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What A Week It Was: Apocadocuments from

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Species Collapse:	(4)
Plague/Virus:	(1)
Climate Chaos:	(16)
Resource Depletion:	(1)
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Recovery:	(5)

This Week's Top Ten Very Scary Tags:
climate impacts ~ global warming ~ contamination ~ governmental idiocy ~ economic myopia ~ bird collapse ~ pesticide runoff ~ death spiral ~ ecosystem interrelationships ~ poverty ~ migration changes

ApocaDocuments (34) gathered this week:
Sun, Nov 8, 2009 from Gibbs Smith: From the ApocaDesk Be the Change By Thomas Linzey with Anneke Campbell Gibbs Smith; $12.99 (2009) This small, easy-to-finish-in-one-afternoon book may be the most inspiring thing you'll read all year. Be the Change is the story of Thomas Linzey and the growing grassroots movement of people taking back their communities from the corporations who seek to destroy them -- whether through contamination (mining, building quarries) or through theft of resources (aquifers). It is a movement that has no partisan pitch. It is your classic David vs. Goliath, and boy, are the Goliaths huge. Thwarted by our own U.S. Consitution "finding" that corporations having the standing as "persons," everyday citizens have repeatedly fought -- and lost -- the battle to keep CAFOs and mining companies from ruining their land. In Be the Change, Linzey and Campbell walk us through the success stories, while never sugar-coating the intense, harrowing process of organizing and sustaining a drive. We learn about the people of Blaine Township in Pennsylvania, who kept Consol Energy Company from mining coal in their community. We learn about the people of Nottingham, New Hampshire, who united to pass an ordinance to keep USA Springs from taking 430,000 gallons of water a day from their aquifer. And we are walked through Envision Spokane, an effort by citizens of an entire city to figure out how to determine their own fate by writing their Bill of Rights, stating, for example, "The natural environment has the right to exist and flourish." Over the course of this book, Linzey and Campbell remind us that the root question is asking yourself: "What kind of community do you want to live in?" Rather than getting into a room with regulators and politicians and trying to minimize the damage that a corporation wants to do, assert your rights as citizens to make the decisions you think are in the best interest of your community. Isn't that the Democracy we are taught to believe in? Instead, we get what Linzey calls "the illusion of Democracy." He emphasizes in workshops and speeches -- I myself have heard him speak in California and Indiana -- that the minute you get into a room with the power elite, you've lost. Define the vision of your community, then figure out how to rewrite the existing laws and ordinances in your world, aided by Linzey's Democracy School workshop. Then dig in and get your fellow citizens on board. Build a movement. Rise up. Does it work? There are many instances in this book where it does, and in 2008 an entire country did it! In 2008, Ecuador rewrote their constitution to invoke the rights of nature as transcendent over the rights of corporations. Who helped them do that? Thomas Linzey. In the end, the authors stress, it's not about stopping mining or polluting or the theft of your resources, it's about who gets to decide. Corporations and politicians? Or people. If you agree it's people, then Be the Change can jumpstart your own, homespun revolution. *So for that gloom-and-doom Apocalypse acolyte in your family or subculture, you can do no better than handing them Be the Change* and tell them to quit bitchin' -- and get to work.** Be the Change can be purchased in all the usual places. For more on Linzey, see www.celdf.org. ...	Holiday gift ideas from the ApocaDocs! ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Nov 8, 2009 from PhysOrg.com: W. Africa's last giraffes make surprising comeback By all accounts, they should be extinct. Instead, their numbers have quadrupled to 200 since 1996, an unlikely boon experts credit to the concurrence of an impoverished government keen for revenue that has enacted laws to protected them, a conservation program that encourages people to support them, and a rare harmony with humans who have accepted their presence. ...	Lucky there's no absurdly lucrative market for giraffe horns. ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Nov 8, 2009 from BBC (UK): Studies 'overstate species risks' They said models that analyse vast areas often failed to take into account local variations, such as topography and microclimates. Local-scale simulations, which did include these factors, often delivered a more optimistic outlook, they added. The findings have been published in the journal, Science.... However, they added that the overall picture for biodiversity loss was still bleak, especially once the rate of habitat loss and fragmentation was taken into account. "Predicting the fate of biodiversity in response to climate change combined with habitat fragmentation is a serious undertaking fraught with caveats and complexities," they observed. ...	Soon to come: "biodiversity loss deniers." ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Nov 8, 2009 from Cornell, via EurekAlert: Nitrogen loss threatens desert plant life, study shows As the climate gets warmer, arid soils lose nitrogen as gas, reports a new Cornell study. That could lead to deserts with even less plant life than they sustain today, say the researchers. "This is a way that nitrogen is lost from an ecosystem that people have never accounted for before," said Jed Sparks, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and co-author of the study, published in the Nov. 6 issue of Science. "It allows us to finally understand the dynamics of nitrogen in arid systems" Available nitrogen is second only to water as the biggest constraint to biological activity in arid ecosystems, but before now, ecologists struggled to understand how the inputs and outputs of nitrogen in deserts balance. ...	Don't they say that "less is more"? ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Nov 7, 2009 from All Things Considered: Flu Threat Looms As Mecca Readies For Pilgrims Anxious health officials in Saudi Arabia say that for the first time in recorded history, a global pandemic could affect the hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. The H1N1 virus is a major concern for authorities in Saudi Arabia, who are gearing up to host some 2.5 million Muslim pilgrims from 160 countries later this month.... This proximity is exactly the problem, says Dr. Shahul Ebrahim of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "There is no space in between the persons. They stand shoulder to shoulder, touching objects of religious significance," he explains. He adds that when Muslims pray, they prostrate on the ground, touching the carpets or floors -- another way they might come into contact with bodily fluids. ...	It will be grim if the pilgrims spill their mucus in Mecca. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Nov 7, 2009 from Catskill Daily Mail: Lafarge permit would allow 176 lb. of mercury a year The state Department of Environmental Conservation has made Lafarge Cement Plant's Title V Operating Air Permit available for public comment. The permit, which is up for renewal, would limit mercury emissions at the plant to 176 pounds a year -- more than the company's own estimated emissions for 2008, which were 146 pounds....In September, state Wildlife Pathologist Ward Stone released his findings on mercury levels in the area around the Lafarge plant. He said that in parts per million, there was much more than the average level of mercury to be found and he also reported that he found mercury in everything he tested in the food chain, from grasshoppers to larger animals. The plant is located in close proximity to both the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk junior and senior high schools. ...	That's getting tough with 'em! ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Nov 7, 2009 from Los Angeles Times: Are store-bought soils safe for growing vegetables? In September I wrote about an unsettling incident in which I'd found high levels of lead in the chard I'd grown in a backyard planter box filled with store-bought soil. According to the head of the lab that did the testing, I shouldn't have eaten more than one-quarter pound of the leaves a day or I'd risk lead poisoning.... I decided to do some testing... The findings: None of the soils contained toxic levels of lead, zinc or arsenic. The bad news: All contained at least some contaminants... ...	At least we can depend on our store-bought food being safe. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Nov 7, 2009 from London Guardian: Two-year-olds at risk from 'gender-bending' chemicals, report says Two-year-old children are being exposed to dangerous levels of hormone-disrupting chemicals in domestic products such as rubber clogs and sun creams, according to an EU investigation being studied by the government. The 327-page report says that while risks from "anti-androgen" and "oestrogen-like" substances in individual items have been recognised, the cumulative impact of such chemicals, particularly on boys, is being ignored....Phthalates, one of the main anti-androgen chemicals, which are used as softeners in soap, rubber shoes, bath mats and soft toys, have been blamed for blocking the action of testosterone in the womb and are alleged to cause low sperm counts, high rates of testicular cancer and malformations of the sexual organs. ...	Plan ahead: give all babies androgynous names. ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Nov 6, 2009 from London Times: Experts say that fears surrounding climate change are overblown ...The International Union for the Conservation of Nature backed the article, saying that climate change is "far from the number-one threat" to the survival of most species. "There are so many other immediate threats that, by the time climate change really kicks in, many species will not exist any more," said Jean Christophe Vie, deputy head of the IUCN species program, which is responsible for compiling the international Redlist of endangered species. He listed hunting, overfishing, and destruction of habitat by humans as more critical for the majority of species. However, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds disagreed, saying that climate change was the single biggest threat to biodiversity on the planet. "There's an absolutely undeniable affect that's happening now," said John Clare, an RSPB spokesman. "There have been huge declines in British sea birds." ...	At least we agree they're screwed! ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Nov 6, 2009 from Environmental Health News: Research shows pesticide-free homes can be bug-free, too When a building supervisor notified tenants in Brooklyn that one of the apartments had a bedbug infestation, Eddie Rosenthal feared that it was only a matter of time until they spread to his home. But it wasn't just the bugs that gave Rosenthal the creeps. So did the prospect of using pesticides. So Rosenthal decided to try a few tricks that might keep his home bug-free without spraying chemicals. He raised his bed off the ground, filled some cracks and applied some nontoxic powder to spaces between walls. Now new research shows that such good housekeeping techniques not only minimize chemical use, but they are even more effective at controlling pests than hiring an exterminator to spray powerful, toxic pesticides. A single use of such techniques in 13 New York City apartment buildings eliminated substantially more cockroaches and mice than repeated professional applications of pesticides, according to a new study. ...	Please don't let the pests figure out our new strategy! ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Nov 6, 2009 from Monash University via ScienceDaily: Rainwater Is Safe To Drink, Australian Study Suggests A new study by Monash University researchers into the health of families who drink rainwater has found that it is safe to drink.... "This is the first study of its kind. Until now, there has been no prospective randomised study to investigate the health effects of rainwater consumption, either in Australia or internationally," Associate Professor Leder said... Expanded use of rainwater for many household purposes can be considered and in current times of drought, we want to encourage people to use rainwater as a resource... ...	Um... I thought "drought" meant no rain. ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Nov 6, 2009 from Climate Wire: Climate Insurance Is in the Cross Hairs as Negotiators Prep for Copenhagen Advocates for nations vulnerable to climate change are accusing the United States of trying to "kill" a prominent global warming provision that would create a massive insurance program for countries that face rising destruction from natural disasters. The controversial measure -- which currently is part of the voluminous draft treaty text leading up to international climate talks in Copenhagen -- seeks financial payments for countries that might slip underwater sometime this century, as well as for those that increasingly suffer from drought, floods and cyclones. The program could cost the United States and other developed nations billions every year, and perhaps amount to an admission that Americans are largely responsible for warming the world. ...	Admission... Emission... potato... potahto... ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Nov 5, 2009 from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 15,000 reasons to worry about state's lakes ...The natives of the Caspian Sea region first turned up in North America in the summer of 1988, thanks to overseas freighters' longstanding - and ongoing - practice of dumping their contaminated ballast water in the Great Lakes, which are now home to more than 185 non-native species. None has wreaked more damage than the [zebra] mussels, which feast on Great Lakes plankton and have cost the region billions of dollars in starved fish populations, beach-trashing algae blooms and plugged industrial and municipal water intake pipes. Now, this ecological mess is spreading inland.... Wisconsin has more than 15,000 inland lakes. ...	The United States of Zebra Mussels. 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, Nov 5, 2009 from Associated Press: AP IMPACT: Clunker pickups traded for new pickups The most common deals under the government's $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program, aimed at putting more fuel-efficient cars on the road, replaced old Ford or Chevrolet pickups with new ones that got only marginally better gas mileage, according to an analysis of new federal data by The Associated Press. The single most common swap -- which occurred more than 8,200 times -- involved Ford F150 pickup owners who took advantage of a government rebate to trade their old trucks for new Ford F150s. They were 17 times more likely to buy a new F150 than, say, a Toyota Prius. The fuel economy for the new trucks ranged from 15 mpg to 17 mpg based on engine size and other factors, an improvement of just 1 mpg to 3 mpg over the clunkers. ...	Seems we flunked the Clunker program. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Nov 5, 2009 from Daily Climate: Rapid change threatens foundations of human health Rapid changes already underway to the Earth's climate, ecosystems and land cover threaten the health of billions, undermining key human life-support systems and threatening the core foundations of healthy communities worldwide, according to a new report released Wednesday. There's been this extraordinary ballooning of the whole human enterprise. When you put climate change on top of that, we're looking at further destabilization of an already tenuous situation between people and their life-support systems. The disruption represents the greatest public health challenge of the 21st century and leaves poor populations mostly in developing nations most vulnerable – even though they contribute the least to many of the problems... The report outlines a series of public health threats – food and water scarcity, altered distribution of infectious diseases, increased air pollution, natural disasters, and population displacement – that collectively threaten large segments of the human population. ...	Thy shit is on a sure trajectory, fan-ward. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Nov 5, 2009 from Times Online (UK): One in five mammals threatened with extinction A fifth of the world's known mammals, a third of amphibians and reptiles and more than two thirds of plants are threatened with extinction, according to the latest "Red List" of endangered species. Of the 5,490 mammal species that have been identified by scientists, 79 are extinct or extinct in the wild, 188 are critically endangered, 449 are endangered and 505 are classed as vulnerable, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said. The annual Red List, published yesterday, also shows that 70 per cent of identified plants, 35 per cent of invertebrates, 37 per cent of freshwater fish, 30 per cent of amphibians, 28 per cent of reptiles and 12 per cent of birds are under threat. The survival of a total of 17,921 species is in jeopardy. ...	We're still winning the War On Nature! ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Nov 5, 2009 from Telegraph.co.uk: Al Gore 'profiting' from climate change agenda The former US vice president is in line to make a large profit from a firm producing smart meters which monitor household electricity use. He is a partner in a Silicon Valley venture capital firm which invested $45 million in Silver Spring Networks, a small California company which has been developing technology to monitor household power use to make the electricity grid more efficient. Last week the US Energy Department announced $2 billion in grants and a proportion of that, thought to be more than $305 million, will go to utility operators with which Silver Spring has contracts. The venture capitalists who invested, including Mr Gore, now look set to receive a handsome return. ...	In some circles, this is called "foresight." ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Nov 5, 2009 from PNAS: Recent changes in a remote Arctic lake are unique within the past 200,000 years The Arctic is currently undergoing dramatic environmental transformations, but it remains largely unknown how these changes compare with long-term natural variability. Here we present a lake sediment sequence from the Canadian Arctic that records warm periods of the past 200,000 years, including the 20th century. This record provides a perspective on recent changes in the Arctic and predates by approximately 80,000 years the oldest stratigraphically intact ice core recovered from the Greenland Ice Sheet. The early Holocene and the warmest part of the Last Interglacial (Marine Isotope Stage or MIS 5e) were the only periods of the past 200,000 years with summer temperatures comparable to or exceeding today's at this site.... In recent decades, however, the study site has deviated from this recurring natural pattern and has entered an environmental regime that is unique within the past 200 millennia. ...	What a coincidence!! ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Nov 4, 2009 from Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute via ScienceDaily: Deep-sea Ecosystems Affected By Climate Change ...Historically, many people, including marine scientists, have considered the abyssal plains, more than 2,000 meters below the sea surface, to be relatively isolated and stable ecosystems. However, according to Ken Smith, a marine ecologist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and lead author of the recent PNAS article, changes in the Earth's climate can cause unexpectedly large changes in deep-sea ecosystems. ...	This news is abysmal! ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Nov 4, 2009 from London Guardian: Can we manipulate the weather? The unseasonal snow that fell on Beijing for 11 hours on Sunday was the earliest and heaviest there has been for years. It was also, China claims, man-made. By the end of last month, farmland in the already dry north of China was suffering badly due to drought. So on Saturday night China's meteorologists fired 186 explosive rockets loaded with chemicals to "seed" clouds and encourage snow to fall. "We won't miss any opportunity of artificial precipitation since Beijing is suffering from a lingering drought," Zhang Qiang, head of the Beijing Weather Modification Office, told state media... Officials said the blue skies that brightened Beijing's parade to celebrate 60 years of communism last month were a result of the 18 cloud-seeding jets and 432 explosive rockets scrambled to empty the sky of rain beforehand. Last year, more than 1,000 rockets were fired to ensure a dry night for last year's Olympic opening ceremony. ...	No harm can come from exploding rockets full of chemicals, right? ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Nov 4, 2009 from Greenwire: Pesticide-Industry Rep Picked for Trade Post Draws Fire A coalition of advocacy groups launched a campaign today opposing President Obama's choice of a pesticide industry official to represent U.S. interests in agricultural trade negotiations. The 85 groups -- including Earthjustice, the Sierra Club, the Organic Consumers Association, the National Family Farm Coalition and dozens of state farm worker groups -- sent a letter today to the Senate Finance Committee opposing the nomination ahead of a scheduled confirmation hearing tomorrow for Islam Siddiqui. ...	Whoa! A letter! That'll get their attention! ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Nov 4, 2009 from Reuters: Poor urge deep climate cuts Developing countries said on Wednesday they risked "total destruction" unless the rich stepped up the fight against climate change to a level that even the United Nations says is out of reach. Keeping up pressure at U.N. climate talks in Barcelona, the poor insisted that developed countries should cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 -- far more than on offer. ...	