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What A Week It Was: Apocadocuments from

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Species Collapse:	(2)
Plague/Virus:	(1)
Climate Chaos:	(8)
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This Week's Top Ten Very Scary Tags:
oil issues ~ climate impacts ~ smart policy ~ contamination ~ global warming ~ corporate malfeasance ~ anthropogenic change ~ koyaanisqatsi ~ rising sea level ~ wetlands ~ coral bleaching

ApocaDocuments (30) gathered this week:
Sun, May 23, 2010 from ScienceDaily: Prenatal Exposure to Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals Linked to Breast Cancer A study in mice reveals that prenatal exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, like bisphenol-A (BPA) and diethylstilbestrol (DES), may program a fetus for life. Therefore, adult women who were exposed prenatally to BPA or DES could be at increased risk of breast cancer, according to a new study accepted for publication in Hormones & Cancer, a journal of The Endocrine Society.... "BPA is a weak estrogen and DES is a strong estrogen, yet our study shows both have a profound effect on gene expression in the mammary gland (breast) throughout life," said Hugh Taylor, MD, of the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn. and lead author of the study. "All estrogens, even 'weak' ones can alter the development of the breast and ultimately place adult women who were exposed to them prenatally at risk of breast cancer." ...	Bad news, if you're a mouse. Or maybe if you were ever in utero. ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, May 23, 2010 from Wall Street Journal: Scientists Reassert Man's Role in a Changing Climate The National Academy of Sciences, a group of elite American researchers that advises the U.S. government, on Wednesday issued an 869-page report reasserting mankind's role in altering the climate and calling for specific policy measures to help forestall undesirable effects. The report, requested by Congress 2008, essentially supports the main findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations body whose most recent report released in 2007 was criticized for containing several errors.... "Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks," the academy report concludes.... Nonetheless, the academy acknowledged that there is significant uncertainty when attempting longer-term predictions about climate change. For example, the 2007 IPCC report said sea levels could rise by between 0.6 and 1.9 feet by 2100, but later studies suggested that forecast was too conservative. The academy's report incorporates the newer research and concludes that sea levels could rise by as much as 6.5 feet in that period. ...	See? Those darned scientists constantly underestimate. We can't believe a thing they say! ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, May 23, 2010 from Los Angeles Times: BP refuses EPA order to switch to less-toxic oil dispersant BP has rebuffed demands from government officials and environmentalists to use a less-toxic dispersant to break up the oil from its massive offshore spill, saying that the chemical product it is now using continues to be "the best option for subsea application." On Thursday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave the London-based company 72 hours to replace the dispersant Corexit 9500 or to describe in detail why other dispersants fail to meet environmental standards. The agency on Saturday released a 12-page document from BP, representing only a portion of the company's full response. Along with several dispersant manufacturers, BP claimed that releasing its full evaluation of alternatives would violate its legal right to keep confidential business information private.... Dispersants break oil into droplets that decompose more quickly. But scientists worry that extensive use of the chemicals in the BP spill is increasing marine life's exposure to the toxins in oil. But that alternative product, Sea Brat #4, according to BP, contains a chemical that could degrade into an endocrine disruptor, a substance that creates hormonal changes in living creatures, and could persist in the environment for years. ...	In America, we call refusal on those grounds "executive privilege." ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, May 23, 2010 from Anchorage Press: A fragile past - Archaeologists are scrambling as accelerated erosion sweeps away artifacts on Alaska's Arctic coast The Colorado team has measured coastal erosion near the old whaling site for three years. Overeem says the area loses ground as fast as 30 meters per year, and consistently around 15 meters per year. Coastal erosion is constant everywhere the land meets the sea. But in Arctic and sub-Arctic terrain, where the bluffs are often composed of a mix of soft soil and ice, erosion has accelerated in recent years. Call it global warming or climate change or the faddish, freak storm-centered term "global weird-ing"--by any name, it spells doom for countless small artifacts like the boat in the photograph, and for old village sites, trading posts and hunting sites that link Alaskans to the past.... He says one of the problems with erosion is more contemporary. "There are not only a lot of archeological sites, but a lot of community cemeteries that are in danger," he says. He ticks off a list of communities where graves will likely be moved--Port Heiden Dillingham, Nanwhalek and Old Afognak--often the graves are unmarked and without surviving records of who is buried there. ...	