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What A Week It Was: Apocadocuments from

View By Scenario:
Species Collapse:	(2)
Plague/Virus:	(1)
Climate Chaos:	(14)
Resource Depletion:	(4)
Biology Breach:	(7)
Recovery:	(7)

This Week's Top Ten Very Scary Tags:
global warming ~ contamination ~ climate impacts ~ carbon emissions ~ ecosystem interrelationships ~ capitalist greed ~ technical cleverness ~ sustainability ~ smart policy ~ overfishing ~ governmental idiocy

ApocaDocuments (35) gathered this week:
Sun, Jun 14, 2009 from Economist: Flying for ever ...Solar-powered aircraft have flown before. The pioneer was Paul MacCready, whose Gossamer Penguin made the first manned flight in 1980 in California, with his then 13-year-old son at the controls. A derivative, Solar Challenger, crossed the English Channel in 1981. But nothing like HB-SIA, as the Swiss aircraft is known, has ever taken to the air. If it works as expected, another version will be built and this will take off, climb to 10,000 metres and, by storing some of the electricity generated during the day, continue flying through the night. Its pilots, Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, plan to cross the Atlantic in it and later to fly it around the world.... The wings of this aircraft are almost as big as those of an airliner, but they are covered in a film of solar cells that convert sunlight into electricity to drive its engines. ...	Just so the cells aren't affixed with wax! ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Jun 14, 2009 from Washington Post: White Rooftops May Help Slow Warming Could climate change be staved off by making the United States look like a scene from "Mamma Mia!"? That was suggested in a recent talk by Energy Secretary Steven Chu -- although, because he was speaking to Nobel laureates, he did not mention the ABBA musical set in the Greek islands. He said that global warming could be slowed by a low-tech idea that has nothing to do with coal plants or solar panels: white roofs... Climate scientists say that the reflective properties of the color white, if applied on enough of the world's rooftops, might actually be a brake on global warming. ...	Plus, I'll wear my jaunty white beret! ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Jun 14, 2009 from The Economist: REDDy and waiting THESE are critical times for trees. In some places -- like Peru, where police and indigenous folk are doing battle -- the future of the forests is being determined by lethal force. Guyana is seeking money from the rich world to help keep most of its land forested. In other places, eco-warriors merely have to hack their way through a thicket of arcane technicalities. One such place is Bonn, where diplomats from most countries in the world are haggling over financial incentives to keep trees intact... The talks are working on details of an idea known as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD): it aims to fold the saving of trees into a wider UN effort to cool the world. At the moment, the UN system offers no rewards for leaving trees alone. ...	A la Pink Floyd, sing with me: Hey, teacher, leave them trees alone! ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Jun 13, 2009 from Newark Star-Ledger: High levels of lead found in mussels, clams, bait fish in Raritan Bay Tests on mussels, clams and foraging fish near the Laurence Harbor Sea Wall in Old Bridge, have revealed high levels of lead, the Environmental Protection Agency reported today. The amount of lead found in ribbed mussels ranged from 3 to 8.6 parts per million. In softshell clams the amount ranged from 3.4 to 17 parts per million and hardshell clams from 1.7 to 3.1 parts per million. In foraging fish or bait fish the amount of lead found ranged from 0.49 to 0.92 parts per million. "This is very dangerous," said Peter Defur, a biologist and environmental consultant for Environmental Stewardship Concepts based in Richmond, Va., who works on contaminated sites. "I've never seen such high numbers in the 30 years I've been doing this." ...	Now I go fishing with magnets. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Jun 13, 2009 from Los Angeles Times: Cellphone shields and brain cancer ...Cellphones gave us new ways to stay connected. For some, they also provided a new reason for worry. Cellphones release microwave radiation when they're in use, a fact that inevitably led to fears of brain cancer. Just as inevitably, worries about brain cancer spawned a market for products that supposedly protect cellphone users. For $62, you can order a Delta Shield, a thin polyester patch that contains a microchip that allegedly renders cellphones harmless. Users are instructed to place the patch on their cellphone battery. The similar BIOPRO Cell Chip, sold online for $35, attaches to the outside of the phone. The penny-sized WaveShield 2000 Gold, selling for about $25, fits on the earpiece.... Experts are wary of devices' claims to neutralize microwave radiation. ...	