Cornell Chronicle

Fitzpatrick says:

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said its decision three years ago not to list sage-grouse as endangered was made based on the best available science.

"That evidence led to the designation 10 million acres of habitat in Sagebrush Focal Areas that were deemed to be crucial to the species’ survival, and to keeping it from becoming endangered. It also designated no surface occupancy buffers near leks that are critical zones of reproduction.

“Today’s announcement is not based on any new science that changes the picture of what biologists regard as absolutely necessary to keep sage-grouse off the Endangered Species list. The flexibility to roll back science-based protections for sage-grouse habitats and leks is the flexibility to set back the sage-grouse population.

“The beauty of the 2015 Sage-Grouse Plans were their comprehensive, landscape-scale strategy. The proposed revisions break that strategy up into bits, rendering individual sage-grouse breeding areas vulnerable to the influence of short-term gain for development. “The 2015 Sage-Grouse Plans were a hard-earned compromise after a decade of cooperative conservation work and unprecedented coalitions among state and federal agencies, conservationists, energy companies, and private ranchers. The Department of Interior is disregarding its own best available science at the peril of reopening a contentious debate that will serve nobody’s best interests.”

Rice says:

“Sound is a critical aspect of the life history of many, if not most, marine organisms, and sounds from the proposed seismic surveys could have profound effects on their behavior and ecology. Sounds generated by these seismic surveys will propagate hundreds to potentially thousands of miles underwater. They fall within the key hearing ranges of many marine species.

“The proposed survey area coincides with the habitat of many whale and fish species, all of which could be impacted by this survey. The proposed survey area overlaps with the critical habitat of the critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whale, and these sounds may further threaten the survivorship of the entire species.

“The rationale of the IHA is not based on the best available science, and there have been many recent studies which highlight the further potential harm of seismic surveys to marine life.”

Wysocki says:

“The calm before the storm is upon us as a large shield of altostratus clouds move ahead from the strong coastal storm. The storm is organizing well as the northern and southern branches of the Polar Jet merge over the Ohio River valley.

“The costal storm is gaining strength and the numerical weather models are coming into agreement as to the types and amounts of precipitation. There will be a mixture of rain, sleet, and snow from Boston to Albany to Wilkes-Barre to Roanoke today. Travel will be impacted this afternoon and evening with slippery roads and periods of heavy snowfall.”

"If the Polar Jet allows cold Canadian air to penetrate southward to Texas, then the storm track changes, to where storms originate over the Gulf region of Texas and then move up along the East Coast.  If this pattern ‘locks-in’, which it seems to be doing, then we (the Northeast) will have a higher frequency for coastal storms for the beginning of winter. 

“So far for the month of November we are 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit below average, and with the forecast for 10-12 degrees Fahrenheit below average for the period Saturday through Thursday, this cold trend will continue.”