Losing the past doesn't bode well for the future. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, May 22, 2010 from Eurepean Science Foundation, via Reuters: 'Double trouble' in acidic, warming oceans - study Acidification of the oceans means "double trouble" for marine life from corals to shellfish since it is adding to stresses caused by global warming, a study showed on Wednesday. "The oceans are more acidic than they have ever been for at least 20 million years," according to the report by the European Science Foundation. On current trends, seas could be 150 percent more acidic by 2100 than they were in pre-industrial times. Sea water is acidifying because carbon dioxide, released to the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels, is slightly corrosive in water. That makes it harder for creatures such as corals, lobsters, crabs or oysters to build their protective shells.... Among worrying precedents were fossil records of a leap in ocean acidity 55 million years ago that caused a spasm of extinctions of creatures living on the ocean floor, he said. That pulse may have been caused by natural releases of methane. ...	Yes, but it may be doubly invisible. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, May 22, 2010 from SciDev.net: Fishing restrictions bring better catches, says study Closing fishing areas and regulating the use of fishing gear can result in more profitable catches that boost fishermen's incomes, according to a study. The conclusion has emerged from a long-term investigation in Kenya on the effects of fishery closures on fishermen's profits. The study, published today in Conservation Biology, used data on 27,000 fish caught in three locations off the Kenyan coast over a period of 12 years. One location was next to a closed fishing area, one far from the closed area but with restrictions on vertically hanging fishing nets (seine nets), and one far from any fishing restrictions. Fishing close to an area with fishery closures led to larger catches of fish with a higher market value. And the ban on seine nets also increased fishermen's income, the study found. ...	You want me to listen to science? It's obvious that restrictions are bad. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, May 22, 2010 from New York Times: Expert Head-Scratching on the Plumes The discovery that the oil from the Deepwater Horizon blowout may be spreading beneath the sea in plumes of fine droplets came as dismal news early this week. If that observation holds up to further scientific scrutiny, it would mean that the true dimensions of the problem are still invisible, and sea life is being exposed to a heavy load of toxins. But the discovery, bad as it could prove to be for the ocean, has also created a fascinating problem for big brains of a certain kind. People who spend their time thinking about subjects like fluid dynamics, and turbulent plumes, and supercritical fluids, have gone into overdrive trying to figure out what might be going on a mile beneath the surface of the ocean. The usual expectation is that oil of any kind floats on water. But anybody who has ever shaken a vinegar-and-oil salad dressing knows it is not quite so simple. In the right conditions, oil droplets can get suspended in water. What's happening in the Gulf of Mexico right now might turn out to be the mother of all salad dressings. ...	"BP Salad Dressing" may have some brand issues. ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, May 21, 2010 from ABC News: Dengue Fever Hits Key West More than two dozen cases of locally-acquired dengue fever have hit the resort town of Key West, Fla., in the past nine months, officials from the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Although not the first cases of home-grown dengue in the U.S., or even in Florida, the outbreak highlights the need for physician vigilance regarding this and other formerly exotic tropical diseases, the CDC said in the May 21 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.... Dengue fever is a viral infection transmitted by mosquito bites. It can be debilitating, but is not usually fatal in otherwise healthy people. ...	Is there some region of Africa named "Key West"? ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, May 21, 2010 from Rep. Ed Markey, bless him.: Live Video Feed of Gulf Gusher Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), Chair of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, has been a vocal advocate of transparency, and vocal critic of the BP and governmental response to the Gulf Gusher. May 19 he insisted on video; on May 20 it was purportedly available, and by May 21 was handling the staggering Web traffic to the house.gov "spillcam" (note: use MS Internet Explorer). Thank goodness we have politicians who use their positions for the public good, rather than to attain and retain power. Now, we can watch the source of multi-level biosphere death gushing from a mile beneath sea level. Now there can be at least a few better independent estimates (though high-res video is required for accurate assessment) of the outflow (kinda handy when you're doing, y'know, engineering and problem-solving). And because of this, BP had no choice but to admit that the always-know-to-be-bogus 5,000 barrel-a-day number was a dramatic underestimate. What you see gushing already has 5,000 barrels a day being extracted up to the surface, from BP's one small pipe, inserted a few days ago. Marvelous video of Markey and Waxman also worth watching. ...	That spillcam video looks 'Doctored to me! ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, May 21, 2010 from Mother Jones: Breaking: Oil Makes Landfall, Cops Blocking Beaches, MoJo on the Scene This morning she headed down to the area where, according to online maps, oil from the BP fiasco was headed. Wherever she turned, she found sheriff's deputies blocking the beach access roads--until she hit a beach at Grand Isle, and literally stepped into the mess. Here's what unfolded in her tweetstream: Has oil made landfall in port fourchon, LA? Can't look, bc cops turned us around at bridge to beach. about 3 hours ago Oil just hit land in grand isle. Blobs completely covering this shore. about 2 hours ago Governor's helicopters are flying overhead. about 1 hour ago These vacationers say there was no oil earlier today; this shit all just started washing up, and it's already everywhere. about 1 hour ago 5 sheriff's cars have arrived. No pics allowed, no more access to elmer's island. 27 minutes ago ...	I thought we'd stamped out on-the-ground reporting. ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, May 21, 2010 from AL.com: Birmingham tourism business takes hit from Gulf oil spill A decline in tourism on the Gulf Coast because of the catastrophic oil spill has rippled all the way to Birmingham, where canceled vacations are taking a bite out of revenue for everyone from condo owners to dive shops. At Southern Skin Divers' Supply, which bills itself as the nation's oldest scuba school, business is off 75 percent even though the diving off the Alabama coast is still good. "The perception is what's affected us the most," said Forrest Phillips, company president.... Others just don't want to schedule a trip in advance because of the uncertainty surrounding the spill, caused by the April 20 explosion and sinking of an oil rig about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast. "What I'm telling people is if you want to dive, go dive now. Everything is great now," Phillips said. "But we don't know what it will be like in a few weeks."... But it could prove to be too little, too late for some businesses. At the Southern Skin Divers shop, Phillips said he's investigating alternatives such as dive trips to the East Coast. Without some improvement, he said, the Gulf spill ultimately will mean the shop will have to close its doors. "We're gonna keep 'em open for a while," he said. "But I don't know of any small business that could deal with this." ...	Time for a little forward-thinking disaster capitalism: Ghost Reef Dives! ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, May 20, 2010 from CNN: Giant solar-powered yacht to circle globe Intensive trials are under way as the world's largest solar-powered yacht prepares to circumnavigate the globe. As heavy as a whale and 30 meters long, the vessel is adorned with 536 square-meters of photovoltaic panels -- enough to cover over two tennis courts -- which its crew hope will enable it to complete the 50,000 kilometre journey fueled by nothing but energy from the sun. "This is not just an adventure story," skipper Raphael Domjan told CNN. "We want to show the world that we have the technology right now to change how we do things." Energy captured from the sun and stored in the world's largest lithium ion battery will power a noise-free, pollution-free electric motor during an estimated 160 day voyage. The boat, christened "Turanor" after a word meaning "power of the sun" in JRR Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, is Domjan's brainchild. ...	And hey, on a cloudy day, if this yacht is anywhere near the Gulf it can just scoop up some stray oil. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, May 20, 2010 from IU News Room: IU physicists, in DZero Collaboration, announce evidence of matter-antimatter imbalance Physicists at Indiana University are joining fellow DZero Collaboration researchers from around the world in announcing evidence of a 1 percent deviation between the amounts of elementary matter and antimatter particles being produced from high-energy collisions at the U.S. Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. IU Department of Physics chair and DZero collaborator Rick Van Kooten, one of four professors and research scientists from IU Bloomington working on the experiment, called new evidence of a deviation of the Standard Model of particle physics "unexpected" and "a surprise." He described the 1 percent deviation as "huge, and definitely not seen in general particle collisions." "We are very excited about this discovery as it is truly unexpected," he said. "This observation that particles can not only quantum mechanically change into their own anti-particles and vice versa, but also that the two processes are not equally likely at this level, is a surprise." ...	Can we marshall this quantum-change force to turn ourselves into a bizarro-world of environmental health, fairness, and freedom? 