanna. Beef consumption has grown a lot in Brazil, with per-person demand doubling over the past 50 years. Average consumption is now three times the European average.

08/31/2026 NASA Pasterze Hangs on as Austria’s Largest Glacier - Austria’s largest glacier was holding on by one dwindling thread of ice. The last icefall connecting the upper and lower portions of the Pasterze Glacier in the Eastern Alps appeared poised to break, which would put an end to its reign as the country’s largest. Groups monitoring the glacier say the last conduit of ice may, depending on weather conditions, survive to see another year or two, or it may face its demise before the cold months arrive this year.

08/31/2926 NPR NPR spent 2 years tracking deaths from heat. We found a staggering hidden toll - As summer heat intensifies because of human-driven climate change, the United States' official tally of heat-related deaths does not come close to capturing the full human toll. The data feeding into nationwide death counts is collected inconsistently and rarely thoroughly. The result is a vast undercount of the number of people who die because of heat. And experts say failing to recognize and address this may cost more people their lives. The reasons for the undercount are complex. Heat can often be the trigger that pushes someone's health condition — like cardiovascular disease — from manageable to fatal. But often because heat leaves no obvious mark behind for doctors or coroners to examine, the cause of death gets marked down only as a heart attack. Heat isn't noted on the death certificate. There is better counting of heat-related deaths in some parts of the country. For example, Arizona's Maricopa County — home to Phoenix — has developed sophisticated protocols for sussing out the subtle influences of heat on people's deaths. Maricopa County trains "death investigators" to look for signs of heat stress, such as asking about the state of the deceased's air conditioning system, their ability to pay electric bills to run ACs, their use of medications that increase heat sensitivity, and more.

08/28/2026 Smithsonian Magazine Forests Didn’t Fare Well During an Ancient Global Warming Event, Offering a ‘Cautionary’ Tale About Today’s Climate Change - An intense global warming event 56 million years ago caused a forest in modern-day Wyoming to lose around 60 percent of its canopy cover, and it took more than 100,000 years to bounce back.

08/27/2026 Planetizen Feds want to stop notifying landowners about drilling under their land - Currently, if the BLM owns the mineral rights underneath private property, the bureau is required to notify the owners of proposed drilling and give the public 90 days to comment on any leasing of rights to outside companies. But a recent proposal would eliminate the landowner notification requirement and reduce public comment time to 10 days. A rancher in Wyoming said that ditches from developers trying to build pipelines stranded his cattle during a blizzard, and abandoned oil wells have caused bovine health issues. In a separate proposal, the BLM also proposed reducing the minimum bonds companies are required to pay if drilling is abandoned without environmental cleanup.

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 5, 2026

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

08/24/2026 The Washington Post Leaked memo shows how U.S. aims to weaken global limits on plastic pollution – Depressing and sad for so many reasons.

08/25/2026 Inside Climate News The Biggest Carbon Polluters Are to Blame for Half of U.S. Western Water Lost to Climate Change - Dozens of states and cities across the U.S. have sued large oil and gas companies for environmental damages associated with emissions from their products. This study supports plaintiffs’ position in those cases as they seek to put a price tag on climate change for fossil fuel companies.

08/26/2028 Yale Environment 360 Access to Urban Woodlands Linked with Lower Use of Antidepressants - A study from Scotland found that living near an accessible urban woodland significantly lowered the likelihood of being prescribed antidepressants. A host of prior studies have found that living near green spaces can reduce stress, improve moods, and lower the risk of developing anxiety or depression. Some research has even found that exposure to nature can help reduce violent crime. Considering the well-documented benefits of living near green spaces, the World Health Organization recommends urban planners establish at least 1 acre of green space within 1,000 feet of every home.

08/26/2026 Smithsonian Magazine See 16 Stunning Animal Images from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards - The 62nd Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, developed and produced by the Natural History Museum in London.

08/26/2026 NWF Blog U.S. Workers Deserve Protection from Extreme Heat - Comprehensive heat rules that protect all workers require shade, paid rest, and cold water along with a written heat stress prevention plan that includes science-based temperature triggers, annual training, acclimatization, retaliation protection and emergency response procedures. America’s workforce keeps our country moving—delivering mail, teaching our children, constructing new buildings, maintaining infrastructure, and more.

08/26/2026 The Conversation Tiny house villages are increasingly responding to the homeless crisis in America’s fast‑growing cities - The proliferation of tiny house villages across the U.S. is occurring at a time when many cities are attracting new residents and investment, while struggling to provide housing that remains accessible to all.

08/23/2026 Science Daily Scientists left this farm field alone. Thousands of orchids appeared - An abandoned farm field became a flourishing wildflower meadow within little more than a decade, with plant diversity doubling and thousands of orchids appearing naturally. Aside from a traditional annual hay cut, the field was largely allowed to recover without intervention. The discovery suggests that simply giving nature time to recover could be a powerful and inexpensive tool for restoring biodiversity.

08/24/2026 Smithsonian Magazine ‘Only One of Its Kind’ Jellyfish Museum Astounds Visitors with Awe-Inspiring Displays of Sea Nettles Safely Behind Glass - The Florida-based museum opened in the spring and was founded by two aquarium experts who fled the Russia-Ukraine war.

08/26/2026 Clean Technica Photovoltaic Windows Have Been Heating Water in a Bucharest Apartment for Two Years - Solar electricity produced over several hours during the day is converted directly into heat and stored as hot water for use later. There is no photovoltaic battery and no solar inverter between the photovoltaic glazing and the heating element. The PV side operates off-grid and does not inject electricity into the public grid. When solar energy is insufficient, the controller switches the same water heater to the normal AC grid after sunset so that it can reach the thermostat setpoint.

