ApocaDocuments (33) gathered this week:
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Sun, May 4, 2008
from NPR:
Beavers Offer Solution to Climate Change
"In the Southwest U.S., biologists are talking about returning beavers to rivers they once inhabited in order to fight droughts -- which are expected to get worse as the globe warms. Beaver dams create great sponges that store lots of water." ...
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It's about dam time we looked toward natural solutions.
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Sun, May 4, 2008
from London Daily Telegraph:
Pollution sends men bald
"Men living in polluted areas are more likely to go bald than those breathing cleaner air, a new study suggests. The ground breaking research, by academics at the University of London, has linked the onset of male pattern baldness, to environmental factors, such as air pollution and smoking." ...
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Bet those academics at the University of London are bald themselves!
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Sun, May 4, 2008
from Penn State via ScienceDaily:
Global Warming Linked To Caribou-calf Mortality
"Fewer caribou calves are being born and more of them are dying in West Greenland as a result of a warming climate ... caribou may serve as an indicator species for climate changes including global warming, based ... on data showing that the timing of peak food availability no longer corresponds to the timing of caribou births." ...
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This news is a caribou-boo.
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Sun, May 4, 2008
from The Baltimore Sun:
Marshes produce mercury hazard
"...As Maryland and other states look to build thousands of acres of wetlands to fight global warming, the research has significant implications. More wetlands would absorb more carbon dioxide, but they also could make mercury health hazards worse." ...
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These days, not even the earth itself is on the earth's side.
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Sun, May 4, 2008
from The Charleston Gazette via Environmental Science and Technology:
Breast milk contains C8, study concludes
"C8 and related chemicals used in nonstick pans and stain-resistant fabrics have been found in human breast milk, according to the first major U.S. study to examine breast-feeding as a possible exposure route. Perfluorinated compounds, or PFCs, were found in all of the 45 human breast milk samples tested in the new study." ...
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Perhaps that'll help the milk slip smoothly down the infant's throats.
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Sun, May 4, 2008
from National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration via ScienceDaily:
Salmon Fishery 'failure'
"Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez has declared a commercial fishery failure for the West Coast salmon fishery due to historically low salmon returns. Hundreds of thousands of fall Chinook salmon typically return to the Sacramento River every year to spawn. This year, scientists estimate that fewer than 60,000 adult Chinook will make it back to the Sacramento River....NOAA's Fisheries Service issued regulations to close or severely limit recreational and commercial salmon fishing in the area." ...
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Woe to the roe: these prodigal fish no longer returneth.
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Sat, May 3, 2008
from Adelaide Sunday Mail:
Temperatures tipped to pause for a decade
"RISING global temperatures may stall for the next decade, with some scientists now believing the natural response of ocean currents will temporarily offset the effects of climate change. German climate scientists say the temperature pause is the result of the slowing of the global currents that transport heat around the planet." ...
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Sounds like it's time to par-tay!
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Sat, May 3, 2008
from The Associated Press:
Major Arctic sea ice melt is expected this summer
"The Arctic will remain on thinning ice, and climate warming is expected to begin affecting the Antarctic also, scientists said Friday." ...
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At least it's symmetrical.
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Sat, May 3, 2008
from Time Magazine:
Lowe Eyes the Everglades
"Lowe's, the home improvement chain, wants to move the border [of Miami-Dade County's Urban Development Boundary (UBD] so it can erect a new store on more than 20 acres of the wetlands; further south, developers want to hop the line to build a commercial park and thousands of new homes. Protesters, including Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez, gathered to denounce the plans last week -- but on Thursday the Miami-Dade County Commission approved the Lowe's and the office developments." ...
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No doubt the wetlands will be nourished by the tears shed over this development.
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Sat, May 3, 2008
from Georgia Institute of Technology, via EurekAlert:
Environmental fate of nanoparticles depends on properties of water carrying them
The fate of carbon-based nanoparticles spilled into groundwater -- and the ability of municipal filtration systems to remove the nanoparticles from drinking water -- depend on subtle differences in the solution properties of the water carrying the particles, a new study has found.
