Apocadocuments, for the week of

[About the Project]
[About the ApocaDocs]
[About Equal Share]
[TwitterFollow: apocadocs]

Explore:

Play:

It's weekly, funny, and free!

Play:

Click for paper-free fun!

	Ads for potentially microfunding this site:

What A Week It Was: Apocadocuments from

View By Scenario:
Species Collapse:	(7)
Plague/Virus:	(1)
Climate Chaos:	(7)
Resource Depletion:	(8)
Biology Breach:	(15)
Recovery:	(13)

This Week's Top Ten Very Scary Tags:
water issues ~ toxic water ~ food crisis ~ pharmwater ~ marine mammals ~ overfishing ~ alternative energy ~ bird collapse ~ peak oil ~ endocrine disruptor ~ falling fertility

ApocaDocuments (51) gathered this week:
Sun, Sep 21, 2008 from London Independent: Mobile phone use 'raises children's risk of brain cancer fivefold' Children and teenagers are five times more likely to get brain cancer if they use mobile phones, startling new research indicates. The study, experts say, raises fears that today's young people may suffer an "epidemic" of the disease in later life. At least nine out of 10 British 16-year-olds have their own handset, as do more than 40 per cent of primary schoolchildren. ...	Maybe if they just text they'll only get thumb cancer. ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Sep 21, 2008 from Charleston Post and Courier: Depleted striper stock sends rumors swirling As the prized striped bass mysteriously disappeared from the Marion-Moultrie lakes, a rumor whispered from fisherman to fisherman: tributyltin. A disastrous spill of the chemical in 2000 from a tin plant near Lexington killed all the animals and plants nearby in a creek that feeds the Congaree River in Columbia. Later that same year, the same chemical was spilled from another plant into the river upstream. Within two years, state biologists were confronting the depletion of the catch in the lakes downstream. ...	The fishermen must whisper it because it's too dangerous to say outloud. ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Sep 21, 2008 from Mongabay: Monoculture tree plantations are "green deserts" not forests, say activists Simone Lovera of the Global Forest Coalition says that "plantations form part of an industrial model for the production of abundant and cheap raw material that serves as an input for the economic growth of the industrialized countries. What the producer countries get are environmental degradation and rising poverty, which are the 'externalized costs' of this cheap raw material." Since 1980 tropical forest plantations have expanded by almost fivefold. ...	All the biodiversity of cornfields, row on row. ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Sep 21, 2008 from UPI: Iranians deplete aquifers, land is sinking Researchers say increasing demand for groundwater in Iran is depleting that nation's water supplies, resulting in land surface deformations. An international team of scientists said decades of unrestrained groundwater extraction are linked to land surface deformation on local and regional scales.... "Comparing ground deformation in Iran with other basins around the world revealed that Iran currently hosts some of the fastest sinking valleys and plain aquifers in the world," the scientists said. ...	Is that trouble I see ahead? Is the ground shifting 'neath our feet? ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Sep 20, 2008 from Blue Flipper Diving: Abu Dhabi tries to save the dumpy 'lady of the sea' The city's expansion along the coastal belt has encroached on the dugongs' habitat, and dredging has disturbed the seagrass beds, the mammal's only source of food, explained Thabit Zahran al Abdessalaam, the director of the marine biodiversity management sector at the EAD. "Abu Dubai is attractive for dugongs as almost all the sea grass beds in the entire UAE are here," he said, adding that dugongs are protected under UAE law and anyone found to be harming them can be prosecuted. ...	If the Ay-rabs can protect the dugong, maybe we can protect our manatee. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Sep 20, 2008 from Dutch Harbor Fishermen: 'Fish, baby, fish' isn’t responsible management As it had happened with perch, the catch of pollock rose gradually through 1980 when a large spawning aggregation was discovered in the waters off of Kodiak Island. Over the next five years the spawning aggregation was heavily exploited and the fishery peaked and collapsed. Trites states that the same picture can be painted for fisheries in the Bering Sea. Yellowfin sole catches rose from 1954 to 1961 until the stock declined due to overfishing. As the yellowfin sole declined, the fishery moved to pollock. ...	Too bad we can't see what we're destroying in the ocean. Wait... we can see what we're doing elsewhere. Hasn't helped much, has it? ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Sep 20, 2008 from AP News: Scientists monitor growing Lake Erie algae bloom Giant floating fields of algae are back in strength this year on Lake Erie and scientists are trying to figure out why. The blooms of the pea-soup colored algae -- so big they've been showing on satellite photos -- are toxic to fish and small animals and irritating to humans. The lake once notorious for its pollution is cleaner than ever, yet the algae continues to thrive.... "It's now blooming in the proportions that it was in the bad old days of the 1960s and early '70s," Bridgeman said. "There's a mystery to it because the lake seemed to be getting cleaner, but now the algal blooms are worse." ...	Someday, someday Lake Erie will really be clean. It may be, however, long after we're all dead. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Sep 20, 2008 from NaturalNews.com: Xerox Invents Reusable Paper that Uses UV Light for "Ink" Xerox subsidiary Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) has developed a type of paper that, combined with a special printer, can print documents that erase themselves after a day so that the paper can be reused. Xerox says that 25 percent of all documents get recycled the same day they are printed, and that 44.5 percent are intended only for a single viewing. Using the new printer and paper for one-shot documents like daily menus, work summaries and office memos could vastly reduce paper and energy use, the company said. ...	Hopefully the printer will also cleanse the used paper of germs and bacteria. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Sep 20, 2008 from The Economist: Running dry The world has a water shortage, not a food shortage: MOST people may drink only two litres of water a day, but they consume about 3,000 if the water that goes into their food is taken into account. The rich gulp down far more, since they tend to eat more meat, which takes far more water to produce than grains. So as the world's population grows and incomes rise, farmers will -- if they use today's methods -- need a great deal more water to keep everyone... ...	Instead, why don't the rich simply drink the blood of the poor. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Sep 20, 2008 from Toronto Globe and Mail: Humanity at risk: Are the males going first? Something is happening to today's boys and men: Fewer are being born compared with girls, they're having more trouble in school, virility and fertility are down and testicular cancer rates are up. Now, scientists say these 'fragile males' may be more vulnerable than females to pollutants, affecting their development as early as the womb. If so, writes Martin Mittelstaedt, it could be a bigger threat to our future than global warming... ...	Since population reduction is key to recovery, is this such a bad thing? ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Sep 20, 2008 from PC Magazine: Twelve-Year-Old May Hold Key to Solar Energy One significant problem with existing solar technology is that it's not terribly efficient at harvesting solar energy and turning it into electricity. Solar technology is improving all the time, but one 12-year-old boy may have the key to making solar panels that can harness 500 times the light of a traditional solar cell. William Yuan is a seventh grader in Oregon whose project, titled "A Highly-Efficient 3-Dimensional Nanotube Solar Cell for Visible and UV Light," may change the energy industry and make solar energy far easier to harness and distribute. ...	Now that's what I call revenge of the pre-pubescent nerds! ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Sep 19, 2008 from International Rice Research Institute: Global food situation at a crossroads Declining agricultural productivity and continued growing demand have brought the world food situation to a crossroads. Failure to act now through a wholesale reinvestment in agriculture -- including research into improved technologies, infrastructure development, and training and education of agricultural scientists and trainers -- could lead to a long-term crisis that makes the price spikes of 2008 seem a mere blip. ...	Investment advisers recommend increasing your holdings in riot gear. ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Sep 19, 2008 from National Research Council, via EurekAlert: Marine debris will likely worsen in the 21st century Current measures to prevent and reduce marine debris are inadequate, and the problem will likely worsen, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council. The United States and the international maritime community should adopt a goal of "zero discharge" of waste into the marine environment, and a system to assess the effectiveness of existing and future marine debris prevention and reduction actions should be implemented. In addition, better leadership, coordination, and integration of mandates and resources are needed, as responsibilities for preventing and mitigating marine debris are scattered across federal organizations and management regimes. ...	Maybe "zero discharge" would slow the growth of that Pacific Gyre of trash.... ApocaDoc permalink
Want more context? Try reading our book FREE online: Humoring the Horror of the Converging Emergencies! More fun than a barrel of jellyfish!
