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What A Week It Was: Apocadocuments from

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Species Collapse:	(1)
Plague/Virus:	(2)
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This Week's Top Ten Very Scary Tags:
climate impacts ~ food crisis ~ global warming ~ toxic water ~ heavy metals ~ weather extremes ~ sustainability ~ economic myopia ~ carbon emissions ~ capitalist greed ~ coal issues

ApocaDocuments (35) gathered this week:
Sun, Aug 23, 2009 from Kansas City Star: Advocates of geoengineering work on man-made fixes for global warming The same way technology got the planet into this climate-change mess, more than a few scientists figure modern know-how can get us out. Crank up plankton growth. Blanket deserts in reflective plastic. Pump greenhouse gases into rock formations. Make clouds shinier. Build volcanoes. These ideas -- called geoengineering -- are not just the stuff of fantasists.... Mainstream scientists -- many of the same people who are convinced that mankind accidentally and dangerously cranked up Earth's temperatures -- think man should at least contemplate his power to deliberately control the climate. ...	We need a peaceful, charismatic world leader in charge of this! ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Aug 23, 2009 from Chicago Tribune: Toxins in Lake Michigan fish linked to diabetes ...a new study of Great Lakes boat captains over 15 years found a correlation between the chemical DDE and diabetes. Those who ate more fish had more DDE in their blood and were more likely to develop diabetes, according to results published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives in July. DDE is produced in the bodies of small bottom-feeding fish from ingesting the prevalent pesticide DDT. The chemical transfers to bigger fish when they eat smaller fish and then accumulates in the fat and liver of people who eat lots of what they catch. "Sports fishermen are at the top of the food chain," said Bruce Fowler, assistant director of science at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which funded the study, along with the federal Environmental Protection Agency. ...	Sounds absolutely DIAbolical! ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Aug 23, 2009 from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: BPA industry fights back ...For decades, the chemical industry has been able to control the debate on whether BPA is harmful to human health. Now the Food and Drug Administration, which had relied on industry-financed studies to declare the chemical safe, is reconsidering its determination. The decision is expected by Nov. 30.... The industry has launched an unprecedented public relations blitz that uses many of the same tactics - and people - the tobacco industry used in its decades-long fight against regulation. This time, the industry's arsenal includes state-of-the-art technology. Their modern-day Trojan horses: blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia and YouTube. A four-month investigation by the Journal Sentinel reveals a highly calibrated campaign by plastics makers to fight federal regulation of BPA, downplay its risks and discredit anyone who characterizes the chemical as a health threat. ...	Boy. They're playing some hard plastic ball. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Aug 22, 2009 from Wall Street Journal: Developing World's Parasites, Disease Hit US Parasitic infections and other diseases usually associated with the developing world are cropping up with alarming frequency among U.S. poor, especially in states along the U.S.-Mexico border, the rural South and in Appalachia, according to researchers...."These are diseases that we know are ten-fold more important than swine flu," said Peter Hotez, a microbiologist at George Washington University and leading researcher in this field. "They're on no one's radar." The insect-borne diseases -- among them, Chagas and dengue fever -- thrive in shanty towns along the Mexican border, where many homes have no window screens and where poor drainage allows standing puddles for bugs to breed. Outbreaks of a bacterial infection transmitted in rat urine have cropped up among the urban poor in Baltimore and Detroit.... These diseases share a common thread. "People who live in the suburbs are at very low risk," Dr. Hotez said. ...	But in the suburbs, people catch "ennui-itis"! ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Aug 22, 2009 from New York Times: In Brazil, Paying Farmers to Let the Trees Stand ...Deforestation, a critical contributor to climate change, effectively accounts for 20 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions and 70 percent of the emissions in Brazil. Halting new deforestation, experts say, is as powerful a way to combat warming as closing the world’s coal plants. But until now, there has been no financial reward for keeping forest standing. Which is why a growing number of scientists, politicians and environmentalists argue that cash payments ... are the only way to end tropical forest destruction and provide a game-changing strategy in efforts to limit global warming. ...	Then money DOES grow on trees! ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Aug 22, 2009 from London Financial Times: Kenya hit by mass hunger and water shortage The number of Kenyans in urgent need of food aid has jumped by over 50 per cent to nearly 4m, according to official figures, as the country is hit by mass hunger as well as shortages of power and water. The immediate cause of the three-fold crisis is a prolonged drought, but critics of Kenya’s dysfunctional coalition government blame it for failing to mitigate the drought’s effects, in spite of clear warning signs. The government was already facing public discontent over its failure to implement political reforms pledged after last year’s post-election crisis, but the real-life impact of the food, water and power shortages is fuelling the anger. ...	A "dysfunctional government"... sounds awfully familiar! ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Aug 21, 2009 from Mongabay: Plastic Vortexes Leaching Chemicals into World's Oceans While scientists have acknowledged the existence of billions of pounds of plastic containers, Styrofoam, and similar waste have created massive oceanic trash vortexes (floating islands of garbage), little is known of the effects of the dissolution of these materials into the water. Recent studies have found that under certain climate conditions, ocean plastic can decompose in under a year, leaching potentially toxic chemicals into the water.... "Most people in the world believe that this plastic is indestructible for a very long time. We are now concerned that plastic pollution is caused by invisible materials. This will have a great effect on marine life." ...	"Invisible materials" like endocrine disruptors, pthalates, methylmercury, or the other heavy metals? Or PCBs? C'mon, what? ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Aug 21, 2009 from Der Spiegel: Germany Turns On World's Biggest Solar Power Project This week, two of Germany's most important solar energy projects came online -- the second biggest solar power project in the world and one of the first solar thermal "power towers." The projects are part of the country's plan to provide 20 percent of its energy through renewable sources. Officials flicked on the switch at two of Germany's most important new solar energy sites on Thursday. In the eastern state of Brandenburg, the world's second-largest solar energy project went online. And halfway across the country, in North Rhine-Westphalia, a smaller scale but perhaps equally important facility launched -- Germany's first solar-thermal power plant. ...	And I say... it's all right! ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Aug 21, 2009 from The Canadian Press: Soldiers returning from Afghanistan bringing home superbug MONTREAL — Canadian soldiers are bringing home from dusty Afghanistan a powerful, drug-resistant superbug that health officials have been worrying about for several years. Three Canadian soldiers who recently returned from Kandahar carrying so-called "Iraqibacter" are under quarantine at a civilian hospital in Quebec City. Two civilian patients who came in close contact with the soldiers at Hopital de l'Enfant-Jesus have also been isolated for fear they may have contracted the superbug officially named Acinetobacter baumannii. The hospital-acquired germ, commonly found in soil and water, strikes weakened immune systems, especially in those recovering from wounds. It has been known to cause conditions such as pneumonia, meningitis as well as blood, urinary tract and wound infections. ...	I wonder if that gets added to your bill... ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Aug 21, 2009 from Associated Press: In hot water: World sets ocean temperature record ...It's not just the ocean off the Northeast coast that is super-warm this summer. July was the hottest the world's oceans have been in almost 130 years of record-keeping. The average water temperature worldwide was 62.6 degrees, according to the National Climatic Data Center, the branch of the U.S. government that keeps world weather records. That was 1.1 degree higher than the 20th century average, and beat the previous high set in 1998 by a couple hundredths of a degree. The coolest recorded ocean temperature was 59.3 degrees in December 1909. Meteorologists said there's a combination of forces at work this year: A natural El Nino system just getting started on top of worsening man-made global warming, and a dash of random weather variations. The resulting ocean heat is already harming threatened coral reefs. It could also hasten the melting of Arctic sea ice and help hurricanes strengthen. ...	If the water is warming, where will we cool off? ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Aug 21, 2009 from Guardian (UK): Nile Delta: 'We are going underwater. The sea will conquer our lands' Two years ago, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change declared Egypt's Nile Delta to be among the top three areas on the planet most vulnerable to a rise in sea levels, and even the most optimistic predictions of global temperature increase will still displace millions of Egyptians from one of the most densely populated regions on earth. The Delta spills out from the northern stretches of the capital into 10,000 square miles of farmland fed by the Nile's branches. It is home to two-thirds of the country's rapidly growing population, and responsible for more than 60 percent of its food supply: Egypt relies unconditionally on it for survival. But with its 270km of coastline lying at a dangerously low elevation (large parts are between zero and 1m above sea level, with some areas lying below it), any melting of the polar ice caps could see its farmland and cities -- including the historical port of Alexandria -- transformed into an ocean floor. A 1m rise in the sea level, which many experts think likely within the next 100 years, will cause 20 percent of the Delta to go underwater. ...	