In slightly salty water, for example, clusters of Carbon 60 (C60) would tend to adhere tightly to soil or filtration system particles. But where natural organic compounds or chemical surfactants serve as stabilizers in water, the C60 fullerene particles would tend to flow as easily as the water carrying them.
"In some cases, the nanoparticles move very little and you would get complete retention in the soil," said Kurt Pennell, a professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "But in different solution conditions or in the presence of a stabilizing agent, they can travel just like water. The movement of these nanoparticles is very sensitive to the solution conditions." ...
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Hmm. I think I'm made of "slightly salty water." But then, I'm also "natural organic compounds."
Will it nanostay or will it nanogo?
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Fri, May 2, 2008
from The London Independent:
US plan to protect right whale from shipping blocked by Cheney
"Efforts to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale from being killed by ships are being blocked by Vice President Dick Cheney according to leaked documents. A behind the scenes struggle is raging between the White House and US government scientists who want to force ships to slow down near the calving grounds of the almost extinct right whale." ...
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You'd think a whale associated with the right would get full support from Cheney.
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Fri, May 2, 2008
from Los Angeles Times:
Oxygen-poor ocean zones are growing
"Oxygen-starved waters are expanding in the Pacific and Atlantic as ocean temperatures increase with global warming, threatening fisheries and other marine life, a study published today concludes... The low-oxygen, or hypoxic, zones may also be connected to the Pacific coast invasion of the Humboldt, or jumbo, squid. These voracious predators, which can grow 6 feet long, appear to be taking advantage of their tolerance for oxygen-poor waters to escape predators and devour local fish, another team of scientists theorizes." ...
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Picture this: Someday there will be NO oxygen left in the ocean, occupied by only one GIGANTIC jumbo squid!
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Fri, May 2, 2008
from AP, via CNN:
Pharmaceuticals in reservoir causing troubling problems to fish, wildlife
A five-month Associated Press investigation has determined that trace amounts of many of the pharmaceuticals we take to stay healthy are seeping into drinking water supplies, and a growing body of research indicates that this could harm humans. But people aren't the only ones who consume that water. There is more and more evidence that some animals that live in or drink from streams and lakes are seriously affected.... Pharmaceuticals in the water are being blamed for severe reproductive problems in many types of fish: The endangered razorback sucker and male fathead minnow have been found with lower sperm counts and damaged sperm; some walleyes and male carp have become what are called feminized fish, producing egg yolk proteins typically made only by females. Meanwhile, female fish have developed male genital organs. Also, there are skewed sex ratios in some aquatic populations, and sexually abnormal bass that produce cells for both sperm and eggs. ...
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No doubt those fish throw some wild parties!
ApocaDoc
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Want more context?
Try reading our book FREE online:
Humoring the Horror of the Converging Emergencies!
More fun than a barrel of jellyfish!
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Fri, May 2, 2008
from Guardian (UK):
"Dishonest, irresponsible": Shell lambasted for pulling out of world's biggest windfarm
Oil giant drops plan days after it reports £4bn profits. Shell was accused last night of being greedy and irresponsible as it came under ferocious attack from politicians and environmentalists for its decision to drop a commitment to the biggest offshore wind farm in the world.... "Mere days after reporting first-quarter profits of £4bn, Shell has shown its true colours in what can only be described as a PR disaster for the company, and further proof that its media-friendly "greenspeak" is both dishonest and irresponsible." ...
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If we can't trust the oil companies to be honest, who can we trust?
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Fri, May 2, 2008
from LA Times:
Antibiotics in our livestock
Not just a cure for infection anymore, antibiotics are routinely given to livestock to prevent disease in crowded pens and stockyards and to promote growth. The report says farms can buy these drugs without a prescription or veterinary permission, so it's no surprise that half of all the antibiotics worldwide are used in food production. The ubiquitous use of animal antibiotics saves consumers $5 to $10 a year on their meat and poultry bill, the National Academy of Sciences estimated in 1999. Even that relative pittance is a pseudo-saving, though, because the United States spends more than $4 billion a year to combat [antibiotic-]resistant infections, which kill 90,000 people a year in this country.