Fri, Sep 19, 2008 from National Science Foundation: From Sugar to Gasoline Following independent paths of investigation, two research teams are announcing this month that they have successfully converted sugar -- potentially derived from agricultural waste and non-food plants -- into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and a range of other valuable chemicals.... While several years of further development will be needed to refine the process and scale it for production, the promise of gasoline and other petrochemicals from renewable plants has led to broad industrial interest. ...	Well, this may slow down the Peak Oil crisis -- yet keeps those exhaust pipes belching. ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Sep 19, 2008 from Associated Press: Chicago outlines plan to slash greenhouse gases CHICAGO -- Mayor Richard M. Daley has announced a plan to dramatically slash emissions of heat-trapping gases, part of an effort to fight global warming and become one of the greenest cities in the nation. The plan calls for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to three-fourths of 1990 levels by 2020 through more energy-efficient buildings, using clean and renewable energy sources, improving transportation and reducing industrial pollution. ...	My kind of town... Chicago! ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Sep 19, 2008 from Purdue University, via EurekAlert: 'Buckyballs' have high potential to accumulate in living tissue Research at Purdue University suggests synthetic carbon molecules called fullerenes, or buckyballs, have a high potential of being accumulated in animal tissue, but the molecules also appear to break down in sunlight, perhaps reducing their possible environmental dangers.... Findings indicated buckyballs have a greater chance of partitioning into fatty tissues than the banned pesticide DDT. However, while DDT is toxic to wildlife, buckyballs currently have no documented toxic effects, Jafvert said. ...	There's only a nanochance of toxic effects! ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Sep 19, 2008 from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: IMPACTS: On the Threshold of Abrupt Climate Changes "There are lots of names for abrupt climate change: nasty surprises, the jokers in the deck, the tipping point," Collins says. "When the national lab participants first met to decide on the most significant potential sources of abrupt climate change in future, the first thing we had to do was define what we meant: a large-scale change that happens more quickly than that brought on by forcing mechanisms -- on a scale of years to decades, not centuries -- and that persists for a very long time." ... Only half joking, Collins refers to these [four types of forcing mechanisms] as "the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse." ...	Those wacky scientists -- what a bunch of cards! ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Sep 19, 2008 from Globe and Mail (Canada): Discovery waters down fears of fast-melting ice A team of Canadian researchers has unearthed the most ancient ice ever found in North America - 700,000-year-old wedges that didn't melt when the Earth was much balmier than it is today. The scientists say their discovery means the permafrost that covers a quarter of the land in the Northern Hemisphere may not release its vast stores of carbon as quickly as some experts fear. That's not to say one of the most catastrophic global-warming scenarios isn't going to happen, said Duane Froese.... It will just happen more slowly, he said. ...	Well, that's a relief. ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Sep 19, 2008 from Birdlife.org: Birds indicate biodiversity crisis -- and the way forward The report highlights worldwide losses among widespread and once-familiar birds. A staggering 45 percent of common European birds are declining: the familiar European Turtle-dove, for example, has lost 62 percent of its population in the last 25 years. On the other side of the globe, resident Australian wading birds have seen population losses of 81 percent in just quarter of a century. Twenty North American common birds have more than halved in number in the last four decades. Northern Bobwhite fell most dramatically, by 82 percent. In Latin America, the Yellow Cardinal -- once common in Argentina -- is now classified as globally Endangered. ...	That's a lot of canaries to fit into the mine. ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Sep 19, 2008 from National Geographic: Arctic Ice in "Death Spiral"; Is Near Record Low The Arctic Ocean's sea ice has shrunk to its second smallest area on record, close to 2007's record-shattering low, scientists report. The ice is in a "death spiral" and may disappear in the summers within a couple of decades, according to Mark Serreze, an Arctic climate expert at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado. ...	Aren't we just hastening the melting of the ice by paying so much attention to it? ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Sep 18, 2008 from BusinessWeek: Kyrgyzstan Rations Electricity Trolleybuses stand abandoned, and cars jam intersections because traffic lights do not work. Economic activity is also at a standstill, and people return home to darkness. Since late August, when the government imposed nationwide electricity rationing, this has been life in Kyrgyzstan. It is the first time since the dire years of the 1990s that Kyrgyzstan has faced widespread outages. Every day power is cut for eight hours in different parts of the country. The government has imposed a rotating rationing scheme to preserve dwindling water supplies from the main regional reservoir in Toktogul. Three hundred kilometers west of Bishkek, Toktogul is the largest water reservoir in Central Asia. ...	Rationing is quite rational, even if it's not fashionable. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Sep 18, 2008 from Christian Science Monitor: Communities plan for a low-energy future Transition Towns (or districts, or islands) designate places where local groups have organized to embrace the challenge of adapting to a low-oil economy. As the movement's website (www.transitiontowns.org) states, it's an experiment in grass-roots optimism: Can motivated citizens rouse their neighbors to act in the face of diminished oil resources and climate change? "We don't know if this will work," says Ben Brangwyn of Totnes, England, who in 2007 helped launch the Transition Network to support Transition Towns worldwide, "but if we leave it to the government it will be too little, too late. If we do it on a personal level, it won't be enough. But if we do this as a community, it may be just enough, just in time." ...	Community? What left-wing hogwash is that? ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Sep 18, 2008 from Daily Express (Malaysia): The clams are nearly gone Giant clams in Sabah waters have been severely depleted due to overfishing, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Borneo Marine Research Institute Director Professor Dr Saleem Mustafa said. He said these unique clams were being harvested for their adductor muscle considered a delicacy and massive shells which are used for making handicrafts.... "Giant clams are essentially coral reef animals, and since corals are bleaching as a result of destructive fishing practices and climate change, the effect is evidently brought to bear on the giant clams." ...	This clam is an open-and-shut case. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Sep 18, 2008 from American Society of Agronomy: Nitrate Concentrations of Ground Water Increasing in Many Areas of the United States Nitrate is the most common chemical contaminant in the world's ground water, including in aquifers used for drinking-water supply. Nitrate in drinking water of the United States is regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) because of concerns related to infant health and possible cancer risks. Use of man-made synthetic fertilizers has steadily increased since World War II, raising the potential for increased nitrate contamination of the nation's ground water, despite efforts in recent decades to improve land-management practices. ...	Wait -- you mean we put it there? ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Sep 18, 2008 from Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research: Significant increase in alien plants in Europe The number of alien plant species has more than tripled over the last 25 years. This is the finding of a study by European scientists who evaluated the data from 48 European countries and regions. 5789 plant species were classified as alien. 2843 originating outside of Europe, according to the researchers and their publication in the journal Preslia. By contrast, in 1980 only 1568 alien species were registered. Of these, 580 had come from outside Europe.... New species that bring about long-term changes to ecosystems by e.g. competing with native species, are regarded as one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. ...	Is it a melting pot, or just a new kind of stew? ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Sep 18, 2008 from Marketwatch: Nationwide Consumer Class Action Lawsuit Filed in Georgia Against Baby Bottle Manufacturers On September 12, 2008, Rights For America attorneys... filed a consumer class action complaint on behalf of four Georgia families against the top four polycarbonate plastic baby bottle manufacturers for their use of the synthetic hormone known as Bisphenol-A (BPA) as a chemical component in their plastic baby bottles and toddler training cups. Bisphenol-A, also referred to as "BPA" was developed in the 1930s as a synthetic estrogen, but instead gained wide usage beginning in the 1950s for its rigid and shatterproof qualities in scores of plastic products, including baby bottles and children's training cups. Unfortunately, over 150 independent peer reviewed studies by the world's leading scientists and researchers in this area have repeated shown that BPA can activate estrogen receptors that lead to the same effects as the body's own estrogens. ...	We need tort reform. Those babies should be able to sue for themselves. ApocaDoc permalink
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.
