ApocaDocuments (45) gathered this week:
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Sun, Aug 31, 2008
from Public Library of Science via ScienceDaily:
Protection Zones In The Wrong Place To Prevent Coral Reef Collapse
"Conservation zones are in the wrong place to protect vulnerable coral reefs from the effects of global warming, an international team of scientists warn... Current protection zones – or 'No-take areas' (NTAs) – were set up to protect fish in the late 1960s and early 1970s, before climate change was a major issue." ...
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Can't we just move the endangered coral to the protection zones?
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Sun, Aug 31, 2008
from National Academy of Sciences via ScienceDaily:
Public Involvement Usually Leads To Better Environmental Decision Making
"When done correctly, public participation improves the quality of federal agencies' decisions about the environment, says a new report from the National Research Council. Well-managed public involvement also increases the legitimacy of decisions in the eyes of those affected by them, which makes it more likely that the decisions will be implemented effectively." ...
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Long as you can keep the blowhards out of the room.
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Sun, Aug 31, 2008
from McClatchy Newspapers:
Scientists fear impact of Asian pollutants on U.S.
"From 500 miles in space, satellites track brown clouds of dust, soot and other toxic pollutants from China and elsewhere in Asia as they stream across the Pacific and take dead aim at the western U.S... By some estimates more than 10 billion pounds of airborne pollutants from Asia - ranging from soot to mercury to carbon dioxide to ozone - reach the U.S. annually. The problem is only expected to worsen: Some Chinese officials have warned that pollution in their country could quadruple in the next 15 years." ...
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So ... um ... why is it only scientists are afraid?
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Sun, Aug 31, 2008
from London Independent:
For the first time in human history, the North Pole can be circumnavigated
"Open water now stretches all the way round the Arctic, making it possible for the first time in human history to circumnavigate the North Pole, The Independent on Sunday can reveal. New satellite images, taken only two days ago, show that melting ice last week opened up both the fabled North-west and North-east passages, in the most important geographical landmark to date to signal the unexpectedly rapid progress of global warming." ...
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But really, this does not mean the polar bears are threatened, right?
ApocaDoc
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Sat, Aug 30, 2008
from AFP:
Massive evacuation as millions hit by India floods
More than 300,000 people trapped in India's worst floods in 50 years have been rescued but nearly double that number remain stranded without food or water, officials said Saturday.
About 60 people have died and three million have been affected since the Kosi river breached its banks earlier this month on the border with Nepal and changed course, swamping hundreds of villages in eastern Bihar state.... "We have been stuck here for the past 10 days with no rescue team reaching here. Our food and water stocks have run out. Our mobiles (phones) are working, but they too will fail any moment," Laxmi Singh was quoted as saying.
Survivors at relief shelters said they were not getting anything to eat.
"We have absolutely nothing with us here. We left everything behind," one woman at a crowded relief camp told NDTV news network. ...
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Elsewhere, people are talking about Palin's hotness.
ApocaDoc
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Sat, Aug 30, 2008
from National Geographic News:
VIDEO: Sun Used to Purify Water
"Just 48 hours of sunlight can kill germs that cause cholera, typhoid, and other diseases�a discovery that's already helping Kenya's poor." ...
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The sun... it's just a great big ball of fun!
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Sat, Aug 30, 2008
from NaturalNews.com:
Broken Compact Fluorescent Lights Release Mercury Into the Air: Over 100 Times the EPA Limit
"Compact fluorescent light bulbs can release dangerous amounts of mercury into the air when they break and must be disposed of very carefully, according to a report by the state of Maine.
Compact fluorescent bulbs, which consume only about a quarter as much energy as traditional incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer, all use mercury to produce light." ...
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It seemed like a good idea.
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Sat, Aug 30, 2008
from McClatchy Newspapers:
Palin questioned whether global warming is melting Arctic ice
"Sen. John McCain's choice of a running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, favors drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, questioned the science behind predictions of sea ice loss linked to global warming and opposed a state initiative that would have banned metal mines from discharging pollution into salmon streams." ...