8/27/2026 Yale Environment 360 A Hard-Won Rule to Cut Chemical Plant Pollution Is Being Unraveled - For decades, regulations on emissions of hazardous chemicals such as benzene, ethylene oxide, and vinyl chloride have been weaker than restrictions on more common pollutants, such as those emitted by vehicles. Toughening requirements on six different pollutants at more than 200 petrochemical plants, it was one of a slate of regulations enacted beginning in 2024 on air toxics, each covering a specific industry, from steelmaking to tire manufacturing. Recently, the EPA has invited companies to request exemptions from hazardous pollutant regulations. Also - an online data tool created to give communities located near petrochemical plants information about their operations, including their accident history, emergency response plans, and the chemicals they handle has been removed.

Plastics Crisis – Actions at the Community Level – August 2026

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After a lull the last few months, there are community actions shaping up for the fall and winter for our Beyond Plastics Ozarks group!

We have a February date for the show of the Plastic People movie sponsored by the City of Springfield and are gearing up to get the word out to the community and recruit some people for the panel discussion after the movie.

There are 2 reducing plastics presentations coming up – one in November and one in December…and participation in an interest/experience activity (plastics is one of six ‘tables’).

I am glad there are things to feel positive about locally since a headwind of a story came out in the Washington Post this week (“Leaked memo shows how US aims to weaken global limits on plastic pollution”).

Ten Little Celebrations – August 2026

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August was a great month of summer activities – trying to dodge afternoons that were way too hot to be outside!

Great cohort signed up for Missouri Master Naturalist core training. I’ve been working on the core training curriculum since last spring and everything began to come together in August….ready for the start of the course in September. I am particularly celebrating the existing Master Naturalists that signed up for all the volunteer tasks I identified!

Webinars when I was traveling. I am celebrating two excellent webinars (creating habitat that works and building a native plant movement in your community) that I watched from my hotel when I travelled to Texas.

Dancing oakworm catepillars. I celebrated getting a video of oakworms in action…and then being able to share it with peoole  visited our table after the caterpillars themselves had worn themselves out (i.e. were no longer dancing).

Stone edge installed around my native plant garden. Getting the edge around my native plant garden was a great addition. I’m celebrating how great it makes the front yard look!

Dark chocolate. Recently I remembered starting my day with a small serving of dark chocolate years ago…and I am celebrating every morning that I revive that tradition!

Mississippi Kites at Lake Springfield. I celebrated the 4 Mississippi Kites that were hunting for breakfast near the Lake Springfield Boathouse one morning I was there. They were finding plenty to eat!

Salmon for lunch. I’m still a little surprised about how easy it is to prepare! I celebrated a lunch on my own while my husband was away.

Sunlight through the spikenard leaves in the morning. The plant is leaning but I celebrate that its fruit is developing and it is still my favorite plant viewed through my office window.

Insectorama and an Io caterpillar. There was a sign that said “don’t touch” for the Io caterpillar and no one did. I celebrated that the visitors got to see it with no negative event!

Yard work done. In August I feel like I need to dodge high temperatures and the sprinklers to get yard work done….so I celebrate with I finally can just do it.

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 29, 2026

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

08/15/2026 BBC  Future The controversial story of the North American raccoons wreaking havoc in Germany - One morning in April 1934, the records show, the animals were released from two crates to the south side of Lake Edersee near Vöhl, around 50km (30 miles) to the south-west of Kassel. This population grew and grew. Today, Kassel has been called the "raccoon capital of Europe", with an estimated urban population of around 30,000 of the animals.    

08/21/2026 Smithsonian Magazine An ‘Extremely Rare’ Half-Male, Half-Female Bird Temporarily Took Up Residence Outside of Chicago - An eye-catching bobolink with both male and female characteristics temporarily took up residence at a nature preserve just west of Chicago. The bobolink is what’s known as a “bilateral gynandromorph.” Because of a genetic anomaly, the right side of its body is male while the left side is female, with a straight vertical line dividing the two halves. It’s believed to be the first documented gynandromorphic bobolink. The bird behaved like a male, eventually wooing a mate and raising fledglings.

08/21/2026 Science Daily Archaeologists discover mysterious 400-year-old Indigenous pot in Florida - The pot was compact enough to fit in a palm, with a simple rim, a smooth dull gray surface, and no decoration. Its original purpose is unknown, as is the number of people who may have used it. What archaeologists do know is that the vessel survived for centuries underground

08/21/2026 Artnet Why Louis Comfort Tiffany Still Dazzles Collectors - Louis Comfort Tiffany‘s lamps are coveted and his stained glass is celebrated, but the artist behind the famous brand has remained stubbornly in the shadows. Two new exhibitions aim to throw the spotlight on his full talents.

08/21/2026 Clean Technica Sunrun Shifts Away from Affiliates to Direct Sales - Sunrun has been the #1 rooftop solar power installed in the United States for several years now.Sunrun installed 19,793 subscriber systems in the second quarter of this year, which is an amazingly high number. However, the bad news is that this was down 31% from Q2 2025. Yikes. On the plus side, the company had a higher percentage of its solar power systems get energy storage add-ons than ever before — a whopping 74%. That’s up from 70% in Q2 2025. Sunrun has surpassed 266,000 total storage systems installed, accounting for 4.6 GWh of capacity. That includes the 332 MWh installed last quarter.