Thu, Sep 18, 2008 from Online Opinion (Australia): Water for food: the forgotten crisis This year, the world and, in particular, developing countries and the poor have been hit by both food and energy crises. As a consequence, prices for many staple foods have risen by up to 100 per cent. When we examine the causes of the food crisis, growing population, changes in trade patterns, urbanisation, dietary changes, biofuel production, and climate change and regional droughts are all responsible.... The causes of water scarcity are essentially identical to those of the food crisis. There are serious and extremely worrying factors that indicate water supplies are close to exhaustion in some countries. Population growth in the next approximately 40 years will see an increase from 6.5 to up to 9.0 billion. Essentially every calorie of food requires a litre of water to produce it. Therefore, on average we require 2,000-3,000 litres of water per person [per day] to sustain our daily food requirements. ...	That's a lot of water! And most of it will contain endocrine disruptors and pharmaceuticals -- an added bonus! ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Sep 18, 2008 from Guardian (UK): Tar sands -- the new toxic investment Shell and BP have been warned by investors that their involvement in unconventional energy production such as Canada's oil sands could turn out to be the industry's equivalent of the sub-prime lending that poisoned the banking sector and triggered the current financial crisis.... The Canadian tar sands are estimated to contain as much as 180bn barrels of oil but the environmental groups warn that extracting bitumen and upgrading it to synthetic crude oil is three to five times more greenhouse gas intensive than conventional oil extraction. Upgrading a single barrel of tar sand bitumen for use in a conventional refinery also requires 14 cubic metres of natural gas, leading to huge demand for gas and supply infrastructure in remote regions of Canada. Enormous amounts of water are also needed in the process. ...	Could investors actually get it this time? Ahead of time? ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Sep 18, 2008 from Guardian (UK): Starving guillemots push rival chicks off cliffs Guillemots have begun killing their neighbours' chicks by pecking them to death and pushing them off cliff edges in a desperate reaction to collapsing fish stocks in the North Sea. The sudden rise of infanticide in a colony in the Firth of Forth marks an unprecedented breakdown in the social behaviour of the birds, described by experts as a "catastrophe" that could eventually see the whole colony die out.... It is extremely rare for guillemots to leave a chick unattended, but Ashbrook said 60 percent of those in the Isle of May colony were left alone last year. Of 99 chicks born between late May and early August, 60 percent died -- almost 70 percent of them in direct attacks by neighbours. ...	Unfortunately, we've spent years pushing our children off the cliff. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Sep 18, 2008 from Environmental News Service: Hurricane Ike Shuts Largest U.S. Biodiesel Refinery The nation's largest biodiesel refinery, located on the Houston Ship Channel, will be shut down for the next six to eight weeks because of damage and loss of power caused by Hurricane Ike, company officials say. The publicly traded owner-operator GreenHunter Energy says damages at its Renewable Fuels Campus were mainly due to floodwater, which crested the 100-year flood plain level, rather than wind damage from Hurricane Ike. Completed in March, the refinery is capable of producing 105 million gallons of biodiesel a year. ...	No, water in the fuel doesn't help. Much. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Sep 18, 2008 from Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Contaminated milk crisis worsens in China The contaminated milk powder crisis in China continues to worsen and drag New Zealand's dairy company Fonterra into the scandal. More than 6000 babies are sick, three have died and 150 have serious kidney failure after drinking milk powder that had been deliberately contaminated with melamine, a toxic substance used in plastics. The Chinese Government has admitted its dairy market is "chaotic" and has ordered a national testing program. ...	Plasticizing our infants' insides? Just hardening them for the vicissitudes of life. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Sep 17, 2008 from National Geographic: Bush-Meat Ban Would Devastate Africa's Animals, Poor? If current hunting levels persist in Central Africa, endangered mammals such as forest elephants and gorillas will become extinct, the study suggests. Researchers estimated the region's current wild-meat harvest at more than a million tons annually—the equivalent of almost four million cattle. Instead of banning the practice, the report recommends that hunting for non-threatened species be legalized and regulated to protect the food supply and livelihoods of forest people. ...	