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Wow. Sounds like she's a Dick Cheney Mini-Me!
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Sat, Aug 30, 2008
from The Olympian (WA):
Alaska seeks to show polar bears aren't threatened
Alaska's state legislature is looking to hire a few good polar bear scientists. The conclusions have already been agreed upon -- researchers just have to fill in the science part.... A $2 million program funded with little debate by the legislature last month calls for using state money to fund an "academic based" conference that highlights contrarian scientific research on global warming. Legislators hope to undermine the public perception of a widespread consensus among polar bear researchers that warming global temperatures and melting Arctic ice threaten the polar bears' survival. ...
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Finding evidence to fit a preordained conclusion. Now where have I heard that before?
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Sat, Aug 30, 2008
from LA Times (US):
Italy mobsters block efforts to clean up toxic trash heaps
The Naples-based Camorra controls the import, transport and disposal of millions of tons of rubbish, an extremely lucrative business in which the group follows its own rules, ignores regulations on toxic waste and contaminates once-fertile farmland, country fields, forests and rivers.
Beyond the ugliness of it all, evidence now suggests that the garbage is poisoning the food chain and may be causing cancer, birth defects and other health problems.... Scientists continue to study the link between the refuse and health, but already point to alarming trends, according to the World Health Organization, including a rate exceeding regional or national norms for cancers of the stomach, kidney, liver and lung, as well as congenital malformations. In some areas between Naples and the city of Caserta, residents are two to three times more likely to get liver cancer than those in the rest of the country, according to Italy's National Research Council.
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We're here... to provide...
protection.
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Fri, Aug 29, 2008
from Murray Valley Standard (Australia):
Fish 'n' chips that last forever
The society's "Australia's Sustainable Seafood Guide" ... divides species into three categories: "Say no", "Think twice" and "Better choice".
Species to avoid include those that have been over-fished, such as shark and orange roughy (or deep sea perch). Deep sea species are vulnerable to over-fishing because they tend to be slow-growing and long-living.
The method by which a fish is caught is also important. Catching by handline is better for the environment than bottom trawling, the equivalent of using a nuclear bomb to catch rabbits. There are several methods in between. ...
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I'll have that "Think Twice"
with tartar sauce, please.
ApocaDoc
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Fri, Aug 29, 2008
from BusinessGreen:
US Treasury launches Environment and Energy Office
The new Office for Environment and Energy is to be headed up by William A Pizer, a former director at research body Resources for the Future and white house economic adviser on energy issues, and will be tasked with developing, co-ordinating and executing the Treasury's role in both domestic and international energy and green policy.
In particular, the office will be tasked with managing the multi-billion dollar Clean Technology Fund announced earlier this year by President Bush and intended to accelerate the development of low carbon technologies in developing economies.
It will also be responsible for the US Tropical Forest Conservation Act and the Global Environmental Facility, as well as the development of new financial mechanisms and initiatives for tackling climate change. ...
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Let's get it going in developed countries too, maybe?
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Fri, Aug 29, 2008
from Wildlife Conservation Society, via EurekAlert:
Unexpected large monkey population discovered
A WCS report reveals surprisingly large populations of two globally threatened primates in a protected area in Cambodia.
The report counted 42,000 black-shanked douc langurs along with 2,500 yellow-cheeked crested gibbons in Cambodia's Seima Biodiversity Conservation Area, an estimate that represents the largest known populations for both species in the world.... The scientists believe total populations within the wider landscape may be considerably greater. ...
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Let's make sure the people around them are well fed.
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, Aug 29, 2008
from Telegraph (UK):
Bittern numbers up almost 50 per cent
Bittern numbers are up almost 50 per cent on last year after the best nesting season for 130 years, according to the RSPB. This year 75 male bitterns were recorded in English reed beds, a 47 per cent increase on 2007 and a huge 581 per cent increase in the numbers recorded in 1997 when the UK population plummeted to a low of just 11 booming males, all in England. ...
