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What A Week It Was: Apocadocuments from

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This Week's Top Ten Very Scary Tags:
contamination ~ alternative energy ~ climate impacts ~ toxic buildup ~ efficiency increase ~ ecosystem interrelationships ~ water issues ~ smart policy ~ economic myopia ~ global warming ~ carbon emissions

ApocaDocuments (44) gathered this week:
Sun, Jun 7, 2009 from Montreal Gazette: Wood stoves blamed for worsening air quality The number of days of poor air quality on Montreal Island shot up to 68 last year from 44 days during 2007, the city's air-quality watchdogs said Saturday. The Reseau de surveillance de la qualite de l'air, or RSQA, placed the blame for that deteriorating air-quality performance squarely on fine-particulate air pollution -- largely caused by the use of residential wood heat. "The contribution of wood heat to fine-particulate emissions continues to grow and amounted in 2006 to about 61 per cent of the total estimated emissions," the body's freshly released eight-page annual report for 2008 states. ...	The only energy efficient solution to this that I can see is grow lots of body hair! ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Jun 7, 2009 from Sydney Morning Herald: Combative lawyer aims to protect the planet FEW lawyers are ordained as Buddhist priests or give up lucrative careers to take on a single, unfinancial client. But James Thornton, founder of the environmental law firm Client Earth, has done both. His inspiration comes in part from a meeting years ago with the Dalai Lama, who advised him that environmentalists should meditate, because "solutions never come from an angry mind"... He sees his legal work not as aggressive but as transformative. "Blame isn't so interesting any more. Changing everything is a delightful opportunity," he said... ...	"Blame" is my middle name. ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Jun 7, 2009 from Dallas Morning News: Algae could become reliable jet fuel source Seawater algae -- a cousin to pond scum -- may someday become a significant source of fuel for military jets and airliners, and at the same time rejuvenate farmlands where tumbleweeds fill old irrigation ditches and abandoned cotton gins bake in the Texas sun. Algae farmers conceivably could become the newest breed of Texas oilmen. For now, that's still a very big "if." Several scientific and technical obstacles must be overcome before the tiny plantlike organisms, which create unsightly rings on boat hulls and slime on fish tanks, can be turned into a viable fuel.... Producing a lot of oil from the algae, cheaply and quickly, is the goal – basically creating, in a matter of days, what took nature millions of years. ...	Has anybody considered tumbleweeds as an alternative, renewable energy source? ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Jun 7, 2009 from Minneapolis Star Tribune: Tick population spreading in Minn Disease-carrying ticks appear to be on the rise in Minnesota, and spreading to parts of the state that didn't have the bugs as recently as five years ago, state health officials say. Melissa Kemperman, state Health Department epidemiologist, said blacklegged ticks, also known as deer ticks, can carry Lyme disease and are spreading north and west in Stearns, Wright and Todd counties. She said the reason for the increase isn't clear. Ticks survive in woody or brushy habitats. Kemperman said their habitats aren't changing as fast as the tick population is spreading. It's likely the ticks are being spread by birds, deer and people, she said. ...	It's only a matter of time ... before the ticks are in charge! ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Jun 7, 2009 from London Daily Telegraph: Nine alien insects to cause pain, illness and even death in Britain as climate warms up Insects which harbour tropical diseases, inflict painful rashes and bites, and can even undermine the foundations of buildings, will become a growing problem due to climate change, scientists are predicting... Experts working for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have identified dozens of “nuisance insects” which will thrive. Many are native in the UK, including common species like the wasp and cockroach. However, the list also contains nine alien species which are either on the verge of invading Britain or have very recently arrived here. Among the insects the experts are most concerned about is the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus).... nother insect expected to arrive in Britain soon is the Sand fly (Phlebotomus mascittii) whose bites can cause rashes and can transmit the flesh eating disease Leishmaniasis. ...	The apocalypse... is gonna be gross! ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Jun 7, 2009 from CNN: Search for downed plane highlights ocean trash problem The massive amount of garbage in the ocean likely complicates the search for the remains of an Air France flight that went missing Monday near Brazil, oceanographers who spoke with CNN said. Earlier this week, investigators said they had located pieces of the plane in the southern Atlantic Ocean, which might have given them clues to the origin of Air France Flight 447's crash. But on Thursday, Brazilian officials said what they had found was nothing more than run-of-the-mill ocean trash.... Much of the ocean trash is plastic, which means it won't go away for hundreds of years, if ever. And the problem has gotten so bad that soupy "garbage patches" have developed in several locations, called gyres, where ocean currents swirl. One of them is estimated to be the size of Texas. There are about five or six major trash-collecting gyres in the world's oceans, with the most famous located in the Pacific Ocean about midway between North America and Asia... ...	