When okapis are outlawed, only outlaws will eat okapis. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Sep 17, 2008 from Natural News: Wal-Mart Abandons Milk From Hormone-Treated Cows Wal-Mart said that its decision came in response to rising consumer demand for hormone-free milk. "We've listened to customers and are pleased that our suppliers are helping us offer Great Value milk from cows that are not treated with rBST," said Wal-Mart general merchandise manager Pam Kohn. Wal-Mart is the largest grocery retailer in the United States, with more than 4,000 stores, and the country's largest retail seller of organic milk. ...	Wal-mart's made many cows happier today. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Sep 17, 2008 from London Guardian: Sarah Palin: The ice queen ...Alaskans, who annually receive oil-royalty dividends - $1,654 each last year - think of themselves as fiercely independent, but in fact are completely dependent on oil. As in many resource-rich economies, this has tended to encouraged corruption and bad governance, and a culture of impunity among lawmakers. After a four-year FBI investigation, several Alaskan businessmen and politicians - including the state's US senator, Ted Stevens - have been convicted of making and taking bribes to keep a tax on oil profits at an artificially low 20 percent. Palin herself is facing one abuse-of-power investigation for allegedly using her position to settle family scores by exacting retribution against her former brother-in-law, a state trooper, and firing officials who would not toe the line. ...	"Seward's Folly" takes on a whole new meaning. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Sep 17, 2008 from Congress, via The National Academies: Fuel-Efficiency Ratings for Tires Proposed Congress has ordered the implementation by the end of 2009 of a national consumer information program whose goal will be to produce ratings on passenger tire fuel-efficiency, although regulations will not require tires to be labeled with the ratings. Tires affect vehicle fuel economy through their rolling resistance. As a tire rolls under the weight of a vehicle, its shape changes repeatedly, causing loss of energy in the form of heat, which in turn causes the vehicle to use more fuel to maintain speed. Some of the key variables in a tire's rolling resistance are its tread design and composition, inflation pressure, and level of maintenance. ...	Voluntary transparency. Industry's good about that. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 16, 2008 from US News and World Report: Heart Disease, Diabetes Linked to Chemical in Plastics It turns out, though, that adults may be at risk, too. A landmark study of more than 1,400 people ages 18 to 74, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that those with the largest amount of BPA in their urine had nearly three times the risk of heart disease and more than twice the risk of diabetes as those who had the lowest levels. "Even those with the highest BPA levels still had levels way below the currently established 'safe' level," says David Melzer, an epidemiologist at the University of Exeter in England and coauthor of the study. Other researchers say there's enough evidence from previous animal studies to suggest that BPA is harmful to adults. ...	The future: plastics. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 16, 2008 from Washington Post (US): U.S. Judge Reverses Plan to Expand Snowmobile Access in National Parks Handing environmentalists a major victory, a federal judge yesterday overturned the Bush administration's plan to allow hundreds more snowmobiles to traverse Yellowstone and other iconic national parks each winter. U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan threw out the National Park Service's 2007 plan, calling it "arbitrary and capricious, unsupported by the record, and contrary to law." ...	Apparently, environmentalists are the only ones who like to breathe. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 16, 2008 from Scientific American: Can Offshore Drilling Really Make the U.S. Oil Independent? No one disputes that a lot of oil lies untapped under the rocky floors of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans off the U.S. coasts... The [Minerals Management Service] has estimated that there are around 18 billion barrels in the underwater areas now off-limits to drilling. That's significantly less than in oil fields open for business in the Gulf of Mexico, coastal Alaska and off the coast of southern California, where there are 10.1 billion barrels of known oil reserves as well as an estimated 85.9 billion more... But here's the catch: There is a chance that the MMS has miscalculated the amount of offshore oil, because its estimates are based on 30- to 40-year-old data. ...	They've been too busy servicing each other to come up with new estimates! ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 16, 2008 from PNAS, via Mongabay: Earth already committed to 2.4-degree C rise from climate change As of 2005 the Earth was already committed to rise of global mean temperatures by 2.4°C (4.3°F), concludes a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The conclusion is significant because the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned that a rise in global temperature by 1 to 3°C will lead to catastrophic consequences, including "widespread loss of biodiversity, widespread deglaciation of the Greenland Ice Sheet, and a major reduction of area and volume of Hindu-Kush-Himalaya-Tibetan glaciers, which provide the head-waters for most major river systems of Asia." These glaciers, predicted to shrink considerably in the next few decades, provide food and water to over two billion people. ...	Everybody take a deep breath-- then don't exhale. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 16, 2008 from University of Illinois: New study says high grain prices are likely here to stay An ethanol-fueled spike in grain prices will likely hold, yielding the first sustained increase for corn, wheat and soybean prices in more than three decades, according to new research by two University of Illinois farm economists. Corn, an ethanol ingredient that has driven the recent price surge, could average $4.60 a bushel in Illinois, nearly double the average $2.42 a bushel from 1973 to 2006, said Darrel Good and Scott Irwin, professors of agriculture and consumer economics. ...	Good news for Illinois. Bad news for Botswana. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 16, 2008 from Loyola University, via EurekAlert: Is re-emerging superbug the next MRSA? "Disease caused by Clostridium difficile can range from nuisance diarrhea to life-threatening colitis that could lead to the surgical removal of the colon, and even death,"... When C-diff is not actively dividing, it forms very tough spores that can exist on surfaces for months and years, making it very difficult to kill, Johnson said. "Antibiotics are very effective against the growing form of the bacteria but it doesn't do anything to the spores," Johnson said. "If there are spores they can sit around like stealth bombs. Once the antibiotic is gone, these spores can germinate again and spread their toxins." ...	Is it time for a war on terrorist spore stealth bombs? ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 16, 2008 from Telegraph.co.uk: China to become world's largest investor in green energy Last year, China spent 6 billion pounds on renewable energy projects, just slightly short of Germany, the world leader. This year, the Communist Party has vowed to redouble its efforts. Li Junfeng, an energy expert at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said that in terms of the "overall scale of renewable energy development", China already leads the way. Greenpeace believes China can shortly produce half of its energy from renewable sources. "The task is tough and our time is limited," said Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, earlier this year. ...	I hope to see a Little Green Book soon. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 16, 2008 from Science Daily (US): Arctic Sea Ice At Lowest Recorded Level Ever Final figures on minimum ice coverage for 2008 are expected in a matter of days, but they are already flirting with last year's record low of 1.59 million square miles, or 4.13 million square kilometres. "If you take reduced ice thickness into account, there is probably less ice overall in the Arctic this year than in any other year since monitoring began," said Martin Sommerkorn, WWF International Arctic Programme's Senior Climate Change Advisor. ...	We're not just skating on thin ice, our skates are red hot. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 16, 2008 from Guardian (UK): Waste: Oil price fuels expansion of plastic recycling Plastics recycling in the UK is booming. The number of bottles collected by local authorities has shot up nearly 70 percent in the past year giving processing businesses increased security of supply. The industry has also been boosted by high oil prices, which have pushed up the value of plastic recyclate and virgin resin by about 10 percent in the past year. Virgin resin is now worth about £950 a tonne and recyclate only 5 percent less. ...	gooooOOOO PEAK OIL! ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 16, 2008 from Engineer Live: Studies confirm challenges of man-made pollutants in the environment New evidence that chemical contaminants are finding their way into the deep-sea food web has been found in deep-sea squids and octopods, including the strange-looking 'vampire squid'. These species are food for deep-diving toothed whales and other predators. "It was surprising to find measurable and sometimes high amounts of toxic pollutants in such a deep and remote environment," Vecchione said. Among the chemicals detected were tributyltin (TBT), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), brominated diphenyl ethers (BDEs), and dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT). They are known as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) because they don't degrade and persist in the environment for a very long time. ...	