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:	(6)
Plague/Virus:	(3)
Climate Chaos:	(12)
Resource Depletion:	(8)
Biology Breach:	(7)
Recovery:	(6)

This Week's Top Ten Very Scary Tags:
climate impacts ~ global warming ~ contamination ~ ecosystem interrelationships ~ water issues ~ unintended consequences ~ superbugs ~ massive die-off ~ arctic meltdown ~ pandemic ~ stupid humans

ApocaDocuments (42) gathered this week:
Sun, Mar 22, 2009 from Palm Beach Daily News: Rubber ducks dropped into Greenland's Jakobshavn Glacier to track ice flow To keep track of climate change, scientists around the world employ some of the most sophisticated devices and machines found in the 21st century. Advanced theoretical models run on huge number-crunching computers, while thousands of miles up in space complex satellites examine every nook and cranny of our atmosphere. Still, sometimes scientists just need a rubber ducky. At least, that's what Alberto Behar, a researcher from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, used recently to try to figure out what's going on inside the world's fastest-moving glacier. Behar dropped 90 rubber ducks inside the Jakobshavn Glacier, not far from Greenland, last September to try to determine why glaciers speed up in the summer months during their annual march to the sea. Behar says the Jakobshavn Glacier discharges around 7 percent of all the ice that comes off of Greenland each year. Thanks to global warming, scientists believe its melting ice sheet could help raise ocean levels in the coming years. ...	This idea was hatched at the Ernie Institute. ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Mar 22, 2009 from Agence France-Presse: UPDATE: World Forum On Water Ends With Pledge ISTANBUL (AFP)--A seven-day focus on the world's water crunch wound up here Sunday with a pledge by more than 100 countries to strive to provide clean water and proper sanitation for billions in need and shore up defenses against drought and flood. Ministers and delegation chiefs endorsed the declaration, coinciding with World Water Day, at the end of the biggest ever conference on the planet's crisis of fresh water. But some countries criticized the cornerstone outcome of the fifth World Water Forum as flawed, while activists dismissed the event itself as a "trade show."... A number of countries, including Spain, France and several nations from Latin America and Africa, tried in vain to have the document recognize access to safe drinking water and sanitation as "a basic human right," rather than a "basic human need" - a textual change with political and legal ramifications. ...	As long as they don't change my Coca-Cola again... ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Mar 22, 2009 from Merced Sun-Star: Overrun by waste: Large agriculture operations add billions to our economy but what price are we paying? Welcome to one of the most serious tradeoffs of the 21st century: as America and the world gird to become green, they're finding that ecology and economy sometimes don't stroll hand in hand into an unpolluted sunset. The cost of cleaning and greening has to come from somewhere. Increasingly, that cost is being paid by consumers in the form of higher prices passed along by businesses trying to meet ever-stricter environmental regulations. Another factor is that residents of communities where some companies may pollute have to decide whether the jobs offered at those companies are enough to offset any environmental harm that may occur. With an unemployment rate pushing 20 percent, Mercedians have to ask themselves whether the fate of a fairy shrimp or more chicken guano in their soil matters more to them than a world-class research university or a decent-paying blue-collar job. ...	Me... I'd always be on the side of the fairy shrimp. ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Mar 22, 2009 from New York Times: Is a Food Revolution Now in Season? ... After being largely ignored for years by Washington, advocates of organic and locally grown food have found a receptive ear in the White House, which has vowed to encourage a more nutritious and sustainable food supply. The most vocal booster so far has been the first lady, Michelle Obama, who has emphasized the need for fresh, unprocessed, locally grown food and, last week, started work on a White House vegetable garden. More surprising, perhaps, are the pronouncements out of the Department of Agriculture, an agency with long and close ties to agribusiness. In mid-February, Tom Vilsack, the new secretary of agriculture, took a jackhammer to a patch of pavement outside his headquarters to create his own organic “people’s garden.” Two weeks later, the Obama administration named Kathleen Merrigan, an assistant professor at Tufts University and a longtime champion of sustainable agriculture and healthy food, as Mr. Vilsack’s top deputy. ...	A "receptive ear"... My, that does sound tasty! ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Mar 22, 2009 from The Japan Times: Oceans awash in toxic seas of plastic Go down to the beach today and you'll find plenty of garbage among the sand — but that's nothing compared with the continent-sized whirlpools of lethal waste out there beyond the horizon... Umbrella handles. Pens. Popsicle sticks. Lots and lots of toothbrushes. These are just a few of the items that make up the approximately 13 million sq. km Eastern Garbage Patch, an immense plastic soup in the Pacific Ocean that starts about 800 km off the coast of California and extends westward. Sucked from the coasts of Asia and America by ocean currents, or discarded at sea, plastic debris accumulates there in an ever-growing mass that does not biodegrade and is said to be already larger than the United States. Scientists have long known that plastic in the garbage patch and elsewhere is stuffing the stomachs of seabirds and causing them to starve, suffocating fish and choking marine turtles. But what is now becoming clear is that when pieces of plastic meet other pollutants in the ocean, the results can be even more toxic. That's because, as a growing number of studies are showing, the plastic debris absorbs harmful chemicals from the seawater it floats in, acting like a "pollution sponge" that concentrates those chemicals and poses a different, more insidious threat to marine and other life. ...	Perhaps we're just building a plastic Pangea! ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Mar 21, 2009 from BBC: US birds in 'widespread decline' Almost one third of the 800 species of birds found in the US are "endangered, threatened or in significant decline", a report has concluded. Described as the most comprehensive assessment of its kind, the study listed habitat loss and invasive species as being the main threats.... The report also found that at least 39 percent of ocean bird species were declining, and about half were of "conservation concern".... But the report also presented evidence that populations of birds recovered quickly when conservation measures were taken. ...	Mr. Bluebird's not on my shoulder anymore. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Mar 21, 2009 from BBC: Third case of salmon farm infection A disease which can kill salmon has been confirmed at a third fish farm in Shetland. Infectious Salmon Anaemia (ISA) was found at a fish farm close to two others where the disease was first detected in January. All fish at the site, which is within a controlled zone, will now be killed as soon as possible. The disease does not affect humans but can cause serious damage to stocks of farmed Atlantic salmon in seawater. ...	Who would have thought that concentrating fish in with their own shit would cause troubles? ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Mar 21, 2009 from iAfrica: A terrifying profession Being a climate scientist these days is not for the faint of heart. Arguably no other area of research yields a sharper contrast between a steady stream of "eureka!" moments, and the sometimes terrifying implications of those discoveries for the future of the planet. "Science is exciting when you make such findings," said Konrad Steffen, who heads the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) in Boulder, Colorado. "But if you stop and look at the implications of what is coming down the road for humanity, it is rather scary. I have kids in college -- what do they have to look forward to in 50 years?" ...	Konrad -- we can so relate. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Mar 21, 2009 from Pocono Record: What jellyfish can tell us about climate change Acidic ocean water has already affected sea life, from hearty sea corals to the shells of open ocean snails called pteropods, which swim on the surface. The shells of these snails are made out of calcium carbonate, which is starting to dissolve from the acid. Hunt and his fellow researchers observed a startling cascade effect, noting that the young red paper lantern jellyfish roost in the shells of these snails. As the snails have started to wilt from acidic oceans, it has left young red paper lantern jellyfish vulnerable. "If that snail goes, the red lantern goes. If the red lantern goes, maybe the sea spider and shrimp will go. We just don't know," Hunt said. "If we're not careful, we may well hinder some network of species that does impact us." Hunt and his fellow researchers were caught off guard by the speed with which acidic water affected creatures on the ocean surface, which, in turn, rippled thousands of feet below. ...	Ecosystem interrelationships? Just a theory. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Mar 21, 2009 from AP News: Critics question safety of storing coal slurry in mines Regulators in a handful of Appalachian states that let coal companies inject slurry into abandoned mines say they're confident the practice is safe, but an Associated Press survey shows they lack scientific data to answer citizens who believe aquifers, water wells and their own health are at risk. None of the five states contacted by AP has studied the chemical composition of slurry, a byproduct left when clay, sulfur and other impurities are removed from coal to make it burn more efficiently. For decades, slurry has been injected into abandoned, underground mines in Appalachia as a cheap alternative to building massive dams or filtration and drying systems. But hundreds of West Virginians are suing coal companies in two cases, claiming chemicals and metals in the slurry have leaked into aquifers, contaminated well water and caused health problems ranging from kidney disease to cancer. ...	Seems like maybe we should just burn it instead. I'm confident that's safe. ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Mar 20, 2009 from Yale Environment 360: With Temperatures Rising, Here Comes 'Global Weirding' The concept of "global weirding" is emerging as a notable complement to its cause, global warming. Coined by Hunter Lovins, a founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute, it describes the consequences of the rise in average global temperatures, which are expected to amplify the abnormal: hotter heat spells, longer and sharper droughts, more violent storms, and more intense flooding. Given anticipated warming trajectories, many of these physical changes are statistically predictable and can be fairly accurately modeled. But as an ecologist, I fear it is the alterations to the living realm where "weirdness" will be a most apropos, if not downright tepid, label. This is certainly the case in my area of study -- the aquatic realm -- where global weirding is already well underway. ...	If we can just find the right catchphrase... we just might beat climate change yet! ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Mar 20, 2009 from New York Times: Increased frequency of landslides remains largely ignored despite risks When a series of powerful January storms dumped huge volumes of rain across the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, Washington's top geologist, Dave Norman, knew to expect landslides. During the first two weeks of the month, the intense storms pelted the already saturated ground in western Washington, triggering at least 1,500 landslides that damaged or destroyed an estimated 200 homes, buried sections of 150 roadways and contributed to thousands of people seeking safety in emergency shelters....The destruction highlights the often overlooked danger posed by landslides, one of the nation's most costly natural disasters, responsible for as much as $3.5 billion in damages and 50 deaths each year. And, experts say, changing climatic conditions could make landslide risks worse, especially along the West Coast. ...	Great... something else I gotta worry about! ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Mar 20, 2009 from Associated Press: One-third of US birds are endangered, says conservation report Nearly one-third of US birds are endangered, threatened or in significant decline, according to a government conservation report. It says the findings are "a warning signal of the failing health of our ecosystems" and reports that birds in Hawaii, the most bird-rich state, are "in crisis". The authors say that energy production deriving from wind, ethanol and mountain-top coal mining is contributing to steep drops in bird populations. The State of the Birds report chronicles a four-decade decline in many of the country's bird populations and provides many reasons for it, from suburban sprawl to the spread of exotic species to global warming. In the last 40 years, populations of birds living on prairies, deserts and at sea have declined between 30-40 percent. ...	Canaries aren't the only birds in the coal mine. 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, Mar 20, 2009 from Daily Climate: Changing climate increases West Nile threat in U.S. The higher temperatures, humidity and rainfall associated with climate change have led to increased outbreaks of West Nile Virus infections across the United States in recent years, according to a study published this week. One of the largest surveys of West Nile Virus cases to date links warming weather patterns and increasing rainfall – both projected to accelerate with global warming – to outbreaks of the mosquito-borne disease across 17 states from 2001 to 2005. The authors predict the pattern will only get worse. “If temperature and precipitation are influential in determining West Nile Virus infection risk, such changes would likely increase the burden of this disease in coming decades,” the authors note in the study, published online Monday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. ...	I'm gonna get me one of them bug zappers for my yard. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Mar 19, 2009 from New Scientist: Fish numbers drop as reefs take a bashing The battering taken by Caribbean coral reefs is finally taking its toll on the fish that dwell in them, a large new study suggests. "We are seeing striking declines that are amazingly consistent across a huge area and very different types of fish," says Michelle Paddack of Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada. "The losses affect both large fish that are hunted by fishers and small fish that aren't."... Starting from the mid 1990s, in all regions covered by the studies, fish numbers have fallen by between 2.7 and 6 percent per year. Paddack suspects that as well as overfishing, coral demise from disease and bleaching is to blame, together with pollution from coastal development. ...	I say we just hoover them all up and start over. Let evolution sort 'em out. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Mar 19, 2009 from Agence France-Presse: Global warming leaving its mark on polar bears Potentially fatal to the polar bear, global warming has already left its mark on the species with smaller, less robust bears that are increasingly showing cannibalistic tendencies. Top experts who gathered this week in Tromsoe in northern Norway to discuss ways of protecting the species sounded alarm bells over the dramatic consequences of the melting ice... The primary observation is that as the sea ice shrinks away, so are the polar bears -- they're not growing as big as they used to. In Canada's Hudson Bay, home to a large polar bear population, the ice season is now three weeks shorter than it was 30 years ago, chipping away at the bears' opportunity to hunt seals, their primary source of food and an essential source of fat needed for their long summer fast. ...	Climate chaos ... may make cannibals of us all. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Mar 19, 2009 from SHEA, via EurekAlert: Study finds extensive patient sharing among hospitals; could impact spread of infectious diseases "We were surprised to find extensive interlinking of all the hospitals included in the study," said Susan S. Huang, MD, MPH, assistant professor and hospital epidemiologist, University of California Irvine School of Medicine and SHEA member. "The level of patient sharing among hospitals is grossly underestimated because patients often don't transfer directly between hospitals."... A large number of people (22 percent) who are discharged from acute care facilities are readmitted elsewhere within one year.... This research is particularly important for infectious agents with a substantial incubation period or prolonged carrier state such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), since patients may not exhibit symptoms of these diseases until after they have been discharged from a hospital stay. ...	Sharing is a bad thing? That's not what my Mom taught me. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Mar 19, 2009 from BusinessGreen: Chief scientist warns of 'perfect storm' for resource shortages by 2030 The UK's chief scientist will today warn that political and business leaders have just 20 years to prepare for a "perfect storm" of climate change-related impacts on food, water and energy supplies or risk public unrest, conflict and mass migration.... According to Beddington, demand for food and energy will increase 50 per cent by 2030, while demand for fresh water will rise 30 per cent as the population grows to top 8.3 billion. At the same time, climate change is expected to result in falling levels of agricultural productivity and water shortages across many hot regions, leading to mass migration and increased risks of cross-border conflict. ...	Isn't the human race "too big to fail"? ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Mar 18, 2009 from Gulf Times (Qatar): Warning over ocean acidity The study predicts "dangerous" levels of ocean acidification and severe consequences for organisms called marine calcifiers, which form chalky shells. It says: "We find the future rate of surface ocean acidification and environmental pressure on marine calcifiers very likely unprecedented in the past 65mn years." ... He said: "If we do not cut carbon dioxide emissions deeply, and soon, the consequences of ocean acidification will stand out against the broad reaches of geologic time. Those consequences will remain embedded in the geologic record as testimony from a civilisation that had the wisdom to develop high technology but did not develop the wisdom to use it wisely." ...	You mean... they'll know what fools we were? ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Mar 18, 2009 from Reuters: Vatican defends pope's stand on condoms as criticism mounts The Vatican on Wednesday defended Pope Benedict's opposition to the use of condoms to stop the spread of AIDS as scientists and countries including his native Germany criticized it as unrealistic and dangerous. Benedict, arriving in Africa, said on Tuesday that condoms "increase the problem" of AIDS. The comment, made to reporters aboard his plane, caused a worldwide storm of criticism. "My reaction is that this represents a major step backwards in terms of global health education, is entirely counter-productive, and is likely to lead to increases in HIV infection in Africa and elsewhere," said Prof Quentin Sattentau, Professor of Immunology at Britain's Oxford University. "There is a large body of published evidence demonstrating that condom use reduces the risk of acquiring HIV infection, but does not lead to increased sexual activity," he said. The Church teaches that fidelity within heterosexual marriage and abstinence are the best ways to stop AIDS. ...	Aw... the pope's just being a dick again. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Mar 18, 2009 from Associated Press: US births break record; 40 pct out-of-wedlock Remember the baby boom? No, not the one after World War II. More babies were born in the United States in 2007 than any other year in the nation's history — and a wedding band made increasingly little difference in the matter. The 4,317,119 births, reported by federal researchers Wednesday, topped a record first set in 1957 at the height of the baby boom. Behind the number is both good and bad news. While it shows the U.S. population is more than replacing itself, a healthy trend, the teen birth rate was up for a second year in a row. The birth rate rose slightly for women of all ages, and births to unwed mothers reached an all-time high of about 40 percent, continuing a trend that started years ago. More than three-quarters of these women were 20 or older. ...	