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More booms, please.
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Fri, Aug 29, 2008
from Wenachee World:
Investigators identify toxic goo, still looking for who dumped it
Nearly all of the 2,353 barrels contained industrial paint solvents and sludge, though more than half of the containers had deteriorated and spilled most or all of their contents. Some held medical waste and two barrels tested positive for low levels of radioactive materials.... Aquifers under the dump tested positive for high levels of organic compounds, metals, petroleum products, solvents, pesticides and other chemicals.... Officials believed the contamination was coming from the 55-gallon barrels, which were brought to the unlined landfill by a transport company in August 1975 and buried. But no records of what the barrels contained could be found.
The [transport] company paid $2 per barrel — about $4,700 in all — to bury the toxins. ...
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Zombie toxic barrels:
they just won't stay buried!
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Thu, Aug 28, 2008
from ABC News:
Future Storms, Global Warming Could Devastate Louisiana Coast
Louisiana's 15,000 square miles of coastal wetlands traditionally act as natural buffers from storm surges. For centuries, the fresh floodwaters of the Mississippi River replenished the wetlands with sediment, building them up and flushing out the saltwater blown in by hurricanes. But when levees were built in the 1930s to control the flooding of the river, saltwater flowing in from the gulf was left unchecked, killing habitats for freshwater wildlife and eating away at the coastline.
The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources estimates that every 38 minutes the area loses an area of coastline about the size of a football field.
"And they say over the next 20, 25 years we'll lose another thousand miles," Jindal said. ...
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Silly goose -- we can control mother nature, at our whim, because we're smarter than she is. And more powerful.
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Thu, Aug 28, 2008
from ScienceAlert (Australia and New Zealand):
Climate code red -- the case for emergency action
"Very few, if any, people in government get the whole story, so there's a gaping hole between what the science is telling us and the policy response," says Spratt. "Politicians think you can negotiate with the laws of physics and chemistry, but you do so at the planet's peril. If business-as-usual pollution continues there will be catastrophic consequences."
'Code Red' refers to the system employed in hospitals to alert staff that a patient needs advanced life support; it activates an emergency response. The planet, the authors contend, needs that level of life support now. ...
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You mean to tell me you can't negotiate with the laws of physics and chemistry? Hold the phones!
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Thu, Aug 28, 2008
from Mongabay:
Biofuels 200 times more expensive than forest conservation for global warming mitigation
The British government should end subsidies for biofuels and instead use the funds to slow destruction of rainforests and tropical peatlands argues a new report issued by a U.K.-based think tank.... [The study] says that "avoided deforestation" would be a more cost-effective way to address climate change, since land use change generates more emissions than the entire global transport sector and offers ancillary benefits including important ecosystem services.... They find that the biofuel initiative will save 2.6-3 million tons of carbon dioxide per year at a cost of ($1 billion), while a similar investment in preventing deforestation and peatland destruction could result in avoided emissions of 40-200 million tons of CO2 per year or a 50 times greater amount of avoided emissions. The savings would be equivalent to 37 percent of all UK carbon dioxide emissions for 2005.
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Spending money to avoid something?
That would require long-term thinking.
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Thu, Aug 28, 2008
from eFlux Media:
Unstoppable Thawing in the Arctic Sea
The disturbing truth is that the ice level is headed down a declining path and the Arctic region is doomed to see the day when, during the summer, it will be only water. And if this had already been foreseen by scientists, who claimed that by the year 2080, the Arctic sea would be ice-free, the more recent predictions are a lot bleaker: some say by 2050, some by 2030 and some reckon it will occur within as little as 5 years.... Any way one might look at it, the picture looks really grim and leaves almost no room to hope for improvement or change. No ice on the Arctic sea could mean a torturous rite of passage for the Earth as we know it now. And it will not overcome it unscarred. ...
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Wonder how we'll move all those polar bears and penguins and seals to the Antarctic. I mean, we would, wouldn't we?
