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What A Week It Was: Apocadocuments from

View By Scenario:
Species Collapse:	(3)
Plague/Virus:	(3)
Climate Chaos:	(12)
Resource Depletion:	(4)
Biology Breach:	(9)
Recovery:	(10)

This Week's Top Ten Very Scary Tags:
climate impacts ~ global warming ~ carbon emissions ~ contamination ~ water issues ~ airborne pollutants ~ stupid humans ~ smart policy ~ anthropogenic change ~ pandemic ~ economic myopia

ApocaDocuments (41) gathered this week:
Sun, Apr 26, 2009 from Baltimore Sun: Potomac 'intersex' fish mystery deepens Federal biologists checking the upper Potomac River have found that abnormalities in bass there are even more widespread than they'd earlier reported. But they're no nearer to understanding what's causing it. At least 82 percent of male smallmouth bass and 23 percent of the largemouth bass had immature female germ cells in their reproductive organs, according to a release by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey. Abnormalities also were found in some female fish.... Scientists think the abnormalities may be linked to hormone-like chemicals in medicines and a variety of consumer products. They had theorized that the contaminants, known as endocrine disruptors, were getting in the river from wastewater treatment plants that discharge into it. But the problems are not limited to areas downstream from sewage plants, they found. ...	Mutations inside the Beltway? It's gotta be Obama's fault! ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Apr 26, 2009 from The East African: International firms stand accused of fish piracy Lawlessness off the Somalia coast involving overfishing and toxic-waste dumping is being ignored amidst the uproar over attacks on international shipping, some analysts are charging. For years, Somalis had complained to the United Nations and the European Union "when the marine resources of Somalia were pillaged, when the waters were poisoned, when the fish was stolen, creating poverty in the whole country," Kenyan writer Mohamed Abshir Waldo, told a national radio audience in the United States last week. "They were totally ignored." Beth Tuckey, an activist with the African Faith and Justice Network in Washington, wrote in a recent commentary that focusing solely on one kind of piracy – “holding ships and people for ransom” – distorts the actual situation of Somalis living on the coast. "Having over-fished in their own oceans, many European, Middle Eastern and Asian fishing companies perceived the 1991 state collapse in Somalia as an opening to begin business in foreign waters," Ms Tuckey said. "Large trawlers appeared off the coast, scraping up $300 million worth of seafood every year, depriving coastal Somalis of their livelihood and subsistence. Foreign corporations also saw it as a great location to discreetly dump barrels of toxic waste, thereby causing death and disease among the Somali population." ...	Whattaya expect? Piracy on the open sea is so much more photogenic! ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Apr 26, 2009 from Daily News Record (VA): Endless Caverns Bats Suspect Samples of bats found in the Endless Caverns show cave and suspected of having the deadly white-nose syndrome have been sent to a federal testing facility, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries confirmed Friday. If the tests come back positive, it will be the first confirmed case in Rockingham County of the mysterious disease that has wiped out hundreds of thousands of bats in the Northeast. The disease showed up in Virginia for the first time earlier this year, but until now, no bats in the central Valley had been suspected of having the illness.... The disease has wiped out 75 to 90 percent of the bat population in New York and more than 400,000 bats in the region, records show. Reduced bat populations could be detrimental for many reasons, including the fact that bats eat many insects, such as cucumber beetles and corn borer moths, which can ruin crops. ...	If it's reached the Endless Caverns... where will it end? ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Apr 26, 2009 from NOAA, via ScienceDaily: Greenhouse Gases Continue To Climb Despite Economic Slump Two of the most important climate change gases increased last year, according to a preliminary analysis for NOAA’s annual greenhouse gas index, which tracks data from 60 sites around the world. Researchers measured an additional 16.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) -- a byproduct of fossil fuel burning -- and 12.2 million tons of methane in the atmosphere at the end of December 2008. This increase is despite the global economic downturn, with its decrease in a wide range of activities that depend on fossil fuel use. "Only by reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and increasing energy production from renewable resources will we start to see improvements and begin to lessen the effects of climate change," said scientist Pieter Tans of NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo. "At NOAA we have monitored carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouses gases for decades and will continue to do so to help assess the situation and advise decision makers." ...	