Remind me: why would population growth be good news? ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Mar 18, 2009 from National Geographic: The Vanishing We are witnessing a mass extinction. An exotic fungus is delivering the fatal blow to many amphibians already hit by habitat loss, pollution, and climate change... Frogs and toads, salamanders and newts, wormlike (and little-known) caecilians—these are the class Amphibia: cold-blooded, creeping, hopping, burrowing creatures of fairy tale, biblical plague, proverb, and witchcraft. Medieval Europe saw frogs as the devil; for ancient Egyptians they symbolized life and fertility; and for children through the ages they have been a slippery introduction to the natural world. To scientists they represent an order that has weathered over 300 million years to evolve into more than 6,000 singular species, as beautiful, diverse—and imperiled—as anything that walks, or hops, the Earth. Amphibians are among the groups hardest hit by today's many strikes against wildlife. As many as half of all species are under threat. Hundreds are sliding toward extinction, and dozens are already lost. The declines are rapid and widespread, and their causes complex... ...	Rest in ribbit! ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Mar 18, 2009 from Los Angeles Times: Who owns Colorado's rainwater? Every time it rains here, Kris Holstrom knowingly breaks the law. Holstrom's violation is the fancifully painted 55-gallon buckets underneath the gutters of her farmhouse on a mesa 15 miles from the resort town of Telluride. The barrels catch rain and snowmelt, which Holstrom uses to irrigate the small vegetable garden she and her husband maintain. But according to the state of Colorado, the rain that falls on Holstrom's property is not hers to keep. It should be allowed to fall to the ground and flow unimpeded into surrounding creeks and streams, the law states, to become the property of farmers, ranchers, developers and water agencies that have bought the rights to those waterways. ...	Maybe people should try to get ownership of the sky. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Mar 18, 2009 from Hartford Courant: Fungus Kills About 90 Percent Of Connecticut's Bats White-nose syndrome, the mysterious plague that is decimating the Northeast's bats, killed off about 90 percent of Connecticut's bats over the winter and is now galloping across the country so quickly that it threatens the nation's -- and probably the world's -- largest bat populations in the American South.... Dickson's team of wildlife experts found thousands of dead bats floating like dead fish in standing water, or stacked on top of each other along the flat ledges of the cave walls. "It was grim, and you don't have to be a scientist to realize the implications for the environment inside those caves," said Dickson. "This is a massive, unprecedented die-off, with significant potential impacts on nature, especially insect control." ... Dickson said Tuesday that the disease has hit hard among little brown bats and northern long-eared bats, which are the ones most commonly seen in Connecticut, but that it has spread to other species as well.... Even if the cause of white-nose syndrome is identified soon, the damage to the bat population has already been substantial. "This is a species that reproduces very slowly and that lives very long for the wildlife world -- many bats survive for 30 years," Dickson said. ...	I'm so glad that we had nothing to do with this. Right? ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Mar 18, 2009 from Guardian (UK): James Hansen: 'democratic process isn't working' Protest and direct action could be the only way to tackle soaring carbon emissions, a leading climate scientist has said. James Hansen, a climate modeller with NASA, told the Guardian today that corporate lobbying has undermined democratic attempts to curb carbon pollution. "The democratic process doesn't quite seem to be working," he said. ... "The first action that people should take is to use the democratic process. What is frustrating people, me included, is that democratic action affects elections but what we get then from political leaders is greenwash. ...	"Greenwash" is such a nicer term than bullgreenshit. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Mar 18, 2009 from NSF, via EurekAlert: Andrill demonstrates climate warming affects Antarctic ice sheet stability "The sedimentary record indicates that under global warming conditions that were similar to those projected to occur over the next century, protective ice shelves could shrink or even disappear and the [West Antarctic Ice Sheet] would become vulnerable to melting," Powell said. "If the current warm period persists, the ice sheet could diminish substantially or even disappear over time. This would result in a potentially significant rise in sea levels." ... "It also appears that when atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations reached 400 parts per million around four million years ago, the associated global warming amplified the effect of the Earth's axial tilt on the stability of the ice sheet," he said. ...	... gliding down the highway When the sheets are slip slidin' away. 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.
