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What A Week It Was: Apocadocuments from

View By Scenario:
Species Collapse:	(1)
Plague/Virus:	(2)
Climate Chaos:	(7)
Resource Depletion:	(3)
Biology Breach:	(15)
Recovery:	(7)

This Week's Top Ten Very Scary Tags:
climate impacts ~ contamination ~ global warming ~ airborne pollutants ~ carbon emissions ~ smart policy ~ economic myopia ~ water issues ~ invasive species ~ technical cleverness ~ soil issues

ApocaDocuments (35) gathered this week:
Sun, Apr 19, 2009 from Associated Press: AP IMPACT: Tons of released drugs taint US water U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water — contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked, according to an Associated Press investigation. Hundreds of active pharmaceutical ingredients are used in a variety of manufacturing, including drugmaking: For example, lithium is used to make ceramics and treat bipolar disorder; nitroglycerin is a heart drug and also used in explosives; copper shows up in everything from pipes to contraceptives... trace amounts of a wide range of pharmaceuticals -- including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones -- have been found in American drinking water supplies. Including recent findings in Dallas, Cleveland and Maryland's Prince George's and Montgomery counties, pharmaceuticals have been detected in the drinking water of at least 51 million Americans. ...	But I like having manboobs. ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Apr 19, 2009 from Baltimore Sun: Bay survey shows blue crabs rebounding The number of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay has increased significantly over the past year, Maryland and Virginia officials announced Friday, saying that harvest limits designed to combat steep declines in the population appear to be working. Results of the 2008-2009 winter dredge survey show that the number of female crabs in the bay doubled in the past year. Catch restrictions were aimed at preserving females so they could survive to produce the next generation. Overall, the number of crabs in the bay increased from 280 million in 2007-2008 to more than 418 million in 2008-2009, officials estimate, a rapid and surprising rebound. The survey showed that the number of baby crabs held steady at 175 million. ...	Good they're rebounding -- now if they could only hit their jumpshots. ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Apr 19, 2009 from Chapel Hill News: Biosolids concerns bubble to surface Nancy Holt bulldozed trees and blocked the path to the creek behind her house after her grandson and his friend went wading in the water and got staph infections. Myra Dotson developed red bumps on her knees and forearms after gardening. When they became infected, a doctor diagnosed her with MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant "super bug." Both women blame the infections on sewage sludge applied on nearby fields. Now an advisory board's concerns are raising questions the county had hoped to begin answering two years ago. ...	This is tantamount to pissing in the wind. ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Apr 19, 2009 from Seattle Times: Toxic marshes deadly to swans: Coeur d'Alene River laden with lead from Silver Valley mining Even near death, tundra swans are graceful. Snowy necks arch and flex as the birds -- victims of lead poisoning -- gasp for breath. Wings rise and fall in rhythmic sweeps, but the birds are too weak to take flight. Their cries are soft, trilling sounds. Each spring, thousands of tundra swans stop in the marshes along the Coeur d'Alene River as they migrate north to breeding grounds in Alaska. Some never make it out of the marsh. As they feed on roots and tubers, the swans swallow sediment polluted with heavy metals from mining waste. At high enough levels, the lead shuts down their digestive systems, causing the swans to gasp for air as food backs up into the esophagus and presses against the windpipe. The birds grow emaciated, starving to death on full bellies. ...	These canaries are tortured in the coal mine. ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Apr 19, 2009 from Nature: Asian nations unite to fight dust storms The dust-storm season in northeast Asia is expected to hit its peak next week, and this week three of the countries hardest hit met in Beijing to coordinate their response. The storms coat cars, bury railways and facilities, and destroy crops, with the thick dust often bringing visibility down to the hundreds-of-metres range. Whipped up to heights of up to 8 kilometres, dust sometimes makes it as far as the United States. The dust originates from the Takla Makan Desert, the Gobi Desert and other arid regions of northern China and Mongolia. It is a natural phenomenon, but accelerating desertification, caused by soil degradation and overgrazing, has made it worse. ...	The grapes of global wrath. ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Apr 19, 2009 from Green Bay Press Gazette: Proof is in the poison: PCB toxins are hazardous to humans ...It has been 33 years since the DNR issued its first fish consumption advisory in response to studies by public health, water quality and fisheries experts. The warning was issued after it was learned that fish store PCBs in their fatty tissue. The DNR recommends no more than one meal per month of most fish caught in the Fox River from Little Lake Buttes des Morts to the river's mouth in Green Bay and warns people not to eat any carp, catfish or white bass, or any walleye longer than 22 inches... The warnings haven't stopped fishermen from plying their sport on the river despite the fish advisory that will probably remain in effect for several years. DNR warden Ben Treml said he thinks most people catch the fish for the sport or for mounting. ...	