Denial is a river delta in Egypt, baby! ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Aug 20, 2009 from Earth2Tech: Why the Kindle Is Good for the Planet According to a fascinating report from the Cleantech Group, called The Environmental Impact of Amazon's Kindle, one e-Book device on average can displace the buying of about 22.5 physical books per year, and thus deliver an estimated savings of 168 kg of CO2 per year. the U.S. book and magazine sectors accounted for the harvesting of 125 million trees in 2008, and an average book has a carbon footprint of 7.46 kilograms of CO2 over its lifetime. A book's carbon footprint also can double if you drive to the store and buy it, versus having it shipped in the mail. So in a similar way to how downloading digital music and listening to it on your computer has a much better carbon footprint than driving to the store and purchasing a CD, the savings for e-Books are about both dematerialization and eliminating the need for transportation. ...	I won't believe that until a see it in print. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Aug 20, 2009 from IRIN News (UN): Kenya: Massive crop failure in 'grain basket' Two months before harvest time, the maize in Kenya's Rift Valley should be tall, lush and green, bursting with life. Instead, crops in the province's Lare division are stunted, barren fields of parched browns and pallid yellows. The area, local farmers say, has experienced three years of erratic rainfall. This year, however, has been "a nightmare" ... "I do not expect to harvest anything, yet I used a lot of money to prepare my land and plant maize and beans earlier this year," the 70-year-old farmer said.... "Overall, we expect at least 95 percent maize crop failure across the larger Nakuru areas; only areas such as Weseges in Nakuru North may see some maize harvests," said Stephen Muriithi, the Nakuru district agricultural officer.... To cope with the food crisis, the vulnerable communities have resorted to reducing the number and size of meals per day; restricting adult consumption to allow more for children; consuming seed stock; taking children out of school to help search for food; engaging in casual labour; relying on remittances; using part of the resettlement money to open up land; ploughing more than 90 percent of available arable land for crop production; and building residential units on farms for income. In other parts of the country, substantial crop failure in the southeastern and coastal marginal cropping lowlands is expected to lead to deepening food insecurity, said the assessment. ...	Don't forget: all you need is persistence and a dream, to succeed. 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, Aug 20, 2009 from Guardian (UK): French transport workers threaten to pollute river Seine Angry lorry drivers at Serta, a struggling transportation company, are threatening to pour more than 8,000 litres of toxic fuel additive into the Seine if their demands for redundancy pay-offs are not met. Acknowledging the "dramatic" effect this could have on the river's fish population, they insist they will not be dissuaded unless their bosses give in. "It's less dramatic than ... people being made redundant and sacrificed," Jean-Pierre Villemin from the CFDT union told French radio. "It's the only means we have of getting what we want." Around 50 workers at the distribution site at La Vaupaliere near Rouen are demanding severance packages of 15,000 euros after Serta, which went into administration a year ago, announced job cuts. The transportation company, which has suffered badly in the financial crisis, has already cut around 80 jobs since the start of the year. ...	We do not negotiate with environmental terrorists. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Aug 20, 2009 from BBC (UK): 'Hundreds ill' near China smelter Authorities in China have closed a second metal smelter after more than 1,300 children fell sick with lead poisoning, state media have reported. The children were living near a manganese plant near Wugang, in Hunan province, Xinhua news agency said.... An official in Wenping, part of Wugang city in Hunan, said that 1,354 children living in four villages near the Wugang Manganese Smeltering Plant had excessive levels of lead in their blood, Xinhua said. All the children are under 14 years old.... ...	Big deal -- they've got hundreds of millions more children. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Aug 19, 2009 from Associated Press: New gov't study shows mercury in fish widespread No fish can escape mercury pollution. That's the take-home message from a federal study of mercury contamination released Wednesday that tested fish from nearly 300 streams across the country. The toxic substance was found in every fish sampled, a finding that underscores how widespread mercury pollution has become.... Mercury consumed by eating fish can damage the nervous system and cause learning disabilities in developing fetuses and young children. The main source of mercury to most of the streams tested, according to the researchers, is emissions from coal-fired power plants. The mercury released from smokestacks here and abroad rains down into waterways, where natural processes convert it into methylmercury — a form that allows the toxin to wind its way up the food chain into fish. ...	...and keep on winding its way up to us! ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Aug 19, 2009 from BBC: Bolivians look to ancient farming Poor farmers in the heart of Bolivia's Amazon are being encouraged to embrace the annual floods - by using a centuries-old irrigation system for their crops. They are experimenting with a sustainable way of growing food crops that their ancestors used. It could provide them with better protection against the extremes of climate change, reduce deforestation, improve food security and even promise a better diet.... About 400 families are now enrolled in the project in five locations, growing mainly maize, cassava and rice. Many of the sites are still in an experimental phase, but the early signs are promising. Productivity appears to be on the increase. ...	If only they could get state-of-the-art robots to do the work for them! ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Aug 19, 2009 from Climate Wire: How the World Bank Let 'Deal Making' Torch the Rainforests The World Bank ignored its own environmental and social protection standards when it approved nearly $200 million in loan guarantees for palm oil production in Indonesia, a stinging internal audit has found. The report, detailing five years of funding from the International Finance Corp. (IFC), the private-sector arm of the World Bank, lambastes the agency for allowing commercial pressures to influence four separate loans aimed at developing the industry. "The IFC was aware for more than 20 years that there were significant environmental and social issues and risks inherent in the oil palm sector in Indonesia," auditors wrote. "Despite awareness of the significant issues facing it, IFC did not develop a strategy for engaging in the oil palm sector. In the absence of a tailored strategy, deal making prevailed." ...	It's a small-minded world bank after all. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Aug 19, 2009 from New York Times: Oil Industry Backs Protests of Emissions Bill Hard on the heels of the health care protests, another citizen movement seems to have sprung up, this one to oppose Washington’s attempts to tackle climate change. But behind the scenes, an industry with much at stake — Big Oil — is pulling the strings. The event on Tuesday was organized by a group called Energy Citizens, which is backed by the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry’s main trade group. Many of the people attending the demonstration were employees of oil companies who work in Houston and were bused from their workplaces. ...	Fieldtrip! ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Aug 19, 2009 from COP15: Warming in Tibet threatens all Asia Temperatures in the Tibetan highland are increasing far more rapidly than the global average, causing concern over Asian water supplies. Feedback may be present, leading to an acceleration of global warming.... Several major Asian rivers, including the Yangtze, begin in the Himalayas. A population of 2.7 billion depends on water supplies that originate in the mountain region. Average temperatures in Tibet rose by 0.32 degrees C every 10 years between 1961 and 2008. This is significantly more than the rise in global mean temperature. In July this year the measured average temperature in Tibet was the highest since 1951, CMA has found. During the same month, between 30 and 80 percent less rain than normal fell in various Tibetan districts. ...	And I thought the Yangtze just played against the Red Sox! ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Aug 19, 2009 from American Chemical Society, via EurekAlert: Homes pollute: Linked to 50 percent more water pollution than previously believed In the study, Lorence Oki, Darren Haver and colleagues explain that runoff results from rainfall and watering of lawns and gardens, which winds up in municipal storm drains. The runoff washes fertilizers, pesticides and other contaminants into storm drains, and they eventually appear in rivers, lakes and other bodies of water.... Preliminary results of the study suggest that current models may underestimate the amount of pollution contributed by homes by up to 50 percent. That's because past estimates focused on rain-based runoff during the wet season. "Use of pesticides, however, increases noticeably during the dry season due to gardening, and our data contains greater resolution than previous studies," Oki says. ...	If it's that way in California, imagine 123 Maple Street, Anytown, USA. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Aug 19, 2009 from Press-Enterprise (CA): 10 million to 15 million fish die in Lake Elsinore An estimated 10 million to 15 million tiny baitfish went belly up at Lake Elsinore last weekend, the worst fish die-off since 2002, officials said. Piles of dead threadfin shad still clogged the lake's shoreline Tuesday. In some spots, the stench was overpowering for drivers who had the misfortune of rolling down their windows down near the lake. Mass fish die-offs have been a historic problem at Lake Elsinore, more so than at other Inland lakes. A shallow, naturally occurring lake about 20 miles northwest of Temecula, Lake Elsinore is replenished by runoff and recycled water, unlike other area lakes that are actually man-made reservoirs and have water imported through aqueducts.... [T]he deaths appeared to come from a combination of the seasonal shrinking of the lake due to evaporation, an increase in water temperature to about 80 degrees and possibly an algae bloom. ...	Not apocalyptic... unless you're a shad in Lake Elsinore. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Aug 18, 2009 from New York Times: Lead Poisoning of Children in China Leads to Disturbance The police clashed with residents of two villages near a smelting plant in northern China that is blamed for the lead poisoning of nearly all the children in the villages, reports said Monday. It was another sign of growing anger over China's rampant industrial pollution. Several hundred villagers tore down fences and blocked traffic outside the Dongling Lead and Zinc Smelting Company in Shaanxi Province after news of the poisoning emerged last week, state news media and villagers said. Fighting between angry parents and scores of police officers broke out Sunday, and trucks delivering coal to the plant were stoned.... At least 615 out of 731 children in the two villages have tested positive for lead poisoning, which can damage the nervous and reproductive systems and cause high blood pressure, anemia and memory loss. Lead levels in the children were more than 10 times the level China considers safe. Air quality tests near the smelting plant found unusually high lead levels, according to the official Xinhua News Agency, although officials say groundwater, surface water, soil and company waste discharge all meet national standards.... Local officials plan to relocate all 581 households living within 1,600 feet of the factory in the next two years, according to Xinhua. It was unclear whether the plant had been closed. ...	Even if we won't stand up for ourselves, we'll fight for our children. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Aug 18, 2009 from Science Daily: 'Killer Spices' Provide Eco-friendly Pesticides For Organic Fruits And Veggies Mention rosemary, thyme, clove, and mint and most people think of a delicious meal. Think bigger ... acres bigger. These well-known spices are now becoming organic agriculture's key weapons against insect pests as the industry tries to satisfy demands for fruits and veggies among the growing portion of consumers who want food produced in more natural ways.... [S]cientists in Canada are reporting exciting new research on these so-called "essential oil pesticides" or "killer spices."... Some spiced-based commercial products now being used by farmers have already shown success in protecting organic strawberry, spinach, and tomato crops against destructive aphids and mites, the researcher says. ...	Best of all, no dressing needed for your salad! ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Aug 18, 2009 from Mongabay, via Treehugger via BoingBoing: Pesticide use linked to dying frogs in California Don Sparling of Southern Illinois University Carbondale found that minute quantities of endosulfan -- the active ingredient in many pesticides -- was enough kill frogs. "At 0.8 parts per billion, we lose all of them," Sparling said. 8 parts per billion is the equivalent of a dozen salt grains dissolved in 500 gallons of water. "We always thought there was an association between pesticides and declining amphibian populations, and we're building up a body of evidence to show this is the case." Sparling and colleagues found that endosulfan are making their way, likely via wind currents, into critical frog habitat, triggering die-offs among Pacific tree frogs and foothill yellow-legged frogs, which are native to meadows in California's Sierra Mountains.... "These pesticides are applied by airplanes and we found that the wind would blow some of it up into the mountains, for instance. In other cases, these chemicals would volatize after being applied, turning into a gaseous state, which could also be picked up and spread into the mountains by wind." ...	That is the ugliest canary I've ever seen. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Aug 18, 2009 from Telegraph.co.uk: Lions face extinction in Kenya within 20 years Kenya is annually losing an average of 100 of its 2,000 lions due to growing human settlements, increasing farming, climate change and disease, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service.... There were 2,749 lions in Kenya in 2002 and their population dropped to 2,280 by 2004 and to roughly 2,000 today, according to KWS figures. "The trend of lion population decline is disturbing and every effort needs to be made to ensure that Kenya either stabilises its population at the current population of 2,000 lions or increases the numbers to an ecologically acceptable level," said Mr Udoto. "Quick and decisive actions need to be taken to create public awareness as well as formulation of national guidelines on lion conservation and management in the long term." ...	