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Thu, Aug 28, 2008
from Western Morning News (UK):
'Barmy' pesticides ban blasted
Ministers are to step up pressure on the European Parliament not to press ahead with "barmy plans" to ban three-quarters of pesticides used by farmers.... The opposition has to come from across the continent to ensure that it is "not just Britain whingeing", he said.... The controversy centres on the types of chemicals which Brussels wants to remove. They include banning substances which have "endocrine disrupting properties" that could cause adverse effect in humans.
However, the public is already exposed to such substances through prescribed drugs, meat, peas and beans and products like soya milk. ...
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Oi, guv'nor. Wot rubbish.
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Thu, Aug 28, 2008
from Myrtle Beach Sun News:
Loggerhead nesters have banner year
Rare loggerhead sea turtles are having a terrific nesting season on the Grand Strand and have been laying eggs on local beaches in higher and higher numbers.
Still, biologists warn that the population of the mammoth turtles, which can weigh up to 300 pounds, remains fragile. And the federal government is considering a proposal to classify loggerheads as endangered after 30 years of listing them as a threatened species.... This year, a rare Kemp's ridley turtle has laid 84 eggs in a nest on Pawleys Island, McClary said. It is only the second nest in South Carolina for a Kemp's ridley, the most endangered turtle in the world. ...
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Now, let's make sure we leave them something to eat in the ocean!
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Thu, Aug 28, 2008
from Innovations Report (Germany):
Overfishing Pushes Baltic Cod to Brink of Economic Extinction
"It's such an overfished system," Limburg said. "The big concern is that overexploitation is causing the fish to evolve. The finding that humans can actually cause evolution of fish populations, which in turn can drive their degradation, is relatively new and is drawing a lot of attention.
"Some fisheries, including that for cod, are now known to cause 'juvenescence,' or the evolution of younger, smaller adult fish. The ecological and economic consequences both appear to be negative," she said. ...
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How surprising: if only the small ones survive, only small ones reproduce.
Duh.
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Thu, Aug 28, 2008
from Times Online (UK):
Half of Australia untouched by humans, says study by Pew Environment Group
Nearly half of Australia is largely untouched by Man, making it one of the biggest wildernesses in the world, ranking alongside the Amazon rainforest and Antarctica, a new study has found.... The other two great remaining wilderness areas in the world are the Sahara and the northern Boreal forest in Canada.
"As the world's last great wilderness areas disappear under pressure from human impact, to have a continent with this much remaining wilderness intact is unusual and globally significant," Dr Traill added. ...
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What!? Come on, guys, let's get to work!
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Wed, Aug 27, 2008
from New York Times:
Wind Energy Bumps Into Power Grid's Limits
When the builders of the Maple Ridge Wind farm spent $320 million to put nearly 200 wind turbines in upstate New York, the idea was to get paid for producing electricity. But at times, regional electric lines have been so congested that Maple Ridge has been forced to shut down even with a brisk wind blowing.... The dirty secret of clean energy is that while generating it is getting easier, moving it to market is not.
The grid today, according to experts, is a system conceived 100 years ago to let utilities prop each other up, reducing blackouts and sharing power in small regions. It resembles a network of streets, avenues and country roads.
"We need an interstate transmission superhighway system," said Suedeen G. Kelly, a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. ...
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Or maybe fewer giant producers, and lots more smaller producers.
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Wed, Aug 27, 2008
from World Wildlife Fund, via ScienceDaily:
Polar Bears Found Swimming Miles From Alaskan Coast
An aerial survey by government scientists in Alaska's Chukchi Sea has recently found at least nine polar bears swimming in open water -- with one at least 60 miles from shore -- raising concern among wildlife experts about their survival....
"As climate change continues to dramatically disrupt the Arctic, polar bears and their cubs are being forced to swim longer distances to find food and habitat."...
Satellite images indicate that ice was absent in most of the region where the bears were found on August 16, 2008, and some experts predict this year's sea ice loss could meet or exceed the record set last year. ...