You mean all it takes is a radical restructuring of society, its economic presumptions, and its power dynamics? What are we waiting for? ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Apr 26, 2009 from The Independent (UK): Just how big a threat will this flu outbreak be? The danger of a pandemic -- which they reckon could kill 750,000 people in Britain alone -- is all too real, for every so often, the disease goes though an evolutionary leap. Normally an existing flu virus undergoes a slight mutation, which enables it to infect some people who have built up immunity from previous bouts of the disease. But some three or four times a century, a completely new one arrives, apparently from nowhere. No one has any immunity against it so -- if it is vicious enough, and once it has learned to spread from person to person -- it is free to commit mass slaughter.... Scientist[s] worried that [H5N1 could become infectious between people] by infecting a pig already harbouring a different, human flu virus, since the animals are susceptible to both: the two could then mix their DNA, creating a deadly new strain that could pass from person to person. But even at the height of concern about H5N1 four years ago, some experts were warning that the new pandemic might emerge from elsewhere. And this could be what has just happened. The latest virus, A/H1N1, that is rapidly spreading through North America is new and contains a mixture of bird, pig and human strains. Early reports suggest that it takes most of its victims among healthy 25 to 45 year olds.... ...	C'mon -- we kicked polio's ass. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Apr 25, 2009 from Daily Wildcat (Arizona): Pinon Pine and Climate Change Researchers at the UA Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department, successfully isolated the impact of increasing temperature on the pinon pine, one of North America's most abundant species of pine tree, and the experiment produced some worrisome results. "Widespread die-off of pinon pine throughout the southwest will occur five times faster in future droughts if the climate warms by four degrees Celsius," said Henry Adams, the lead researcher of the experiment. This equates to a 28 percent higher die-off rate than trees that were used as a control at cooler temperatures. "The increased mortality rate of pinon pines due to higher temperatures will increase the release of carbon into the atmosphere, affect erosion rates and increase the likelihood of forest fires in the southwestern United States," Adams said. ...	I'd suggest badgebuttons that read "Save the Pinon," but it'd get misinterpreted. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Apr 25, 2009 from AP News: WHO declares swine flu crisis a health emergency The World Health Organization has declared the swine flu outbreak in North America a "public health emergency of international concern." The decision means countries around the world will be asked to step up reporting and surveillance of the disease implicated in dozens of human deaths in Mexico and at least eight nonfatal cases in the U.S. WHO fears the outbreak could spread to other countries and is calling for a coordinated response to contain it.... She earlier told reporters the outbreak had "pandemic potential." But her agency held off raising its pandemic alert level, citing the need for more information. ...	Let's hope H1N1 doesn't die up to its potential. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Apr 25, 2009 from Chester Chronicle: Chester scientist believes the power of poo will save the planet A SCIENTIST is hoping to save the planet with poo. Research scientist Ruyi Hu, 24, from Chester, is at the cutting edge of experimental technologies with the potential to cut thousands of tons of carbon emissions and save millions of pounds. His work on Inverted Phase Fermentation might be a conversation killer at dinner parties but could enable the billions of litres of waste water generated in the North West every year to be treated in a much more environmentally friendly way. ...	I always thought it would be tigger who saved the planet. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Apr 25, 2009 from Greenwire: Dust from coal trucks poses Appalachian health threat -- study Coal trucks rumbling through neighborhoods in southwest Virginia are trailing dust clouds that violate federal pollution standards, according to a report that advocacy groups released yesterday. The study (pdf) conducted by North Carolina State University for the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards and the Sierra Club analyzed airborne dust along the roads of Roda in Wise County, where trucks haul coal from several mining operations. The trucks track coal, mud and debris from the mines to the road, where it dries and turns to dust that is stirred up by other vehicles. That dust coats houses and is thought to cause respiratory and other health ailments, researchers found. ...	