08/19/2026 NASA Elephant Butte Reservoir Runs Low - Elephant Butte Reservoir, the largest reservoir in New Mexico, is at its lowest level since 1971. My husband and I took a birding field trip in a boat on the reservoir in November 2016; they told us it was low then…and I wonder what has happened to the birds (pelicans, grebes, coots, and cormorants) that won’t find much water when they return to the area this fall.

08/19/2026 The Prairie Ecologist The Notorious (and other) Visitors to Our New Prairie Garden – Lots to photograph in a native plant garden!

08/19/2026 Planetizen To guarantee residents fresh water, Tijuana looks to the sea - The project is expected to produce 2,200 liters of fresh water per second — about 190,000 cubic meters a day — and increase available freshwater in the region by 45%. Construction is set to begin on Aug. 18, one day after signing the contract but nearly three weeks after the project's intended start date of Aug. 1.  It is expected to be complete in 2029.

08/18/2026 Yale Environment 360 Collapse of Atlantic Currents Could Drive a Surge in Warming - A vast system of Atlantic currents appears to be weakening, and scientists say its collapse could lead to dramatic cooling in northern Europe. A new study suggests an additional risk: a surge in warming across the rest of the globe.

08/21/2026 BBC Future India is turning to ancient water systems as modern ones run dry - In recent years, India is increasingly looking to revive ancient water structures as a way to help address the country's looming water crisis. Baoris, or ancient stepwells – large scale tiers of carved stone with steps that descend into the water table, allowing access to groundwater – are the most striking. Thousands of disused subterranean stepwells, built from the 7th to the mid-19th Centuries, famously dot India's landscape. From New Delhi to Jodphur, dozens have been restored in recent years. Open traditional structures like stepwells do not escape evaporation completely, but by helping to move water beyond reach of the Sun into aquifers they allow it to stay both cool and reachable by any well or handpump nearby.

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 22, 2026

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

07/30/2026 Project Drawdown Is climate change unfolding faster and fiercer than scientists expected?  - Climate change is driving unprecedented extreme weather around the world, from catastrophic floods and prolonged droughts to blistering heat waves and raging wildfires. While these events are unprecedented, they were not unpredicted and largely align with what scientists have been warning about for decades. Climate science tells us that things will get worse as long as humans keep emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. But the science also shows us that a better future is still within reach.

08/07/2026 Smart Cities Dive For local governments, full benefits of ROAD to Housing Act could take years - The bipartisan legislation promises sweeping regulatory reforms and funding incentives designed to increase housing development.  Of the 124 implementation actions detailed in the bill, HUD is responsible for 88, or 71%.L ocal governments can begin assessing what regulatory changes — such as updating zoning, building codes and permitting policies — they will need to enact to take advantage of federal funding once it becomes attainable.

08/09/2026 Cool Green Science Bug Highway: The Hidden Paths Used by Insects - Many important pollinators have home ranges no larger than 400 or 500 meters. Some are even smaller. So, in order for them to survive, they must find something to eat within their home range, the distance they’re willing to stray from their nests. And that means every window box, every garden, every bit of green space could be what some insects need to survive.

08/10/2026 Our World in Data 138 million children are in child labor. What does this actually mean? - Child labor is work that is done by a child and is likely to be harmful. This general principle was first codified in international legal conventions more than a century ago, and a series of them in the 20th century made its scope more precise, linking harms to work that endangers children’s “health, safety, or morals” or work that interferes with their schooling. It spans children working in exploitative and dangerous conditions, as well as children who are counted not because of the conditions they work in, but because they are too young to be working at all, even if that means helping on a family farm for only a few hours a day.

08/05/2026 NASA The Paradox of Lençóis Maranhenses National Park - The coastal dune system in Lençóis Maranhenses National Park in northeastern Brazil is among the most surreal landscapes on Earth: rows of sparkling white quartz dunes, some rising 30 meters (100 feet), soar over a mosaic of blue and green freshwater lagoons.

08/11/2026 My Modern Met Mini Wildlife Portraits Made with Plastic Toys and Other Materials That Threaten Real Animals Today – Look at the pictures and watch the 6-minute video about how they were created.

08/10/2026 Smithsonian Magazine Spinal Deformities in Saber-Toothed Cat Fossils Reveal How the Now-Extinct Felines May Have Spent Their Final Days - Thousands of years ago, sticky tar pits in modern-day Los Angeles, California, became the graveyard for prehistoric felines struggling with deformities and disease. 3,722 vertebrae from at least 849 saber-toothed cats were examined. CT scans revealed a significant number of developmental abnormalities in the feline spines. The team identified 32 vertebrae with arches that hadn’t completely developed, 48 “block” vertebrae where bones had fused together and 226 “transitional” vertebrae that hadn’t formed correctly. Perhaps most notably, three vertebrae from different individuals contained enlarged holes that allowed nerves and blood vessels to thread through them. The holes’ sizes and smooth remodeled surfaces hint that the cats had spinal nerve tumors.

07/24/2026 Project Drawdown Reversing soil degradation 10% could feed 70 million more - Human-caused damage to soils is a limiting factor for food production on agricultural lands. Soil degradation can be slowed or reversed. Reversing degradation by 10% could make it possible to feed 70 million more people while also enhancing soils’ ability to pull greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and reducing pressure to turn forests into farmland.

08/11/2026 NASA Bountiful Roebuck Bay - Roebuck Bay's tidal range can reach a remarkable 9 meters (30 feet). Rising and falling tides repeatedly inundate and expose expansive mudflats, flood broad mangrove forests and salt marshes, and feed branching networks of tidal drainage channels. The bay's dramatic tidal and seasonal changes are striking from above, and they also support a bounty of life on the ground. The mangroves serve as nurseries for crustaceans and fish, and the mudflats teem with dozens of types of invertebrates, including snails, worms, crabs, clams, and cockles. Shells and snails can reach an abundance of 2,500 per square meter. The bay, one of the most important sites for migratory birds in Australia and a key stop on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, regularly hosts hundreds of thousands of birds, including plovers, godwits, and knots.

