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What A Week It Was: Apocadocuments from

View By Scenario:
Species Collapse:	(4)
Plague/Virus:	(1)
Climate Chaos:	(13)
Resource Depletion:	(9)
Biology Breach:	(7)
Recovery:	(6)

This Week's Top Ten Very Scary Tags:
climate impacts ~ global warming ~ weather extremes ~ contamination ~ water issues ~ smart policy ~ carbon emissions ~ stupid humans ~ overpopulation ~ rising sea level ~ overfishing

ApocaDocuments (40) gathered this week:
Sun, Sep 27, 2009 from The Journal-News, Martinburg, WV: Southern bats now dying from white-nose fungus "In some hibernaculum, 90 to 100 percent of the bats are dying," a Fish and Wildlife Service Web site reads. In a cave advisory issued earlier this year, federal officials said it has not only "killed hundreds of thousands" of bats in northeastern states, but it threatens to spread to the Midwest and Southeast -- home to many federally endangered bat species, as well as one of the largest bat populations in the country.... Once bats become infected, it interferes with their hibernation patterns, Bennett said. "Bats normally wake up five, six or seven times during their hibernation, when they'll preen a little bit and then go back to sleep. But this fungus itches them, so they wake up constantly and scratch till they use up their fat reserve. So they wake up in the middle of winter and they're hungry. They have to eat to survive, so they fly out of the cave," he said. White-nose syndrome was discovered by cavers in West Virginia this past summer in Pendleton County, Bennett said. Shortly afterward, it was discovered in Bath County, Va., he said.... "But the other caves they found it in were popular caves, so this is why they are thinking that humans may be helping to spread it," he said. ...	Just another of our surplus species. Y'know, we own millions of 'em. ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Sep 27, 2009 from Science News: Heavier Rainstorms Ahead Due To Global Climate Change, Study Predicts Heavier rainstorms lie in our future. That's the clear conclusion of a new MIT and Caltech study on the impact that global climate change will have on precipitation patterns.... Overall, previous studies have shown that average annual precipitation will increase in both the deep tropics and in temperate zones, but will decrease in the subtropics. However, it's important to know how the frequency and magnitude of extreme precipitation events will be affected, as these heavy downpours can lead to increased flooding and soil erosion.... Model simulations used in the study suggest that precipitation in extreme events will go up by about 6 percent for every one degree Celsius increase in temperature. Separate projections published earlier this year by MIT's Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change indicate that without rapid and massive policy changes, there is a median probability of global surface warming of 5.2 degrees Celsius by 2100, with a 90 percent probability range of 3.5 to 7.4 degrees. ...	Oh, the weather outside is frightnin'; with wind, and rain, and lightnin'; but we just don't want to know; let it blow let it blow let it blow. ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Sep 27, 2009 from New Scientist: Population: Overconsumption is the real problem THERE is a pervading myth that efforts to fight climate change and other environmental perils will be to no avail unless we "do something" about population growth. Even seasoned analysts talk about the threat of "exponential" population growth. But there is no exponential growth. In most of the world fertility rates are falling fast, and the countries where population growth continues are those that contribute least to our planetary predicament.... Yet the arguments still don't fit the reality. The population "bomb" is fast being defused. Women across the poor world are having dramatically fewer babies than their mothers did -- mostly out of choice, not compulsion. Half a century ago, the worldwide average for the number of children a woman had was between five and six. Now she has 2.6. In the face of such a fall it is hard to see what more "doing something" about global population might achieve.... Even if the world population does stabilise soon and starts to glide downwards, that won't solve the world's environmental problems. The real issue is not overpopulation but overconsumption -- mostly in rich countries that have long since given up adding substantial numbers to their population. ...	Overconsumption leads to growth, and that's what the economy needs, right? ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Sep 26, 2009 from Guardian (UK): UK warned as plague of bee-eating hornets spreads north in France For five years they have wreaked havoc in the fields of south-western France, scaring locals with their venomous stings and ravaging the bee population to feed their rapacious appetites. Now, according to French beekeepers, Asian predatory hornets have been sighted in Paris for the first time, raising the prospect of a nationwide invasion which entomologists fear could eventually reach Britain.... If confirmed by further testing, the find will raise fears that the spread of the bee-eating Vespa velutina is no longer limited to the Aquitaine region near Bordeaux, where it is believed to have arrived on board container ships from China in 2004, and the surrounding south-west.... Neither pesticides nor traps have proved particularly effective, largely because the creatures nest high off the ground in trees. The Vespa velutina has no natural predator on European soil. ...	