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At least the water they're swimming in
is warm.
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Wed, Aug 27, 2008
from Guardian (UK):
Eating rats to beat global food crisis
Rat meat has become such a popular alternative to other dearer meats in Cambodia that its price has increased fourfold.
As inflation pushes the price of beef beyond the reach of the poor, increased demand for rat meat has pushed up rodent prices.... This month, an Indian official said eating rats was a way to beat rising global food prices. Vijay Prakash, the secretary of Bihar's welfare department, said regular rat snacks would also translate into fewer rodents eating precious grain stocks, 50 percent of which are lost in the north-eastern Indian state every year to the creatures. ...
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Mmmm. Protein.
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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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Wed, Aug 27, 2008
from PLoS ONE, via Power-Boat World:
World's Marine Parks 'May Not Save Corals'
They warn that many existing 'no take areas' (NTAs) in the Indian Ocean and around the world, while effective in protecting local fish, may not be much help in enabling reefs to recover from major coral bleaching events caused by ocean warming.
The research, published in the journal PLoS ONE, is the largest study of its kind ever carried out, covering 66 sites in seven countries in the Indian Ocean and spanning over a decade.
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I wish we could say the tide was turning.
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Wed, Aug 27, 2008
from Birdlife International:
Drugs firms told to do more to prevent vulture extinctions
The Indian government has ordered a crackdown on companies selling the drug [Diclofenac] responsible for the near-extinction of vultures.... [A study] showed that the population of White-rumped Vultures Gyps bengalensis in India was dropping by more than 40 percent every year. The species's numbers have dropped by 99.9 percent since 1992 to about 11,000, from tens of millions. Populations of Indian Gyps indicus and Slender-billed Gyps tenuirostris vultures have fallen by almost 97 per cent in the same period, to 45,000 and just 1,000 respectively.... Now vets are dodging the ban by using the human form of diclofenac for livestock, despite an effective and safe alternative drug being available. ...
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May those veterinarians find their own kidneys failing.
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Wed, Aug 27, 2008
from Engineering Capacity (UK):
Go green and stay out of the red
Environmental measures could be the answer to combating the downturn with new research launched today showing that waste prevention, using less raw material and energy recovery will be crucial to saving UK companies money in the face of economic recession.... The research, says Envirowise, shows growing recognition that waste minimisation and resource efficiency have become business imperatives in the current economic climate if companies are going to reduce costs and keep up their green credentials.
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Ah -- there are costs associated with rampant waste.
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Wed, Aug 27, 2008
from Popular Science:
New research finds higher-than-expected levels of pesticides in hives
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulates agricultural pesticide use, but this regulation does not account for the interaction of these chemicals that inevitably takes place through the bees' pollination processes. Some of these combinations of pesticides have been found to have a synergistic effect hundreds of times more toxic than any of the pesticides individually, says James L. Frazier, professor of entomology at Penn State.... These changes include immune system blocks and disorientation, which may help to explain the CCD crisis of late. ...
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Sort of like mixing gin and tequila.
Only lots worse.
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Wed, Aug 27, 2008
from Citizens Voice (PA):
Federal agency: Cancer cluster exists between Tamaqua, McAdoo
The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry on Monday confirmed something that residents of an area at the intersections of Schuylkill, Carbon and Luzerne counties have felt sure of for many years -- that an unusually high number of people there are suffering from a rare blood cancer.... The report found three environmental similarities in common in the cluster areas: hazardous waste sites, air pollution and coal mining operations. ...
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Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble, eye of newt and hazardous brew.
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Tue, Aug 26, 2008
from Ecological Society of America:
Ecological Society of America Criticizes Bush Administration's Overhaul of the Endangered Species Act
"The concept of independent scientific review has been in practice since the 18th century and is crucial to ensuring that ideas and proposed work are scientifically sound," said Alison Power, president of the Society and professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University. "This overhaul of the Endangered Species Act would place the fate of rare species in the hands of government stakeholders who are not qualified to assess the environmental impacts of their activities." ...
