Tag: New Jersey Conservation Foundation
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Our marvelous, mysterious, migrating monarchs
By Jay Watson To the casual observer, the flight of monarch butterflies may seem as random as a puff of wind. In backyards and gardens, they flutter from flower to flower until the wind lifts them off again in a new direction. But these beautiful insects, with their stunning orange and black wing patterns, never…
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These worms jump and they are a threat to forests
By Alison Mitchell Imagine digging in your garden and seeing an unusual looking worm near the surface. You reach out to move it and suddenly it thrashes violently and flies through the air! It sounds crazy, but that is the behavior of an invasive earthworm that is causing concern among ecologists in the northeast. These…
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Without enough horseshoe crabs, a threatened bird could go extinct
By Jay Watson With their helmet-shaped shells and spiky tails, horseshoe crabs are “living fossils” that look much the same today as they did 450 million years ago. For countless millennia, horseshoe crabs living in the Delaware Bay have played a vital role in the life cycles of migrating shorebirds, which visit bayshore beaches each…
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An historic investment to address climate change
By Tom Gilbert New Jersey has a lot to lose from climate change. As a coastal state, we are seeing rising sea levels and more intense storms making many cities and towns more vulnerable to deadly flooding. As a highly urbanized state, we face increased health risks as the urban heat island effect is intensified…
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A Delaware River journey of nature and harmony
By Alison Mitchell The mighty Delaware River flows for 330 miles, from its source in the Catskill Mountains of New York to its mouth in the Delaware Bay between New Jersey and Delaware. The river provides drinking water for 13 million people, abundant scenic beauty, a corridor for trade and commerce, and habitat for diverse…
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The State We’re In: Hot temperatures, cooling trees
By Jay Watson, Co-Executive Director, New Jersey Conservation Foundation Like many New Jersey summers in recent years, this one has been a scorcher. For five consecutive days in Newark in late July, temperatures exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit, setting new heatwave records for the city. Other cities throughout this state we’re in sizzled as well. In…
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New report highlights threat of ‘neonics’ to birds
By Tom Gilbert Sixty years ago, Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking book “Silent Spring” detailed the devastating impacts of the pesticide DDT on bird populations. DDT was especially harmful to species at the top of the food chain, like bald eagles, whose egg shells became so thin that they cracked in nests before chicks could develop. Populations…
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The Garden State’s most wonderful time of the year
By Alison Mitchell For those who love fresh produce – delicious Jersey tomatoes, peaches, blueberries, corn and much more – this is the most wonderful time of the year. New Jersey’s farm stands and farmers markets are packed with just-picked fruits, veggies and herbs – the mouth-watering stuff we can only dream of in winter.…
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New Jersey leads U.S. in correcting injustice in exposure to pollution
By Jay Watson Many New Jersey residents are lucky enough to live in places where they can breathe clean air and drink clean, healthy water. But many others are not, especially those in low income and minority neighborhoods, which have more than their fair share of polluting industries like incinerators and power generating plants. “If…
