The Hickory Nut Forest Eco-Community’s new hydro-electric power system will be featured as part of ECO’s Green Home tour.
Tag: environment
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The lush forests of Western North Carolina
The forests that blanket Western North Carolina go through a yearly cycle of growth that can often occur unnoticed by most of us until we see the colorful displays of leaves in the fall … or have to fight the non-stop weeds of August. The ever-watchful eyes of NASA’s Earth Observing System makes it possible for us to appreciate this annual growth cycle from a new vantage point, thanks to the MODIS (or Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) instrument aboard the Aqua and Terra satellites.
Two groups of Asheville Greenworks volunteers make big trash haul in RAD
Volunteers from Davidson College on Friday, Aug. 10, and Outward Bound on Saturday, Aug. 11, removed tons of trash from Town Branch Creek. (Photos courtesy of Asheville Greenworks)
It’s the summer of the Haves and the Have Nots – with a meteor shower to boot
The story of this summer has certainly been that of climate extremes. In Western North Carolina, we’ve had quite a bit of rain, while well over half of the lower 48 states remain in drought. Our moist summer has produced jungle-like conditions in many of our yards (errr — maybe just mine), but has also produced some breathtaking sunsets with all the moisture in the air.
UPDATED:Buncombe School system looking into contamination issues at site of proposed new high school
The Buncombe County Board of Education voted unanimously Aug. 2 to direct staff to look in to consider doing an independent study of hazardous-waste contamination at the school system’s administrative offices at 175 Bingham Road — the former Square D plant.
The mysterious disappearing rain
The scattered thunderstorms this week have created several opportunities to witness a weather phenomenon that you may have seen a number of times, but didn’t quite know what to call it.
Local Climatic Data Center scientist Anthony Arguez gets presidential honors
Asheville-based National Climatic Data Center climatologist Anthony Arguez is one of several winners of the 2011 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.
Help the songbirds with SAHC
Join the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy for a day of volunteering, habitat preservation and outstanding views.
A stormy pattern – but so much better than the alternative
It’s hard to overstate the importance of water to the Earth’s climate system. In its three phases — liquid, solid and gas — water helps to drive our local weather as well as our regional climate. Most of us don’t think about plain ol’ water too often, but it’s when we have too much or too little of this precious resource that we really pay attention to it.
Full-scale fight: Mills Gap residents continue push for CTS cleanup
Lee Ann Smith’s and Tate MacQueen’s methods may differ, but their aim is the same: help their south Buncombe friends, families and neighbors obtain clean air and water. (photo of Gabe Dunsmith and Lee Ann Smith by Bill Rhodes)
Commissioners declare state of emergency due to flood risk in Leicester UPDATED
UPDATE: The Asheville Citizen-Times reports that a failed retention pond in the Serenity Forest area off New Leicester Highway “prompted the evacuation of three homes and damaged a nearby road.”
When it rains, it pours (at least for some)
The stalled frontal boundary that is lingering over the Southeast U.S. has provided some much needed rainfall from Texas to the Atlantic Ocean — but some folks in Western North Carolina saw too much of a good thing on Wednesday, July 11, when more than 3 inches of rain fell in areas of both Buncombe and Madison Counties.
Critical steppingstone: Box Creek Wilderness gets reprieve
Every so often, wilderness gets a break. Consider the case of the Box Creek Wilderness, a 3,300-acre forest tract straddling the Rutherford/McDowell county line just east of Asheville.
Ned Doyle: Environmentalism is good economics *VIDEO*
Local environmental activist and radio host Ned Doyle spoke at a recent Green Drinks gathering at Posana Cafe in downtown Asheville, touting the economic benefits of sustainable development.
@Home Computers goes off-grid
Canton tech shop @Home Computers held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the beginning of its off-grid operation on solar power. The Main Street store is energized solely through its rooftop array of sixteen solar panels, according to owner Rob Worth.
CTS activists take their case to Washington, D.C., next week
Tate MacQueen, seen here at a recent Buncombe County Commissioners meeting, is set to meet with federal officials in Washington, D.C., next week to request oversight of EPA’s Region IV.
Madison County organic growers question herbicide use along power lines
With French Broad Electric Membership Corporation set to apply herbicides to the power-line corridor in Madison County, organic farmers in Spring Creek are asking why there isn’t more public input on the way the utility manages the rights-of-way through their farms and near local streams.
Mulberry-Globe Stewardship Project will improve Caldwell County Streams
The U.S. Forest Services has announced that several streams around the Boone Fork Campground will be improved as part of the Mulberry-Globe Stewardship Project now under way in the Grandfather Ranger District, Pisgah National Forest.
The Big Green Bus rolls into town
Dartmouth students are on a quest to bring environmental consciousness to cities across the country. The Big Green Bus, powered by waste vegetable oil, is on its way to Asheville.
A break in the clouds: County seeks water loans for CTS’ neighbors
After decades of grappling with contaminated well water, several Arden residents praised the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners for taking the first step toward providing them with public water lines.
The reason for the seasons
On June 20 at 7:09 p.m. EDT, we officially entered summer as people across the Northern Hemisphere noted the summer solstice. This event occurs at when the Earth’s northern axis is at its greatest tilt toward the Sun. It is because our planet is tilted on its axis of rotation by about 23.5 degrees that we experience seasons.