My carrier pigeons' crap can contain histoplasmosis and my shield is a hat! ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Jun 13, 2009 from TIME Magazine: Congress Finally Gets Tough on Food Safety Every few months, it seems, a new food-contamination scandal grips the nation, playing out in the same troubling way. Someone dies of a food-borne infection with a scary Latin name. The government recalls a dinner-table staple and traces its contamination to dirty irrigation water or a processing plant. Everything returns to normal until the next case of killer spinach or poisoned peanuts stalks the nation. Despite the toll -- 5,000 deaths and 325,000 hospitalizations a year -- Congress has typically been unwilling to strengthen controls on the growing, manufacturing and handling of food in the face of powerful industry resistance. But as profits and consumer confidence have plummeted with each new outbreak, the political climate has changed -- so much so that earlier this week, a House panel reached unusual bipartisan consensus on the most sweeping reform of the food-safety system in at least 50 years. ...	I'll belch to that! ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Jun 13, 2009 from London Guardian: 'We are fighting for our lives and our dignity' Across the globe, as mining and oil firms race for dwindling resources, indigenous peoples are battling to defend their lands -- often paying the ultimate price... Peru is just one of many countries now in open conflict with its indigenous people over natural resources. Barely reported in the international press, there have been major protests around mines, oil, logging and mineral exploitation in Africa, Latin America, Asia and North America. Hydro electric dams, biofuel plantations as well as coal, copper, gold and bauxite mines are all at the centre of major land rights disputes.... What until quite recently were isolated incidents of indigenous peoples in conflict with states and corporations are now becoming common as government-backed companies move deeper on to lands long ignored as unproductive or wild. As countries and the World Bank increase spending on major infrastructural projects to counter the economic crisis, the conflicts are expected to grow. ...	But my toaster and my car and my job have to run on something! ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Jun 13, 2009 from Associated Press: Locations of high-risk coal ash sites kept secret The Obama administration has decided to keep secret the locations of nearly four dozen coal ash storage sites that pose a threat to people living nearby. The Environmental Protection Agency classified the 44 sites as potential hazards to communities while investigating storage of coal ash waste after a spill at a Tennessee power plant in December. The classification means the waste sites could cause death and significant property damage if an event such as a storm, a terrorist attack or a structural failure caused them to spill into surrounding communities. The sites have existed for years with little or no federal regulation. The Army Corps of Engineers in a letter dated June 4 told the EPA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency that the public should not be alerted to the whereabouts of the sites because it would compromise national security. ...	Apparently the health and safety of citizens has nothing to do with national security. ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Jun 12, 2009 from University of Alaska Fairbanks via ScienceDaily: Greenland Ice Sheet Melting Faster Than Expected; Larger Contributor To Sea-level Rise Than Thought The Greenland ice sheet is melting faster than expected, according to a new study led by a University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher and published in the journal Hydrological Processes. Study results indicate that the ice sheet may be responsible for nearly 25 percent of global sea rise in the past 13 years. The study also shows that seas now are rising by more than 3 millimeters a year--more than 50 percent faster than the average for the 20th century.... Ice melt from a warming Arctic has two major effects on the ocean. First, increased water contributes to global sea-level rise, which in turn affects coastlines across the globe. Second, fresh water from melting ice changes the salinity of the world’s oceans, which can affect ocean ecosystems and deep water mixing. ...	It's scuba time! ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Jun 12, 2009 from University of Alberta via ScienceDaily: Caribou, Reindeer Numbers Show Dramatic Decline Caribou and reindeer numbers worldwide have plunged almost 60 percent in the last three decades. The dramatic revelation came out of the first ever comprehensive census analysis of this iconic species carried out by biologists at the University of Alberta. The results have recently been published in the peer reviewed Global Change Biology Journal and co-author PhD student Liv Vors said global warming and industrial development are responsible for driving this dramatic decline in species numbers around the world. Vors, who is studying under Dr Mark Boyce, Alberta Conservation Association Chair in Fisheries and Wildlife at the University of Alberta, says the decline raises serious concerns not only for the animals, but also for people living in northern latitudes who depend on the animals for their livelihood. ...	