At least the trash is trying to be tidy. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Jun 6, 2009 from Alternet: California's Water Woes Threaten the Entire Country's Food Supply ...Here are some not-so-fun facts: California's agricultural sector grows approximately one-third of the nation's food supply and is nourished by diverted rivers and streams filled yearly by runoff from its prodigious Sierra Nevada snowpack, as well as groundwater pumping and other less-reliable methods. That snowpack -- which once sparked the first, but not the last, water war that helped transform a semi-arid Los Angeles into an unsustainable oasis less populous than only New York City -- is disappearing fast...To make matters worse, a crushing drought, now well into its third year, has made simply everything problematic. In California's central valley, home to a majority of the state's agricultural output, farmers are leaving hundreds of thousands of acres fallow, and the resultant economic depression is having a domino effect that could cost California $1 billion to start and is causing residents of a one-time food powerhouse to go hungry. ...	"An unsustainable oasis"... sounds like planet Earth to me! ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Jun 6, 2009 from BusinessGreen: Rainforests could be more profitable standing, says research The Indonesian rainforest is worth more to businesses standing than if it was felled, according to new research. A study published in the journal Conservation Letters shows that a scheme that would give palm oil companies -- largely responsible for deforestation in the region -- carbon credits for protecting rainforests would make them more money than clearing land to grow plants for palm oil. Palm oil is used in a number of cosmetic products as well as man biofuels. The scheme, called Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (Redd), could go a long way towards protecting rainforests, Oscar Venter from the University of Queensland told the BBC. "If Redd does become part of the next international climate agreement, it will have the potential to fund forest protection in areas slated for oil palm conversion," said Dr Venter, who led the research. ...	And, if we can build a theme park or two in the rainforest... even more profit! ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Jun 6, 2009 from Brown University via ScienceDaily: How Humans Have Disrupted The Nitrogen Cycle More and more, scientists are getting a better grip on the nitrogen cycle. They are learning about sources of nitrogen and how this element changes as it loops from the nonliving, such as the atmosphere, soil or water, to the living, whether plants or animals. Scientists have determined that humans are disrupting the nitrogen cycle by altering the amount of nitrogen that is stored in the biosphere. The chief culprit is fossil fuel combustion, which releases nitric oxides into the air that combine with other elements to form smog and acid rain... In a paper published June 5 in Science, the group traces the source of nitrates to nitric oxides released through fossil fuel burning that parallels the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. ...	This info will make a nice isotopic of conversation at your next cocktail party. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Jun 6, 2009 from McClatchy Newspapers: Deadly bat disease spreading fast, scientists warn lawmakers A mysterious disease that's killing tens of thousands of bats in the Northeast is spreading so fast that it could reach California within five years, biologists and officials of the Agriculture and Interior departments told lawmakers Thursday. Never in my wildest imagination would I have dreamed of anything that could pose this serious a threat to America's bats," Merlin Tuttle , a biologist with Bat Conservation International who's studied the creatures for 50 years, told two House of Representatives subcommittees.... The disease, called "white-nose syndrome," makes bats awaken from hibernation prematurely and leave their caves. Freezing, unable to find insects to eat, they fall from the sky and die. ...	If this isn't one of the Seven Signs of the Apocalypse, then it's time to add one. ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Jun 5, 2009 from Environmental Working Group, via BoingBoing: Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Database Skin Deep is a safety guide to cosmetics and personal care products brought to you by researchers at the Environmental Working Group. Skin Deep pairs ingredients in more than 41,000 products against 50 definitive toxicity and regulatory databases, making it the largest integrated data resource of its kind. Why did a small nonprofit take on such a big project? Because the FDA doesn't require companies to test their own products for safety. ...	"Leaving a beautiful corpse" ain't what it's cracked up to be. ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Jun 5, 2009 from New York- Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, via EurekAlert: Birth defect of the male urethra is not increasing in New York state In recent decades, there have been periodic reports of a worldwide decline in sperm count and quality. Male infertility has ostensibly been on the rise, accompanied by increases in testicular cancer and hypospadias -- a congenital defect in which the opening of the urethra is on the underside, rather than at the end, of the penis. Taken together, these three conditions have been termed testicular dysgenesis syndrome. Environmental chemicals known as phthalates, some researchers say, may be the cause of the problem. Used in the manufacture of plastics, phthalates at sufficiently high levels have been seen to interfere with male fetal development. Some studies have found that hypospadias are more prevalent among male infants today than they were 30 years ago. Now, a team of researchers ... have taken a fresh look at the data and have found no rise in rates of hypospadias in New York State from 1992 to 2005. Similar findings have been reported by researchers looking at state-level data in Washington and California.... When combined with recent research showing that sperm counts are not declining, the current study suggests that testicular dysgenesis syndrome may not be a problem in humans, contrary to earlier concerns. ...	Thank goodness we humans have nothing to worry about! Fish, on the other hand... ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Jun 5, 2009 from CBC (Canada): How much fertilizer can a river take? Every year, some of P.E.I.'s rivers and streams end up starved of the oxygen marine animals need. Huge blooms of sea lettuce grow and then rot, sucking the oxygen out of the water, causing fish and other creatures to die in what's called anoxic conditions. Mike van den Heuvel of the Canadian Rivers Institute at UPEI has been looking at the example of the Wilmot River near Summerside, where the equivalent of several pickup trucks full of fertilizer is going into the water every day. Van den Heuvel, who is being consulted by the government, is one of the scientists trying to find that safe level of nitrates for Island rivers. While that level has not been established, he told CBC News Thursday too much is making its way into some rivers, and if changes aren't made, the consequences could be dire. "Ultimately it could have effects on economically important industries. For example, the mussel farming industry depends on the estuaries," said van den Heuvel. "Also tourism is also a very important industry for P.E.I., and smelly anoxic estuaries are not really a big draw for tourists." ...	This one is just gasping "less, and less, and less..." 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, Jun 5, 2009 from Guardian (UK): Captured on camera: 50 years of climate change in the Himalayas But half a century later, American mountain geographer Alton Byers returned to the precise locations of the original pictures and replicated 40 panoramas taken by explorers Müller and Schneider. Placed together, the juxtaposed images are not only visually stunning but also of significant scientific value.... "Only five decades have passed between the old and the new photographs and the changes are dramatic," says Byers. "Many small glaciers at low altitudes have disappeared entirely and many larger ones have lost around half of their volume. Some have formed huge glacial lakes at the foot of the glacier, threatening downstream communities in case of an outburst."... The effects of climate change are dramatically illustrated at the world's "third pole", so-called because the mountain range locks away the highest volume of frozen water after the north and south poles. ...	Good thing global warming has just been a theory over those 50 years. ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Jun 5, 2009 from New York Times: Greening the Herds: A New Diet to Cap Gas Since January, cows at 15 farms across Vermont have had their grain feed adjusted to include more plants like alfalfa and flaxseed -- substances that, unlike corn or soy, mimic the spring grasses that the animals evolved long ago to eat. As of the last reading in mid-May, the methane output of Mr. Choiniere's herd had dropped 18 percent. Meanwhile, milk production has held its own. The program was initiated by Stonyfield Farm, the yogurt manufacturer, at the Vermont farms that supply it with organic milk. Mr. Choiniere, a third-generation dairy herder who went organic in 2003, said he had sensed that the outcome would be good even before he got the results. "They are healthier," he said of his cows. "Their coats are shinier, and the breath is sweet." ...	The best ideas make everyone happier -- including the cows! ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Jun 5, 2009 from BusinessGreen: New standards pull plug on energy guzzling vending machines Vending machines for soda and other beverages would sip energy rather than guzzle it under new standards proposed by the US Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The proposed rules set energy conservation standards and consumption thresholds for refrigerated vending machines that dispense bottled or canned drinks. The measures would cut energy use of glass- or polymer-front machines by as much as 42 per cent compared to current energy consumption of such machines. Energy use in more traditional solid-front vending machines would be cut by about 15 per cent.... Over a 30-year period, the new standards could yield savings of as much as 10 billion kwh of electricity - about enough for 800,000 typical homes for a year, save vending machine property owners $250 million, and eliminate five million metric tons of CO2 emissions, according to the DOE's long-term projections. The 30-year estimate for CO2 reduction is roughly the equivalent of the CO2 emissions produced by a million cars during a year and has an estimated value of $96 million, the DOE said. ...	Guilt-free junk food? What next, energy-efficient Big Macs? ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Jun 4, 2009 from Scripps News: Authorities scrambled to corral radioactive La-Z-Boy recliners An Indiana manufacturer unknowingly used metal blended with a dangerous radioactive isotope to make parts for 1,000 La-Z-Boy recliners more than a decade ago. The discovery of that contamination -- which received virtually no publicity at the time -- triggered a federal and state effort to keep the popular chairs out of American living rooms, a Scripps Howard News Service investigation has found. The isotope -- Cobalt-60 -- used by No-Sag Products Co. of Kendallville, Ind., had been blended in Brazil into metal No-Sag used in 1998 to make brackets for the chairs, according to Rex Bowser, director of the Indoor Air and Radiological Health Emergency Response Program of the Indiana State Department of Health.... Experts said that the amount of radioactivity in the recliners, though relatively low, could have posed a health threat over time....in Indiana and across the United States -- even though scrap yards and recycling operations are the primary line of defense against rogue radiation -- neither the federal government nor any state requires those businesses to screen metal goods for radiation or report it when found. ...	'Specially since folks pretty much live in their La-Z-Boys! ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Jun 4, 2009 from Long Beach Press-Telegram: Oil tanker at Port of Long Beach is a green first The giant cable reeled into position, an engineer pulled the handle, and like that, pollution equivalent to 187,000 passenger cars was lifted from local skies. A 941-foot BP oil tanker that just arrived from the Alaskan frontier became the globe's first such vessel to plug into a dockside electrical outlet Wednesday - an engineering feat expected to cut at least 30 tons of emissions in the coming year... It took nearly five years and $24 million to design and build the dockside power outlet at Pier T, which every few days accommodates hulking tankers carrying a million-plus barrels of oil. The Navigator previously burned about 10,000 gallons of diesel each day in port to power massive pumps needed to off-load the oil. Electrification required port engineers to build a million-pound underwater outlet anchored by a series of 168-foot concrete pilings and holding a massive steel cable that connects to the ship. ...	Fortunately, Paul Bunyon was out of work and thus available to plug it in. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Jun 4, 2009 from University of Maryland, via EurekAlert: Study: Illegal fishing harming present and future New England groundfish fisheries Weak enforcement combined with fishermen facing serious economic hardships are leading to widespread violations of fisheries regulations along the Northeastern United States coast. This pattern of noncompliance threatens the success of new fisheries management measures put in place to protect and restore fish stocks, according to a new study published online this week in the journal Marine Policy.... nearly a doubling of the percent of total harvest taken illegally over the last two decades in the Northeast multispecies groundfish fishery (NEGF).... "To many fishermen, the current situation has reached an economic and moral tipping point where the potential economic gains from illegal fishing far outweigh the expected cost of getting caught." ...	When your kids are hungry, you eat your seed corn. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Jun 4, 2009 from Wiley-Blackwell via EurekAlert: Association found between Parkinson's disease and pesticide exposure in French farm workers Laboratory studies in rats have shown that injecting the insecticide rotenone leads to an animal model of PD and several epidemiological studies have shown an association between pesticides and PD, but most have not identified specific pesticides or studied the amount of exposure relating to the association. A new epidemiological study involving the exposure of French farm workers to pesticides found that professional exposure is associated with PD, especially for organochlorine insecticides.... The study found that PD patients had been exposed to pesticides through their work more frequently and for a greater number of years/hours than those without PD. Among the three main classes of pesticides (insecticides, herbicides, fungicides), researchers found the largest difference for insecticides: men who had used insecticides had a two-fold increase in the risk of PD. ...	Poison is as poison does...? ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Jun 4, 2009 from IRIN News (UN): AFRICA: Camel farming could be the answer Camel farming could be an option for some 20 million to 35 million people living on semi-arid land in Africa, who will soon be unable to grow crops because of climate change, says the co-author of a new study. By 2050, hotter conditions and less rainfall in an area covering 500,000 sq km to one million sq km of marginal farmland -- about the size of Egypt -- would make it harder for people grow crops.... Various climate projections have indicated that the length of the reliable growing season on the affected land would drop below 90 days, making it impossible to cultivate maize -- the staple food in much of Africa -- and in some places even "drought-tolerant crops, such as millet" would be difficult to grow. ...	Camelburgers, anyone? ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Jun 4, 2009 from Queen: 1 in 4 nursing home residents carry MRSA Its authors say that the findings, which have been published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, highlight the need for infection control strategies to be given a higher priority in nursing homes. The study, thought to be the largest of its kind studying MRSA in private nursing homes in the UK, took nose swabs from 1,111 residents and 553 staff in 45 nursing homes in the former Northern Board area of Northern Ireland. Twenty-four per cent of residents and 7 per cent of staff were found to be colonised with MRSA, meaning they were carrying the bacteria but not necessarily showing signs of infection or illness. Residents in 42 of the homes were colonised with MRSA, with recorded rates in individual nursing homes ranging from zero to 73 per cent. Staff in 28 of the homes carried the bacteria with prevalence rates ranging from zero to 28 per cent. ...	