To me... it's all part of the Apo-coal-ypse! ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Apr 25, 2009 from Scripps Institution of Oceanography / UC San Diego via ScienceDaily: No 'Burp' Accelerating Climate Change?... An expansion of wetlands and not a large-scale melting of frozen methane deposits is the likely cause of a spike in atmospheric methane gas that took place some 11,600 years ago, according to an international research team led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego... "This is good news for global warming because it suggests that methane clathrates do not respond to warming by releasing large amounts of methane into the atmosphere," said Vasilii Petrenko, a postdoctoral fellow at University of Colorado, Boulder, who led the analysis while a graduate student at Scripps.... "This study is important because it confirms that wetlands and moisture availability change dramatically along with abrupt climate change," said [co-author Jeff] Severinghaus. "This highlights in a general way the fact that the largest impacts of future climate change may be on water resources and drought, rather than temperature per se." ...	What a relief: We'll die of thirst, not heat! ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Apr 25, 2009 from Mother Jones: Gone: Mass Extinction and the Hazards of Earth's Vanishing Biodiversity ...Throughout the 20th century the causes of extinction -- habitat degradation, overexploitation, agricultural monocultures, human-borne invasive species, human-induced climate change -- amplified exponentially, until now in the 21st century the rate is nothing short of explosive. The World Conservation Union's Red List-- a database measuring the global status of Earth's 1.5 million scientifically named species -- tells a haunting tale of unchecked, unaddressed, and accelerating biocide. When we hear of extinction, most of us think of the plight of the rhino, tiger, panda, or blue whale. But these sad sagas are only small pieces of the extinction puzzle. The overall numbers are terrifying. Of the 40,168 species that the 10,000 scientists in the World Conservation Union have assessed, 1 in 4 mammals, 1 in 8 birds, 1 in 3 amphibians, 1 in 3 conifers and other gymnosperms are at risk of extinction. The peril faced by other classes of organisms is less thoroughly analyzed, but fully 40 percent of the examined species of planet Earth are in danger, including up to 51 percent of reptiles, 52 percent of insects, and 73 percent of flowering plants. ...	This planet is gonna be like a ghost town. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Apr 25, 2009 from London Daily Telegraph: Drowning in plastic: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is twice the size of France ...The Great Pacific Garbage Patch has now been tentatively mapped into an east and west section and the combined weight of plastic there is estimated at three million tons and increasing steadily. It appears to be the big daddy of them all, but we do not know for sure. Dr Pearn Niiler of the Scripps Oceanographic Institute in San Diego, the world's leading authority on ocean currents, thinks that there is an even bigger garbage patch in the South Pacific, in the vicinity of Easter Island, but no scientists have yet gone to look. ...	Well that'll balance things out at least. ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Apr 24, 2009 from National Science Foundation via ScienceDaily: As World Warms, Water Levels Dropping In Major Rivers Rivers in some of the world's most populous regions are losing water, according to a comprehensive study of global stream flows. The research, led by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., suggests that the reduced flows in many cases are associated with climate change, and could potentially threaten future supplies of food and water... The scientists, who examined stream flows from 1948 to 2004, found significant changes in about one-third of the world's largest rivers. Of those, rivers with decreased flow outnumbered those with increased flow by a ratio of about 2.5 to 1. ...	Old Man River is getting decrepit! 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 24, 2009 from Yale Environment 360: Bill McKibben on Building A Climate Action Movement Author Bill McKibben first warned about global warming and its implications for the planet in his 1989 book, The End of Nature. But in the last few years, it has become the focus of his work as an organizer of 350.org, an advocacy organization promoting global action to tackle climate change. In an interview with Yale Environment 360 editor Roger Cohn, McKibben described why he is working fulltime on the issue, why he thinks a citizens movement is essential for giving President Obama the "political space" necessary to address climate change, why a "cap-and-dividend" system might offer the most potential, and why he believes the jury is still out on whether the most serious impacts of climate change can be avoided. "For the moment, I am not spending my time being either optimistic or pessimistic," he said. "I am just working." ...	