Who cares? Those dang reindeer wouldn't let me play in their games anyway. ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Jun 12, 2009 from San Francisco Chronicle: Agricultural panel jeopardizes climate bill Democratic lawmakers on the House Agriculture Committee on Thursday threatened to derail controversial legislation to combat climate change unless it does more to support forestry and farming interests. "As this bill stands today, I can't vote for it," said Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa. "I don't know anyone else here who can. We've got a lineup of people ... who are very uneasy." Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., the agriculture panel chairman and an outspoken critic of the sweeping climate change legislation, said the measure could be in jeopardy... Peterson is leading a growing Democratic mutiny against the measure. He claims support of more than 40 lawmakers who represent rural interests and worry the legislation tilts too heavily in favor of urban communities. ...	Maybe in seven or eight billion years newly-evolved hominids might have the courage to tackle this. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Jun 11, 2009 from Los Angeles Daily Breeze: Study claims L.A. pollution worst in morning The early-morning hours are the most toxic time of day for those who live downwind of freeways, a yearlong study shows. The pollutants are also nearly 10 times more far-reaching than previously thought, according to the researchers, who measured pre-sunrise air toxins around Interstate 10 in 2008. "I would certainly say that this has implications for those who live near all the major freeways," said Dr. Arthur Winer, the principal investigator. "We need to make those measurements, but I would suspect the same would be found throughout the region." Scientists from UCLA's School of Public Health found the most toxic time of year is winter, before sunrise, in cities that are south of the freeway. ...	Ya think!? ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Jun 11, 2009 from McClatchy Newspapers: U.N. environment chief urges global ban on plastic bags Single-use plastic bags, a staple of American life, have got to go, the United Nations' top environmental official said Monday. Although recycling bags is on the rise in the United States , an estimated 90 billion thin bags a year, most used to handle produce and groceries, go unrecycled. They were the second most common form of litter after cigarette butts at the 2008 International Coastal Cleanup Day sponsored by the Ocean Conservancy, a marine environmental group... According to the report, "Plastic, the most prevalent component of marine debris, poses hazards because it persists so long in the ocean, degrading into tinier and tinier bits that can be consumed by the smallest marine life at the base of the food web." ...	Kind of like Zeno's paradox about the arrow in flight. 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!
Thu, Jun 11, 2009 from Reuters: WHO set to declare first flu pandemic since 1968 GENEVA (Reuters) -- The World Health Organization was poised on Thursday to declare that the new H1N1 virus has caused the first influenza pandemic in more than 40 years, health sources said on Thursday. The move will trigger heightened health measures in the WHO's 193 member states as authorities brace for the worldwide spread of the virus that has so far caused mainly mild illness.... WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan was to hold a news conference on the outbreak at 1600 GMT. Flu experts advising Chan, who met earlier on Thursday, were expected to recommend moving to the top phase 6 on the WHO's six-point scale, the sources said. That would reflect the fact that the disease, widely known as swine flu, was spreading geographically, but not necessarily indicate how virulent it is. ...	Swineflu... is sooooo yesterday. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Jun 11, 2009 from London Guardian: US wind farms face lack of fuel The great gusting winds of the Midwest may be dying, and with them hope for America's most promising source of green energy, according to a new report. A study to be published in August in the Journal of Geophysical Research suggests average and peak winds may have been slowing across the Midwest and eastern states since 1973. The findings are preliminary, but measurements by wind towers raise the possibility of yet another side effect of global warming.... Areas of the Midwest have seen a 10 percent drop in wind speed over the decade. Some places have seen a jump in days where there was none at all. Takle said climate modelling suggested a further 10 percent dip may occur over the next 40 years. ...	