Does that mean Great-Grandma will get even fewer visitors? ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Jun 4, 2009 from Mongabay: Tribes in Peru to get $0.68/acre for protecting Amazon forest Indigenous communities in Peru will be paid 5 soles ($1.70) per hectare ($0.68/acre) of preserved forest under a new conservation plan proposed by Peru's Ministry of Environment, reports the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) in its bi-monthly update. Antonio Brack, Peru's Minister of Environment, says the scheme could generate $18.3 million dollars for forest communities, which control some 11 million hectares of forest in the country, beginning in 2010. Brack says money has already been set aside for the program in the 2010 budget.... Nevertheless the program will represent a substantial increase in funding over the $30,000 per year indigenous communities presently receive in direct international support for forest conservation, according to Brack. ...	Jeez, can I buy a few acres? ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Jun 4, 2009 from Guardian (UK): Green energy overtakes fossil fuel investment, says UN Green energy overtook fossil fuels in attracting investment for power generation for the first time last year, according to figures released today by the United Nations. Wind, solar and other clean technologies attracted $140bn (£85bn) compared with $110bn for gas and coal for electrical power generation, with more than a third of the green cash destined for Britain and the rest of Europe. The biggest growth for renewable investment came from China, India and other developing countries, which are fast catching up on the West in switching out of fossil fuels to improve energy security and tackle climate change. "There have been many milestones reached in recent years, but this report suggests renewable energy has now reached a tipping point where it is as important -- if not more important -- in the global energy mix than fossil fuels," said Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN's Environment Programme. ...	That's a tipping point worth tipping! ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Jun 3, 2009 from New Scientist: Methanol challenges hydrogen to be fuel of the future For years many companies, governments and researchers have predicted that our energy future must lie with the universe's simplest element. The mooted hydrogen economy would use the gas to store and transport renewable or low-carbon energy, and power fuel cells in the transport sector or in portable electronics. But creating the necessary society-wide infrastructure has proved difficult and expensive to get off the ground. And now a rival idea, first suggested in 2006 by Nobel chemistry laureate George Olah at the University of Southern California, has received a boost. The methanol economy, say its supporters, could be with us much sooner than the hydrogen one. Olah's rationale is that modifying our existing oil and petrol-focused infrastructure to run on methanol will be much easier than refitting the world's liquid-fuel-based economy to deal with an explosive gas. Methanol has already been used to power portable gadgets and could potentially power vehicles and other devices. Now US chemists have worked out the conditions needed to make the feedstock for methanol production using renewable energy. ...	Now crystal methanol, that'll really be something. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Jun 3, 2009 from Greenwire: Low-key governor becomes leading GOP voice on climate Since their drubbing in last year's election, Republicans have been looking for someone who can go toe-to-toe with President Obama and other top Democrats, with most suggesting that person must come from beyond Washington. On energy and climate, at least, such a Republican has emerged. Indiana's two-term governor, Mitch Daniels, has delivered an energy message that has drawn praise from conservatives and raised the rumored presidential candidate's profile in what is likely to be a crowded Republican field in 2012. ...	What do you expect from a governor who campaigned by driving a gas guzzling RV all over Indiana! 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, Jun 3, 2009 from Los Angeles Times: California Senate approves ban on BPA in plastics Despite a fierce lobbying effort by the U.S. chemical industry, the state Senate narrowly approved a proposal Tuesday that would ban the use of a substance in baby bottles, toddler sippy cups and food containers that independent scientists say is a threat to childhood development. The bill by state Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) that would prohibit the use of bisphenol A -- commonly dubbed BPA -- now goes to the Assembly, where it is expected to face a wall of resistance from manufacturers of the products that contain the chemical... Researchers from the chemical industry say the public health threat has been vastly overblown, and manufacturers of BPA argue that it has passed muster with nearly a dozen regulatory agencies in Europe and the United States. ...	Perhaps these chemical industry researchers have been hitting the bottle a bit too much! ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Jun 3, 2009 from WorldWatch Institute: Farmers Poised to Offset One-Quarter of Global Fossil Fuel Emissions Annually Innovations in food production and land use that are ready to be scaled-up today could reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to roughly 25 percent of global fossil fuel emissions and present the best opportunity to remove greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere, according to a new report by the Worldwatch Institute and Ecoagriculture Partners. As the price of carbon rises with new caps on emissions and expanding markets for carbon offsets, the contribution of land-based, or "terrestrial," carbon to climate change mitigation efforts could increase even further.... Mobilizing agricultural carbon sequestration is therefore an essential tool in the effort to reduce the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases to the 350 parts-per-million level that many scientists argue we must achieve to avoid catastrophic climate change. A recent assessment published by Worldwatch in State of the World 2009: Into a Warming World found that emissions of carbon dioxide will have to "go negative" -- with more being absorbed than emitted -- by 2050 to achieve this goal. ...	Growing ourselves out of this problem sure has a nice ring to it. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Jun 3, 2009 from University of Minnesota: U of M Study says Minnesota households flushing 25 percent more pharmaceuticals, household chemicals than 30 years ago In addition to a 25 percent overall increase in medicines and chemicals in the wastewater, researchers found caffeine in all samples; salicylic acid (the active compound in aspirin) was in 75 percent of samples, ibuprofen in 50 percent and endocrine disruptors -- typically found in birth control pills and hormone replacement products -- in nearly 85 percent. Researchers also found that water use did not vary from season to season, but was affected by the household's age, with younger households using nearly twice the amount of water per person than households with occupants 55 and older. The good news is a 33 percent decrease in the amount of oil and grease flushed down the drain. Concentrations of phosphates were also down —due to phosphate-free detergents and household cleansers—while the amount of nitrogen in household wastewater remained the same. ...	What's that? Hormones are tasty? ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Jun 3, 2009 from New Scientist: Health workers may flee in pandemic panic Healthcare workers will desert their posts in droves in a pandemic, unless the safety and psychological issues they face are addressed. So say surveys of doctors, nurses and other staff, such as lab techs, secretaries and porters, from around the world. The worst predictions are for the UK, where as few as 15 per cent of workers would show up in a pandemic.... Studies in Hong Kong and the US predict an 85 and 50 per cent turnout respectively. ...	What if they gave a pandemic and nobody came? ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Jun 3, 2009 from BusinessGreen: Report: solar panel prices to plummet The average price of solar panels will drop by over a quarter this year, as falling demand and increased supplies of polysilicon combine to drive down prices. That is the conclusion of a new study from research firm IC Insights, which predicts that despite the reduction in upfront prices, global solar photovoltaic installations will fall by 22 per cent this year as a result of the recession and the scaling back of some European incentives. However, the report also forecasts that the expansion of new incentive schemes in the US, China and Europe combined with the fact that the polysilicon supply shortages that dogged the industry in recent years have been largely resolved means that the sector will "come charging back in 2010". ...	Maybe now's the time to say "charge it!" ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Jun 2, 2009 from McClatchy Newspapers: Garage sales covered under new product safety laws Just like megasize toy manufacturers and stores that sell products from China, the notoriously broad and confusing federal Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act applies to you and your front yard. Anyone selling products, even used ones, that have been recalled or banned by the act is in violation. The act covers everything from toys with lead paint to cribs that might strangle babies. "Ignorance of the law is not an excuse," warns a 27-page Consumer Product Safety Commission resellers' handbook, released this month. "But more importantly ... you do not want to sell products that have the potential to harm anyone, especially a child." ...	Anger over this could spark the revolution we've been waiting for. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Jun 2, 2009 from Telegraph.co.uk: 600ft jellyfish crop circle found in Oxfordshire field Karen Alexander, a crop circle expert, said: "We have seen butterfly and bird patterns in the past, but this is the first jellyfish crop circle in the world.... It is absolutely huge -- roughly three times the size of most crop patterns and extremely interesting. People have been aghast at the size of it. It is a complete monster. "We are looking into the meaning of it, but at present it just seems to have appeared out of nowhere." Crop circle theorists known as 'croppies' - believe the patterns are created by UFOs during nocturnal visits, or caused by natural phenomena such as unusual forms of lightning striking the earth. But it has been proven the patterns can be easily created by artists. ...	Could this be Gaia saying "this is where you're heading, guys..."? ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Jun 2, 2009 from CNET: Nobel laureate: Wind is not the future While the Obama administration has expressed increasing hopes that wind power will play a key role in America's future energy system, one of the world's leading scientists is ruling out the technology. Jack Steinberger, the 1968 Nobel Prize winner in physics and director of CERN's particle-physics laboratory, spoke at a conference of Nobel laureates at the 350-year-old Royal Society in London last week.... The reason? Wind power still requires backup power when the wind isn't blowing, and that decreases its contribution to emissions reductions.... On the other hand, solar thermal power--where collectors concentrate sunlight using mirrors and lenses to produce electric power and heat--is already economical and can handle the storage problem, he said. The heat produced can be stored, enabling solar thermal plants to produce electricity during hours without sunlight. Steinberger now wants funding for a big pilot project. The idea is to link solar thermal power from Northern Africa to Europe via high-voltage undersea cables. The proposed 3- to 3.5-gigawatt power plant would cost an estimated $32 billion to build. ...	$32 billion would buy a lot of small home wind generators. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Jun 2, 2009 from House Resources Committe,: Congress takes up bat-killing 'white nose' syndrome The House Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, led by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), and Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife, led by Del. Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D-GU), will hold a joint oversight hearing on "White-Nose Syndrome: What's Killing Bats in the Northeast?" ...	Can we just make it illegal? ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Jun 2, 2009 from Bloomberg News: Wood Is New Coal as Polluters Use Carbon-Eating Trees Power companies are burning more trees because the renewable fuel can be cheaper than coal and ignited without needing permits to release carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming.... Industrialized nations drew 4 percent of their energy from biomass in 2006, the most recent data available from the IEA. That was the equivalent of about 1.1 billion barrels of oil. Chips of wood stumps and branches, heated to 400 degrees Celsius (750 degrees Fahrenheit) at the Novus furnace, are as efficient as coal and cheaper: European Union rules don’t require carbon-dioxide permits because the trees absorbed a like amount of the gas before harvest, making them carbon-neutral.... Trees like pine retain an advantage over wind and solar energy as being readily convertible into power, heat and transportation fuel. "We're really only at the beginning of using biomass efficiently," German Green Party member Juergen Trittin, a former environment minister and parliamentarian, said in an interview. ...	Carbon neutral is better than coal's carbon horrendous... but can we get "carbon positive"? ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Jun 2, 2009 from Guardian (UK): Nancy Sutley: Obama to stake political prestige on passing US climate bill Barack Obama is prepared to stake his own political prestige on getting climate change legislation through Congress, and would be willing to intervene directly to ensure passage of America's first law to reduce the carbon emissions that cause global warming. Nancy Sutley, who is pivotal in setting Obama's green agenda as the chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, told the Guardian that the president is ready to use his considerable personal popularity to rally Congress behind a sweeping climate change bill.... The accelerated pace set by some Democrats seems designed to capitalise on recent momentum behind a climate change bill which cleared a crucial committee in late May. The strategy also seeks to take advantage of Obama's current popularity -- Gallup gave him a 65 percent average approval rating last month. ...	Yes We... still might. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Jun 2, 2009 from CBC (Canada): Scientists unveil plans for online directory of life on Earth The directory will be a free resource that everyone — not just those working in the scientific community — can contribute to or use, say the people behind the project. The idea is to link together the efforts of thousands of observers around the world who already log their observations of flora and fauna online into one comprehensive, searchable directory.... The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL), one of the databases chronicling life on earth, will contribute data to the new directory. Those running EOL -- based out of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. -- are among the major backers of the project. "We are creating a virtual observatory for world biodiversity, where environmental observations, specimen data, experimental results, and sophisticated modelling can be done across all levels of biodiversity -- from genes to ecosystems," Dr. James Edwards, executive director of EOL, said of the proposed directory. ...	They better hurry, or it could be a really short directory. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Jun 2, 2009 from North Carolina State University, via EurekAlert: When hosts go extinct, what happens to their parasites? But what happens to the parasites hosted by endangered species? And although most people would side with the panda over the parasite, which group should we worry about more? ... For example, each fig species tends to be pollinated by a single fig wasp such that the loss of one should result in the loss of the other.... "The models suggest thousands of coextinctions have already occurred and that hundreds of thousands may be on the horizon. Yet we have observed few such events," Dunn says. "So we're not sure if all of these coextinctions are happening and not being tracked, or if parasites and mutualist species are better able to switch partners than we give them credit for, or something in between."