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, May 20, 2010 from National Academy of Sciences: National Academy of Sciences: We Have Met the Enemy, and He is Us A strong, credible body of scientific evidence shows that climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for a broad range of human and natural systems, concludes this panel report from the America's Climate Choices suite of studies. As decision makers respond to these risks, the nation's scientific enterprise can contribute both by continuing to improve understanding of the causes and consequences of climate change, and by improving and expanding the options available to limit the magnitude of climate change and adapt to its impacts. To make this possible, the nation needs a comprehensive, integrated, and flexible climate change research enterprise that is closely linked with action-oriented programs at all levels. The report recommends that a single federal entity or program be given the authority and resources to coordinate a national research effort integrated across many disciplines and aimed at improving both understanding and responses to climate change. The U.S. Global Change Research Program, established in 1990, could fulfill this role, but it would need to form partnerships with action-oriented programs and address weaknesses in its current program. A comprehensive climate observing system, improved climate models and other analytical tools, investment in human capital, and better linkages between research and decision making are also essential to a complete understanding of climate change. ...	What a weird idea: to acknowledge a problem and try to understand it through scientific inquiry. I thought it was just about attitude. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, May 20, 2010 from BBC: Methane hydrates rear their ugly head: Did they cause the BP Gulf explosion? The vast deepwater methane hydrate deposits of the Gulf of Mexico are an open secret in big energy circles. They represent the most tantalizing new frontier of unconventional energy -- a potential source of hydrocarbon fuel thought to be twice as large as all the petroleum deposits ever known. For the oil and gas industry, the substances are also known to be the primary hazard when drilling for deepwater oil. Methane hydrates are volatile compounds -- natural gas compressed into molecular cages of ice. They are stable in the extreme cold and crushing weight of deepwater, but are extremely dangerous when they build up inside the drill column of a well. If destabilized by heat or a decrease in pressure, methane hydrates can quickly expand to 164 times their volume... something that would render a man six feet six inches tall suddenly the height of the Eiffel Tower.... Professor Sum said geologists know much less about these hydrate-bearing sediments than conventional ocean sediments, and that there is "little knowledge of the risks" of drilling into them.... [T]estifying before the Senate last week, a Halliburton executive made no mention of methane hydrate hazards associated with cementing in deepwater.... Japan has joined the US and Canada in pursuit of this energy bonanza, motivated by the $23 billion it spends annually to import liquefied natural gas. According to a Bloomberg News article called "Japan Mines Flammable Ice, Flirts with Environmental Disaster," the Japanese trade ministry is targeting 2016 to start commercial production, even as a Tokyo University scientist warned against causing a massive undersea landslide that could suddenly trigger a massive methane hydrate release. ...	Which part of "methane is 20 times worse than CO2" don't you understand? ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, May 20, 2010 from AP, via DesdemonaDespair: Whale shark, world's biggest fish, very vulnerable to oil spill The world's biggest fish may be highly vulnerable to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and one of its favorite feeding grounds is in the area of the spill. Whale sharks feed on the surface, sucking plankton, fish eggs and small fish into their mouths. Surface oil could clog the cartilage filter pads that direct food to the back of their throat, and could coat their gills while they feed, said Eric Hoffmayer, a researcher at the University of Southern Mississippi who has been studying whale sharks in the northern Gulf since 2002. "If it did get their gills coated, I can only imagine they would suffocate relatively quickly," he said. More than one-third of all whale shark sightings in the northern Gulf since 2002 have been off the mouth of the Mississippi River, Hoffmayer said. "The mouth of the river is the primary area where these things show up. Year after year after year," he said. "This is a prime feeding area for them." ...	Just one more nomenclature confusion removed from our lexicon! ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, May 19, 2010 from Charleston Gazette: Hundreds turn out for EPA mountaintop removal hearing Several hundred coal industry supporters on Tuesday evening objected to the Obama administration's plan to crack down on mountaintop removal coal mining, urging federal regulators to back off a threatened veto of the permit for a huge mine in Logan County. Coal miners and their families, along with other industry employees, supporters and political leaders, packed a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency public hearing held as part of EPA's review of whether to block Arch Coal Inc.'s Spruce No. 1 Mine... Supporters of the permit complained that EPA was wrong to step in after a mining permit was already issued... ...	Government MUST NOT stand in the way of our right to destroy our world! ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, May 19, 2010 from Toronto Globe and Mail: With newly protected boreal forest, the caribou are smiling Two old foes in Canada have made peace to conserve some of the world's most precious natural resources. The Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement, signed by most of the Canadian forestry industry and environmental activists, is nothing less than historic. It will result in a real and internationally significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and it serves as a model of non-governmental co-operation. The agreement commits all participating companies (which cover some 70 per cent of Canada's boreal forest) to the most advanced sustainability practices in forestry: practices that "start with the science" and make the protection of species-at-risk paramount. Canada's woodland caribou, and other less photogenic species that traverse the boreal forest, are among the greatest beneficiaries. ...	