Come on, people! Get out there and flap your arms! ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Jun 10, 2009 from McClatchy Newspapers: Scientists: Global warming has already changed oceans In Washington state, oysters in some areas haven't reproduced for four years, and preliminary evidence suggests that the increasing acidity of the ocean could be the cause. In the Gulf of Mexico, falling oxygen levels in the water have forced shrimp to migrate elsewhere.... Federal studies also found acidity levels in the North Pacific and off Alaska are unusually high compared to other ocean regions. The high acidity is already taking a toll of such tiny species as pteropods, which are an important food for salmon and other fish. As greenhouse gas emissions increase, billions of tons of carbon dioxide from smokestacks and vehicle tailpipes are absorbed by the oceans. The result is carbonic acid, which dilutes the "rich soup" of calcium carbonate in the seawater that many species, especially on the low end of the food chain, thrive in... ...	Pthose wreptched, ptiny pteropods. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Jun 10, 2009 from Toronto Globe and Mail: World faces daunting refugee crisis because of climate change The world should brace itself for millions of climate refugees in coming decades, a mass migration that will be larger than any in human history, says a new report. Although it's too early to estimate exactly how many people might be on the move, the report, compiled by researchers at Columbia University, developmental aid agency Care International and the United Nations University, cites other studies that suggest the number could be as high as 700 million by 2050. �In coming decades, climate change will motivate or force millions of people to leave their homes� Although the precise number of migrants and displaced people may elude science for some time, the mass of people on the move will likely be staggering and surpass any historical antecedent,� says the report, which is being released Wednesday. ...	This is the Century of the Eco-Hobo. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Jun 10, 2009 from Associated Press: Pollution experts: Save fish from drugs in water Pollution experts on Tuesday pressed a congressional panel for stronger action to keep pharmaceuticals and other contaminants out of the water, saying they are hurting fish and may threaten human health. Thomas P. Fote, a New Jersey conservationist who sits on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, said the pollutants are damaging commercial fisheries. He told congressmen not to "study a problem to death and never do anything." Fote appeared in a lineup of witnesses Tuesday before the subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife of the House Natural Resources Committee. The witnesses pointed to research showing damage to fish and other aquatic species from pharmaceuticals, pesticides and other industrial chemicals, especially those that alter growth-regulating endocrine systems. Some scientists worry about the potential of similar harm to humans. ...	These fish need a "just say no" campaign. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Jun 10, 2009 from Mongabay: NASA photos reveal destruction of 99 percent of rainforest park in Rwanda Satellite images released by NASA show nearly complete destruction of Rwanda's Gishwati Forest between 1986 and 2001. Deforestation of the forest reserve is largely the result of subsistence harvesting and cultivation by refugees in the aftermath of the country's 1994 genocide. Overall only 600 hectares of Gishwati's original 100,000 hectares of forest remain, a loss of 99.4 percent. "According to UNEP, the reserve's forests were largely intact in 1978, and substantial forest cover still remained in 1986. But in the 15 years that elapsed between these images -- a time that spanned the country's tragic genocide -- wave after wave of refugees arrived in Gishwati Forest and began clearing it, often for subsistence farming," wrote Michon Scott and Rebecca Lindsey on NASA's Earth Observatory site. "By 2001, only a small circular patch of native forest remained -- 1,500 acres of the forest's original 250,000." ...	I think I now need a microscope. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Jun 9, 2009 from Associated Press: Activists draft their own climate treaty If delegates from 190 countries have trouble reaching a new global warming agreement, they can turn to a ready-made treaty prepared by environmental activists. Negotiators can take comfort from knowing it wasn't easy for the activists either. Nearly 50 representatives of nonprofit groups in about 20 countries worked for months to draft a mock treaty they believe national delegations can accept. Their document was being released Monday at the latest round of U.N. negotiations in Bonn, Germany. ...	Like THAT's gonna get a lot of attention. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Jun 9, 2009 from University of Montreal, via EurekAlert: Antibiotics, antimicrobials and antifungals in waterways Antibiotics, antimicrobials and antifungals are seeping into the waterways of North America, Europe and East Asia, according to an investigation published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP).... [T]he review found that consumption of anti-infectives for human and agriculture use contributes to their release into the environment and even into drinking water. "Anti-infectives are constantly discharged, at trace levels, in natural waters near urban centres and agricultural areas," says senior author Sebastien Sauve, a Universite de Montreal professor of environmental analytical chemistry. "Their potential contribution to the spread of anti-infective resistance in bacteria and other effects on aquatic biota is a cause for concern." ...	Here in the US we call it the new health care initiative. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Jun 9, 2009 from The Vancouver Sun: Global warming may be good for starfish: UBC study Global warming may benefit certain marine life, a study by University of B.C. researchers suggests. Rebecca Gooding, a UBC PhD student, found that young purple ochre sea stars grow faster, heavier and larger as water warms and concentrations of carbon dioxide, a byproduct of global warming, increase. �Global warming � could be good for it,� said Gooding. �In an evolutionary sense, if they�re bigger, that�s probably better, because if they reach adulthood faster, they can spend more time producing offspring,� she said. ...	Sweet... the giant starfish and the giant jellyfish can live happily ever after... ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Jun 9, 2009 from Guardian (UK): China alone could bring world to brink of climate calamity, claims US official David Sandalow, assistant secretary of state for energy, said the continuation of business as usual in China would result in a 2.7C rise in global temperatures by 2050 even if every other country slashed greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent. "China can and will need to do much more if the world is going to have any hope of containing climate change," said Sandalow, who is in Beijing as part of a high-level negotiating team that aims to find common ground ahead of the crucial Copenhagen summit at the end of this year. No effective deal will be possible without the US and China, which together account for almost half of the planet's carbon emissions. Since Barack Obama entered the White House, hopes for a closer working relationship on climate change have surged along with a softening of rhetoric, but the official negotiating positions of the two sides remain far apart. ...	If "business as usual" continues, by that time China would want to protect its ownership of the whole world's economy. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Jun 9, 2009 from Sydney Morning Herald: Fielding slammed over solar flare theory Scientists have slammed Family First's Steve Fielding after he returned from the US suggesting solar flares rather than human activity are responsible for climate change. Senator Fielding said he wanted to debate the cause of global warming with government scientists before he votes on Labor's climate change legislation. He recently returned from a trip to the United States where he met climate change sceptics who blame global warming on solar flares, not human activity or carbon emissions. It is a theory he believes has some credibility. ...	The Solar Flare Society: a branch of the Flat Earth Society. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Jun 9, 2009 from Mongabay: Kenya moves forward to ban the pesticide Furadan after it is used to kill 76 lions After highly-publicized poisonings of lions in Kenya�s national parks, the Kenyan Parliament has begun addressing longstanding concerns regarding the pesticide Furadan. Since 1995 Furadan has been used to illegally kill 76 lions, 15 hyenas, 24 hippos, over 250 vultures, and thousands of other birds in Kenya. These numbers are likely low due to under-reporting, according to Kenya-based conservation organization, Wildlife Direct. Furadan is the trade name for Carbofuran, which is manufactured by Farm Machinery and Chemicals Corporation(FMC) in the United States. The deliberate poisoning of wildlife in Kenya by Furadan is often in retaliation for predators killing a farmers' livestock. On the other hand, birds die from ingesting the pesticide off of crops. ...	O majestic wildlife... I will kill you! ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Jun 9, 2009 from London Daily Telegraph: Biomimicry: why the world is full of intelligent design We humans like to think we're pretty good at design and technology � but we often forget that Mother Nature had a head start of 3.6 million years. Now, the way that geckoes climb walls, or hummingbirds hover, is at the centre of a burgeoning industry: biomimicry, the science of "reverse-engineering" clever ideas from the natural world....biomimicry is becoming fashionable. "Imitating natural systems is about trying to mimic the amazing effectiveness of ecosystems, where the waste from one system or animal is used as the nutrients for another," says Michael Pawlyn, the director of a sustainable architecture firm and one of the designers of the Eden Project in Cornwall. "Often, by applying ideas from ecosystems you can turn problems into solutions that are better both environmentally and commercially." ...	We're the eco-copycats! 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, Jun 9, 2009 from TIME Magazine: What Is Killing Chile's Coastal Wildlife? First, in late March the bodies of about 1,200 penguins were found on a remote beach in southern Chile. Next came the sardines -- millions of them -- washed up dead on a nearby stretch of coastline in April, causing a stench so noxious that nearby schools were closed and the army was called in to shovel piles of rotting fish off the sand. Then it was the turn of the rare Andean flamingos. Over the course of approximately three months, thousands of them abandoned their nests on a salt lake in the Atacama Desert in the far north of Chile. Their eggs failed to hatch, and all 2,000 chicks died in their shells. Finally, in late May came the pelicans -- nearly 60 of them, found dead on the central Chilean coast. No one knows exactly what has caused these four apparently unrelated environmental disasters in as many months. Global warming has been blamed, as has overfishing, pollution and disease. ...	All canaries, all coal mines, all the time. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Jun 9, 2009 from Mother Jones: Could Cap and Trade Cause Another Market Meltdown? You've heard of credit default swaps and subprime mortgages. Are carbon default swaps and subprime offsets next? If the Waxman-Markey climate bill is signed into law, it will generate, almost as an afterthought, a new market for carbon derivatives. That market will be vast, complicated, and dauntingly difficult to monitor. And if Washington doesn't get the rules right, it will be vulnerable to speculation and manipulation by the very same players who brought us the financial meltdown... According to data compiled by the Center for Public Integrity, the financial services industry has 130 lobbyists working on climate issues, compared to almost none in 2003. They represent companies like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and AIG (before it was shamed into temporarily halting its lobbying activities last fall). The industry "wants lawmakers to create a brand-new revenue stream for its bottom line, and cap and trade would do it," says Tyson Slocum of Public Citizen, who is a member of a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) advisory committee considering how carbon trading should be regulated. ...	Cap and trade and exploit and swindle... ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Jun 8, 2009 from London Guardian: Pirate fishing causing eco disaster and killing communities, says report Pirate fishing is out of control, depriving some the most world's most vulnerable communities of food and leading to ecological catastrophe, a three-year investigation has found. "Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is one of the most serious threats to the future of world fisheries. It is now occurring in virtually all fishing grounds from shallow coastal waters to deep oceans. It is believed to account for a significant proportion of the global catch and to be costing developing countries up to $15bn a year," says the report by the Environmental Justice Foundation. Unscrupulous Chinese, European and Latin American companies, using flags of convenience, are operating illegal gear, fishing in sea areas they are not allowed and are not reporting their catches, the investigators found. In addition, ships are laundering illegally caught fish by transferring them at sea to legal boats making it impossible to identify catches. ...	Figuring out the acronym is half the battle! ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Jun 8, 2009 from ABC News: Jellyfish threaten to 'dominate' oceans Giant jelly fish are taking over parts of the world's oceans due to overfishing and other human activities, say researchers... Jellyfish are normally kept in check by fish, which eat small jellyfish and compete for jellyfish food such as zooplankton... But, with overfishing, jellyfish numbers are increasing. Jellyfish feed on fish eggs and larvae, further impacting on fish numbers. To add insult to injury, nitrogen and phosphorous in run-off cause red phytoplankton blooms, which create low-oxygen dead zones where jellyfish survive, but fish can't. ...	If we can figure out a way to create a peanutbutterfish our global food problems are over! ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Jun 8, 2009 from Philadelphia Inquirer: Pa. orders all rescued bats to be destroyed Seeking to halt the spread of a disease ravaging bat populations in the Northeast, the Pennsylvania Game Commission laid down the law: All bats collected by wildlife rescuers - regardless of whether they were sick or injured - would have to be euthanized. The order, issued in response to white-nose syndrome, a highly contagious fungal disease, came just before the busy spring season when baby bats take flight. It has angered bat advocates, who consider the Game Commission's response extreme. "It's a draconian approach," said Laura Flandreau, a volunteer from Chestnut Hill who launched a petition drive urging Gov. Rendell to persuade the commission to lift the ban. She says none of the other eight states where the disease has been found has banned rescue and release efforts. In New Jersey, she said, efforts are under way to treat infected bats in a research facility. But Game Commission officials say they issued the bat-release ban to protect thousands of bats from the fatal and, so far, untreatable disorder. ...	Kind of calls into question the whole idea of "rescue." ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Jun 8, 2009 from Toronto Globe and Mail: Apocalypse now Whether it's something in the air (such as greenhouse gases) or something in the economy (such as oil and food prices), the only field where there currently seems to be a boom is in gloom. But it's not just ranters wearing bathrobes on street corners: Some of the most respected thinkers about science and society are issuing alarming prognostications about humanity coming to an end, with a bang or with a whimper... The idea of End Times, or apocalypses, has been around as long as religion. Until recently, it has been a mainstay of Christian fundamentalism. But the notion that the world as we know it is about to end - this time with an environmental rather than a religious-inspired bang - lately has been making inroads in more mainstream and progressive-leaning circles, including activists, scientists and pundits. ...	ApocaDocumentarians such as us have known all this for years. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Jun 8, 2009 from Technology Review: Roll-Up Solar Panels Xunlight, a startup in Toledo, Ohio, has developed a way to make large, flexible solar panels. It has developed a roll-to-roll manufacturing technique that forms thin-film amorphous silicon solar cells on thin sheets of stainless steel. Each solar module is about one meter wide and five and a half meters long. As opposed to conventional silicon solar panels, which are bulky and rigid, these lightweight, flexible sheets could easily be integrated into roofs and building facades or on vehicles. Such systems could be more attractive than conventional solar panels and be incorporated more easily into irregular roof designs. They could also be rolled up and carried in a backpack, says the company's cofounder and president, Xunming Deng. "You could take it with you and charge your laptop battery," he says. ...	Better efficiency than asphalt shingles, at least! ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Jun 8, 2009 from University of Calgary, via EurekAlert: Scientists should look at their own carbon footprint Scientists studying the impact of climate change on the Arctic need to consider ways to reduce their own carbon footprints, says a researcher who regularly flies north to study the health of caribou.... "The importance of the research is not at question here. It is vital to our understanding of and adapting to climate change. But we need to think about better approaches," says Brook from the U of C's faculty of Veterinary Medicine. "This is an issue for all scientists, though polar researchers often travel particularly long distances using commercial air travel. We also rely extensively on small aircraft, icebreakers, and snowmobiles, all of which produce large amounts of carbon. We know that carbon release by human activity is a key contributor to climate change."... "The total footprint of all scientists is small, but it's important to critically evaluate how we can reduce our footprint from research activities. What are we doing in the best ways possible? Where can we improve? What do we need in order to improve? Let's start talking about this on a larger scale." ...	Researching the cure is causing the disease? ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Jun 8, 2009 from BusinessGreen: Texas sets back solar by at least two years The Texas legislature disappointed environmental groups this week as it failed to pass the bulk of legislation designed to promote solar energy in the state. The state killed a bill that would have provided $500m in rebates for solar panels. The rebates would have been raised with money from increased electricity bills. The bill, which had strong support from both political parties, failed on a procedural point. The legislature also failed to vote on a bill that would have mandated the development of 1,500MW of electricity from renewables by 2020. ...	What "procedural point" would justify stupidity? ApocaDoc permalink