Experience elsewhere shows that meat producers can use far less medication. In 1998, Denmark banned antibiotic use in livestock except to treat illness. Four years later, a World Health Organization study found that the ban was already helping to reduce the potential for resistant bacteria, at minimal cost to meat producers and without significantly affecting the health of the livestock. Two years ago, the European Union banned the use of all growth-enhancing antibiotics. ...
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Big Farma may have a case of hoof in mouth disease.
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Thu, May 1, 2008
from Christian Science Monitor:
U.S. Eyes Shift Away from Corn Ethanol
America's love affair with corn-based ethanol is cooling -- at least in Washington. Some legislators blame the rising use of corn as a biofuel as a key factor behind high food prices. Others want to freeze the federal mandate on biofuels production at current levels, reversing legislation passed just a few months ago that increases it through 2022. Still others are pushing to shift tax incentives away from corn-based to cellulose-based ethanol in the nearly completed farm bill. These moves represent a dramatic backlash against corn ethanol, which until a few months ago was widely viewed as a boon for both farmers and consumers. ...done right, a shift toward cellulose -- nonfood plant material like grasses and crop residues -- could reduce US reliance on imported oil just as well as corn does. And it would accomplish it with fewer food and environmental trade-offs. ...
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Was it ... was it something I said?
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Thu, May 1, 2008
from Environmental Science & Technology:
DDT levels in Antarctic penguins present a complex mystery
"The use of DDT peaked several decades ago at more than 36,000 metric tons per year (t/yr). Today, less than 1000 t of the organochlorine pesticide -- banned in most countries since the 1980s -- is applied annually for mosquito control and farming, mainly in the Southern Hemisphere. Despite this drop, Adelie penguins in the Antarctic continue to have the same levels of total DDT in their bodies as they did 30 years ago. New research published in ES&T (DOI: 10.1021/es702919n) identifies Antarctic meltwater as the continued source of total DDT, and possibly other pollutants, in the southern continent's ecosystems." ...
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Those penguin feet get less and less happy all the time.
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Thu, May 1, 2008
from National Science Foundation:
Global Warming Affects World's Largest Lake
Russian and American scientists have discovered that the rising temperature of the world's largest lake, located in frigid Siberia, shows that this region is responding strongly to global warming. Warming of this isolated but enormous lake is a clear signal that climate change has affected even the most remote corners of our planet," Hampton said.
In their paper, the scientists detail the effects of climate change on Lake Baikal -- from warming of its vast waters to reorganization of its microscopic food web. "The conclusions shown here for this enormous body of freshwater result from careful and repeated sampling over six decades..." The data on Lake Baikal reveal "significant warming of surface waters and long-term changes in the food web of the world's largest, most ancient lake," write the researchers in their paper. "This lake was expected to be among those most resistant to climate change, due to its tremendous volume and unique water circulation." ...
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Why would "reorganizing a microscopic food web" be a problem? It's microscopic! You can't even see it!
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Thu, May 1, 2008
from PLOS, via PubMed Central:
Urban Slum Conditions Are A Source Of Leptospirosis
Leptospirosis has emerged to become an urban slum health problem. Epidemics of severe leptospirosis, characterized by jaundice, acute renal failure and haemorrhage, are now reported in cities throughout the developing world due to rapid expansion of slum settlements, which in turn has produced the ecological conditions for rodent-borne transmission of the spirochete pathogen. A survey was performed in the city of Salvador, Brazil, to determine whether the risk of Leptospira infection clustered in households within slum communities in which a member had developed severe leptospirosis. We found that members of households with an index case of leptospirosis had more than five times the risk of having serologic evidence for a prior infection than members of neighbourhood households in the same communities. Increased risk of infection was found among all age groups who resided in these households. The finding that Leptospira infection clusters in specific slum households indicates that the factors associated with this environment are important determinants for transmission. ...
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You mean social justice may prevent the spread of disease? My, how surprising!
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Thu, May 1, 2008
from CSIRO Australia, via ScienceDaily:
Boost For "Green Plastics" From Plants
Australian researchers are a step closer to turning plants into "biofactories" capable of producing oils which can be used to replace petrochemicals used to manufacture a range of products... "Using crops as biofactories has many advantages, beyond the replacement of dwindling petrochemical resources," says the leader of the crop development team, CSIRO's Dr Allan Green. "Global challenges such as population growth, climate change and the switch from non-renewable resources are opening up many more opportunities for bio-based products."... The CBI is a 12-year project which aims to add value to the Australian agricultural and chemical industries by developing technologies to produce novel industrial compounds from genetically modified oilseed crops. ...
