The Puget Sound Experiment in Acidification

The Puget Sound Experiment in Acidification

Operating as a carbon dioxide sink, unfortunately, means the oceans are gradually (or frighteningly fast, considering the scale) becoming more acidic. On the 0-14 pH scale, 7 is neutral; the oceans on average have dropped from 8.2 to 8.1 (it’s a logarithmic scale, so that’s a much bigger shift than it looks). So they’re not going to eat the skin of bathers’ bones–yet!–but to the marine life adapted to 8.2, things don’t feel quite right at all. Continue reading The Puget Sound Experiment in Acidification

In Honor of Memorial Day

In Honor of Memorial Day

As it’s Memorial Day, we take a moment to reflect on the lives laid down in the service of the country. It’s an impossible number, when you think about it. The acres and acres of land devoted across the country to graves in formation stuns the mind. But every one could tell a story, a different story–often of battles, but also of service, of pride, of hoping people make the most of the lives spent on their behalf. Continue reading In Honor of Memorial Day