That's a whale of a problem, POP. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Sep 15, 2008 from Associated Press: Health facilities flush estimated 250M pounds of drugs a year U.S. hospitals and long-term care facilities annually flush millions of pounds of unused pharmaceuticals down the drain, pumping contaminants into America's drinking water... These discarded medications are expired, spoiled, over-prescribed or unneeded... Few of the country's 5,700 hospitals and 45,000 long-term care homes keep data on the pharmaceutical waste they generate. Based on a small sample, though, the AP was able to project an annual national estimate of at least 250 million pounds of pharmaceuticals and contaminated packaging, with no way to separate out the drug volume. ...	As long as there's plenty of Prozac in there... who's to worry? ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Sep 15, 2008 from Connecticut Post: What's killing off our salt marshes? Up and down the Eastern Seaboard, the coastal wetlands are dying, and no one knows for sure why this is happening. First observed in the Florida panhandle in 1990, the shoreline degradation, called sudden wetland dieback, has been observed in hundreds of locations from Louisiana to Maine. Scientists say that while it's normal for coastal marsh vegetation to have its bad years, they have never seen marsh grass die and not recover, until now.... Researchers agree that solving the marsh dieback puzzle is important -- not only for the Sound, but for the Earth as well. "The salt marsh is the second most productive ecosystem on the planet -- only the tropical rainforest will produce more biomass per square kilometer," Elmer said. "It also serves as a home for many organisms. ...	I think the answer is simple: we are. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Sep 15, 2008 from New York Times: On an Infested River, Battling Invaders Eye to Eye Though awesome and even unnerving to behold, the fishy fusillade is all too common on the Illinois River -- and it is not good. These are Asian carp, a ravenous, rapidly multiplying invasive species that in the last decade has threatened the well-being of native fish, affected commercial fishing and transformed the typical workday for these researchers into a scene from "Apocalypse Now." The Illinois, a working river that supports both churning coal barges and great blue herons, is one link in a chain of waterways connecting Lake Michigan to the Gulf of Mexico. And the thought of Asian carp invading the Great Lakes haunts the dreams of environmentalists, business owners and government officials. That fishy downturned mouth; those unblinking, low-set eyes. ...	Cue Kurtz: The horror... the horror.... ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Sep 15, 2008 from Guardian (UK): Roll back time to safeguard climate, expert warns Scientists may have to turn back time and clean the atmosphere of all man-made carbon dioxide to prevent the worst impacts of global warming, one of Europe's most senior climate scientists has warned. Professor John Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, told the Guardian that only a return to pre-industrial levels of CO2 would be enough to guarantee a safe future for the planet. He said that current political targets to slow the growth in emissions and stabilise carbon levels were insufficient, and that ways may have to be found to actively remove CO2 from the air. ...	Maybe a time machine is the only answer. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Sep 15, 2008 from NewsInferno: Even More Americans Affected by Pharmaceuticals in Water Than First Believed After a five-month-long inquiry conducted by the AP earlier this year, it found many communities do not test for drugs in drinking water and those that do often fail to tell customers they have found medications, including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers, and sex hormones. At that time, medications were found in drinking water supplies in 24 major metropolitan areas. Water providers are not required to test for pharmaceuticals and the EPA's budget for the testing of endocrine disruptors in America's waterways was cut by 35 percent. ...	Love that dirty water. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Sep 15, 2008 from Russia Infocenter: Permafrost Bogs of Siberia Thaw Too Fast Joint Russian and French scientific ecological expedition detected very fast thawing of permafrost in frost mound bogs of Western Siberia. The international project on studying frost mound bogs Kar-Wet-Sib united eight Russian researchers -- ecologists, microbiologists and biogeochemists -- and four French scientists from Midi-Pyrenees National Observatory. Researchers said that they were nearly shocked with the rate of bog permafrost thawing. Their estimations show that during last three years melting rate added 20 percent to its normal values. ...	I hate all this bad news. Maybe it's time to declare war on scientists. ApocaDoc permalink