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Classic good news, bad news: good for Resource Depletion, possibly good for Climate Chaos, but probably more of the same bad, for Biology Breach: "Plants as machines with which to tinker, to more efficiently do our bidding!"
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Wed, Apr 30, 2008
from University of Missouri-Columbia, via EurekAlert:
Too much technology may be killing beneficial bacteria
For years, scientists have known about silver's ability to kill harmful bacteria and, recently, have used this knowledge to create consumer products containing silver nanoparticles. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has found that silver nanoparticles also may destroy benign bacteria that are used to remove ammonia from wastewater treatment systems.... Several products containing silver nanoparticles already are on the market, including socks containing silver nanoparticles designed to inhibit odor-causing bacteria and high-tech, energy-efficient washing machines that disinfect clothes by generating the tiny particles. The positive effects of that technology may be overshadowed by the potential negative environmental impact... "We found that silver nanoparticles are extremely toxic. The nanoparticles destroy the benign species of bacteria that are used for wastewater treatment. It basically halts the reproduction activity of the good bacteria." ...
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This might be viewed as a nanocosm of our current situation.
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Wed, Apr 30, 2008
from University of Colorado at Boulder:
Researchers forecast 3-in-5 chance of record low Arctic sea ice in 2008
The forecast by researchers at CU-Boulder's Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research is based on satellite data and temperature records and indicates there is a 59 percent chance the annual minimum sea ice record will be broken this fall for the third time in five years. Arctic sea ice declined by roughly 10 percent in the past decade, culminating in a record 2007 minimum ice cover of 1.59 million square miles. That broke the 2005 record by 460,000 miles -- an area the size of Texas and California combined.
"The current Arctic ice cover is thinner and younger than at any previous time in our recorded history, and this sets the stage for rapid melt and a new record low," said Research Associate Sheldon Drobot, who leads CCAR's Arctic Regional Ice Forecasting System group in CU-Boulder's aerospace engineering sciences department. Overall, 63 percent of the Arctic ice cover is younger than average, and only 2 percent is older than average, according to Drobot. ...
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That Northwest Passage is looking better all the time!
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Wed, Apr 30, 2008
from Africa Science News:
Egypt allows for commercialisation of GM maize
Egypt's Minister of Agriculture has approved the decisions made by the National Biosafety Committee (NBC) and Seed Registration Committee allowing the commercialization of a Bt corn variety.
This marks the first genetically modified (GM) crop approved for domestic planting in the country.
The approval is highlighted in a recent Global Agriculture Information Network (GAIN) report by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).
During last year's growing season, field trials were conducted and assessed. A local seed company, acting as an agent of a multi-national life science company, plans to import GM seeds for propagation and production from South Africa.
The GM corn will be planted in 10 governates throughout Egypt. ...
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I know -- let's use open fields as a petrie dish to experiment with a historically brand-new phenemenon -- artificially created life forms -- with unknown consequences. Great idea!
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Wed, Apr 30, 2008
from Gazette Online, IA:
Cedar Rapids preps for ash tree infestation
City arborist Matthew Nachtrieb is making it a priority to remove and replace stressed ash trees along city streets in anticipation of what is the certain arrival of a bug that has devastated millions of ash trees in states east of Iowa.
Nachtrieb's notion about the now-notorious bug, the emerald ash borer, is no different from that of Robin Pruisner, state entomologist at the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship:
The emerald-colored pest first appeared near Detroit six years ago. Pruisner said the bug has appeared about 80 miles away in East Peru and LaSalle, Ill. It has spread to spots in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and Illinois, including the Chicago area.
It hasn't arrived in Iowa yet. But it will.
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Why, no, I hadn't heard that millions of ash trees were being devastated by a new pest, had you?