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What, you think scientific expertise should be involved? Where have you been the last seven years?
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Tue, Aug 26, 2008
from Canadian Press:
Slow Food movement could finally be picking up speed in the United States
Slow Food USA is about to make its first major foray into the U.S. cultural and political scenes. Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend Slow Food Nation over Labour Day weekend in San Francisco, a Woodstock-like festival and symposium meant to underscore the connection between planet and plate.
It's the first serious test of whether Slow Food - a philosophy born in Europe and often hobbled by a snob factor - can evolve into a movement capable of altering the appetite of the average American.... ...
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Can I get my slow food to go, please?
I'm in a hurry.
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Tue, Aug 26, 2008
from KDRV:
Bush administration cuts spotted owl habitat 23 percent
The Bush administration has decided that the Northern Spotted Owl can get by with less old growth forest habitat as it struggles to get off the threatened species list.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday it would cut by 23 percent the federal forest land designated as critical habitat for the owl in Washington, Oregon and Northern California. Designating critical habitat for protection is a requirement of the Endangered Species Act. Meanwhile, owl numbers are dropping by 4 percent a year. ...
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Hoo-ha! We're whuppin' that spotted owl!
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Tue, Aug 26, 2008
from The Money Times (India):
West Nile virus Engulfs First Human Life in California
The extremely infectious West Nile virus has continued to surge in parts of California, claiming its first human victim this year in Orange County in Southern California, the state Department of Public Health announced on Monday.
A 72-year-old Buena Park woman has become the first person in California this year to die of the WNV infection.... The health officials are worried about a possible repeat of cases such as what happened in 2004, when Southern California experienced 710 human West Nile virus cases with 21 fatalities. ...
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Lucky for us, the bird vector is diminishing, as they die off.
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Tue, Aug 26, 2008
from NaturalNews:
Canada's Oil Sands Declared "Most Destructive Project on Earth" as Eco Disaster Looms
The report accuses the Canadian government of allowing the Tar Sands Project to emit levels of greenhouse gases that far outstrip any reductions made in other areas.
"Ottawa is letting the Tar Sands hold Canadians hostage on global warming," said Program Manager Matt Price.... The group also says that the project has contaminated rivers and groundwater with toxic chemicals, caused an increase in acid rain and created "health sacrifice zones" in the surrounding region. ...
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"Health sacrifice zones" sound a lot like "collateral damage" to me.
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Tue, Aug 26, 2008
from The Scotsman:
Prize-winning author warns humans could be headed for extinction
Margaret Atwood, the novelist, has warned that the planet is at a "crisis moment" and the human race could be headed towards extinction.... The Canadian said although the "cockroaches will always be fine", humans may not.... Atwood said she thinks the crisis involves climate change, deforestation, overfishing, declines in bird populations and production of energy. ...
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But for now, let's keep on partying!
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Tue, Aug 26, 2008
from Utne Reader Online:
Fish or Foul
The world's oceans are being transformed, and not for the better.... Scientists now know that the eating habits of a single species, Homo sapiens, are driving these changes. By knocking out the chain's upper levels (which include predatory fish like tuna, swordfish, and shark) through violent overfishing, and skimming off the middle and bottom for industrial use, we are changing, perhaps permanently, the structure of an environment that nourishes us. ...
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Overfishing is just a theory.
The ocean still looks the same to me.
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Mon, Aug 25, 2008
from The Apocadocs:
PANIQuiz for August 18-25 now available
What is Ecojel? Why has the Natural Resources Defense Council filed suit against the EPA? What does Carbonfootprint.com have to say about Madonna's world tour carbon footprint? According to the Institute of Polar Environment, how is arsenic getting into Antarctic soil? These questions and more, for your entertainment and dismay. ...
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That's right, it's our news!
