History, Natural History & the Arts
MyCoast NY is a public web tool which offers an opportunity to contribute and access photos of flooding, shoreline change, and storm damage from anywhere in the state.
When you submit a photo, it is automatically linked to real-time weather, river, and tidal gauge data to help provide context for the photo. [Read more…] about Help Document New York Weather Impacts
Having returned from the 30th Annual Conference on the Adirondacks, hosted by the Adirondack Research Consortium, my notes reflect some of the appeals that the State do more.
That it do more in the climate change era to pay for the lived-in, state and globally significant Adirondack Park; that it do more to invest in community development; and do more to help rural Adirondack towns and villages with small year-round populations defray the high costs of maintaining and rebuilding necessary infrastructure supportive of an influx of seasonal residents and millions of visitors like me. [Read more…] about David Gibson: The Price We Must All Pay for the Adirondack Park
Substantial infrastructure upgrades have been made at Mills-Norrie State Park in Dutchess County, NY.
This $3 million project includes a new septic system and dumping station for recreational vehicles to help protect both campers and the environment. [Read more…] about Mills Norrie State Park Campground Upgrades
Microplastic pollution is not a new problem. However, in recent years, the public has become more aware, and scientists are studying the seriousness of the situation. Have you ever stood on a riverbank after a heavy rain and noticed how much plastic waste floats by?
Gallon milk jugs, plastic bottles, food wrappers, plastic bags, rubber balls, etc., all race downstream. Plastic, plastic, and more plastic. [Read more…] about Microplastics in Our Waters, Food, Air
As heir to a log cabin in the Adirondacks, I have caught myself imagining the mile-high glacier that carved out its lake and melted to fill it with crystal pure water. The scrape marks on outcrops of stone here and there in the forest remain as testimony to that primeval event.
Big Moose’s Twitchell Lake became host to a native population of brook trout that sportsmen in the 1860s and following decades measured by the pound rather than the inch. But my summers in the 1950s bring up a very different image, water unfit to drink or even swim in, laced with dangerous e. Coli bacteria and a dumping ground for used-up appliances. This essay will tell the story of “troubled waters” and one lake community’s painstaking quest for good water quality. [Read more…] about Twitchell’s Troubled Waters: Adirondack Water Quality History
Climate change is shifting precipitation patterns. For example, for a second summer in a row, communities in New York State experienced the impacts of flooding and reduced water quality in the lake and its tributary rivers and streams. [Read more…] about Protect Your Lake With Lake-Friendly Lawn Practices
A team of researchers at Clarkson University has conducted a successful field test of its innovative process to combat Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs).
The process, called electrochemical ozonation, has been scaled up to a pilot-scale boat-mounted reactor with a treatment capacity of approximately 500 m³/day and is capable of inactivating harmful algae and destroying cyanotoxins within minutes. [Read more…] about Clarkson Researchers Field Test Harmful Algal Bloom Mitigation System
The 43rd Edition of Adirondack Council’s State of the Park Report has been released October 8, 2024.
The Report is the Adirondack Council’s comprehensive annual assessment of environmental conditions, social issues and government actions for the largest park in the contiguous United States. Its current 43 editions serve as an almanac of important events and decisions in the Adirondacks, affecting generations of New York residents. [Read more…] about 43rd Edition of Adirondack State of the Park Report Issued
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