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Tue, Apr 29, 2008
from Massachusetts Institute of Technology:
Carbon Footprint Of Best Conserving Americans Is Still Double Global Average
"An MIT class has estimated the carbon emissions of Americans in a wide variety of lifestyles -- from the homeless to multimillionaires, from Buddhist monks to soccer moms -- and compared them to those of other nations. The somewhat disquieting bottom line is that in the United States, even the people with the lowest usage of energy are still producing, on average, more than double the global per-capita average. Whether you live in a cardboard box or a luxurious mansion, whether you subsist on homegrown vegetables or wolf down imported steaks, whether you're a jet-setter or a sedentary retiree, anyone who lives in the U.S. contributes more than twice as much greenhouse gas to the atmosphere as the global average..." ...
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Clearly, one solution to global warming is to shut down the USA!
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Tue, Apr 29, 2008
from Washington Post:
Emptying the Breadbasket
"...Across America, turmoil in the world wheat markets has sent prices of bread, pasta, noodles, pizza, pastry and bagels skittering upward, bringing protests from consumers... U.S. farmers are expected to plant about 64 million acres of wheat this year, down from a high of 88 million in 1981. In Kansas, wheat acreage has declined by a third since the mid-1980s, and nationwide, there is now less wheat in grain bins than at any time since World War II -- only about enough to supply the world for four days. This occurs as developing countries with some of the poorest populations are rapidly increasing their wheat imports." ...
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From "amber waves of grain" to amber waves of pain.
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You're still reading! Good for you!
You really should read our short, funny, frightening book FREE online (or buy a print copy):
Humoring the Horror of the Converging Emergencies!
We've been quipping this stuff for more than 30 months! Every day!
Which might explain why we don't get invited to parties anymore.
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Tue, Apr 29, 2008
from The Independent:
Climate change could force 1 billion from their homes by 2050
"As many as one billion people could lose their homes by 2050 because of the devastating impact of global warming ... the steady rise in temperatures across the planet could trigger mass migration on unprecedented levels. Hundreds of millions could be forced to go on the move because of water shortages and crop failures in most of Africa, as well as in central and southern Asia and South America, the conference in London will be told. There could also be an effect on levels of starvation and on food prices as agriculture struggles to cope with growing demand in increasingly arid conditions. Rising sea levels could also cause havoc, with coastal communities in southern Asia, the Far East, the south Pacific islands and the Caribbean seeing their homes submerged. North and west Africans could head towards Europe, while the southern border of the United States could come under renewed pressure from Central America." ...
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Golly refugee willikers -- what are we going to do with all these people?
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Tue, Apr 29, 2008
from Guardian (UK):
Shops ration sales of rice as US buyers panic
The global food crisis reached the United States yesterday as big retailers began to ration sales of rice in response to bulk purchases by customers alarmed by rocketing prices of staples. Wal-Mart's cash and carry division, Sam's Club, announced it would sell a maximum of four bags of rice per person to prevent supplies from running short. Its decision followed sporadic caps placed on purchases of rice and flour by some store managers at a rival bulk chain, Costco, in parts of California. The world price of rice has risen 68 percent since the start of 2008, but in some US shops the price has doubled in weeks.... Looting and riots in Haiti left at least six dead and forced the resignation of the prime minister this month, leaving the hemisphere's poorest country tense and edgy. In Guyana an 80 percent rise in the price of rice and 50 percent in the cost of chicken triggered protests and a strike by sugarcane workers. The government promised to issue seeds and urged people to cultivate idle land. Surinam set up an emergency cabinet committee to seek ways to dampen food prices. ...
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Uh-oh. The Big Box Stores are getting worried. That's an indicator of Big Troubles Ahead -- though nothing like Haiti.
Yet.
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Tue, Apr 29, 2008
from Uro Today:
Human Exposure to Endocrine Disrupters and Semen Quality
We propose that environmental factors, including exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals, may be represented in this idiopathic category of diagnosis. Endocrine disrupters are proposed to modulate or dysregulate the endogenous endocrine system via competitive or non-competitive binding at steroid hormone receptors, changes to synthesis, metabolism or transport of hormones or by changes in gene expression. Significant laboratory evidence supports endocrine disruption as a mechanism of action for several types of chemicals including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), bisphenol A (BPA), 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), p,p’-DDE (p,p'-dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene)- the major breakdown product of DDT and mixtures such as pesticides. Though there is a relative paucity of population-based studies examining the effects of exposure to endocrine disrupters on human semen quality, it may be cautiously interpreted that endocrine disruption due to organochlorine exposures may be manifested as reduced sperm motility and morphology. ...
