Aligning Security, Climate Change & Conservation
On May 10, 2013, a grim milestone occurred as scientists at Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory announced an average daily atmospheric carbon dioxide reading just above 400 parts per million, thus confir...
Climate Change & Economic Development
Global changes in temperature and weather, driven by accumulating greenhouse gases (GHG), are beginning to exacerbate food insecurity, displace coastal communities and undermine livelihoods, especiall...
Building New City Solutions to Pressing US Challenges
“. . .focus has escalated into military conflicts while domestically it has deflated our sense of promise and freedom through terror scares. . .”Let me digress to discuss the two other major chall...
Admiral Sam Locklear on Indo-Asia-Pacific Challenges & Opportunities
Why does the Asia Pacific region matter to the American people and the global population at large? The answer is self-evident when one realizes the area “really can’t be called a ‘region’ beca...
The Future of Electricity: Embracing Transition
Life is full of transitions. Some are small like the transition kids make in the morning from being stone-cold asleep to biking off to school. Some are big like graduating from school and entering pro...
A History of Haiti: The Politics of Poverty
Haiti’s independence from France on January 1, 1804, marked the beginning of the first modern state governed by people of African descent. It was the second nation in the Western Hemisphere to achie...
Climate Reform & Social Justice: A Plea for Parity in Communities of Color
With the devastation from Hurricane Sandy fresh in our minds, it is time to deliberatively address the menacing climate change concerns that are facing our planet and their disparate impacts on commun...
We Mean Green: One University’s Sustainability Initiatives
The University of North Texas (UNT) continues its leadership in sustainability with its We Mean Green Fund (WMGF) – a $5 per student per semester fee, which funds environmental projects on campus. A...
Kivalina & Climate Change: Innovative Solutions from Israel
“We’ve got to figure out how we protect the environment, the Native culture and still come up with a sound solution that doesn’t create more problems down the road. This means collaboration betw...
Solar as an Energy Partner Power Production’s Paradigm Shift
Much discussion and news about solar energy has occurred lately prompted largely by the Solyndra bankruptcy and the federal loan guarantees, which took taxpayer dollars down with the Company. In fact,...
A Walk through History: An Insider’s View of the U.S. Coast Guard
On August 4, 2012, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) celebrated its 222nd anniversary. The event was vividly portrayed to Admiral Robert Papp, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, because...
The U.S. Coast Guard: A Unique Military Service in Every Way
Admiral Robert Papp, Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, leads a vital military service with far-reaching responsibilities. One of these responsibilities currently receiving widespread attent...
Siberia’s Baikal: The Greatest Lake
You know, we Siberians live in fear of being exiled to Moscow, says Leonid Yevseyev, and we both laugh. Yevseyev, a native-born Siberian, is beside me on a promontory as we l...
A New Perspective on Persecution
According to two 2011 studies by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 2.18 billion Christians and 1.6 billion Muslims exist around the globe,...
WINTERS: 1970-1980; Robert Glenn Ketchum’s First Published Portfolio
With his first published portfolio, WINTERS: 1970-1980, Robert Glenn Ketchum challenged the established status quo of landscape photography. He achieved this by rejecting the iconic “view” in favo...
USACE’s Steve Stockton: The Urgent Need to Transform US Water Resources Infrastructure
Navigation channels that support international trade and produce one-third of U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP), almost 14 million jobs, flood-risk reduction that prevents $22.3 billion in average ann...
Reordering Life: Contemplate Contentment
Most of us were unconditionally loved and accepted even before we were conceived. We grew and evolved in a protected, ordered and predictable environment where we continued to be loved and accepted fo...
Kids Who Survived the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s
Like everyone else, I receive a mountain of mostly unwanted emails every day. However, once in a while I get something that makes me smile, lifts my spirits and reminds me that, even amidst all the cr...
Saving Serengeti
It is one of the most famous names in the world. Almost any schoolchild, no matter where, can tell you about it. Many companies and services have adopted the appellation. Sunglasses and clothing lines...
Naval Base Ventura County Leading the Way with LED Lighting
As the designated “Energy Showcase Base” for the West Coast, Naval Base Ventura County’s (NBVC) charter is to install and test “new and emerging” and “state of the shelf” technologies an...
The Soul of Psychic Energy: Health & Security Predictions
Leading thinkers in the natural sciences no longer subscribe to a classical, reductionist scientific paradigm, typified by Descartes and Newton: the search for ever smaller elements of nature, their c...
U.S. Navy Medicine: Fighting the War Against Malaria
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) sponsors substantial malaria research worldwide. Malaria is not a unique military infectious disease, it is a major global health issue and, according to the World...
Honey Bee Health & Food Security
The honey bee is, arguably, the most famous insect on the planet. It has been associated with human populations for thousands of years and is a model for cooperation, collaboration and interaction wit...
New Rules of War & Peace: The Ultimate Weapon May Be No Weapon At All
Imet Lt. Col Shannon Beebe in 2011, shortly after he was “relieved” of duty as the U.S. Army’s senior Africa analyst. According to Beebe, he had been “hidden away” in a desk job pending an u...
The Florida Everglades: Rescuing an Endangered Ecosystem
Fifty percent of one of the world’s irreplaceable gems has disappeared and the other 50 percent is dying, both the result of human development. The Everglades, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Inter...
The Past as Guide to the Future: US Geological Records of Sea-Level Change
Sea-level rise is one of the more certain impacts of future climate change; although, uncertainty surrounds its likely global and regional magnitude. Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions is an unlik...
USACE’s International Services: “Solutioneers” with a Lighter Touch
Most people know the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) as a 37,000 person-strong organization that executes large military construction programs or builds and maintains massive civil works projects...
From Brown to Green: Transforming London’s 2012 Olympic Park
In July 2005, British crowds cheered as the city was selected to host the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. London 2012 will be big. Roughly 14,700 Olympic athletes from 205 nations a...
Smart Power Move: Solar as a Crucial US Energy Component
Living and acting in an environmentally conscious way and finding a balance between economics, environment and society is, historically, not a new concept. However, it is a relatively new concept for ...
Arctic Report Card: 2011 Update
The 2011 Arctic Report Card shows record-setting changes occurring throughout the Arctic environmental system. Given the projection of continued global warming, it is very likely that major Arctic cha...