Wed, Mar 18, 2009 from BusinessGreen: Shell halts wind and solar spending in favour of biofuels Oil giant Shell has announced it is to focus its future renewable energy strategy on biofuels and halt investment in technologies such as wind and solar, which it maintains are failing to offer sufficient economic returns. Executives at its annual strategy presentation said that the company remained committed to building a "material business in alternative energy", but would take a more targeted approach to investment and primarily focus on biofuels.... "If there aren't investment opportunities which compete with other projects we won't put money into it," she said. "We are businessmen and women. If there were renewables [which made money] we would put money into it." ...	Hard to argue with that! Money makes the the world go around! ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Mar 17, 2009 from BBC: Biochar: Is the hype justified? Green guru James Lovelock claims that the only hope of mitigating catastrophic climate change is through biochar -- biomass "cooked" by pyrolysis. It produces gas for energy generation, and charcoal -- a stable form of carbon. The charcoal is then buried in the ground, making the process "carbon negative". Researchers say biochar can also improve farm productivity and cut demand for carbon-intensive fertilisers. There's a flurry of worldwide interest in the technology, but is the hype justified?...Proponents of the technology say it is so effective at storing carbon that it should be included in the next global climate agreement. ...	If the Gaia guy likes it, it's worth a shot! ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Mar 17, 2009 from Reuters Health: Flies plus chicken droppings spread "superbugs" Flies, already blamed for spreading disease, may help spread drug-resistant superbugs from chicken droppings, researchers reported on Monday. They matched antibiotic-resistant enterococci and staphylococci bacteria from houseflies and the litter found in intensive poultry-farming barns in the Delmarva Peninsula region of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. The findings, reported in the journal Science of the Total Environment, may help explain some of the spread of drug-resistant bacteria. "Flies are well-known vectors of disease and have been implicated in the spread of various viral and bacterial infections affecting humans, including enteric fever, cholera, salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis and shigellosis," said Jay Graham of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, who led the research. ...	Flies: the new scapegoat. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Mar 17, 2009 from Reuters: Facemasks may help shield the heart from pollution Heavy air pollution can have immediate effects on the heart and blood vessels, but a simple facemask may offer some protection, new research suggests. In one study, researchers found that when young men were exposed to air polluted with diesel exhaust, their arteries temporarily stiffened. Meanwhile, a second study showed that healthy adults had higher blood pressure and a less healthy heart-rate pattern when they walked through the streets of Beijing without a facemask. The good news, the study found, was that the cardiovascular effects were diminished when volunteers donned a facemask like those worn by construction workers to keep from breathing dust. ...	It might help my health... but girls are gonna think I look stupid! ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Mar 17, 2009 from Montreal Gazette: Brain cancer linked to youngsters using cellphones An international group of scientists is calling on Canada and other countries to bring in tougher safety standards for cellphone use after a Swedish team found a fivefold elevated risk of malignant brain tumours in children who begin using mobile phones before the age of 20. The plea — and the science underlying it — is published in the forthcoming edition of Pathophysiology, devoted to peer-reviewed research about the biological effects of the global explosion of wireless technologies and devices like cellphones, cordless phones, wireless Internet and cell towers. The findings of 15 studies from health researchers in six different countries, looking at the effects of electromagnetic fields and radio frequency radiation on living cells and on the health of humans, should jolt government agencies into action as a precautionary measure, Dr. David Carpenter, director of the Institute for Health & the Environment at the University at Albany, and one of the co-authors, said in an interview. ...	Yeah right -- governments are sooooo geared toward "precautionary measures." ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Mar 17, 2009 from Associated Press: 8 Dems oppose quick debate on global warming bill Eight Senate Democrats are opposing speedy action on President Barack Obama's bill to combat global warming, complicating prospects for the legislation and creating problems for their party's leaders. The eight Democrats disapprove of using the annual budget debate to pass Obama's "cap and trade" bill to fight greenhouse gas emissions, a measure that divides lawmakers, environmentalists and businesses. The lawmakers' opposition makes it more difficult for Democratic leaders to move the bill without a threat of a Republican filibuster. The budget debate is the only way to circumvent Senate rules that allow a unified GOP to stop a bill through filibusters. ...	