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If exposure caused impotence, then we'd really see political action.
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Mon, Apr 28, 2008
from London Guardian:
US air force calls for mission to combat climate change
"The US air force will this week call for the world's top scientists to come together in a 21st-century Apollo-style programme to develop greener fuels and tackle global warming. It wants universities, governments, companies and environmental groups to collaborate on a multibillion-dollar effort to work out greenhouse gas emissions of existing and future fuels. William Anderson, an assistant secretary of the air force, said the project aimed to calculate the overall carbon footprint of the world's energy sources, rather than merely measure their direct emissions. He said controversy over the environmental impact of biofuels showed such an effort was needed to avoid making the situation worse: "If you look at the situation with bioethanol from corn, a lot of people saw that as a panacea, but now it seems that if you include the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions, the carbon footprint may be worse than people realised." ...
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Dude, I feel like I'm in some parallel universe where the United States is leading the fight against climate chaos!
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Mon, Apr 28, 2008
from PERI, University of Massachussetts, Amherst:
The Toxic 100: The Top Corporate Air Polluters in the U.S.
The Toxic 100 index identifies the top U.S. air polluters among the world's largest corporations. The index relies on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Risk Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) project. The starting point for the RSEI is the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), which reports on releases of toxic chemicals at facilities across the United States.... [Toxic 100 Top Ten:] E. I. Du Pont de Nemours & Co., Nissan Motor, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Bayer Group, Dow Chemical, Eastman Kodak, General Electric, Arcelor Mittal, U.S. Steel, ExxonMobil. [And 90 others.] ...
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A big "smokestacks up!" for the top ten!
You guys rule! (with impunity).
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Mon, Apr 28, 2008
from Mother Earth News:
Designing Sustainable Small Farms
Conventional agricultural ecosystems (i.e., farms) are inherently fragile: Their productivity can be sustained only if fossil fuel subsidies, in one form or another, are employed as inputs. Most farms entail, as well, other very serious environmental costs. Clearly, we need to create new food raising systems that will conserve soil, water, and nutrients ... minimize the use of fossil fuels, chemical fertilizers, and synthetic pesticides ... and lead to regionally self-reliant food systems.... [I]n the final analysis agricultural production will be maintained only if farms are designed in the image of natural ecosystems, combining the knowledge of science with the wisdom of the wilderness.... The philosophy, as summed up by Mollison, is one "of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation, rather than protracted and thoughtless labor; and of looking at plants and animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single product system." ...
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Golden oldies: this originally from 1984. Can we apply permaculture to the suburbs?
A chicken in every backyard!
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Mon, Apr 28, 2008
from Globe and Mail (Canada):
Killer Sea Lice
Alarmed, Ms. Morton took out a dip net and pulled up dozens of wild juvenile pink salmon. They were bleeding from the eyeballs and the base of the fins. Most of them were covered with brown flecks -- juvenile sea lice. As they grow, changing their body shape every few days, these parasitic copepods strip mucus, scales and skin from the growing fish. While a full-grown salmon has an armour coating of scales and can survive an infestation, the parasites exhaust the young fish and quickly kill them off.
Using hand seine nets to sample local waters, Ms. Morton established that the salmon farmers were raising millions of adult farmed Atlantic salmon along the migration routes of wild Pacific salmon - in exactly those inlets and estuaries where juvenile wild Pacific fattened up before going to sea. Suddenly, the decline of wild salmon populations did not seem like such a mystery: The 27 farms in the Broughton, had, by crowding normally nomadic fish into tightly packed nets, become ranches for sea lice, concentrating and fatally passing on parasites to wild salmon when they were at their most vulnerable. In 2002, government scientists predicted that 3.6 million pink salmon would return to the Broughton. Fewer than 150,000 did - a 97-per cent-population crash. ...
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We're killing the species in order to save it.
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