08/10/2026 BBC Future We're getting mealtimes wrong - here's the best time to have dinner - Aim to eat at regular times and eat fiber-rich carbohydrates such as whole grains, legumes (beans, peas and lentils) as well as fruit, earlier in the day when the body is better able to process them. In the evening, opt for a lighter meal, ideally one rich in protein….making lunch the largest meal.

Leadership Styles

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As I thought about and then accepted the president’s role in my Missouri Master Naturalist chapter, I thought about the leadership styles I’ve learned over the years…and the ones I am applying in my post-career endeavors.

Probably the first, and most natural for me, is lead-by-example. It is the style I am least conscious about….and that I only notice when someone obviously emulates what I am doing…or volunteers to collaborate or help.

Organizational judo is a style I heard about in my career and realized that I could apply without being in ‘management’ and in situations where the structure of the organization was working against a project’s success. This type of leadership involves influencing actions of others not in the regular ‘chain of command’ either through timely prompts or providing key information that will encourage their action to achieve a desirable shared outcome. I have always been very organized and am very aware of what is critical for success both near and long term….and have found that my insights are often important in helping others take the actions required. Most people want their organization to be successful but are not always aware of what it will require of them – and sometimes the organization is not as overt of explaining either.

Servant leadership is easy for me to – it is the type of leadership that focuses on getting what the organization needs for everyone to contribute what is needed….realizing that long term success of an organization is built on the individuals in that organization being successful.

Coaching leadership is the type of leadership I often utilize when there is a problem. It is an overt type of ‘lead-by-example’ – pinpointing an issue and structuring conversation to help an individual or small group get through a difficult situation.

I often apply Situational leadership with students or people I don’t know well – assessing what they need from me to be successful in what we are doing. Sometimes they already know what is needed but sometimes I must provide a lot more information before they can proceed.

Transactional leadership is the type of leadership that is highly directive (i.e. I don’t like telling people exactly how to do things!) and I don’t follow it very often with experienced people…I generally want people to bring their experience to bear on whatever we are doing so we need wiggle room for that to happen.

All of these are styles I have used for years and I find myself slipping into different ones depending on what I think will be most effective in the organizations where I volunteer.

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 15, 2026

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

08/01/2026 Science Daily Scientists detect a sharp acceleration in global warming - After removing the effects of El Niño, volcanic eruptions, and solar cycles, researchers found that the planet has warmed at roughly 0.35°C per decade over the past ten years, compared with just under 0.2°C per decade from 1970 to 2015. The acceleration, which becomes visible around 2013 to 2015, appeared across five major global temperature datasets with more than 98% statistical certainty. Whether the acceleration continues will depend heavily on future carbon dioxide emissions from coal, oil, and natural gas.

07/28/2026 BBC Future The devil worm is the deepest-living animal. It's redefining life at its limits - Before the 1980s, most biologists didn't think that life existed more than 30cm (1ft) or so below the ground. The detection of deep-dwelling bacteria – and the 2011 discovery of the devil worm – represented a seismic shift in our understanding of the Earth's depths. The devil worm and its subterranean brethren may well be some of the most enduring kind of life on Earth. Studying the deep biosphere could help us better understand the conditions under which living things first came into existence, and even help inform searches for extraterrestrial life; if there is life on Mars, it's probably lurking under the surface. 

07/30/2026 Smithsonian Magazine A Man Unearthed a Mysterious Metal Object Sticking Straight Up from the Ground. It Turned Out to Be a 2,700-Year-Old Sword - Measuring nearly two feet long, the sword dates to between roughly 900 and 700 B.C.E., according to a statement from the Provincial Office for the Protection of Monuments (PUOZ). At that time, it was likely quite valuable. Experts think that it once featured a handle made from organic materials like wood or bone. The handle hasn’t survived, but the engraved patterns decorating the blade are still visible.

07/27/2026 Clean Technica This New Underground Energy Storage System Supports Wind and Solar Power - Flywheels are marking out space in the somewhat rarified world of long duration energy storage. Going by a benchmark set by the US Department of Energy, that means a capacity of at least 10 hours, though ideally long duration technology can stretch into multiple days and longer.

07/16/2026 Yale Environment 360 In Steel Country, the Fight for Clean Air Faces New Obstacles - A Japanese steel giant has pledged billions in new investment in Pennsylvania’s Monongahela River Valley, raising hopes that it would clean up pollution from its steel mills in the region. But documents show that its plans to ramp up production will worsen local air quality.

07/02/2026 Science Daily Eating less protein could slow aging - The findings suggest that protein guidance may be most effective when it takes both age and activity level into account, rather than applying the same recommendation to everyone.

07/26/2026 Clean Technica Every Day in Every Way, Attribution Science Is Getting Better & Better - The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, engineering, and medicine. They operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln. This week, the organization published a report that claims attribution science — which seeks to define the connection between human activity and alterations in the climate — has made great strides forward since the last report a decade ago. That report backs a growing body of scientific knowledge that could help governments hold oil, gas, and coal companies responsible for the damage caused by extreme weather.

7/19/2026 BBC Future Scientists are regrowing human teeth - A visit to the dentist could one day involve regrowing damaged teeth tissue or even an entire tooth, rather than repairing it with synthetic materials or yanking it out – an appealing prospect not only because of its novelty, but also because teeth play a greater role in health and well-being than many may realize.

