12/9 Mushroom gatherings, seal impact, forest bath, yoke-moss, Mary Nichols, NY pension fund

Close quarters [Laurie MacBride]

 
They Missed the Memo
Laurie MacBride in Eye on Environment writes: "Clearly, the mushrooms missed the memo on social distancing. They’ve been popping up everywhere this season in mass tribal gatherings, cheek by jowl (cap by gill?), crammed in like party-goers on a pre-pandemic New Year’s Eve or diehard fans at a Donald Trump rally..." (read more)

How Seals May Be Impacting Salmon Conservation
Harbor seals have been likened to the dogs of the sea. Their outward appearance is lovable, with fat bodies and big, round eyes. Videos of them cuddling and playing frequent the internet, and the pups are even more adorable than the adults. They even bark. It’s hard to look at these cute marine mammals and think of them as a pest. But Zoe Lewis, graduate research assistant at Western Washington University, is investigating how skyrocketing sea lion and harbor seal populations might be having a negative impact on food chain processes in the Salish Sea. Olivia Hobson reports. (The Planet Magazine)

Forest baths reduce pandemic-related stress for health care workers
Free ‘forest baths’ are being prescribed for stressed-out health care workers. The B.C. Parks Foundation hopes to provide 90-minute guided sessions for as many as 10,000 health care workers in B.C. starting in January. The idea is inspired by the Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku or forest bathing. Research has shown that walking in nature results in medically recognized improvements in immune function and stress reduction. Kevin Griffin reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Who Will Save the Slender Yoke-Moss?
Somewhere on a single limestone cliff on Moresby Island in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, a thoroughly forgettable moss is in danger of dying out. Of course, it’s not the moss’s fault that it’s forgettable, nor that it’s at risk. Yet Zygodon gracilis, the slender yoke-moss, is a drab little thing, at least as it appears on the limestone—as a slimy black tangle with occasional pea-colored tufts. Even if you were lucky enough to chance upon it, you might not even notice it was alive. Sabrina Imbler reports. (Hakai Magazine)

What the fight over EPA chief says about Democratic divisions
Mary Nichols, a national figure in environmental regulation with a string of achievements that earned her the name “queen of green,” seems a natural choice for EPA chief under a Biden administration. But some environmental justice activists have pushed back, arguing that the president-elect should choose among several candidates of color. Steven Mufson and Juliet Eilperin report. (Washington Post)

New York’s $226 Billion Pension Fund Is Dropping Fossil Fuel Stocks
The fund will divest from many fossil fuels in the next five years and sell its shares in other companies that contribute to global warming by 2040. Anne Barnard reports. (NY Times)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  258 AM PST Wed Dec 9 2020   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON   
TODAY  NW wind 5 to 15 kt becoming W in the afternoon. Wind  waves 2 ft or less. W swell 10 ft at 14 seconds. A chance of rain  in the morning. 
TONIGHT  W wind to 10 kt becoming SE after midnight. Wind waves  2 ft or less. W swell 9 ft at 13 seconds.

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