By Ken Finkelstein, Office of Response and Restoration
Measuring the sediment concentration of toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at hazardous waste sites, and its impact on aquatic life, is an important way for scientists to determine how much damage pollution has caused to the environment. These data are critical to analyze injury to biota, make decisions about cleanup, and hold polluters accountable through Natural Resource Damage Assessments.
Every month our Emergency Response Division provides scientific expertise and services to the U.S. Coast Guard on everything from running oil spill trajectories to model where the spill may spread, to possible effects on wildlife and fisheries and estimates on how long the oil may stay in the environment.
This month OR&R responded to four incidents, including oil discharges, grounded vessels, and other pollution-related incidents.
By Alyson Finn, Office of Response and Restoration Disaster Preparedness Program
It’s no secret; everyone is under a great deal of stress right now. Between a record-breaking hurricane season, extensive wildfires, civil unrest, and a global pandemic; America is exhausted. Over the past year, it’s been one crisis after another, leaving many of us feeling drained, anxious, and overwhelmed. In addition, the constant exposure to the latest news as well as the hardships of others takes its toll on all of us. Now, add in the sudden shift to remote work; it’s just too much for many people.
By the second half of this century, more than half of the world’s population will live within 100 kilometers of a coastline. Maybe that’s not a startling fact for some, but when you stop to consider this in light of sea level rise, the predicted increased storm intensity and frequency, and other coastal hazards associated with heavy development, that’s putting nearly 4 billion people at risk. In the U.S. alone, approximately 163 million people could be impacted!