By all means let's fiddle around while the earth burns! ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Mar 17, 2009 from Globe and Mail (Canada): Give up seafood, save the planet? Although negative views about fish consumption are almost never expressed, a group of medical and fisheries experts is making an argument against eating the seafood in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. In an analysis being released Tuesday, they say that the purported benefits of fish for such things as cardiovascular health have been overstated, while the growing demand among health aficionados for the food is destroying global fish stocks.... "The demand for fish is higher than what oceans can supply," said Rashid Sumaila, acting director of the University of British Columbia's Fisheries Centre, who predicted that many of the world's most important fisheries are going the way of Newfoundland's exhausted cod stocks. ...	But I love sea bass! ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Mar 17, 2009 from SciDev.net: Renewable energy's possible role 'underestimated' Renewable energy could play a much larger role in supplying the world's energy needs than previously estimated — but it won't come cheap, according to a new study. The research, presented at the International Scientific Congress on Climate Change in Copenhagen, Denmark, this week (11 March) says that renewable energy could supply 40 per cent of the world's energy needs by 2050.... If renewable technologies were given the same government attention and financial backing as nuclear energy was in the 1970s and 80s wind energy and solar power would cost the same as traditional electricity generation by 2020–2025 and 2030 respectively, said Lund. But such ambitious targets require substantial financial investment, Lund warned. The technologies would require global support of US$12.8 billion to US$25.5 billion per year and without this backing wind and solar energy would contribute less than 15 per cent of the world's energy output. ...	Compared to the GWOT, that's peanuts. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Mar 17, 2009 from PNAS, via Mongabay: Experts forecast high probability of global warming tipping points The probability of Earth's climate passing a "tipping point" that could result in large impacts within the next two centuries is greater than 50 percent, according to research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.... [T]he authors calculate a 16 percent chance that climate change will trigger at least one of the events for a 2-4 degree C rise in temperature, and a 56 percent change for a 4 degree C or higher rise.... Of the events, the experts pegged melting of the Greenland ice sheet as the most likely to occur (60 percent for a 4-8 degree C rise in temperature). An ice-free Greenland would raise sea levels by more than 23 feet (7 meters). The likelihood of a permanent el Nino -- which would trigger changes in rainfall and temperature around the global -- or a catastrophic die-off (more than 50 percent) of the Amazon rainforest was estimated at about 50 percent under a high warming scenario. ...	Two centuries? Lucky for me, I'll be long dead! ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Mar 16, 2009 from AP News: Economy spurs home garden boom With the recession in full swing, many Americans are returning to their roots -- literally -- cultivating vegetables in their backyards to squeeze every penny out of their food budget. Industry surveys show double-digit growth in the number of home gardeners this year and mail-order companies report such a tremendous demand that some have run out of seeds for basic vegetables such as onions, tomatoes and peppers. "People's home grocery budget got absolutely shredded and now we've seen just this dramatic increase in the demand for our vegetable seeds. We're selling out," said George Ball, CEO of Burpee Seeds, the largest mail-order seed company in the U.S. "I've never seen anything like it." ...	I'm not ready to declare "victory [gardens]" just yet. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Mar 16, 2009 from Telegraph.co.uk: Taxes must rise to pay for climate change, MPs warn But in their report, the MPs expose the timidity of the Government's response to the crisis, revealing that the £535 million package for low carbon measures announced in the PBR was made up of money brought forward from future budgets. That means that the Government will either have to cut spending or raise taxes to pay for future measures to "green" the economic recovery. Tim Yeo, chairman of the committee, said: "The Treasury has announced very little new money for green investments. "Yet meeting our climate change targets will require a step-change in funding for the low carbon energy sector, especially when the financial crisis has led to a shortage of capital." ...	It's called "paying it backward." ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Mar 16, 2009 from Inter Press Service: Blessed and Cursed by Water In 2008, the United Nations (U.N.) International Year of Sanitation, it is estimated that 2.16 billion people in developing countries lack that most basic of amenities - a proper toilet. They do not have water conveniently pumped in and out of their homes for use in flush toilets. Many have no choice but to relieve themselves in ditches, behind the house, down the road, or at any other 'convenient' location. The result: "widespread damage to human health and child survival prospects; social misery especially for women, the elderly and infirm; depressed economic productivity and human development; pollution to the living environment and water resources," according to the U.N. report 'Tackling a global crisis'. Of course, water is not only a question of sanitation. This year is also part of the U.N's international decade for water, titled 'Water for Life'. Some more statistics: about 700 million people in 43 countries are affected by water scarcity, according to the U.N. In 2025 the number could be 3 billion. Around 1.1 billion people are said to have no access to safe drinking water. ...	Turns out that the "real thing"... is water. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Mar 16, 2009 from Nature: A sleeping giant? In 2007, scientists scouting the icy waters of the Arctic Ocean began to notice some troubling signs. In about half of their seawater chemistry samples, the concentration of dissolved methane was two to ten times higher than in samples taken during previous years from the same locations. Then, last summer, they observed large rings of gas — sometimes as wide as 30 centimetres in diameter — trapped in ice, as well as methane plumes bubbling to the surface over hundreds of square kilometres of the shallow waters along the Siberian Shelf.... large quantities of methane are becoming destabilized as the planet — and the ocean — heat up. Researchers have long speculated that warming could unleash vast stores of the greenhouse gas from where it lies frozen beneath the sea floor and locked up in Arctic soils. If those deposits were to melt, it would almost certainly trigger abrupt climate change. Methane heats the atmosphere with an efficiency 25 times that of carbon dioxide, and its release could put in motion a positive feedback loop in which warming releases methane, causing further warming, which liberates even more of the gas. Whether that's already happening is anyone's guess. ...	Call it the Great Gaia Fart. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Mar 16, 2009 from The Oregonian: Oregon kids face hazard getting to school: diesel fumes Tens of thousands of Oregon schoolchildren who ride buses are exposed to potentially harmful fumes because of fuel system defects, according to the state Department of Environmental Quality. But two bills in the Legislature that aim to help fix the problem may not advance out of committee, state officials and environmental activists said. "I don't think most parents realize that when they're sending their children off to school, how dangerous it can be," said Dana Kaye, executive director of the American Lung Association of Oregon, which is helping the DEQ encourage school districts to retrofit faulty buses. More than 3,700 diesel-powered buses, including hundreds in the Portland area, leak fumes into buses through a hole in the crankcase or through tailpipe emissions, said Kevin Downing, coordinator of the DEQ's Clean Diesel Initiative, which aims to reduce health risks from diesel exhaust from any engine in the state. ...	Spare the exhaust, spoil the child. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Mar 16, 2009 from CBC (Canada): Nova Scotia Power to invest in wind energy The Nova Scotia government plans to revise rules that bar Nova Scotia Power from investing in wind power companies, in hopes of helping the utility reach its green energy goals. Currently, Nova Scotia Power is forbidden from investing in wind turbine companies, but Energy Minister Barry Barnet said the province wants that to change. "I think there was kind of a mutual coming-of-the-minds that this is the way we can meet each other's objectives," Barnet said. "It's imbedded within the regulation and I'm not sure why it was put in there in the first place. The idea was to have the independent producers have the ability to operate separately from Nova Scotia Power." ...	Can we figure out how to identify stupidity and pre-emergency self-defeating regulations within bureaucracies? ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Mar 16, 2009 from Queen's University, via EurekAlert: Cleaning up oil spills can kill more fish than spills themselves A new Queen's University study shows that detergents used to clean up spills of diesel oil actually increase its toxicity to fish, making it more harmful. "The detergents may be the best way to treat spills in the long term because the dispersed oil is diluted and degraded," says Biology professor Peter Hodson. "But in the short term, they increase the bioavailability and toxicity of the fuel to rainbow trout by 100-fold." ... [The dispersion] increases the transfer of hydrocarbons from oil to water, Dr. Hodson explains. The hydrocarbons pass easily from water into tissues and are deadly to fish in the early stages of life. "This could seriously impair the health of fish populations, resulting in long-term reductions in economic returns to fisheries," he says. ...	Jeez, you mean adding more shit won't fix the stew? ApocaDoc permalink