Not to worry -- their food supply will eventually just run out. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Sep 26, 2009 from New York Times: Palau to Ban Shark Fishing Palau, an island nation in the Western Pacific, is banning fishing for shark in its waters, Matt Rand, director of the Pew Environment Group's shark conservation program, said Thursday.... It will apply to waters covering an area about the size of Texas that are home to scores of shark species, Mr. Rand said. Mr. Rand conceded that Palau, which has a population of barely 20,000, would have difficulty enforcing the ban, but he said the country was a leader in marine conservation and added that he expected other countries would follow Palau's lead on the issue. ...	How dare you -- I love shark's fin soup! ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Sep 26, 2009 from BBC (UK): Iceland plans big whalemeat trade with Japan The company behind Iceland's fin whaling industry is planning a huge export of whalemeat to Japan. This summer, Hvalur hf caught 125 fins -- a huge expansion on previous years. The company's owner says he will export as much as 1,500 tonnes to Japan. This would substantially increase the amount of whalemeat in the Japanese market. The export would be legal because these nations are exempt from the global ban on trading whalemeat, but conservation groups doubt its commercial viability. ... This compares with a total of seven caught in the previous three years. The fin is globally listed as an endangered species, though Icelandic marine scientists maintain stocks are big enough locally to sustain a hunt of this size. ...	What's Icelandic for "I hope you go bankrupt and are sued for dispensing the toxic flesh of intelligent mammals"? ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Sep 26, 2009 from Telegraph.co.uk: World goes into 'ecological debt' The global recession meant "ecological debt day" on September 25 fell a day later than the previous year for the first time in 20 years as less resources were used. However environmental groups said the slow down was not enough to make a difference to the environmental damage being caused by over consumption, the burning of fossil fuels and intensive farming.... "Debt-fuelled overconsumption not only brought the financial system to the edge of collapse, it is pushing many of our natural life-support systems towards a precipic," he said. "Politicians tell us to get back to business as usual, but if we bankrupt critical ecosystems no amount of government spending will bring them back. "We need a radically different approach to 'rich world' consumption. While billions in poorer countries subsist, we consume vastly more and yet with little or nothing to show for it in terms of greater life satisfaction." ...	If debt is the last growth industry, I wonder how I can profit from it? ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Sep 26, 2009 from Telegraph.co.uk: Rivers made famous in Wind and the Willows and Winnie the Pooh fail ecological test The famous stretches of river failed to meet new European standards for water quality that judge not only the chemicals in the water but the health of fish stocks and level of wildlife. Conservationists said the state of rivers made famous in literature reflects the wider problem of pollution and called on the Government to be more ambitious in their clean-up programme. The Environment Agency has disclosed that just 26 per cent of the country's 6,000 rivers are judged to be a "good" ecological status under the EU rules. ...	What's next, Huckleberry's Mississippi? Oh... right. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Sep 26, 2009 from AFP, via DesdemonaDespair: India heading for worst drought since 1972 India's monsoon was about 20 percent below strength just over a week before the official end of the rainy reason, putting the country on course for its worst drought since 1972, weather data showed Wednesday. "Until September 21, for the country as a whole, the rain deficiency was 22 percent," said B.K. Bandopadhyay, a spokesman for the weather office.... Low rainfall early in the monsoon period ravaged India's rice, cane sugar and groundnut crops, and has disrupted the flow of water into the main reservoirs that are vital for hydropower generation and winter irrigation. The drought is expected to dampen India's economic growth this year and has sent food prices rocketing, leading to huge hardship for India's poor masses.... Rains in the northwest were 34 percent less than average, in central regions they were down by 19 percent, and the northeast had a 26-percent shortfall. ...	Mother Nature has some explaining to do. Doesn't she owe us rain? ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Sep 26, 2009 from Telegraph.co.uk: UN climate summit: Sea change needed at Copenhagen With just 15 negotiating days left before governments meet in Copenhagen in December supposedly to finalise a new climate agreement, the man in charge of the negotiations -- the somewhat dour Dutchman Yvo de Boer == complains that they are "afloat on a sea of brackets". I haven't looked to see if any of them enclose a solitary comma (somehow life seems too short), but I do know that there are 2,500 sets -- all surrounding different points of contention -- in the 200-page negotiating text. At the present rate, most will remain as unresolved as the 30-year-old comma in New York. And yet almost every one of the world's governments (Saudia Arabia appears to be a rare exception) seems to want to seal a deal.... The issue is far too big to be left to the negotiators -- or even to the environment ministers who usually have to strike the deal in the end. Only national leaders have the authority to take the decisions, which will determine the shape of economies as well as the environment and could usher in a new era of growth. If they don't, we could be looking at not so much a comma, as a full stop. ...	"Sea change" -- is that the "awareness tide" that lifts all boats? ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Sep 25, 2009 from The Economist: A catastrophe is looming THIS year's drought is the worst in east Africa since 2000, and possibly since 1991. Famine stalks the land. The failure of rains in parts of Ethiopia may increase the number needing food handouts by 5m, in addition to the 8m already getting them, in a population of 80m... In Mwingi district, in Kenya's Kamba region, the crops have totally failed. Villagers are surviving on monthly government handouts of maize-meal, rice and a little cooking oil. Worse than the hunger, say local leaders, is the thirst. People are digging wells by hand, but they hit rock... Meteorologists reckon the rains due in October and November will be heavier than usual. That would be good, if the east African authorities were prepared. But they are not. Mud slides and floods are likely, with streams and rivers carrying off the topsoil. Malaria and cholera may increase. Surviving cattle, weakened by drought, will drown or die of cold. ...	Afrocalypse! ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Sep 25, 2009 from Bangor Daily News: Herring catch limits could plummet The availability of herring along the coast of Maine, where much of the catch is used as bait for the state's $250 million lobster industry, is a little bit better this fall than it was last year. Next year, however, could be a different story.... The scientists who reviewed this summer's stock assessment for Atlantic herring came up with a lower recommendation of the allowable catch than regulators and officials had made in prior years. As a result, the annual overall quota for herring in 2010 likely is going to be 90,000 metric tons, which is 104,000 metric tons less than this year's limit of 194,000 metric tons. That larger quota is parceled among four fishing areas that include both inner and outer areas of the Gulf of Maine, one directly south of the gulf, and another west of Nantucket. ...	We'll just switch to himming, eh? ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Sep 25, 2009 from Associated Press: Study finds school drinking water tainted CUTLER, Calif. - Over the last decade, the drinking water at thousands of schools across the country has been found to contain unsafe levels of lead, pesticides and dozens of other toxins. An Associated Press investigation found that contaminants have surfaced at public and private schools in all 50 states - in small towns and inner cities alike. But the problem has gone largely unmonitored by the federal government, even as the number of water safety violations has multiplied. ...	Might as well get the little buggers used to it. 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, Sep 25, 2009 from Scientific American: Water galore on Moon and Mars In a sensational announcement, NASA announced that there are vast quantities of water on the Moon, which has always been considered an arid world. A second discovery revealed that water ice exists at mid-latitudes on Mars. This is much further from the poles and closer to the equator than water was previously thought to lie and means there should be supplies for human explorers to drink. The new martian ice was detected by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter probe which spotted the ice in craters produced by recent meteorite impacts on the red planet. The discovery delighted space scientists still reeling from the revelation that water is widespread on the Moon. There are no lakes or rivers -the lunar soil, or regolith, is still drier than any desert on Earth. ...	Now I won't have to worry about the converging emergencies! ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Sep 25, 2009 from AP News: Planned emission cuts still mean far hotter Earth Earth's temperature is likely to jump nearly 6 degrees between now and the end of the century even if every country cuts greenhouse gas emissions as proposed, according to a United Nations update. Scientists looked at emission plans from 192 nations and calculated what would happen to global warming. The projections take into account 80 percent pollution cuts from the U.S. and Europe by 2050, which are not sure things.... "We are headed toward very serious changes in our planet," said Achim Steiner, head of the U.N.'s environment program, which issued the update on Thursday. Even if the developed world cuts its emissions by 80 percent and the developing world cuts theirs in half by 2050, as some experts propose, the world is still facing a 3-degree (1.7 degree Celsius) increase by the end of the century, said Robert Corell, a prominent U.S. climate scientist who helped oversee the update. ...	