Everybody listens to the poor! ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Nov 4, 2009 from Purdue University via Eureka Alert: Study gives clearer picture of how land-use changes affect U.S. climate Researchers say regional surface temperatures can be affected by land use, suggesting that local and regional strategies, such as creating green spaces and buffer zones in and around urban areas, could be a tool in addressing climate change. A study by researchers from Purdue University and the universities of Colorado and Maryland concluded that greener land cover contributes to cooler temperatures, and almost any other change leads to warmer temperatures. The study, published on line and set to appear in the Royal Meteorological Society’s International Journal of Climatology later this year, is further evidence that land use should be better incorporated into computer models projecting future climate conditions, said Purdue doctoral student Souleymane Fall, the article’s lead author. ...	Go, astroturf! ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Nov 4, 2009 from Climate Wire: Boxer Pushes Ahead With Climate Markup Tomorrow; GOP Still Plans to Boycott Full-blown partisan warfare is expected tomorrow when Democrats try to begin a markup of global warming legislation in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee despite plans by the panel's seven Republicans to skip the meeting altogether. Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) plans to proceed under a rarely used interpretation of the committee's rules that allows her to start and finish the markup so long as a majority of the panel's members are present, rather than longstanding precedent requiring two minority members to be in attendance, according to sources on and off Capitol Hill. Boxer's justification for the move is that Republicans are trying to stall on a climate bill that they have no intention of voting for anyway. And with a 12-7 majority favoring Democrats, she does not need their support to report the bill favorably. ...	Methinks these Republicans need to visit the Apocadocs Clinic. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Nov 3, 2009 from BBC: Species' extinction threat grows More than a third of species assessed in a major international biodiversity study are threatened with extinction, scientists have warned. Out of the 47,677 species in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 17,291 were deemed to be at serious risk. These included 21 percent of all known mammals, 30 percent of amphibians, 70 percent of plants and 35 percent of invertebrates. Conservationists warned that not enough was being done to tackle the main threats, such as habitat loss. "The scientific evidence of a serious extinction crisis is mounting," warned Jane Smart, director of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Biodiversity Conservation Group. The latest analysis... shows that the 2010 target to reduce biodiversity loss will not be met," she added. ...	Looks like we're headed for a bio-mono-verse world. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Nov 3, 2009 from London Guardian: Global warming could create 150 million 'climate refugees' by 2050 Global warming will force up to 150 million "climate refugees" to move to other countries in the next 40 years, a new report from the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) warns. In 2008 alone, more than 20 million people were displaced by climate-related natural disasters, including 800,000 people by cyclone Nargis in Asia, and almost 80,000 by heavy floods and rains in Brazil, the NGO said. President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, who presented testimony to the EJF, said people in his country did not want to "trade a paradise for a climate refugee camp". He warned rich countries taking part in UN climate talks this week in Barcelona "not to be stupid" in negotiating a climate treaty in Copenhagen this December.... Last month, the president held a cabinet meeting underwater to draw attention to the plight of his country. ...	We're gonna need a lot more portajohns. 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, Nov 3, 2009 from The Hindu: As fire dies down, environmental crisis looks large The fire raging at the Indian Oil Corporation depot at the Sitapura Industrial Area near here since last Thursday has led to an environmental crisis in the capital city. The thick black plumes of smoke have spread to dozens of villages and residential colonies, hampering visibility and creating panic. Hundreds of people are visiting hospitals with the complaints of breathing problem, sore throat, irritation in the eye, allergy and itching. In addition to the mobile medical teams that are making rounds in the villages, all primary health centres in the rural terrain have been asked to remain open round-the-clock. Environmental experts here fear that the smoke, apart from affecting the health of the people in and around the city, would also hit agriculture in the surrounding villages which supply vegetables and food grain to Jaipur. ...	Another one of those "true cost of oil" moments. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Nov 3, 2009 from New York Times: Mt. Kilimanjaro Ice Cap Continues Rapid Retreat The ice atop Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania has continued to retreat rapidly, declining 26 percent since 2000, scientists say in a new report. Yet the authors of the study, to be published Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reached no consensus on whether the melting could be attributed mainly to humanity’s role in warming the global climate. Eighty-five percent of the ice cover that was present in 1912 has vanished, the scientists said....Dr. Thompson emphasized that the melting of ice atop Mount Kilimanjaro was paralleled by retreats in ice fields elsewhere in Africa as well as in South America, Indonesia and the Himalayas. "It's when you put those together that the evidence becomes very compelling," he said. ...	"Kilimanjaro" means "Man Killed by Jars of Melting Ice." ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Nov 3, 2009 from National Geographic News: Nat'l Geo: Six Degrees Would Change the World "Like something out of a disaster movie, a six degree global average temperature rise in the next one hundred years could render the world something completely different." Their interactive map lets the reader explore one, two, three, up to six degrees, with map hotspots. At six degrees, among others, "emergency alert system disbanded," because -- it's all one giant emergency. ...	Yet another "disaster movie" simile? This is becoming a trope! ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Nov 2, 2009 from London Guardian: World leaders accused of myopia over climate change deal ...Senior officials and negotiators are increasingly gloomy about the prospects for a global warming deal next month, with the British government admitting there is now no chance of a legally binding treaty. Speaking as officials gather in Barcelona tomorrow for a final round of negotiations, Rajendra Pachauri, head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said: "I gave all the world's leaders a very grim view of what the science tells us and that is what should be motivating us all, but I'm afraid I don't see too much evidence of that at the current stage. "Science has been moved aside and the space has been filled up with political myopia with every country now trying to protect its own narrow short-term interests. They are afraid to have negotiations go any further because they would have to compromise on those interests." ...	Problem is -- myopia is youropia, too. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Nov 2, 2009 from Parkersburg News and Sentinel: Ohio River leads nation in toxic discharge A national environmental group has released a study indicating two area rivers are among the top 10 waterways for total toxic discharge... The bulk of the New River's 14 million pounds of toxic discharge is largely the result of the U.S. Army Radford Army Ammunition plant in Radford, Va. The study claims the plant is responsible for more than 13.6 million pounds of toxic pollutants into the New River. Calls to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection office in Parkersburg were referred to Charleston. After several days of leaving messages, officials in Charleston referred questions to Melyssa Savage, Title III program manager for the West Virginia Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency. Savage was out of the office. ...	Maybe everybody's gone fishing. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Nov 2, 2009 from Sydney Morning Herald: 'Disaster movie': fire breaks out on leaking oil rig Environmental groups say the oil leak spilling into the Timor Sea should be declared a national emergency, with one expert likening it to a "disaster movie." The situation has worsened in the last 24 hours with a fire breaking out on the deck of the West Atlas rig and Montara well head platform, when the company responsible for its operation began to plug the rig's leak below the sea bed with mud. ...	I so hope Bruce Willis is available. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Nov 2, 2009 from National Geographic News: Sea Slime Killing U.S. Seabirds Hundreds of birds ... are washing up on the shores of the U.S. Pacific Northwest coated with a foamy sea slime, scientists say. The slime, which comes from algae blooms in the ocean, saps the waterproofing ability of the birds' feathers, experts say.... "Then they have to beach themselves, because they are cold and wet." Research suggests that recently, the blooms are larger, lasting longer, and happening with greater frequency.... "They are finding that the [nutrient] upwelling is happening at different times of the year than it used to," he said, "and that's because currents and weather are changing." ...	We don't want slime before its time. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Nov 2, 2009 from Michigan Technical University, via EurekAlert: Wolves, moose and biodiversity: An unexpected connection Moose eat plants; wolves kill moose. What difference does this classic predator-prey interaction make to biodiversity? A large and unexpected one, say wildlife biologists from Michigan Technological University. Joseph Bump, Rolf Peterson and John Vucetich report in the November 2009 issue of the journal Ecology that the carcasses of moose killed by wolves at Isle Royale National Park enrich the soil in "hot spots" of forest fertility around the kills, causing rapid microbial and fungal growth that provide increased nutrients for plants in the area. "This study demonstrates an unforeseen link between the hunting behavior of a top predator -- the wolf -- and biochemical hot spots on the landscape," said Bump.... And he adds that on the Arctic tundra, where soil nutrients are limited, others have found that the impact of a muskox carcass on surrounding vegetation is dramatic even after 10 years. ...	Predators have value beyond scary bedtime stories? ApocaDoc permalink