Acidic Seas: CO2 Emissions Do More Than Change the Climate
By Ruby Pap A couple years ago, I visited a global warming exhibit at a California aquarium and came across a huge mural of hundreds of beautiful pink jellyfish on a black background. The caption...
View ArticleHow Will You Experience Global Warming in Your Community?
By Ruby Pap Many of us are aware that global warming is happening. We also get the idea that the world is already experiencing some of the impacts and that they will worsen as time goes by. But what do...
View ArticleHow Will Your Community Adapt to Climate Change?
By Ruby Pap In my last post, I discussed some of the ways global warming will affect our community — increasing floods and erosion, threats to human and wildlife habitats — and the uncertainty with the...
View ArticleHarvesting Rainwater for a More Sustainable Kaua‘i
By Ruby Pap Lately, I’ve been having a lot of conversations about water. In California, where I lived before moving here three years ago, water scarcity is common. My friends are often under water...
View ArticleWhether Visiting or Living on Kaua‘i, Be Tsunami Aware
By Ruby Pap I’ll be honest with you; up until 10 years ago I didn’t know hardly anything about tsunamis. “Tidal waves,” as I called them, were mostly the stuff of storybooks and legends. I didn’t grow...
View ArticleFukushima Four Years Later: Are We Safe?
By Ruby Pap This may go without saying, but don’t believe everything you read on the Internet. It is disheartening to see so much misinformation bleeding online. Four years ago, after the Fukushima...
View ArticleHow Citizen Science Fills the Knowledge Gap
By Ruby Pap My dad once told me I don’t suffer fools gladly. After getting over the initial blow to my ego and the realization I am actually not the most patient person in the world, I dusted myself...
View ArticleRapid ‘Ohia Death Threatens the Forest
By Ruby Pap What does a Big Island tree fungus have to do with Kaua‘i? A great deal, where the iconic native ‘ohia tree (Metrosideros polymorpha) is concerned. This endemic tree and the entire forest...
View ArticleCan We Take the Heat?
By Ruby Pap Last month, I had the privilege of speaking about climate change amongst a distinguished panel of experts to a packed house at Niumalu Canoe Club. The event, which was sponsored by Apollo...
View ArticleCoral Can’t Take the Heat Either
By Ruby Pap In keeping with the temperature theme of my last column, I am sorry to report our ocean life is also being greatly impacted by this summer’s heat. As predicted by the National Oceanic and...
View ArticleEl Niño’s Gifts to Kaua‘i: Hurricanes, Giant Surf
By Ruby Pap Whoa, this certainly has been a nail-biting few months climate-wise, hasn’t it? With Hurricane Olaf (hopefully) veering to the northeast of us (at least at press time), that’s a record...
View Article‘Tis the Season to Support COP 21 Address Climate Change
By Ruby Pap Extreme storms, sea level rise, record breaking heat, ocean acidification; these are just a few of the impacts we are already seeing from global warming and climate change. The United...
View ArticleI love Kaua‘i’s Beaches
By Ruby Pap In my humble opinion, Kaua‘i has the most amazing beaches in the world. Besides their stunning natural beauty, beaches provide important natural and cultural resources. Forty seven percent...
View ArticleHumpback Whale Population 101
By Ruby Pap Who says Hawai‘i doesn’t have seasons? Starting around the holidays, our eyes linger on the horizon, waiting for that first humpback whale sighting. When it happens, we shout for joy (well...
View ArticleBridging Science and Community in ‘Anini
By Ruby Pap Environmental science is not just about sampling the natural world, going to the lab and writing up the results — what about the human piece? How does a scientist really know what’s going...
View ArticleThe Ice Factor: New Info on Increased Sea Level Rise
By Ruby Pap A new study of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet published in the journal Nature suggests if greenhouse gas emissions remain unabated, global sea levels could be twice as high as projected. The...
View ArticleNew Tsunami Evacuation Zones
By Ruby Pap I was challenged at a recent public meeting by a particularly inquisitive individual. He wanted to know why the Eastside’s tsunami evacuation zones were so large, especially when there is a...
View ArticleKaua‘i’s Conservation Efforts Continue to Shine
By Ruby Pap This month, the world’s largest environmental and nature conservation event is being held in Honolulu. The selection of Hawai‘i as host for the International Union for the Conservation of...
View ArticleSunscreen Found Harmful to Coral Sampled on Kaua‘i
By Ruby Pap The state Department of Land and Natural Resources is asking all ocean users in Hawai‘i to avoid sunscreen containing oxybenzone, also known as BP-3, due to scientific research showing the...
View ArticleClimate Change May Become a Serious Threat to Kaua‘i’s Birds
By Ruby Pap Over the last few months, there’s been a lot of scary news about mosquitos spreading human diseases such as dengue fever, not to mention the looming threat of zika. Have you also heard that...
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