That just sounds wrong. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Apr 18, 2009 from Associated Press: Vapor cloud from Ohio chemical leak dissipating A large hydrochloric acid spill early Saturday at an east-central Ohio plant that makes chemical additives spawned a massive vapor cloud that took hours to dissipate, officials said. No injuries were reported. More than 27,000 gallons of hydrochloric acid leaked from a storage tank into a retention basin at Dover Chemical Corporation around 12:30 a.m. Saturday, Dover Fire Chief Brooks Ross said. The leak was contained onsite, but a vapor cloud developed and lingered for more than five hours after the leak was discovered, Ross said.... it was fortunate the leak occurred overnight because the company is located near heavily traveled Interstate 77, and the area is heavily populated. ...	Apparently, people don't need to breathe at night. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Apr 18, 2009 from Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council via ScienceDaily: Changing Climate May Lead To Devastating Loss Of Phosphorus From Soil Crop growth, drinking water and recreational water sports could all be adversely affected if predicted changes in rainfall patterns over the coming years prove true, according to research published in April in Biology and Fertility of Soils. Scientists from Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)-funded North Wyke Research have found for the first time that the rate at which a dried soil is rewetted impacts on the amount of phosphorus lost from the soil into surface water and subsequently into the surrounding environment. Dr Martin Blackwell who is one of the project leaders said:..."This is really worrying because high phosphorus concentrations in surface waters can lead to harmful algal blooms which can be toxic, cause lack of oxygen during their decay and disrupt food webs. This can also affect the quality of water for drinking and result in the closure of recreational water sport facilities." ...	I can't LIVE without my recreational water sports! ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Apr 18, 2009 from San Francisco Chronicle: Swimmers feel sting as jellyfish thrive Schools of creepy brownish jellyfish known for their painful stings are lurking in San Francisco Bay waving their long, poisonous tentacles like they own the place. Dozens, if not hundreds, of sea creatures known as Pacific sea nettles have been spotted in the bay feeding on small fish and plankton when they aren't stinging swimmers. One touch from a nettle's long, brown tentacles will result in a powerful, numbing jolt that can hurt for hours and sometimes days.... Biologists around the world are concerned about an apparent increase in the number and size of jellyfish blooms of all species. Studies are being conducted to determine whether the prevalence of jellyfish, which reproduce both sexually and asexually, has anything to do with global warming. ...	...and the jellyfish shall inherit the earth... ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Apr 18, 2009 from Living on Earth: Pesticides and Birth Defects ...When crops go in the ground and start to grow, it's the time for conventional farmers to apply chemical weed killers. For example, millions of pounds of Atrazine are applied on US farms each year, even though the herbicide is banned in Europe. And it should not be surprising that between April and July, there tend to be higher levels of pesticides in water than during the rest of the year, as the U.S. Geological Survey has found... What is surprising is new research that shows an association between the time of conception, pesticide levels, and the likelihood of crippling or fatal birth defects.... birth defects like spina bifida, cleft pallet and lip, down syndrome, urogenital abnormalities, club foot among others are some of the birth defects that are more likely to occur for women who conceive between April and July. ...	Sounds like it's time to adopt a Spring celibacy program! ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Apr 18, 2009 from Washington Post: EPA Says Emissions Are Threat To Public The Environmental Protection Agency yesterday officially adopted the position that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions pose a danger to the public's health and welfare, a move that could trigger a series of federal regulations affecting polluters from vehicles to coal-fired power plants. The EPA's action marks a major shift in the federal government's approach to global warming. The Bush administration opposed putting mandatory limits on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, on the grounds that they would hurt business, and the EPA had resisted identifying such emissions as pollutants under the Clean Air Act. ...	Whoa! So the EPA decided to live on the same planet as the rest of us! ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Apr 17, 2009 from Agence France-Presse: Forests could flip from sink to source of CO2: study Forests that today soak up a quarter of carbon pollution spewed into the atmosphere could soon become a net source of CO2 if Earth's surface warms by another two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), cautions a report to be presented Friday at the UN. Plants both absorb and exhale carbon dioxide, but healthy forests -- especially those in the tropics -- take up far more of the greenhouse gas than they give off. When they are damaged, get sick or die, that stored carbon is released....Authored by 35 of the world's top forestry scientists, the study provides the first global assessment of the ability of forests to adapt to climate change. Manmade warming to date -- about 0.7 C since the mid-19th century -- has already slowed regeneration of tropical forests, and made them more vulnerable to fire, disease and insect infestations. Increasingly violent and frequent storms have added to the destruction. ...	From sink.... to sunk. ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Apr 17, 2009 from Associated Press: As bears die, hunters and climate change blamed Hunters are killing grizzly bears in record numbers around Yellowstone National Park, threatening to halt the species' decades-long recovery just two years after it was removed from the endangered species list. Driving the bloodshed, researchers say, is the bear's continued expansion across the 15,000-square-mile Yellowstone region of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Bears are being seen - and killed - in places where they were absent for decades. And with climate change suspected in the devastation of one of the bear's food sources, there is worry the trend will continue as the animals roam farther afield in search of food. ...	The bears are now far outnumbered by all us Goldilocks. 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, Apr 17, 2009 from London Daily Guardian: Australia's largest river close to running dry Australia's biggest river is running so low that Adelaide, the country's fifth-largest city, could run out of water in the next two years. The Murray river is part of a network of waterways that irrigates the south-eastern corner of Australia, but after six years of severe drought, the worst dry spell ever, its slow moving waters are now almost stagnant. Water levels in the Murray in the first three months of this year were the lowest on record and the government agency that administers the river, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA), said the next three months could be just as grim. With meteorologists predicting another year of below-average rainfall, the MDBA, is bracing for worse to come. ...	Australia might just be world's first continent to go belly up. ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Apr 17, 2009 from Naples Daily News: Babcock Ranch to be United States' first solar powered city LEE COUNTY -- Planned mega-development Babcock Ranch will be the world's first entirely solar-powered city, developer Syd Kitson and an official from Florida Power & Light announced Thursday morning during a Washington D.C. press conference. The ambitious Charlotte County development will draw all of its electricity from a 75-megawatt photovoltaic solar power plant to be built by FPL. Construction on the facility could start by the end of this year.... The facility will be carbon-free, use no water and produce no waste. It will avoid the 61,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions a fossil fuel plant of equal size would release each year...Plans for Babcock Ranch include 19,500 homes in neighborhoods situated around a city center... Population at build-out is expected to reach 45,000. ...	Sounds freakin' utopian! ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Apr 16, 2009 from Business Week: China Faces a Water Crisis After almost 30 years of double-digit economic growth and the migration of hundreds of millions of villagers to the cities, China has been barely able to meet the spike in demand for water. Its resources were scarce to begin with and pollution has made clean water even scarcer. Another unknown: the effect of climate change. "Based on our country's basic water situation, [we] must implement the strictest water resource management," said Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu at a national water conference in Beijing in January. The scale of the challenge is enormous. Every year, on average 15.3 million hectares of farmland -- 13 percent of the total -- faces drought. Today some 300 million people living in rural areas, or nearly a quarter of China's population of 1.3 billion, don't have access to safe drinking water. And among more than 600 Chinese cities, 400 are facing water shortages, including 100 that may see serious shortages... ...	I'd say China ... is fragile. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Apr 16, 2009 from National Geographic News: Rocket Launches Damage Ozone Layer, Study Says Plumes from rocket launches could be the world's next worrisome emissions, according to a new study that says solid-fuel rockets damage the ozone layer, allowing more harmful solar rays to reach Earth. Thanks to international laws, ozone-depleting chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and methyl bromide have been slowly fading from the atmosphere. But when solid-fuel rockets launch, they release chlorine gas directly into the stratosphere, where the chlorine reacts with oxygen to form ozone-destroying chlorine oxides. Increased international space launches and the potential commercial space travel boom could mean that rockets will soon emerge as the worst offenders in terms of ozone depletion, according to the study, published in the March issue of the journal Astropolitics. ...	