07/17/2026 Yale Environment 360 Drained Under Soviet Rule, Aral Sea Has Become a Huge Source of Emissions - The Aral Sea sits between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and was once the fourth-largest inland body of water on Earth. For the past 60 years, though, humans have bled it nearly dry irrigating cotton crops, leaving behind a salty plain the size of Ireland. Its loss has long been seen as an ecological and humanitarian problem, but new research shows that it has also been a significant driver of climate change. When a lake dries up, stored carbon from organic matter on the floor of the old lake bed is released as the dust blows away.

07/16/2026 Science Daily New “living plastic” self-destructs in just 6 days without leaving microplastics - Researchers have created self-destructing living plastic that uses engineered bacteria to completely break itself down when activated. The material degrades in just six days without creating microplastics, offering a potential new solution for single-use plastic waste. (Note that this research was done in China with funding from Chinese government.)

 

Suburban Savanna – 5

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Continuing my series on progress toward transitioning my yard to a suburban savanna…..

This is only my first summer implementing the strategy, but I am already experiencing some areas that are overgrown…with natives. In a larger space, the tangle would simply be allowed to continue but in my third acre suburban savanna, actions are needed on my part very similar to my actions when it comes to invasives!

Virginia creeper is great near my front door, and I can easily keep it controlled there because I see it all the time. In other places (in a corner of a flower bed behind some crape myrtle and boxwood, for example), it tends to be problematic, and it requires me to get back there to hack it out. I have been cutting only what is on the brick but now I will cut more and hopefully eventually reduce it to a once-a-year job.

My strategy with poison ivy was to leave it unless it was in a place I would likely be without gloves. Now I am rethinking that even though the patch is interesting because it has the poison ivy leaf gall too. I’m going to gear up and clean out that bed…maybe plant some cone flowers there!

Last year I had a clump of White Heath Aster near my driveway, and it is there again this year….and there is clump in my backyard too. I am leaving both since they are great for pollinating insects in the fall – but I don’t want more of them in my yard.  If they come up in more places next year, I will mow them!

I am learning to cope with pokeweed. If it comes up in an empty space, I leave it…but I trim it to keep it low and leafy. It has filled in an area under a window where a non-native cedar died, a slope on the side of the house (reducing the area I mow and holding the soil with its deeper roots, and filling in a corner (it is hiding a place I dump grass clippings too!).

Grapevines seem to be everywhere this year. I don’t mind them in some places…but I will keep them out of my trees. It is going to take some vigilance.

The same is true with the black raspberry canes. They have lovely pale green stems and white underside of the leaves. There are thorns too. I want to leave some of the plants since wildlife like the fruit…but I will be cutting them in places I want to be able to easily access!

I like violets for the ground cover in all my shady areas but they hide young redbuds and maples and oaks that will eventually need to be cut. Hackberries are everywhere – growing with the hollies and in other bushes. I am considering leaving them but also realizing that I will eventually need to cut them down since they are not in places where I want a larger tree!

All these native plants that I am considering controlling and this is my first year thinking about my yard as a suburban savanna!

April 2026 – Overview

May 2026 – Planting Natives

June 2026 – Shade Garden

July 2026 - Water

An Edge around the Native Plant Garden

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Up until a week ago the native plant garden in my front yard was mulch that had been laid down last fall – originally 6+ inches thick – with plants added last spring. Installing something around the edge to define the space required too much back-straining work for me to do myself. I decided to have stone installed, but the work was not scheduled until October; I was thrilled when the company had a cancellation and fit in the work last week!

The two-person crew dug a trench for the stones and finished it in a few hours. Now I can easily do a quick round with the weed-eater and then mow neatly around the garden. I love its irregular shape.

Yard Work in August

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The day was in the 70s rather 90s…a good day for yard work. I had big plans. The latter part of July had been relentlessly hot and/or rainy…so there was a lot to do. And the company that we hired to put some edging around my new native plant bed in the front yard was coming the next week rather than in October (they’d had a cancellation – good for us) which meant I needed to do so clean up of that bed as well.

My first project was to get the Virginia Creeper under control. I don’t like it to get all the way up the brick façade of our house or in the bushes or tangled with the air conditioner compressor/other external ‘boxes.’ It’s going to be a continuing battle but I do like to have enough of it showing now so that when it turns red in the fall, the house will look spectacular!

There is also the bed that has been taken over with poison ivy (with the yellow gall on it). I will wear my protective clothing (including gauntlet gloves) and take it out.

And there is a little bit of weed eating along the fence that needs to be done as well.

Around the edge of the native plant garden there is some encroaching grass which needs to be pulled. Hopefully after the edging is in it will be easier to keep it all under control.

On the way to the back yard the pokeweed has turned into clumps (I had cut them to keep them short). They are deep rooted so good for the slope. The corner of the backyard also had a nice clump. I cut the tallest one to keep it mostly below the fence level.

There was a pokeweed that almost hid the American spikenard when viewed from the  yard (although not from my office window). I cut the poke weed even though stepping into the sea of violets left a hole. Maybe the violets quickly

The pathway I take from my office door to the hummingbird feeder is mostly rocks but the violets are taking off there too. I try to avoid stepping on them. Closer to the feeder (which is suction-cupped to one of my office windows) there is a sad crepe myrtle, thorny black raspberry canes, and grapevine that makes getting to the feeder hazardous in less that yard work garb. I cut back everything but the hosta!

The day turned misty and my back started hurting faster than I expected – before I got everything done. But I made good progress and will be out every day it isn’t raining until I catch up. So much to do….and I need to plan to do it in 30-minute chunks to keep my back happy.

