No NOAA, No Safety?

The total number of those leaving represented about ten percent of the agency’s workforce. Dismantling NOAA was described in the Project 2025 Republican playbook for the first 180 days of a presidency, which called NOAA “one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry.” The New York Times reports that about 200 of those leaving worked in the National Weather Service, which predicts dangerous hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and tornadoes.  

Fears have been raised about the effects of the NOAA staff reductions on air traffic safety. The Federal Aviation Administration has already suffered cuts of several hundred employees by Elon Musk’s group known as DOGE.

NOAA operates 21 weather offices around the U.S. that inform air traffic controllers about weather changes like icing, thunderstorms, turbulence, and wind shear. All of this information affects aviation routes, delays, and safety.

There are also concerns that getting rid of the Weather Service could increase insurance premiums for homeowners and others. Fast Company reports that insurers rely on NOAA to gauge climate change and weather effects on the economy.

The National Weather Service uses Doppler radar equipment at every weather office to issue forecasts. Those radars have been maintained by in-house electricians, at least one of whom was fired. The next time equipment needs fixing, the agency will have to get approval from Washington to hire an outside contractor, which could mean that system will be down for months, according to Representative Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.), who spoke to The Hill. He’s the sole meteorologist in Congress.

Project 2025 also called for some of the National Weather Service’s functions to be carried out commercially. According to Fast Company, private weather companies have been successful because of their dependence on the National Weather Service. Jeff Masters, a cofounder of Weather Underground and now with Yale Climate Connections, told the outlet that privatizing the system would bring chaotic and unpredictable consequences.

The nations, not including a delegation from the U.S., worked on the Global Biodiversity Framework with a goal of putting 30 percent of the planet and 30 percent of degraded ecosystems under protection by 2030. Because of human activities, as many as one million plant and animal species are at risk of extinction. An assessment concluded that climate change is a major driver of wildlife decline.
 
About three years ago, developed nations committed to deliver $20 billion for biodiversity finance by this year, which has not been met. In Rome, last week, conferees agreed to look for new financial paths and to urge development banks to increase biodiversity funding, according to the Guardian. They also agreed on how to monitor accountability of countries’ meeting their funding goals.

The conference launched the Cali Fund, which will receive contributions from companies that meet certain criteria on the amount of sales, profits, and assets. The fund, named after the host city in Colombia, will receive money from private sector companies that make profits using natural resources like plants in the rainforest to make medicines and other products.

The UN’s biodiversity efforts trace back to 1992, and talks have been ongoing among global representatives similar to COP meetings on climate change. In 2024, the biodiversity conference disassembled, after failing to reach an agreement.

One observer, Oscar Soria of the Common Initiative think tank, told the Associated Press that the representatives had made a positive step on funding, but the effectiveness will depend upon the implementation of commitments and the political will of countries to increase contributions.

The parties have yet to agree on limiting pollution and subsidies by governments that destroy nature, such as those received by the oil and gas sector.

A team from Northwestern University found that tea leaves naturally adsorb heavy metals like lead, chromium, and cadmium, by trapping dangerous contaminants on their surface during brewing. The researchers experimented with a “typical” cup of tea—one bag steeped in hot water for three to five minutes—and found it remediated about 15 percent of the lead they added to the mug, even with concentrations as high as 10 parts per million.

Brewing for longer than five minutes adsorbed more lead, but let’s face it, that might not make for a very tasty drink. They tested several teas, including green, black, oolong, and white, as well as chamomile and rooibos and found that black tea had slightly better adsorption because its wrinkled leaves increase the surface area for uptake of the metals. It turns out the tea bag mattered. The team found cotton and nylon ones only adsorbed trivial amounts of the contaminants, while cellulose types worked much better.

We are exposed to lead from products like ceramics, cosmetics, toys, and household paint as well as through water pipes or fixtures. Long-term exposure to lead and other heavy metals is associated with several health impacts, including links to kidney disease, nervous system disorders, immune system dysfunction, birth defects, and cancer.

While the research may be good news for tea drinkers in developed countries with water utilities, it could be a significant finding for people living in areas with untreated water, who can brew tea leaves to naturally get the lead out.

The study was published in the journal ACS Food Science & Technology.

Using the slogan: “Save a Swamp, Sauté a Nutria,” the agency showcased the critter, which looks like a cross between a beaver and an otter, during last month’s Invasive Species Awareness Week (Feb. 24-28, 2025) and enticed people to put the so-called river rats on their dinner plates, saying its meat is lean, mild, and “tastes like rabbit” or dark turkey meat.

Nutria (Myocastor coypus) were brought to the U.S. in the late 1800s from South America for their fur, but it didn’t take long for things to get out of hand. The animals, which can weigh up to 20 pounds and grow up to three feet long if you include their tails, now live in rivers, creeks, and ponds in 40 U.S. states.

Their voracious appetite for vegetation causes erosion, loss of habitat, and wetland destruction. According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, nutria can consume up to 25 percent of their body weight in above- and below-ground vegetation each day. They also “serve as hosts for tuberculosis and septicemia, which are threats to humans, livestock, and pets. Additionally, nutria carry tapeworms, a nematode that causes a rash known as ‘nutria itch,’ and blood and liver flukes, which can contaminate swimming areas and drinking water supplies.”

Want to pitch in to eradicate the invaders? The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has got you covered with recipes for nutria sausage, chili, jambalaya, and gumbo. Whether you decide to barbecue, broil, or roast them, it could be one way to drain the swamp.