We ALL need to start working fulltime on this. ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Apr 24, 2009 from Sacramento Bee: Fuels must clean up act California became the first state in the nation Thursday to mandate carbon-based reductions in transportation fuels in an attempt to cut the state's overall greenhouse gas emissions. The California Air Resources Board approved a phased-in reduction starting in 2011, with a goal of shrinking carbon impacts 10 percent by 2020. Fuel producers can comply in different ways, such as providing a cleaner fuel portfolio, blending low-carbon ethanol with gasoline or purchasing credits from other clean-energy producers. California's low-carbon fuel standard could lead to a national measure under President Barack Obama, as well as shape how the transportation sector evolves. But businesses and oil industry critics warned that more research is necessary and that its action would lead to higher costs for consumers in a recessionary economy. ...	It's super important my financial portfolio is robust during the Apocalypse! ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Apr 24, 2009 from San Francisco Chronicle: Group says flea collars for pets endanger kids Some cat and dog flea collars leave chemicals on fur that are hazardous to the pets and their owners, in violation of California's anti-toxics laws, according to a national environmental group's lawsuit Thursday. The Natural Resources Defense Council urged federal regulators to remove the products from the market. Two chemicals in the pet collars left residue sufficient to pose the risk of cancer and neurological damage to children - as much as 1,000 times higher than levels established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the group said. ...	Man's best friend is kid's worst enemy! ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Apr 23, 2009 from Associated Press: Swine flu cases up to 7, probe expanding A unique type of swine flu has been diagnosed in seven people in California and Texas, up from the two reported earlier this week, U.S. health officials said Thursday. Health officials said it's not a cause for public alarm: The five in California and two in Texas have all recovered, and testing indicates some mainstream antiviral medications seem to work against the virus. Still, it is a growing medical mystery. None of the seven people were in contact with pigs, which is how people usually catch swine flu. Only a few were in contact with each other, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Anne Schuchat of the CDC said officials believe it can spread human-to-human, which is unusual for a swine flu virus. ...	Perhaps they got sick from living too high on the hog! ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Apr 23, 2009 from London Daily Telegraph: Climate change could speed up as pollution decreases The new research found that plants have been taking in more carbon dioxide over the last 40 years because pollution makes it easier for plants to convert sunlight to energy. However as the world produces more electricity from renewables and transport is made cleaner, the skies will be clearer - slowing the ability of plants to absorb the greenhouse gas and therefore contributing to global warming. The study, published in Nature, warned that the reduced ability of plants to absorb carbon dioxide as the air becomes cleaner makes it even more important to cut emissions in the future....The increase in the amount of carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas, may have helped to slow global warming. However as the world cuts pollution it will speed up again. ...	Seems we've painted ourselves into an Apocalyptic corner. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Apr 23, 2009 from London Guardian: Damaged Barrier Reef coral makes 'spectacular' recovery Sections of coral reef in Australia's Great Barrier Reef have made a "spectacular" recovery from a devastating bleaching event three years ago, marine scientists say. In 2006, high sea temperatures caused severe coral bleaching in the Keppell Islands, in the southern part of the reef â€” the largest coral reef system in the world. The damaged reefs were then covered by a single species of seaweed which threatened to suffocate the coral and cause further loss. A "lucky combination" of rare circumstances has meant the reef has been able to make a recovery. Abundant corals have reestablished themselves in a single year... ...	Let's hear a chorus for the coral! ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Apr 23, 2009 from Indianapolis Star: Brazilian toxic-waste lawsuit names Lilly, Dow AgroSciences Dozens of Brazilian residents are suing five chemical giants, including drug maker Eli Lilly and Co. and pesticide maker Dow AgroSciences of Indianapolis, claiming they dumped, buried or burned tons of toxic waste that had been banned in the U.S. since the 1970s. The toxins contaminated the air and water and caused medical problems for workers and nearby residents, the lawsuit claims. Exposure to the chemicals resulted in cancer, genetic abnormalities, physical deformities and premature deaths, according to the lawsuit, filed this week in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis. It asks for unspecified damages....The suit also names Shell Oil Co., American Cyanamid Co. and BASF Corp. The plaintiffs claim Lilly used its plant incinerator to burn "untoward substances" for Shell and other companies. ...	We gotta get rid of it somewhere -- why not Brazil? ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Apr 23, 2009 from Environmental Health News: Rats are fat after long-term exposure to lower levels of atrazine A new study with rats shows that long-term exposure to the common agricultural pesticide atrazine causes weight gain in animals fed normal diets and obesity in those fed high fat diets. These health conditions can lead to diabetes, and they may be triggered by damage to critical structures in cells responsible for making energy. The new results suggest a mechanism to explain prior studies that found an association between areas of the United States with heavy atrazine use and high obesity prevalence. ...	I prefer my atrazine supersized! ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Apr 23, 2009 from Washington Post: Dust Storms Escalate, Prompting Environmental Fears The Colorado Rockies, including the headwaters of the Colorado River and the Rio Grande, have experienced 11 serious dust storms this year, a record for the six years researchers have been tracking them. More important, an increasing amount of airborne dust is blanketing the region, affecting how fast the snowpack melts, when local plants bloom and what quality of air residents are breathing. The dust storms are a harbinger of a broader phenomenon, researchers say, as global warming translates into less precipitation and a population boom intensifies the activities that are disturbing the dust in the first place. ...	Dust... The new invasive species. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Apr 22, 2009 from Mother Jones: Plastic? Fantastic ...Inexpensive to make and easy to discard, plastic morphed from an engineering triumph into a global scourge. In 1960, Americans sent 390,000 tons of plastics to the landfill; today we annually trash more than 28.5 million tonsâ€”around 11 percent of all municipal waste. Plastic doesn't biodegrade, and the very characteristic that makes it so versatileâ€”its protean ability to be resilient or stiff, soft or hard, opaque or transparentâ€”makes it extremely difficult to recycle efficiently. Even the most common recyclable categories of plastic (No. 1 water bottles, for instance) consist of incompatible polymers with different melting points. In 2007, less than 7 percent of Americans' plastic waste was recycled (mostly milk jugs and water and soda bottles), as opposed to 55 percent of paper. A 2000 survey by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) found that fewer than half of Americans had a positive opinion of the miracle material; 25 percent "strongly believed" that plastic's environmental negatives outweighed its benefits. ...	To top it off, my toy GI Joe shot me yesterday! ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Apr 22, 2009 from McClatchy Newspapers: Earth in the balance ...the overall condition of the planet has worsened since 1970, as its human population has nearly doubled to 6.8 billion. Natural resources like fresh water and tropical forests are dwindling, and it's becoming more difficult to hide our waste, much of which is plastic and will be around long after our children -- and theirs -- have lived through future Earth Days. But after nearly 40 years, saving the Earth is finally at or near the forefront of American politics, pushed there by growing awareness of global climate change and a national energy policy that leans too heavily on imported oil and other limited fossil fuels.... ...	On this Earth Day...I ain't feelin' the mirth. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Apr 22, 2009 from Indianapolis Star: Indiana ranks near bottom in environmental issues Environmental comparisons can be difficult because of oceans of complex data generated and evaluated in different ways. But it seems that no matter who is compiling the survey -- or what aspect of the environment is being measured -- Indiana consistently ranks near the bottom. Some examples: Forbes.com ranked Indiana 49th out of 50 states in its 2007 "America's Greenest States" survey. Only West Virginia fared worse. Indianapolis ranked 99th out of 100 metropolitan areas per capita in a 2008 Brookings Institution report on environmentally harmful carbon emissions from transportation and energy. Only Lexington, Ky., was worse. ...	