Edmonds Beacon - Your Hometown News Source

A relatively painless way to reduce our carbon footprint is to use public transportation. We in Edmonds have the distinct advantage of a regional train/bus/ferry transportation hub... — Updated 6/23/2022

How can solar be a significant part of energy supply in Edmonds? An important natural resource needed for solar is space. Only so much sun energy hits the ground. As a result of... — Updated 5/26/2022

Ours is a water planet. Seventy percent is ocean and, when seen from space, we are a blue-and-white marble. What happens in the oceans is important to us land dwellers – and not... — Updated 5/18/2022

The road to a healthier, safer life, and planet starts right at the front door. The new, modern, all-electric house does not rely on flammable fuels, does not produce toxic... — Updated 4/28/2022

Who will face the biggest continuing impact of environmental decline? We are all affected, but it is clear that children and the poor bear the brunt of dramatic ecological change.... — Updated 4/14/2022

We take for granted these gigantic green things that surround us. Edmonds is smack in the middle of the world’s largest temperate rain forest. It has the highest biomass, or... — Updated 3/24/2022

The Edmonds Parks Department updates its future plan every six years. This is called the Parks, Recreation and Open Space, or PROS Plan. It is a great opportunity for the Parks... — Updated 2/10/2022

Buildings are now being constructed that significantly reduce environmental impacts. Terms used to describe them are “green” or “sustainable.” There are processes that... — Updated 1/13/2022

One of the great revolutions in our history was the invention and, after lots of turmoil, adoption of the scientific method. Galileo is called by many the “father of the... — Updated 12/28/2021

It is interesting to pick something that we use as part of our daily lives and take a look at the impact of that use. The car tires that we all ride on need to be made, they wear ou... — Updated 11/23/2021

It is not just in faraway places that the extinction crisis is happening. The wide variety of life that used to inhabit the Puget Sound lowlands continues to shrink. Some our animal... — Updated 11/21/2021

‘Tis is the season to shop. It might seem early, but all the broken links in the supply chain could mean now or never. Guys’ shopping day, Christmas Eve, is going to be way too... — Updated 11/4/2021

Five mass extinctions have dramatically changed the face of life on earth. They have collapsed biodiversity and created conditions where new species have evolved and dominated. We a... — Updated 10/25/2021

The Edmonds Marsh is known throughout the region by birders, and is popular with everyone looking for an impressive, close-up look at rare marsh wetlands. A walkway along the north... — Updated 10/6/2021

Our remarkable species is only about 200,000 years old. This is brand new by evolutionary standards. In that short period, we have exploded onto the scene. Most of that explosion ha... — Updated 9/23/2021 Full story

Two of the species of North American Pacific salmon spawn inside the city limits of Edmonds. Both chum and coho end their epic ocean voyages to Alaska and back in our local creeks... — Updated 9/16/2021

Looking back at earth's climate history can help us understand where we are today and what can happen in the future. The figure included with this column includes lots of... — Updated 9/2/2021

Greener Edmonds Are we actually doing any good when we recycle? This is a more complicated question than it should be. If we decide this is the only thing needed to save the planet... — Updated 8/26/2021

An example of climate change impacts is playing out 100 miles to the northeast of us in the Methow Valley. Major fires there are now a regular occurrence. With the nation’s worst... — Updated 8/12/2021

There are several non-native, invasive mammal species that wreak havoc on the world around us. First example? Our pet cats, that turn into cold-blooded killing machines when they... — Updated 8/5/2021

We hear a lot about the dangers of carbon dioxide and what it is doing to the planet. Where does it come from? Ours is a water planet, and over the history of life on earth lots of... — Updated 7/22/2021

We Edmondites are lucky to have so much wildlife around us. One reason for this is that great big natural area at our doorstep, Puget Sound. Our marine mammals include otters, whale... — Updated 6/24/2021

Does solar make sense here? Yup. Solar technology is improving, we get more sun than one would think, and government subsidies allow pay back over relatively short periods. So,... — Updated 6/3/2021

The City of Edmonds Climate Change Action Plan estimates that over half of all greenhouse gas emissions here are due to transportation. Switching from a gas to a plug-in electric... — Updated 5/13/2021

Earth Day is April 24th, a good time to help make the environment around us a bit better. There are lots of ways we can take action in honor of the day. One is to spend the day... — Updated 4/15/2021