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 8, 2026

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

07/29/2026 NASA Sizing Up the Sargassum Belt - Sargassum, a type of brown floating algae, has shifted its range in recent decades, thinning out in the North Atlantic’s Sargasso Sea while proliferating in the tropical Atlantic. That trend, underway since 2011, continued in 2026 as the algae, commonly known as a type of seaweed, reached its annual peak in June across a stretch of ocean known as the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt. The belt’s Sargassum abundance in June 2026 made it the second-highest Sargassum year in the satellite record, slightly behind 2025, according to scientists at the University of South Florida (USF) College of Marine Science. Regionally, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of America (Gulf of Mexico) both hit record highs, according to USF’s June 2026 Sargassum outlook. The western and eastern Caribbean saw 3.6 and 9 million metric tons, respectively, while the Gulf saw 5 million metric tons—nearly double its previous record, also set in 2025. 

07/29/2026 Smithsonian Magazine A Metal Detectorist Discovered Tiny Tiles in a Farmer’s Field - John Hill was surveying a farmer’s field in southwestern England when his metal detector identified a Roman-era coin hidden beneath the soil. Now, almost two decades later, archaeologists have returned to the site and excavated the ruins of an ancient villa—complete with a lavish mosaic floor. Stretching across roughly 130 square feet, the mosaic is located near Halberton, Devon. Experts think it dates to the fourth century C.E. The thousands of colorful tiles, each measuring less than half an inch, form a flower with eight petals. This design is bordered by a guilloche pattern, featuring two bands woven together.

07/28/2026 Science Daily 4 in 5 toddler foods are ultra-processed - A grocery-store audit found that many foods marketed for toddlers may be far less healthy than parents expect. Of nearly 2,800 products examined in Texas, 81% were ultra-processed, and almost half failed at least one World Health Organization nutrient standard, often because they contained too much sugar, sodium, fat, or too many calories.

07/29/2026 Planetizen BLM could allow oil leases near sacred New Mexico Indigenous sites - The Bureau of Land Management is considering several options for opening up oil and mineral leases near Chaco Culture National Historical Park, a massive complex of Native American ruins and a sacred site in New Mexico. In 2023, the agency withdrew roughly 336,000 acres surrounding the area from leasing for 20 years, explains Marni Rose McFall in Newsweek. Now, the agency could keep the protections in place, reduce the protected area to a 5-mile (instead of 10-mile) buffer, or remove the protections altogether. 

07/29/2026 NPR The Trump administration's move to end subsidies for Medicare drug plans could cost consumers - Project 2025 was pretty blunt about wanting to push more people into Medicare Advantage…One way to really accelerate that is to make it very expensive to stay in traditional Medicare.

07/29/2026 The Conversation Ten simple and proven ways to reduce your exposure to pollutants in your home - Reducing environmental exposures does not require major lifestyle changes. Small, everyday habits can help create a healthier home environment. For example: Avoid synthetic fragrances and Cut down on Plastics.

07/28/2026 Archaeology Magazine New Thoughts on Wall Paintings in Japan’s Kyushu Tombs - Dated to the sixth and seventh century A.D., the tombs are horizontal stone chambers that could be reopened and were reused for generations. They were decorated with colorful images of spiral circles, horses, boats, and stick-like people. These stick figures were often depicted without faces and shown as smaller than other objects in the paintings. A new study suggests that the images are not portraits of the dead, but anonymous figures who symbolize the journey undertaken by any dead person.

07/28/2026 Yale Environment 260 In Germany, Wind and Solar Overtake Fossil Power - Together, wind and solar generated 44 percent of Germany’s electricity, while fossil fuels generated roughly 43 percent. Germany shut down its last remaining nuclear power plants in 2023. It is aiming to wean off of coal power by 2038, though experts say it will likely achieve that goal much sooner. By 2045, its target date for net zero emissions, Germany plans to convert any remaining gas-fired power plants to green hydrogen.

07/28/2026 BBC Future The spotted lanternfly is ravaging the eastern US. Pet dogs are coming to the rescue - Frequently found plastered across windscreens along the US's Atlantic coast, spotted lanternflies are an invasive pest and a multimillion-dollar disaster for the US's wine industry. A citizen-science program is training pet dogs on demonstration plots like this to find the eggs before they hatch so they can be destroyed. It's revealing the surprising power of pet dogs' noses, with even unconventional sniffer-dog breeds like the humble pug able to play their part.

07/26/2026 Clean Technica Renewables Provide More Than 30% of US Electricity - New data just released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), and reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign, reveal growth of more than 10% in electrical generation by renewable energy sources in the first five months of 2026. Moreover, solar, wind, and battery storage are projected to add about 83.0 gigawatts (GW) of new generating capacity in the U.S. by May 31, 2027 while total fossil fuel and nuclear power capacity will fall by almost 4.7-GW. By comparison, the electrical output of the nation’s nuclear power and natural gas plants experienced much slower growth — just 1.3% and 2.5% respectively. Electricity produced by U.S. coal facilities fell by 10.9%. The combination of just wind and solar, including small-scale solar, provided over 22.2% of domestic electrical production.

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 1, 2026

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

07/22/2026 I’m Plastic Free 8 Plastic-Free School Supplies & Zero-Waste Tips for Students – Some good ideas for reducing plastics for the beginning of the school year.

07/22/2026 Clean Technica It’s Time to Adopt a New Mindset About the Planet - The author suggests: Begin with the Billionaires. Oil companies must clean up their pollution. Chemicals need to be reined in, not excused. Accountability for climate change. Returning rivers, streams, and the oceans. Vote!