Beloved Hoosier pastimes include: racing, basketball, and death by environmental contamination. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Apr 22, 2009 from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry via ScienceDaily: Worst Environmental Problem? Overpopulation, Experts Say Overpopulation is the world's top environmental issue, followed closely by climate change and the need to develop renewable energy resources to replace fossil fuels, according to a survey of the faculty at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF)... Overpopulation came out on top, with several professors pointing out its ties to other problems that rank high on the list. "Overpopulation is the only problem," said Dr. Charles A. Hall, a systems ecologist. "If we had 100 million people on Earth -- or better, 10 million -- no others would be a problem." ...	I wonder how we can get 6 and half billion or so people to voluntarily exit... 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, Apr 22, 2009 from The Charleston Gazette: Bayer safety lapses 'could have eclipsed Bhopal' Significant safety lapses by management of Bayer CropScience's Institute plant caused a fatal August 2008 explosion that could have turned into a disaster worse than Bhopal, according to evidence presented Tuesday to a congressional committee. Bayer plant officials continued to use long-deficient equipment, leading employees to bypass safety gear in the plant's Methomyl-Larvin unit where the explosion occurred, U.S. Chemical Safety Board officials told a House subcommittee. The runaway explosion sent a 5,000-pound chemical vessel rocketing into the air and across the plant, where it could have easily smashed into a nearby methyl isocyanate tank, "the consequences of which could have eclipsed the 1984 disaster in India," congressional committee staffers concluded in their report. ...	Given that it's Bayer, though, at least it wouldn't have hurt as bad. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Apr 22, 2009 from Frontline: Poisoned Water More than three decades after the Clean Water Act, iconic American waterways like the Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound are in perilous condition and facing new sources of contamination. With polluted runoff still flowing in from industry, agriculture and massive suburban development, scientists note that many new pollutants and toxins from modern everyday life are already being found in the drinking water of millions of people across the country and pose a threat to fish, wildlife and, potentially, human health. ...	The earth... she is our toilet. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Apr 21, 2009 from Boston Globe: Fewer showers to help prevent global warming? ...Officials at the Kingston campus set out to see if they could change student behavior around some of the most common and wasteful energy habits on campus: leaving computers on when not in use, keeping the heat and/or air conditioners on when they leave a room, and taking excessively long showers....Based on an initial survey, URI students took showers that lasted an average of 13 minutes each. After the first semester, shower length remained virtually unchanged, but students reduced the number they took from eight to 6.8 per week. "Shower length is the most difficult behavior to change; it seems to be ingrained in people as a right," said Scott Finlinson, coordinator of the project for NORESCO, the energy services company hired by the University. "While men tend to be willing to reduce the length of their showers, women say that they have too much to do in the shower to cut back on the time spent there." ...	When the Apocalypse comes... I intend on smelling real good! ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Apr 21, 2009 from Discovery News: World's Land Slipping in Quality Nearly 25 percent of land around the world is in bad shape and getting worse, according to a new study, and human activities are to blame. It's the first study to directly measure the extent of human-induced global land degradation. The phenomenon describes a decline in the quality of soil and vegetation that the land can't recover from on its own.... One and a half billion people currently live in degraded areas. And as soils decline, people reach a point where they can't grow enough food to feed themselves. They move on, leaving the dead land behind....The scientists calculated that all of the vegetation that has been lost from the world's degraded land would have removed an extra billion tons of carbon out of the atmosphere if it were still healthy and green. ...	Dead zones in the oceans... now dead lands, too! ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Apr 21, 2009 from Press Association: Climate victims will double - Oxfam The number of people hit by climate-related disasters around the world will increase by more than half in the next six years, aid agency Oxfam has warned. The charity predicted the number affected by events such as flooding, storms and drought would rise from 242 million people to hit 375 million a year by 2015. And with the humanitarian aid system already a "postcode lottery on a global scale", it is already barely able to cope with current levels of disasters and could be overwhelmed by increases in the next few years, Oxfam warned. The aid agency said the expected rise of 133 million at risk stemmed from a combination of existing poverty and people migrating to densely populated slum areas which would be prone to increasingly frequent climate-related crises.... A new campaign by Oxfam, Here and Now, aims to tackle climate change and ensure the world's poorest and most vulnerable people get a fair deal as the world tackles global warming. ...	Or: The more you contributed to global warming the LESS aid you get! ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Apr 21, 2009 from Yale Environment 360: As Climate Warms, Species May Need to Migrate or Perish ...A number of studies indicate that global warming will rob many species of their current habitat, pushing them towards extinction. Some conservation biologists argue that the only way to save some species may be to move them to new ranges that they canâ€™t get to themselves. This strategy â€” which goes by various names including assisted migration, assisted colonization, and, most recently, managed relocation â€” only emerged in the scientific literature in 2007. Over the past two years it has attracted widespread interest. A number of scientists are now investigating how they can pick new homes for endangered species and move them safely. ...	Got ark? ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Apr 21, 2009 from London Guardian: South Korea lights the way on carbon emissions with its Â£23bn green deal The secretary for future vision is considering how many South Koreans it takes to change a million lightbulbs. No joke. Kim Sang-hyo, the president's extravagantly titled right-hand man, is trying to create more than 940,000 green jobs and improve his country's energy efficiency at the same time. Switching every bulb in every public building in South Korea to light-emitting diodes by the end of this year is one, very small, element in the master plan of what has been described as the greenest new deal on the planet....Over the next four years, the government promises to build a million green homes, improve the energy efficiency of a million more, invest Â£1.2bn on research into low-carbon technologies and spend Â£4.8bn on high-speed railways and other forms of "clean" transport. ...	The heart and seoul of the green movement is the lightbulb. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Apr 21, 2009 from Associated Press: Honeybee shortage worries Japanese farmers People working in agriculture are worrying that a nationwide shortage of honeybees used to cross-pollinate strawberries, watermelon and other fruits and vegetable crops will hurt harvests soon...an investigation by the Chiba prefectural government found that farmers in the prefecture had secured only about 70 percent of the needed number of honeybees....The farm ministry... began negotiations with Argentina to import honeybees from there. Butprofessor Jun Nakamura of Tamagawa University's Honeybee Science Research Center said Africanized honeybees, which are highly aggressive and sometimes attack humans, live in the northern part of Argentina. ...	Those Africanized honeybees are SUCH a bad influence! ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Apr 20, 2009 from via ScienceDaily: Keeping Slim Is Good For The Planet, Say Scientists Maintaining a healthy body weight is good news for the environment, according to a study which appears April 20 in the International Journal of Epidemiology. Because food production is a major contributor to global warming, a lean population, such as that seen in Vietnam, will consume almost 20 percent less food and produce fewer greenhouse gases than a population in which 40 percent of people are obese (close to that seen in the USA today)... When it comes to food consumption, moving about in a heavy body is like driving around in a gas guzzler', say the authors. ...	That would make the US a nation of Hummers! ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Apr 20, 2009 from San Francisco Chronicle: Berkeley mayor gives up his car for the bus Some mayors tool around in Priuses and hybrid Civics. But Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates has taken green transit a step further. No more cars for him, at all. The 71-year-old mayor is trading in his 2001 Volvo for an AC Transit pass and a sturdy pair of walking shoes. "I'm trying to reduce my carbon footprint to the absolute minimum," he said. "I figure, if I really want to go someplace I can just rent a car." Bates' long farewell to the Volvo began about a year ago, when he started walking to work as a way to lose weight and stay in shape. The 18-minute trek from his home in South Berkeley to City Hall was so invigorating he started walking everywhere he could - to Berkeley Bowl, the BART station, city council meetings. ...	