Environment
Mines Leave Toxic Legacy
|
In New Mexico there are 15,000 abandoned mines, according to the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department’s Abandoned Mine Land Program.
New Mexico In Depth (https://nmindepth.com/category/environment/page/5/)
In New Mexico there are 15,000 abandoned mines, according to the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department’s Abandoned Mine Land Program.
The more clearly societies understand climate change, the better they can plan. Right now, New Mexicans face challenges–but there are opportunities, too.
In the Southwest, recent springtime stream flow forecasts have been pretty bleak. But now, scientists at the University of New Mexico are saying that actually, they’re probably not bleak enough. Forecasters might not have adjusted enough for a moving target that is increasingly a factor—the climate’s continual warming.
Last year, New Mexico state lawmakers set aside $100,000 to study the state’s water supply. But now, the funding is gone. Citing a drop in state revenue, the Legislature has pulled funding for the group—known as the New Mexico Universities Working Group on Water Supply Vulnerabilities.
For University of New Mexico graduate student Shaleene Chavarria, understanding stream flows and climate change is personal. She’s from the Pueblo of Santa Clara which, like many of New Mexico’s tribes, relies on stream flows for irrigation as well as for ceremonies that are tied to the planting and harvest seasons.
Climate represents general conditions in a particular region over a period of time. Weather happens on a day-to-day basis.
Drought is not unusual in New Mexico. But unlike in the past, when changes in long-term, large-scale precipitation patterns drove drought in the Southwest, changes in temperature will drive drought in the future.
Thirty-three counties and more than 100 municipalities in New Mexico have passed restrictions on mining, oil and gas that go beyond state laws. A controversial bill that would limit that local control passed the House Tuesday.
New Mexico In Depth helped produce an episode of Native America Calling on how the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s policies and procedures work – and sometimes, don’t – in Indian Country. Click on the headline to listen.
On Monday, the national radio program Native America Calling will host a show that New Mexico In Depth helped produce about how the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s policies and procedures work – and sometimes, don’t – in Indian Country.