... "There is a distinct possibility that declines in host species could drive parasite species to switch onto alternative hosts, which in turn could escalate the rate of emerging pathogens and parasites both for humans and our domesticated animals and plants," Dunn says. "Put simply, when a host becomes rare, its parasites and mutualists have two choices: jump ship to another host or go extinct. Either situation is a problem." ...	That's an ugly new form of "invasive species." ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Jun 1, 2009 from Sydney Australian: Spray blamed for new bird deaths BIRDS are again dropping dead from the sky in a new toxic drama in Western Australia. Nearly 200 ibises, ravens, gulls, ducks and a pelican were found dead or frothing and convulsing in Perth at the weekend. The discovery comes a year after the mysterious mass death of 200 birds only a few kilometres away and two years after the Esperance lead contamination scandal which emptied the skies over the holiday town of Esperance for months when thousands of birds were poisoned. The Department of Environment and Conservation yesterday blamed the latest deaths on the pesticide Fenthion, but said it was unclear whether it was a deliberate bird poisoning or had been caused by someone illegally dumping pesticide. ...	Perhaps... this is what the prophet Chicken Little was talking about. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Jun 1, 2009 from InterAcademy Panel on International Issues: Ocean acidification must be on the Copenhagen agenda, world's scientists warn Ocean acidification, one of the world's most important climate change challenges, may be left off the agenda at the United Nations Copenhagen conference, the world's science academies warned today.... 70 national science academies signed the statement.... "The implications of ocean acidification cannot be overstated. Unless we cut our global CO2 emissions by at least 50 percent by 2050 and thereafter, we could be looking at fundamental and immutable changes in the makeup of our marine biodiversity. The effects will be seen worldwide, threatening food security, reducing coastal protection and damaging the local economies that may be least able to tolerate it." ...	Fundamental and immutable means the ocean as we know it will die. Or, perhaps most frighteningly, "no more Filet o' Fish McSandwiches." ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Jun 1, 2009 from Mongabay: Nike, Unilever, Burger King, IKEA may unwittingly contribute to Amazon destruction, says Greenpeace Major international companies are unwittingly driving the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest through their purchases of leather, beef and other products supplied from the Brazil cattle industry, alleges a new report from Greenpeace. The report, Slaughtering the Amazon, is based on a three-year undercover investigation of the Brazilian cattle industry, which accounts for 80 percent of Amazon deforestation and roughly 14 percent of the world's annual forest loss. Greenpeace found that Brazilian beef companies are important suppliers of raw materials used by leading global brands, including Adidas/Reebok, Nike, Carrefour, Eurostar, Unilever, Johnson and Johnson, Toyota, Honda, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, IKEA, Kraft, Tesco and Wal-Mart, among others. ...	Does that make me unwittingly complicit, just by buying crap? ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Jun 1, 2009 from Times Online (UK): Rebound effect will raise fossil fuel use Improvements in energy efficiency will lead to greater use of fossil fuels, according to research published this week.... He argues that what he calls a "rebound effect" has been seriously underestimated by policymakers, who will have to impose drastic measures such as high petrol taxes to tackle the problem.... The rebound effect works in several ways. Industry, for example, will save on fuel costs by taking measures such as insulating buildings or switching to hybrid cars. It can then pass the savings to customers through lower prices, leaving them with more cash to spend. Production will rise to meet the demand created by the extra spending. Barker said the effect will be much stronger in the developing world, where large populations are about to join the fossil-fuel economy and small improvements in disposable income can lead to big changes in consumption. ...	There are no slam dunks in this game. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Jun 1, 2009 from Institute of Physics, via EurekAlert: Anticipating ocean acidification's economic consequences on commercial fisheries Ocean acidification, a direct result of increased CO2 emission, is set to change the Earth's marine ecosystems forever and may have a direct impact on our economy, resulting in substantial revenue declines and job losses.... Ocean acidification and declining carbonate ion concentration in sea water could directly damage corals and mollusks which all depend on sufficient carbonate levels to form shells successfully. Subsequent losses of prey such as plankton and shellfish would also alter food webs and intensify competition among predators for nourishment.... "The worldwide political, ethical, social and economic ramifications of ocean acidification, plus its capacity to switch ecosystems to a different state following relatively small perturbations, make it a policy-relevant "tipping element" of the earth system." ...	"Policy-relevant tipping element"? Is this a bad acid trip? ApocaDoc permalink