Awim-a-woe, awim-a-woe, the lion sleeps tonight... 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, Aug 18, 2009 from DOE, via EurekAlert: New process removes sulfur components, CO2 from power plant emissions The Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has developed a reusable organic liquid that can pull harmful gases such as carbon dioxide or sulfur dioxide out of industrial emissions from power plants. The process could directly replace current methods and allow power plants to capture double the amount of harmful gases in a way that uses no water, less energy and saves money. "Power plants could easily retrofit to use our process as a direct replacement for existing technology," said David Heldebrant, PNNL's lead research scientist for the project.... Harmful gases such as carbon dioxide or sulfur dioxide are called "acid gases". The new scrubbing process uses acid gas-binding organic liquids that contain no water and appear similar to oily compounds. These liquids capture the acid gases near room temperature. Scientists then heat the liquid to recover and dispose of the acid gases properly. ...	Double survival, double it now, with doublegood, doublefun, monoethanolamine. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Aug 17, 2009 from Chemical & Engineering News: Kindling For Climate Change The word "Arctic" tends to conjure images of glaciers, polar bears, icy waters, and frozen tundra. And indeed, all of those are common features of Alaska's North Slope. But as climate change alters the atmosphere and landscape in the Arctic, another image might need to be added to that list: fire... But as the temperature in the Arctic has risen, the number of lightning strikes has increased 20-fold. Because the area is so cold and wet, a strike generally has trouble causing much trouble. In July 2007, lightning hit an area north of camp, near the Anaktuvuk River, starting a fire that smoldered for several ...	Lightning in the Arctic? That's surely one of the signs of the Apocalypse! ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Aug 17, 2009 from Wall Street Journal: New Priorities For Our Energy Future By T. BOONE PICKENS AND TED TURNER Renewable energy and clean-burning natural gas are the basis of a new strategy the world needs to create a cleaner and more secure future. And the global transformation to a clean-energy economy may be the greatest economic opportunity of the 21st century. According to the authoritative Potential Gas Committee (administered by the Colorado School of Mines), the U.S. sits on top of massive reservoirs of natural gas—an estimated 2,000 trillion cubic feet—that contain more energy than all the oil in Saudi Arabia... natural gas is already cheap, available and ready to meet the nation's power needs while improving climate security. It emits about half the carbon dioxide per British thermal unit of energy, and far fewer of the heavy metals than does coal. ...	The coal industry is going to crap a coal brick when they read this editorial. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Aug 17, 2009 from London Guardian: Asia facing unprecedented food shortage, UN report says Asia faces an unprecedented food crisis and huge social unrest unless hundreds of billions of dollars are invested in better irrigation systems to grow crops for its burgeoning population, according to a UN report published today. India, China, Pakistan and other large countries avoided famines in the 1970s and 1980s only because they built giant state-sponsored irrigation systems and introduced better seeds and fertilisers. But the extra 1.5 billion people expected to live on the continent by 2050 will double Asia's demand for food, says the report from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Bank-funded International Water Management Institute (IWMI). A combination of very little new land left for cultivation, an increasingly unpredictable climate and water supplies stretched to the limit means the only realistic option to feed people in the future will be better management of existing water supplies, according to the report. ...	Maybe that population should reconsider its plan to burgeon. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Aug 17, 2009 from New Scientist: As Arctic Ocean warms, megatonnes of methane bubble up It's been predicted for years, and now it's happening. Deep in the Arctic Ocean, water warmed by climate change is forcing the release of methane from beneath the sea floor. Over 250 plumes of gas have been discovered bubbling up from the sea floor to the west of the Svalbard archipelago, which lies north of Norway. The bubbles are mostly methane, which is a greenhouse gas much more powerful than carbon dioxide.... "Hydrates are stable only within a particular range of temperatures," says Minshull. "So if the ocean warms, some of the hydrates will break down and release their methane."