And when next year's UNEP update comes in....? ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Sep 24, 2009 from Washington Post: Environmentalists Seek to Wipe Out Plush Toilet Paper It is a fight over toilet paper: the kind that is blanket-fluffy and getting fluffier so fast that manufacturers are running out of synonyms for "soft" (Quilted Northern Ultra Plush is the first big brand to go three-ply and three-adjective). It's a menace, environmental groups say -- and a dark-comedy example of American excess. The reason, they say, is that plush U.S. toilet paper is usually made by chopping down and grinding up trees that were decades or even a century old. They want Americans, like Europeans, to wipe with tissue made from recycled paper goods. It has been slow going. Big toilet-paper makers say that they've taken steps to become more Earth-friendly but that their customers still want the soft stuff, so they're still selling it. ...	If we in the US don't make this change, I daresay we are -- literally -- assholes. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Sep 24, 2009 from London Independent: Ancient glaciers are disappearing faster than ever Melting ice is pouring off Greenland and Antarctica into the sea far faster than was previously realised because of global warming, new scientific research reveals today. The accelerating loss from the world's two great land-based ice sheets means a rise in sea levels is likely to happen even more quickly than UN scientists suggested only two years ago, the findings by British scientists suggest. Although floating ice, such as that in the Arctic Ocean, does not add to sea-level rise when it melts as it is already displacing its own mass in the water, melting ice from the land raises the global sea level directly. At present it is thought that land-based ice melt accounts for about 1.8mm of the current annual sea level rise of 3.2mm – the rest is coming from the fact that water expands in volume as it warms. But the new findings, published online today in the journal Nature, imply that this rate is likely to increase. ...	Maybe it's melting faster 'cause we're watching it! ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Sep 24, 2009 from New Scientist: Climate change may trigger earthquakes and volcanoes FAR from being the benign figure of mythology, Mother Earth is short-tempered and volatile. So sensitive in fact, that even slight changes in weather and climate can rip the planet's crust apart, unleashing the furious might of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and landslides. That's the conclusion of the researchers who got together last week in London at the conference on Climate Forcing of Geological and Geomorphological Hazards. It suggests climate change could tip the planet's delicate balance and unleash a host of geological disasters. What's more, even our attempts to stall global warming could trigger a catastrophic event... ...	The Apocalypse... is gonna be like a themepark ride! ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Sep 24, 2009 from TIME Magazine: How Much Human Activity Can Earth Handle? ...as human population has exploded over the past few thousand years, the delicate ecological balance that kept the Long Summer going has become threatened. The rise of industrialized agriculture has thrown off Earth's natural nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, leading to pollution on land and water, while our fossil-fuel addiction has moved billions of tons of carbon from the land into the atmosphere, heating the climate ever more. Now a new article in the Sept. 24 issue of Nature says the safe climatic limits in which humanity has blossomed are more vulnerable than ever and that unless we recognize our planetary boundaries and stay within them, we risk total catastrophe....Stay within the lines, and we might just be all right. ...	Humans just aren't all that good at staying within the lines... ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Sep 24, 2009 from Agence France-Presse: World will need 70 percent more food in 2050: FAO World food production must increase by 70 percent by 2050, to nourish a human population then likely to be 9.1 billion, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation forecast Wednesday... "Nearly all of the population growth will occur in developing countries. Sub-Saharan Africa's population is expected to grow the fastest (up 108 percent, 910 million people), and East and South East Asia's the slowest (up 11 percent, 228 million). "Around 70 percent of the world population will live in cities or urban areas by 2050, up from 49 percent today," the document said. The demand for food is expected to grow as a result of rising incomes as well as population growth, the discussion paper added. ...	I'll be really old and stringy... but I volunteer! ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Sep 24, 2009 from DC Bureau: Fish and Paint Chips Part I: The Science of Trash Recent research has the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) concerned that the huge quantities of metal, plastic, paint chips and other man-made debris floating at sea, hundreds and even thousands of miles from land, may be working their way into the American diet. NOAA, a part of the Commerce Department, largely exists to track weather patterns and hurricanes, and its entry into the public health sphere serves as an indication of how severe the problem has become. It is not too much to suggest that millions of seafood lovers might be ingesting the very chemicals that land-based health and safety regulations are designed to keep out of reach. ...	What goes around... comes around. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Sep 23, 2009 from CBC News (Canada): Polar ice sheets melting into sea: study The massive ice sheets that cover Greenland and Antarctica are thinning rapidly, say British researchers who have analyzed 50 million laser measurements from a NASA satellite. Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey and the University of Bristol said the most dramatic loss of ice was the result of glaciers flowing into the sea at a faster rate. "We think that warm ocean currents reaching the coast and melting the glacier front is the most likely cause of faster glacier flow," Hamish Pritchard of the British Antarctic Survey said in a statement.... "We were surprised to see such a strong pattern of thinning glaciers across such large areas of coastline," said Pritchard. "It's widespread and in some cases thinning extends hundreds of kilometres inland." ...	Of course it's thinning: isn't that what saunas are supposed to do? ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Sep 23, 2009 from Johannesburg Business Report: High level of toxins detected in shoes High levels of toxic chemicals have been found in the shoes of well-known South African retailers, raising concern about the health hazards contained in these "throwaway items" the world over. In a study released last week, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC) found high levels of a toxic chemical known as diethyl-hexyl phthalate (DEHP) in 17 out of 27 pairs of shoes manufactured in various countries including India, Indonesia, Tanzania, The Philippines, Sweden and South Africa. The chemical can cause cancer, severe damage to a developing foetus and the central nervous system. Following an analysis for different types of harmful chemicals, a pair of sandals from Woolworths (imported from Brazil) was found to contain the highest concentration of DEHP of all the shoes in the global sample, with the substance constituting 23 percent of the total weight of the shoe. ...	Walk a mile in my (toxic) shoes. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Sep 23, 2009 from Greenwire: Biodiversity a Bitter Pill in 'Tropical' Mediterranean Sea Two weeks ago, a group of marine biologists from Israel's National Institute of Oceanography set sail from the country's central coast... They had a rich catch that night... pucker-faced dragonet fish, sprawling octopuses and brown crabs, snapping their claws. On the examination table, it seemed a display of the sea's bounty. Unfortunately, it was another sea's bounty. Almost all of the species Galil found that night were natives of the Indian or Pacific oceans. Lured by warming waters and a newly improved route through the Suez Canal, tropical marine species have enacted a slow march into the Mediterranean, displacing native species and disrupting ecosystems. ...	It's so much more ominous when they march. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Sep 23, 2009 from The Japan Times: Mercury danger in dolphin meat ...Dolphin and whale meat is high in mercury, and [Tetsuya Endo, a professor at the Health Sciences University of Hokkaido], one of the world's foremost authorities on mercury levels in dolphins and whales caught off Japan's coastal waters, has discovered Taiji residents who eat the meat sold in local stores have extremely high concentrations in their bodies. "Between December 2007 and July 2008, myself and a team of scientists and researchers took hair samples from 30 male and 20 female residents of the Taiji area. In three cases, the levels of mercury present were more than 50 parts per million, high enough that it was possible nerve damage, like that seen in victims of Minamata disease, could occur," Endo told The Japan Times in an interview last week. ...	It would be rather ironic if these beasts are so toxic they are saved from the dinner table. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Sep 23, 2009 from COP15: Future coffee: scarce, expensive -- but tasty Climate change is prompting farmers in Guatemala to look for new fields for their coffee plantations. While temperatures have only increased by half a degree on average, this is enough to affect conditions for coffee plants. A similar development is likely to be seen in the entire Central American region over the next years.... "As a scientist it pains me to say it, but the conditions for coffee growing in many of the highland areas, where the best coffee is grown, could be better for coffee in the coming years. The coffee grown at those altitudes could have higher yields and it's likely that the producers will be able to take advantage in the short turn by growing those high-quality coffees more abundantly." ...	