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Mon, Aug 25, 2008
from AFP:
Global warming time bomb trapped in Arctic soil: study
Climate change could release unexpectedly huge stores of carbon dioxide from Arctic soils, which would in turn fuel a vicious circle of global warming, a new study warned Sunday.
The study, published in the British journal Nature Geoscience, found that the stock of organic carbon "is considerably higher than previously thought" -- 60 percent more than the previously estimated.
This is roughly equivalent to one sixth of the entire carbon content in the atmosphere. And that is just for North America. ...
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Feedback is only fun in rock concerts.
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Mon, Aug 25, 2008
from New York Times:
Carbon Emissions Across the United States
"Electric power production and transportation are the two largest sources of carbon emissions in the United States. But there are big differences in emissions between companies, and from state to state, that may make it harder to reach any agreement on cuts." State-by-state graphic. ...
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Texas I would have guessed, but not Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida as the others in the "top five."
Let's make this a race to the bottom!
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Mon, Aug 25, 2008
from Cell Press, via EurekAlert:
Why wind turbines can mean death for bats
Ninety percent of the bats they examined after death showed signs of internal hemorrhaging consistent with trauma from the sudden drop in air pressure (a condition known as barotrauma) at turbine blades. Only about half of the bats showed any evidence of direct contact with the blades.... All three species of migratory bats killed by wind turbines fly at night, eating thousands of insects—including many crop pests—per day as they go. Therefore, bat losses in one area could have very real effects on ecosystems miles away, along the bats' migration routes. ...
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So the turbines suck the life out of them. Sucks indeed.
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Mon, Aug 25, 2008
from University of New South Wales, via EurekAlert:
Heavy metal link to mutations, low growth and fertility among crustaceans in Sydney Harbor tributary
Heavy metal pollutants are linked to genetic mutations, stunted growth and declining fertility among small crustaceans in the Parramatta River, the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, new research shows.
The finding adds to mounting evidence that toxic sediments and seaweeds in Sydney Harbour are a deadly diet for many sea creatures.... Earlier this year, UNSW scientists revealed that copper-contaminated seaweeds in Sydney Harbour were killing 75 percent of the offspring of small crustaceans that feed on a common brown seaweed. ...
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Golly! Who would have imagined that toxic sediment could affect sea life?
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Mon, Aug 25, 2008
from European Science Foundation, via EurekAlert:
Future for clean energy lies in 'big bang' of evolution
Dramatic progress has been made over the last decade understanding the fundamental reaction of photosynthesis that evolved in cyanobacteria 3.7 billion years ago, which for the first time used water molecules as a source of electrons to transport energy derived from sunlight, while converting carbon dioxide into oxygen.... For humans now there is the tantalising possibility of tweaking the photosynthetic reactions of cyanobacteria to produce fuels we want such as hydrogen, alcohols or even hydrocarbons, rather than carbohydrates. ...
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Bacteria to the rescue!
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Mon, Aug 25, 2008
from University of Arizona, via ScienceDaily:
Drier, Warmer Springs In US Southwest Stem From Human-caused Changes In Winds
Since the 1970s the winter storm track in the western U.S. has been shifting north, particularly in the late winter. As a result, fewer winter storms bring rain and snow to Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, western Colorado and western New Mexico.
"We used to have this season from October to April where we had a chance for a storm," said Stephanie A. McAfee. "Now it's from October to March".... McAfee's co-author Joellen L. Russell said, "We're used to thinking about climate change as happening sometime in the future to someone else, but this is right here and affects us now. The future is here." ...
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"The future is here"?
Don't tell me that!
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Other
Weeks' Archived
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Sep 26 - Dec 31, 1969
Sep 19 - Sep 26, 2011
Sep 12 - Sep 19, 2011
Sep 5 - Sep 12, 2011
Aug 29 - Sep 5, 2011
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Aug 15 - Aug 22, 2011
Aug 8 - Aug 15, 2011
Aug 1 - Aug 8, 2011
Jul 25 - Aug 1, 2011
Jul 18 - Jul 25, 2011
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