... Just because it fails to reach the surface doesn't mean the methane is harmless, though, as some of it gets converted to carbon dioxide. The CO2 then dissolves in seawater and makes the oceans more acidic. ...	The worst-case scenario regarding really rapid greenhouse effects...? We may have to revise it. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Aug 17, 2009 from GreenerComputing, from Slashdot: Developing Nations May Reuse More Electronics Than Thought What the researchers found suggests that, at least in one country, imported electronics are not immediately destined for meltdown or other polluting and poisonous dismantling practices, as has been shown in China and other countries: In Peru, Williams said in an article from ACS, "At least 85 percent of discarded computers imported to Peru are reused, as opposed to going directly to recycling. [... Thus,] the image of the trade in e-waste as mainly being about dumping unusable junk is, at least for Peru, inaccurate."... This informal reuse and recycling sector is valuable for generating employment in the country and in making computing technology more accessible to low-income families and small businesses, the paper contends. While many responsible recycling groups want to put an end to exporting electronic waste, this study finds that there are practical benefits to exporting low-cost (but still functioning or salvageable) electronics to the developing world. One option presented involves requiring that all exported electronics be tested to ensure they work, although Williams says that such a requirement would raise the price of these electronics and could "kill off" most of the reuse industry in a country like Peru. ...	Dammit! Another easy meme wounded by evidence. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Aug 17, 2009 from IRIN News (UN): Somalia: Drought fuelling rural exodus in Somaliland "We know that hundreds of thousands have [been] displaced to urban centres," said Abdihakim Garaad Mohamoud, Deputy Minister at the Somaliland Ministry of Resettlement, Reintegration and Rehabilitation. "Every city in Somaliland has a huge number of displaced people because of the recent drought," he added. "It has affected 60 percent of the rural population, whether they are pastoralists or agro-pastoralists. From east to west, south to north, every place in Somaliland has been affected." "Sixty percent of animals have been lost. One [man] who had 200 sheep has lost 110-120, and one who had 20 camels lost half." ...	I'll think about that while I drive to the grocery store to pick up some AquaFina! ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Aug 17, 2009 from Guardian (UK): Developed countries' demand for biofuels has been 'disastrous' The production of biofuels is fuelling poverty, human rights abuses and damage to the environment, Christian Aid warned today. The charity said huge subsidies and targets in developed countries for boosting the production of fuels from plants such as maize and palm oil are exacerbating environmental and social problems in poor nations. And rather than being a "silver bullet" to tackle climate change, the carbon emissions of some of the fuels are higher than fossil fuels because of deforestation driven by the need for land for them to grow.... [I]ndustrial scale production of biofuels is worsening problems such as food price hikes in central America, forced displacement of small farmers for plantations and pollution of local water sources.... Developed countries have poured subsidies into biofuel production -- for example in the US where between 9.2 billion dollars and 11 billion dollars went to supporting maize-based ethanol in 2008 -- when there are cheaper and more effective ways to cut emissions from transport, the report said.... "[T]he best approach to biofuels is to grow them on a small scale and process them locally to provide energy for people in the surrounding countryside." ...	Small-scale production for local needs? What economy are they from? ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Aug 17, 2009 from University of Virginia, via EurekAlert: Agricultural methods of early civilizations may have altered global climate, study suggests Massive burning of forests for agriculture thousands of years ago may have increased atmospheric carbon dioxide enough to alter global climate and usher in a warming trend that continues today, according to a new study that appears online Aug. 17 in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews.... He said that early populations likely used a land-clearing method that involved burning forests, then planting crop seed among the dead stumps in the enriched soil. They would use a large plot until the yield began to decline, and then would burn off another area of forest for planting. They would continue this form of rotation farming, ever expanding the cleared areas as their populations grew. They possibly cleared five or more times more land than they actually farmed at any given time.... Humans continue to add excessive levels of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, contributing to a global warming trend, Ruddiman said. ...	At least now we can blame our progenitors instead of ourselves! ApocaDoc permalink