07/21/2026 BBC Future A stranding in Ireland sheds new light on the long, slow, ice-cold life of a deep-sea shark – Some species factoids: The Greenland shark, the longest living vertebrate on the planet, can live for around 400 years; Greenland sharks are among the world's biggest sharks, measuring up to 5m (16ft); Greenland sharks are slow-swimming, solitary scavengers and predators. The post documents the study of a Greenland shark carcass that washed up on an Ireland beach in April.

07/21/2026 Yale Environment 360 Long Presumed Dead, a Thriving Coral Reef Is Discovered in West Africa – A paragraph in a 1960s report…and then no investigation again until recently. Researchers have classified the site as a mesophotic coral ecosystem (MCE). Such systems are light-dependent communities existing at the lower limits of reef-building corals. At more than 175 feet below the surface, the coral garden they discovered appears patchily scattered on a rocky substrate.

07/20/2026 Cool Green Science The Bird That Needs Fire: What Bachman’s Sparrow Can Teach Us About Restoration - Long before most people spot one, a Bachman’s Sparrow announces itself from a patch of native grasses, delivering one of the first songs of the season. Small and easily overlooked, it has become one of the most important indicators of whether longleaf pine forest ecosystems are functioning as they should.

07/17/2026 Science Daily Tiny plastics in drinking water may be making dangerous bacteria stronger - New research suggests nanoplastics can actually help harmful bacteria survive by strengthening the slimy biofilms they form inside water systems. These tougher biofilms become more resistant to disinfectants, making them harder to remove and potentially increasing public health risks.

07/17/2026 Smithsonian Magazine These 16 Splendid Aerial Views Capture Wildlife from Above, Revealing the Beauty and Mystery of Nature - A selection of the photos that spotlight animals from a new perspective – from the Second International Aerial Photographer of the Year contest.

07/15/2026 My Modern Met Tennessee Introduces Anti-AI Seal Supporting Photographers Taking Real Photos of the State - Tennessee tourism has been booming, breaking new records in recent years for the Volunteer State. In 2024, they brought in 147 million visitors and $31.7 billion. This was the fourth consecutive year to break the record in tourist spending, which has surged 36.6% since 2018, more than double the national average. It is important to the state that “what you see is what you get.”

07/23/2026 Science Daily Goodbye, cavities? New gel could regrow tooth enamel - Inspired by the proteins that guide enamel formation in infancy, the gel fills microscopic cracks and draws calcium and phosphate from saliva to grow a new mineral layer that closely matches healthy enamel. After the gel is placed on a tooth, it forms a thin but durable coating that penetrates the tooth's surface and fills small cracks, pores, and other damaged areas. This coating then acts as a framework for rebuilding the mineral structure of enamel. When applied to exposed dentine, the gel can grow an enamel like mineral layer over the surface. This could help reduce tooth sensitivity while also creating a stronger surface for dental restorations to bond to.

07/23/2026 The Prairie Ecologist Those bugs are eating my flowers! What do I do? - If a species is reducing the resilience of a site - mitigate that. Stepping back to put that scene in context with the broader area usually helps answer the question about whether or what to do anything about it. After all, one of the benefits of facilitating ecological resilience is that it gives prairies the ability to adapt and absorb impacts, including Japanese beetles shredding some plants here and there.

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 25, 2026

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

07/13/2026 Science Daily Why are healthy young non-smokers developing lung cancer? - Younger Americans under age 50 who have never smoked and consume more of fruits and vegetable than average may face a higher risk of developing lung cancer. Commercially grown (non-organic) fruits, vegetables, and whole grains generally contain higher levels of pesticide residues than dairy products, meat, and many processed foods. There is also previous research showing that agricultural workers with long term pesticide exposure experience higher rates of lung cancer. The next phase of the research will involve measuring pesticide levels directly in patients' blood or urine samples. That work could help determine whether certain pesticides are more strongly associated with lung cancer risk than others.

07/09/2026 NWF Blog Spark Joy in Your Outdoor Events by Blending Forest Bathing, Nature Appreciation, and Wildlife Education - Learn more about the practice of forest bathing and to access tips and resources on how to level up your outdoor events this summer through forest bathing, nature appreciation, and wildlife education.

07/08/26 Archaeology Magazine Scythian DNA Study Examines Elite Family Ties - The remains of 38 of the Scythians were recovered from kurgans that also contained elite weapons and gold artifacts, while the other 47 were recovered from smaller kurgans that lacked gold grave goods. The elite Scythians were 11 times more likely to be related to each other than to the other Scythians. Nearly half of the elite individuals in our dataset were female, indicating that women held high social status within Iron Age Scythian society.

07/08/2026 Smithsonian Magazine Sperm Whales Living in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea Seem to Have Developed a Distinct Dialect from Those in the West - From Southern drawls to Irish brogues, humans can sound very different while speaking the same language. It turns out that some whales might have similar regional variations in their vocalizations, too. Sperm whales living in different parts of the Mediterranean Sea appear to have their own distinct dialects. Scientists think that about 20,000 years ago, a group of intrepid sperm whales swam into the Strait of Gibraltar and entered the Mediterranean Sea, where they’ve remained ever since. The individuals living in the Mediterranean rarely leave the sea—and other sperm whales don’t often enter the area—so they’re considered a genetically distinct subpopulation.

07/07/2026 Clean Technica New York Now at 8 Gigawatts of Distributed Solar Power - New York has just reached 8 gigawatts (GW) of installed solar power capacity in the “distributed” solar market — rooftops and small-scale installations. The state has a target of reaching 10 GW by 2030, and this new milestone puts them ahead of schedule. Just from lowering electricity demand on the power grid during times of peak demand, solar power is estimated to have saved New York $90 million last summer. Greater savings will come this summer.