Just don't expect him to be on time. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Apr 20, 2009 from National Geographic News: Surprising Clouds Forming Due to Lead in Air Lead in the air is causing clouds where there shouldn't be any "in conditions typically too warm and dry for cloud formation," according to scientists who've "bottled" clouds and even grown their own. Driven mainly by industrial lead-dust emissions, lead-heavy clouds could change weather patterns and might actually help fight global warming, the study suggests. Researchers collected cloud samples atop a Swiss mountain and found that about half of their ice crystals contained lead... As our world warms and becomes drier, these leaded clouds may drive unpredictable changes in rain and snowfall... ...	The good news is, we can move these clouds around with giant magnets! ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Apr 20, 2009 from London Guardian: China considers setting targets for carbon emissions The Chinese government is for the first time considering setting targets for carbon emissions, a significant development that could help negotiations on a Kyoto successor treaty at Copenhagen later this year, the Guardian has learned. Su Wei, a leading figure in China's climate change negotiating team, said that officials were considering introducing a national target that would limit emissions relative to economic growth in the country's next five-year plan from 2011... While that is a minority view and final decisions are some way off, the proposals are striking because they are at odds with China's official negotiating stance. ...	Maybe leaders who don't take global warming seriously shouldn't be leaders! ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Apr 20, 2009 from Inter Press Service: PERU: Water Isn't for Everyone The melting of glaciers resulting from climate change and the lack of adequate water management policies seem to be the main causes behind the water shortages that are fuelling conflicts in Peru. This warning is being sounded from a variety of sectors. Nearly 50 percent of the 218 social conflicts recorded by the national ombudsmanâ€™s office as of February 2009 were triggered by socio-environmental problems, many of them related to water management issues, states the report "Water Faces New Challenges: Actors and Initiatives in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia", published by the international anti-poverty organisation Oxfam on Mar. 20. Two southern departments, Moquegua and Arequipa, are at loggerheads over water. And rural communities in the Andean highlands region along the Yauca River have experienced violent clashes that have even claimed lives. ...	If only they would wage these wars with water pistols! ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Apr 20, 2009 from The Daily Climate: California takes on King Corn California regulators, trying to assess the true environmental cost of corn ethanol, are poised to declare that the biofuel cannot help the state reduce global warming. As they see it, corn is no better -- and might be worse -- than petroleum when total greenhouse gas emissions are considered. Such a declaration, to be considered later this week by the California Air Resources Board, would be a considerable blow to the corn-ethanol industry in the United States. If passed, the measure could serve as a model as other states and the federal government tackle carbon emissions. That has the ethanol industry in a full-court press against the proposal, saying it risks killing investments needed to create the next generation of cleaner, more efficient biofuels. ...	Foolishly, we've been bio-foiled again! ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Apr 20, 2009 from Reuters: Aborigine, Inuit tradition can fight climate change Alaskan Inuits, Australian aborigines and Pygmies from Cameroon have a message for a warming world: native traditions can be a potent weapon against climate change. At a summit starting Monday in Anchorage, Alaska, some 400 indigenous people from 80 nations are gathering to hone this message in the hope that it can be a key part of international climate negotiations.... The summit is taking place about 500 miles from the Alaskan village of Newtok, where intensifying river flow and melting permafrost are forcing 320 residents to resettle on a higher site some 9 miles away in a new consequence of climate change, known as climigration. Newtok is the first official Arctic casualty of climate change. A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study indicates 26 other Alaskan villages are in immediate danger, with an additional 60 considered under threat in the next decade... ...	Climate change... this time it's personal! ApocaDoc permalink