It ain't rocket science to figure THIS out. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Apr 16, 2009 from Houston Chronicle: Pollution estimates for refineries, plants revisited The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to Mayor Bill White’s request to overhaul its methods for estimating emissions from large refineries and chemical plants, a move that could reveal higher pollution levels. In response to White, the federal agency acknowledged flaws in its formulas for calculating pollution levels, leading to unreliable data for decision-making. The new estimates would for the first time include emissions of toxic gases and other pollutants during startups, shutdowns and equipment malfunctions, according to the EPA’s letter to the mayor. ...	Houston, we have a, ahem, problem. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Apr 16, 2009 from Environmental Health News: Sewage plants could be creating 'super' bacteria A wastewater treatment plant's job description is pretty straightforward: Remove contaminants from sewage so it can be returned to the environment without harming people or wildlife. But a new study suggests that the treatment process can have an unintended consequence of promoting the spread of extra-hardy bacteria. Some bugs are resistant to antibiotics, so they dodge the medical bullets that wipe out others. The more drugs that are used, the more robust they become. Since bacteria reproduce quickly -- one organism might turn into a billion overnight -- and they share DNA with others, antibiotic-resistant genes spread like Darwinian wildfire when conditions are right. And at sewage treatment plants, it seems, the conditions are right... ...	Sounds like my email inbox. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Apr 16, 2009 from CSIRO Australia via ScienceDaily: Climate Change May Wake Up 'Sleeper' Weeds Weeds cost Australia more than A$4 billion a year either in control or lost production and cause serious damage to the environment. In an address given April 15 in Perth to the Greenhouse 09 conference on climate change, CSIRO researcher, Dr John Scott, said, however, that those cost estimates were only based on the damage caused by weeds known to be active in Australia. A recent CSIRO report for the Australian Government's Land and Water Australia looked at what effects climate changes anticipated for 2030 and 2070 might have on the distribution of 41 weeds that pose a threat to agriculture ("sleeper"� species) and the natural environment ("alert" species). ...	Seems to me "sleeping" will be the only thing we'll want to do in the global warming future. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Apr 15, 2009 from New York Times: Eliminate Newspapers, Save the Planet? Marriott, the hotel group, announced on Monday that it no longer will automatically deliver newspapers to guests. Marriott said each newspaper represents emissions of a half pound of carbon dioxide. It said the new policy should reduce newspaper distribution by about 50,000 newspapers every day or by about 18 million newspapers every year. That would reduce carbon emissions by 10,350 tons each year. ...	Stop the presses. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Apr 15, 2009 from London Daily Telegraph: Forty per cent of children now suffer from food allergies The number of children with food allergies has tripled in the past decade, with millions being diagnosed with severe immune system disorders, some of them potentially life-threatening. Researchers believe that as exotic foods become more commonplace in British households, the number of people being diagnosed with allergies is likely to rise further. Dr Jonathan North, a consultant immunologist at Birmingham Children's Hospital, said: "We used to say that 15 per cent of the population had an allergy of some sort, now the figure is nearer 40 per cent."... Other research has also found that climate change could be responsible for exacerbating the seriousness of conditions such as hay fever. ...	If we could just get kids to be allergic to television... ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Apr 15, 2009 from Grand Rapids Press: Voracious goby extends its range to deeper water, threatening Great Lakes, scientists say A half-century after alewives disrupted Great Lakes fisheries and trashed beaches, another invasive fish is engaged in a biological conquest of the world's largest freshwater ecosystem. The round goby is taking over large swaths of the Great Lakes and their connecting waters, according to scientists studying the invader. Gobies breed like rabbits and eat like pigs, causing profound changes at the base of a food chain that supports the Great Lakes $7 billion sport and commercial fisheries. New research conducted in Green Bay, Wis., found that gobies were hogging tiny aquatic organisms that other fish species need to survive. ...	Gobies hog like humans! ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Apr 15, 2009 from San Francisco Chronicle: Study: Spammers scourge to inbox and environment There are plenty of reasons to hate spammers. Add this to the list: They're environmentally unfriendly. A report being released Wednesday by security company McAfee Inc. finds that spammers are a scourge to your inbox and the environment, generating an astounding 62 trillion junk e-mails in 2008 that wasted enough electricity to power 2.4 million U.S. homes for a year. The "Carbon Footprint of E-mail Spam Report" estimated the computational power needed to process spam -- from criminals tapping their armies of infected PCs to send it, Internet providers transmitting it, and end users viewing and deleting it. The report concluded that the electricity needed to process a single spam message results in 0.3 grams of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere -- the equivalent of driving 3 feet in a car. ...	At least I'm lasting longer in bed. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Apr 15, 2009 from Reuters: Asthma plus traffic equals poor lung function The results of a new study appear to expand the link between traffic exposure and poor lung function among people with asthma. In a study of 176 adults with asthma or rhinitis, Dr. John R. Balmes, of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues found "the closer adults with asthma live to roadways with heavy traffic...the lower their lung function." "Living close to any road was associated with lower lung function," Balmes told Reuters Health. Other studies have shown lung health effects from major roadways, Balmes and colleagues note in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. "Ours is the first to show evidence that living near any road can do so," said Balmes. ...	This study brought to you by the Duh Institute. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Apr 15, 2009 from The Daily Climate: Valley fever blowin' on a hotter wind It's high noon, and the 112-degree summer heat -- up from a decade ago -- stalks Arizona's Sonoran Desert. By late afternoon, dark clouds threaten, and monsoon winds beat the earth into a mass of swirling sand. Thick walls of surface soil blind drivers on the Interstate. Some health experts believe new weather conditions -- hotter temperatures and more intense dust storms fueled by global warming -- are creating a perfect storm for the transmission of coccidioidomycosis, also known as valley fever, a fungal disease endemic to the southwestern United States. How do cocci spores infect the body? Propelled by winds, thousands of soil particles and cocci spherules are inhaled. People -- particularly those older or immune-compromised -- may experience flu-like symptoms that can turn into pneumonia. If the infection disseminates, the pathogens can target any organ -- mostly the nervous system, skin, bones and joints -- and become life threatening. ...	This is sooooo, like, distressing! 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.
Tue, Apr 14, 2009 from TIME Magazine: The Dire Fate of Forests in a Warmer World In a new study published April 13 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), scientists at UA found that water-deprived pinon pines raised in temperatures about 7 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) above current averages died 28 percent faster than pines raised in today's climate. It's the first study to isolate the specific impact of temperature on tree mortality during drought -- and it indicates that in a warmer world trees are likely to be significantly more vulnerable to the threat of drought than they are today. ...	We call it ... mortreelity. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Apr 14, 2009 from BusinessGreen: "Kyoto box" wins startup funding A box designed to improve the efficiency of using firewood to boil water in developing countries won $75,000 in funding from sustainable development charity Forum for the Future last week. The Kyoto Box -- which costs about 5 euros to make -- uses a greenhouse effect to boil 10 litres of water in two hours, far more efficient than a standard fire. Kenya-based entrepreneur Jon Bohmer of startup Kyoto Energy said the box is targeted at the three billion people who use firewood to cook and has the potential to deliver huge environmental and social benefits. "We're saving lives and saving trees," he said. "I doubt if there is any other technology that can make so much impact for so little money." ...	The "greenhouse effect" for good, rather than evil! ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Apr 14, 2009 from Lawrence Journal-World & 6News: New battle expected after Gov. Sebelius vetoes coal-burning power plant bill It's a showdown over coal-burning power plants again. On Monday, as expected, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius vetoed legislation that would allow construction of the two 700-megawatt plants in southwest Kansas. She vetoed three similar bills last year. In her newest veto message Monday, Sebelius said of the legislation, "What was a bad idea last year, is an even worse idea today." President Barack Obama is moving toward regulating carbon dioxide emissions, and Kansas doesn't need the plants for its own energy needs, she said. ...	You go, Gov! ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Apr 14, 2009 from London Guardian: Mass arrests over power station protest raise civil liberties concerns Police have carried out what is thought to be the biggest pre-emptive raid on environmental campaigners in British history, arresting 114 people believed to be planning direct action at a coal-fired power station. The arrests - for conspiracy to commit criminal damage and aggravated trespass - come amid growing concern among protesters about increased police surveillance and infiltration by informers. Police said the raid on a school in Nottingham was made just after midnight yesterday, and was linked to a planned protest, thought to be at nearby Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station. Nottinghamshire police said action had been taken because "in view of specialist equipment recovered by police, those arrested posed a serious threat to the safe running of the site". The mass arrest, involving three police forces, prompted renewed concern about the tactics of officers policing environmental protests, particularly over expansion of airports and coal power. ...	Well then the protesters are just going to have to pre-plan a pre-protest. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Apr 14, 2009 from The Daily Climate: Steep emissions cuts take a chunk of warming with them -- study BOULDER -- Drastic, economy-changing cuts to greenhouse gas emissions will spare the planet only half the trauma expected over the next century as the Earth warms. And that's the good news. Because a failure to significantly curb these planet-warming gases will truly transform our world in less than 100 years. A new study to be published by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research finds that a 70 percent cut in emissions should stabilize temperatures at a mark not too much higher than today. Such a cut, most experts agree, would require vast retooling of society's fossil-fuel-based economy and an unprecedented level of global cooperation. But even that major effort to slash emissions won't stop global warming, scientists warn. The question confronting politicians throughout the world, in other words, is not whether they want the planet to warm. It is to what degree. ...	how 'bout an itty bitty degree? ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Apr 13, 2009 from University of Bath via ScienceDaily: Hemp Could Be Key To Zero-carbon Houses Hemp, a plant from the cannabis family, could be used to build carbon-neutral homes of the future to help combat climate change and boost the rural economy, say researchers at the University of Bath. A consortium, led by the BRE Centre for Innovative Construction Materials based at the University, has embarked on a unique housing project to develop the use of hemp-lime construction materials in the UK. Hemp-lime is a lightweight composite building material made of fibres from the fast growing plant, bound together using a lime-based adhesive. The hemp plant stores carbon during its growth and this, combined with the low carbon footprint of lime and its very efficient insulating properties, gives the material a �better than zero carbon� footprint. ...	Dude, where's my house? ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Apr 13, 2009 from Edinburgh Scotsman: Website 'to end supermarket waste' by selling food destined for the bin A SCOTTISH entrepreneur is hoping to cut down on the mountains of food waste that end up in landfill by launching a website that sells goods that are nearly out of date. Ray Conn has set up an online market place where retailers can advertise products that are soon to go out of date. The site, launched yesterday, sells products which would otherwise be thrown away at a discounted price...He said after talking to supermarket managers that he realised they were throwing away huge quantities of products that would soon go out of date. ...	This will better than having to dumpster the food myself! ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Apr 13, 2009 from New Dehli Business Standard: Add agriculture to climate talks, says global body A global farm policy think tank has recommended that agriculture should form part of the international negotiations on climate change in the forthcoming apex conference of parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at Copenhagen in December 2009. A policy brief issued by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has pointed out that with suitable technology and management, agriculture, which now contributes about 15 per cent to green house gas (GHG) emissions, can actually become an important sink for emissions even from other sectors. Besides, agriculture will be adversely affected by the climate change and millions of poor farmers will need help in adapting to the weather patterns. The mechanism for funding research on climate adaptation and mitigation by the agriculture sector needs to be discussed at the UNFCCC meet at Copenhagen. Apart from agriculture�s direct contribution of 15 per cent to the GHG emissions, land-use related changes, including forest loss, account for additional 19 per cent to harmful emissions. ...	How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm, after they've seen Copenhagen? ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Apr 13, 2009 from BBC: City air pollution 'shortens life' It has taken a quarter of a century, but US researchers say their work has finally enabled them to determine to what extent city air pollution impacts on average life expectancy. The project tracked the change of air quality in 51 American cities since the 1980s. During that time general life expectancy increased by more than two and half years, much due to improved lifestyles, diet and healthcare. But the researchers calculated more than 15 percent of that extra time was due to cleaner air. ...	Only the good die young. ApocaDoc permalink