07/08/2026 Yale Environment 360 What Do We Actually Know About the Microplastics Inside Us? - I know it is easy to say we don’t have enough information yet, but we do know about [the health risks from] these chemicals that are in all the plastics that your food is wrapped in. From that perspective, it is still a good idea to reduce plastics or eliminate them where possible. – Cassandra Rauert

07/07/2026 The Conversation Island life changed how Brazil’s Noronha skink reproduces, but the lizard’s strategy might be failing in a rapidly evolving world - Reproduction occurs during a relatively narrow period of the year, in the dry season. Not all females reproduce annually: our data suggest that many reproduce only every two or even three years. When they do, they produce only two eggs at a time — a very low number for lizards in this group. These eggs, however, are large relative to the mother’s body size, indicating a high investment in each offspring.

05/20/2026 PLOS One Skeletons in the permafrost: Exploring climate-driven heritage loss and occupational health at the early modern whaling burial site of Likneset, Svalbard - Rapid Arctic warming is accelerating the degradation of permafrost-preserved archaeological sites, threatening both cultural heritage and the scientific information it contains. Early modern whaling burial sites on Svalbard are particularly vulnerable due to their organic-rich burial contexts and exposed coastal settings.

Homegrown National Park How to build a mosquito bucket – A non-toxic way to control mosquitos in your yard.

Leaf & Limb 7 Ways to Help Your Trees and Shrubs During (and After) a Drought – My area of Missouri is not in drought right now….but it has been in previous summers. The suggestions in this post can be done any time….and keep trees healthier ahead of the next drought!  

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 18, 2026

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

07/06/2026 Clean Technica Fixing Climate Communications Part 1 - Make consequences such as your insurance bill, your home, and your children’s health urgent and tangible; make the cause concrete by anchoring every message to pollution rather than climate change; and make the cure feel expansive rather than restrictive. Reaching enough people to sustain the transition will require a delivery infrastructure built around genuine community engagement, economically grounded wins, and a willingness to hold accountable the interests that have made this conversation harder than it needs to be.

07072026 Clean Technica Climate Communications — From Losing the Argument to Winning It Part 2 - Telling the climate story with the value proposition of cost, risk management, improved operational performance, supply chain resiliency, and long-term enterprise value is a winning one. It’s a strategy that appeals to the C-suite, is durable, and can be couched in shareholder returns.

07/06/2026 Smithsonian Magazine These 11 Wildlife Images from the Ocean Conservancy’s Photography Contest Showcase the Wonder of Earth’s Waters - The annual contest received more than 1,000 photographs of marine wildlife and habitats this year. The ones that rose to the top were portraits of ocean wildlife, and I think that’s because we crave to see and connect with animals on an interpersonal level.

07/07/2026 The Conversation 3.1 billion‑year‑old rocks in Australia reveal a forgotten chapter of Earth’s water cycle - We learn the water cycle in school as a story of evaporation and precipitation. But Earth runs a second, far slower one deep beneath our feet. On the ocean floor, seawater seeps into the oceanic crust and reacts with the rock, becoming chemically bound inside its minerals, locked into their crystal structures rather than sitting as free water. Over millions of years, sinking tectonic plates carry these water-bearing minerals down into the mantle, the hot rock layer beneath the crust. This sinking of one plate beneath another is called subduction, and volcanoes eventually breathe the water back out. The deep water cycle moderates Earth’s water budget. At the surface, it keeps the oceans from drying up or drowning the continents, while in the interior, it changes how the mantle melts and builds continents.

07/06/2026 NWF Blog Marine Animal Quiz: It’s Plastic Free July! - Take the time to learn more about how plastic pollution in the oceans of the world harms marine life and consider action steps you can take to reduce your plastic waste footprint.

07/04/2026 ScienceDaily The secret to healthy aging may be hidden in your blood - A new study found that centenarians have a unique chemical "fingerprint" in their blood that sets them apart from normal aging, including unusual patterns of bile acids and steroids linked to longer survival.

07/03/2026 Planetizen Lake Powell reaches lowest water level on record - Currently, Lake Powell is around 24 percent full. The last time it was completely full was in 1983. Since then, water levels have fluctuated, but in 2026, they have fallen to a critical point. And there are multiple concerns if the water levels continue to drop. One includes reaching "dead pool," the point at which water levels are so low that water can no longer move across the dam and into the Grand Canyon, which would cause significant ecological impacts and reduce the capacity for hydroelectricity. 

07/03/2026 Yale Environment 360 In Overfished Adriatic Sea, Dolphins Look to Trawlers for Food - Off the eastern coast of Italy, large numbers of bottlenose dolphins are looking to fishing trawlers as a source of food, a sign that dolphins may be struggling to feed themselves in waters depleted by overfishing. Dolphins may also suffer hearing damage that results from chronic exposure to the noise of trawlers. It is risky behavior. However, finding sufficient prey away from trawlers in an overfished sea may be too difficult. It appears that for these animals, taking the risks is better than going hungry.

7/2/2026 Smithsonian Magazine Earth Might Be Home to 20 Million Insect Species—More Than Three Times as Many as Previously Thought – Only about one million species have been named and described, meaning up to 95 percent of the planet’s insect diversity might remain a mystery…. With more than 40 percent of known insect species threatened with extinction. “The library is being burned before the books can be read.”

6/21/2025 YouTube Slicing and Dicing Onions – Learn some practical kitchen knife skills via a video from the American College of Culinary Medicine!