"Peak Coffee" might result in a 12.3 percent decline in world productivity of everything! 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, Sep 23, 2009 from TomDispatch (Michael Klare), via Mother Jones: The Era of Xtreme Energy The debate rages over whether we have already reached the point of peak world oil output or will not do so until at least the next decade. There can, however, be little doubt of one thing: we are moving from an era in which oil was the world's principal energy source to one in which petroleum alternatives -- especially renewable supplies derived from the sun, wind, and waves -- will provide an ever larger share of our total supply. But buckle your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride under Xtreme conditions. It would, of course, be ideal if the shift from dwindling oil to its climate-friendly successors were to happen smoothly via a mammoth, well-coordinated, interlaced system of wind, solar, tidal, geothermal, and other renewable energy installations. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to occur. Instead, we will surely first pass through an era characterized by excessive reliance on oil's final, least attractive reserves along with coal, heavily polluting "unconventional" hydrocarbons like Canadian oil sands, and other unappealing fuel choices. ...	Thank goodness "clean coal" is just around the corner! ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Sep 23, 2009 from Guardian (UK): Dust storms engulf Sydney, Australia Winds sweep millions of tonnes of red dust from Australia's drought-ravaged interior and dump it on the coast. (Guardian photoessay) ...	Is a dust bowl inverted, down under? ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 22, 2009 from Times Online (UK): President Hu Jintao commits China to carbon-cutting deal China pledged yesterday to slow the growth of its emissions despite the rapid expansion of its economy. President Hu Jintao told nearly 100 leaders at a UN summit on climate change that China would cut carbon dioxide emissions by a notable margin by 2020. "We have taken and will continue to take determined and practical steps to tackle this challenge," he said. China, the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is overwhelmingly dependent on coal. Mr Hu said that it would "vigorously develop" renewable and nuclear energy, try to increase the share of non-fossil fuels to 15 per cent by 2020 and plant 40 million hectares of forest to absorb carbon emissions. The speech is the clearest indication yet that Mr Hu would be prepared to sign a binding international agreement on emissions. China previously rejected carbon emissions caps or cuts. ...	OMG! 1/6 of humanity, distilled to one person, commits to change! ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 22, 2009 from CNN Money: PG&E Corp Quits US Chamber Of Commerce Over Climate Views PG&E Corp. (PCG) said Tuesday it is leaving the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over objections to what its top executive called the chamber's "extreme position on climate change." In a letter to the U.S. Chamber published on PG&E's blog, www next100.com, PG& E Chairman and Chief Executive Peter Darbee wrote that company employees "find it dismaying that the Chamber neglects the indisputable fact that a decisive majority of experts have said the data on global warming are compelling and point to a threat that cannot be ignored." The U.S. Chamber has been a vocal critic of climate legislation pending in the Senate, most recently suggesting that the U.S. hold a "Scopes-like" trial to debate evidence that climate change is man-made. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has demurred on the request, saying that its proposed finding that global warming poses a danger to public health is based on sound science. ...	Is the "sanity lobby" somehow taking hold? ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 22, 2009 from Associated Press: UN climate chief says China poised to take lead China's ambition to grow quickly but cleanly soon may vault it to "front-runner" status — far ahead of the United States — in taking on global warming, the U.N. climate chief said Monday. China could steal the show by unveiling new plans Tuesday at a U.N. climate summit of 100 world leaders. India has also signaled that it wants to be an "active player" on climate change. "China and India have announced very ambitious national climate change plans. In the case of China, so ambitious that it could well become the front-runner in the fight to address climate change," U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer told The Associated Press Monday. "The big question mark is the U.S." The development would mark a dramatic turnabout. The United States, under former President George W. Bush's administration, long cited inaction by China and India as the reason for rejecting mandatory cuts in greenhouse gases. ...	Oh... we'll think of SOMETHING. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 22, 2009 from London Guardian: Most English and Welsh rivers too dirty for new European standards Only five of the 6,114 rivers in England and Wales are in pristine condition, and more than three-quarters are expected to fail new European quality standards, says the government's fullest-ever ecological assessment of water quality. The report, by the official pollution watchdog, the Environment Agency, shows that 117 English and Welsh rivers are ranked on a par with the dirtiest rivers in eastern Europe, a further 742 are considered to be in "poor condition" and 3,654, or 60 percent, are in "moderate" condition. The chemical and biological state of UK rivers, wetlands, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters has improved considerably in the last decade, but the results are highly embarrassing because the government is legally required by Europe to ensure that 95 percent of all British rivers are in "good" ecological condition by 2015. Today, just 26 percent are in that category and at the present rate of improvement, the report says, only a further 5 percent will meet this target. ...	Maybe their standards are just too high! ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 22, 2009 from Telegraph.co.uk: Let the panda die out 'with dignity', says BBC expert Chris Packham The zoologist, who has replaced Bill Oddie as a presenter on BBC's Springwatch, risked criticism from wildlife conservationists in an interview with the Radio Times in which he describes the giant panda as a "T-shirt animal" on which too much conservation money is wasted. "Here is a species that, of its own accord, has gone down an evolutionary cul-de-sac. It's not a strong species," he said. "Unfortunately, it's big and cute and a symbol of the World Wide Fund for Nature and we pour millions of pounds into into panda conservation. "I reckon we should pull the plug. Let them go, with a degree of dignity."... He added: "Chris has taken an irresponsible position. Pandas face extinction because of poaching and human pressures on their habitat. They have adapted to the area in which they live and if left alone, they function perfectly well. "However, he is right in his assertion that we must secure habitat in order to protect endangered species. This is exactly what we work to achieve in the case of the giant panda. ...	Cute logos never die -- they just fade away. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 22, 2009 from Wyoming Tribune Eagle, from Desdemona Despair: Beetle attack to change our [forests and] world The tree looks alive, but it probably won't be for long. The brown cadavers of lodgepoles past stand among smaller, greener pines, testifying to the unavoidable truth: Change -- big change -- is coming. "The general feeling is this will end when the food supply runs out," Frost says. Looking out on the variegated landscape of greens, reds and browns, two things become clear. One: This is one of the biggest ecological changes we have ever seen. It's daunting and scary and -- for the experts -- exciting all at the same time. A plague of beetles, including one that just now is taking its turn, is cutting a swath through the national forests in north-central Colorado and into Wyoming. At the low end, it's possible that just 10 percent of large lodgepole pines will be left. It's also possible that they all will be gone. But other and smaller trees suddenly are being chewed up as well. Where that leads remains to be seen. The implications of all this are impossible to pin down, but they could affect each and every one of us. They possibly include an increase in global warming, large-scale wildfires and big changes in water supply. And then there is this fact: These forests will never look the same again. Two: This change is inevitable. Try as we might, there's no stopping it. ...	What a lot of carbon-offsets waiting to be planted! ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 22, 2009 from Environmental Expert (UK)h: New chemical pollutants? Research finds fluorochemicals in water samples Another contaminant found in Canadian groundwater samples may join the list of environmental substances that could be harmful to humans and the environment.... The newest potential threat to human health and the environment is fluorochemicals known as perfluorinated phosphoric acids (PFPAs), which were found in water samples taken for study in the past decade from Canadian creeks, rivers and, waste treatment effluents. PFPAs were found at 24 of 30 sites used in the research.... PFPAs are used commercially as leveling and wetting agents and to defoam additives used in pesticide formulations. Similar fluorochemicals have been used for industrial purposes since the 1950s but were not identified as widespread environmental contaminants until 2001. As noted in the article, PFPAs lack hydrogen atoms and may resist degradation, like other fluorochemicals such as PFCAs and PFSAs -- perfluorinated carboxylic and sulfonic acids -- that once were used commercially and now are regulated in the United States and Canada. "From the analysis of Canadian surface waters, low-level PFPA contamination clearly is widespread," according to the authors. ...	Thank god I'm acronym-challenged. It's just too hard to remember what these things mean! ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 22, 2009 from Journal of Consumer Research, via EurekAlert: Hummer owners claim moral high ground to excuse overconsumption "As we studied American Hummer owners and their ideological beliefs, we found that they consider Hummer driving a highly moral consumption choice," write the authors. "For Hummer owners it is possible to claim the moral high ground." The authors explain that Hummer owners employ the ideology of American foundational myths, such as the "rugged individual," and the "boundless frontier" to construct themselves as moral protagonists. They often believe they represent a bastion again anti-American discourses evoked by their critics. "Our analysis of the underlying American identity discourses revealed that being under siege by (moral) critics is an historically established feature of being an American," write the authors. "The moralistic critique of their consumption choices readily inspired Hummer owners to adopt the role of the moral protagonist who defends American national ideals." ...	I assert my freedom every time I "jackrabbit start" my Hummer. And if you disagree with me, you're a terrorist. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Sep 21, 2009 from Norfolk Eastern Daily Press: Wave power setback as giant machine capsizes A pioneering plan to create power from the waves suffered a major setback last night when the machine capsized off the north Suffolk coast. The seabed off Southwold was being used to test a new way of harnessing power from the waves which could ultimately generate electricity on a large scale. But as the experimental wave generator, weighing 80 tonnes, was being towed into position on a floating pontoon yesterday, the pontoon capsized. Local shipping had to be warned as the 18 metre (59ft) high generator was floating loose and drifting with the tide. It was later connected to one of the tugs which had been towing the pontoon and towed to a safe location at Dunwich Bay, near the beach, where it was out of the way of shipping. ...	They sure Suffolked this up! ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Sep 21, 2009 from Reuters: Mosquito-Borne African Virus A New Threat To West The United States and Europe face a new health threat from a mosquito-borne disease far more unpleasant than the West Nile virus that swept into North America a decade ago, a U.S. expert said on Friday. Chikungunya virus has spread beyond Africa since 2005, causing outbreaks and scores of fatalities in India and the French island of Reunion. It also has been detected in Italy, where it has begun to spread locally, as well as France. "We're very worried," Dr. James Diaz of the Louisiana University Health Sciences Center told a meeting on airlines, airports and disease transmission sponsored by the independent U.S. National Research Council. "Unlike West Nile virus, where nine out of 10 people are going to be totally asymptomatic, or may have a mild headache or a stiff neck, if you get Chikungunya you're going to be sick," he said. "The disease can be fatal. It's a serious disease," Diaz added. "There is no vaccine." ...	Chikungunya, loosely translated, means "They are holding my poultry hostage, with armaments." ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Sep 21, 2009 from Agence France-Presse: That sinking feeling: world's deltas subsiding, says study Two-thirds of the world's major deltas, home to nearly half a billion people, are caught in the scissors of sinking land and rising seas, according to a study published Sunday. The new findings, based on satellite images, show that 85 percent of the 33 largest delta regions experienced severe flooding over the past decade, affecting 260,000 square kilometres (100,000 square miles). Delta land vulnerable to serious flooding could expand by 50 percent this century if ocean levels increase as expected under moderate climate change scenarios, the study projects. Worst hit will be Asia, but heavily populated and farmed deltas on every continent except Australia and Antarctica are in peril, it says. On a five-tier scale, three of the eleven deltas in the highest-risk category are in China: the Yellow River delta in the north, the Yangtze River delta near Shanghai, and the Pearl River Delta next to Guangzhou. ...	The delta, it melt-a away-a. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Sep 21, 2009 from The (fake) New York Post: We're Screwed It�s official. It�s getting hot down here. And if we don�t stop burning oil and coal, the Big Apple will be cooked. According to a high tech study commissioned by a concerned Mayor Bloomberg and generously funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, climate change caused by human-created greenhouse gases is threatening the health, livelihood and security of New Yorkers�especially those who take the subway to work. The New York City Panel on Climate Change, led by an elite team of NASA scientists and climate experts from Columbia, CUNY and Rutgers, has concluded that unless carbon emissions are drastically reduced all over the world, New York faces dangerous increases in temperature (up to 7.5 degrees), extreme weather (hurricanes and intense storms) and sea level rise (as much as 4.5 feet). ...	A fake publication of the NYP, but all the facts are real. Go Yes Men! ApocaDoc permalink