Caribou are smiling... and by extension we presume the clams are happy! ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, May 19, 2010 from CBC: Greenland's coastal areas rising Greenland's ice is melting at such a rapid pace that the land beneath it is rising up, say U.S. researchers. The dense, two-kilometre thick icecap that covers Greenland suppresses the land, keeping its elevation in check, researchers at the University of Miami write in a new study. However, it is melting so quickly that the island's coastal areas are rising at a rate of one inch per year. The scientists predict that by 2025, that rate could be two inches a year. "What's surprising, and a bit worrisome, is that the ice is melting so fast that we can actually see the land uplift in response," said the study's principal investigator, Tim Dixon, professor of geophysics at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS), in a news release. "Even more surprising, the rise seems to be accelerating, implying that melting is accelerating." ...	We knew this would happen. The earth is literally rising up. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, May 19, 2010 from NYT, via DesdemonaDespair: 148 North America bird species in rapid decline A new survey has found that 148 land bird species in North America are facing rapid decline, the majority of them in Mexico. The assessment, the first ever to include all three countries, reveals information about populations and migratory patterns and is is intended as a tool for conservationists. It was released Tuesday by Partners in Flight, a cooperative of government agencies, conservation groups, academics and philanthropists. The study has detailed information on the 882 species of land birds that live across the continent. One-third of them spend substantial amounts of time in at least two of the countries, it found. "Birds don't know boundaries," said Ashley Dayer, one of the managing editors of the report... The imperiled birds include 124 species that are mostly found in Mexico.... ...	So, it's an immigration problem. We just need to build that fence lots taller. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, May 19, 2010 from CBS: CBS Reporters Forbidden by BP and Coast Guard fromOil-soaked Louisiana Marshes It may be the most disturbing site yet: the first heavy sludge now oozing into the marshes of Louisiana as the slick continues to grow in size out in the gulf. CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella reports it's an ominous sight. The oil is thick and black and stretches about a quarter mile down a beach. It goes beyond the booms into the sensitive marsh lands which are home to migratory birds.... When CBS News tried to reach the beach, covered in oil, a boat of BP contractors with two Coast Guard officers on board told us to turn around under threat of arrest. Coast Guard officials said they are looking into the incident. ...	Well done, Coast Guard! A shining example of corporate government. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, May 18, 2010 from London Independent: Eco anarchists: A new breed of terrorist? Until last month the small market town of Langnau in the rolling Swiss hills had two claims to fame; it was both a centre for the production of Emmental cheese and also one of the sunniest places in Switzerland. Today, thanks to a routine police traffic inquiry, it has the dubious honour of being the location where one of Europe's biggest alleged acts of eco-terrorism was foiled. On the night of 15 April local officers pulled over a car on one of the town's quiet streets. Inside the vehicle they found a large cache of explosives, primed and ready to detonate. The three people in the car are alleged to have been members of the murky Italian anarchist group Il Silvestre, who were reportedly on a mission to blow up the nearby unfinished 55m [pounds] IBM nanotechnology facility. The apparent attack is believed to be part of a new co-ordinated wave of eco-terror on the continent. ...	There will be (green) blood. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, May 18, 2010 from ProPublica: Whistleblower Sues to Stop Another BP Rig From Operating A whistleblower filed a lawsuit today to force the federal government to halt operations at another massive BP oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico, alleging that BP never reviewed critical engineering designs for the operation and is therefore risking another catastrophic accident that could "dwarf" the company's Deepwater Horizon spill... The whistleblower is Kenneth Abbott, a former project control supervisor contracted by BP who also gave an interview to "60 Minutes" on Sunday night. In a conversation last week with ProPublica, Abbott alleged that BP failed to review thousands of final design documents for systems and equipment on the Atlantis platform -- meaning BP management never confirmed the systems were built as they were intended - and didn't properly file the documentation that functions as an instruction manual for rig workers to shut down operations in the case of a blowout or other emergency. ...	Butt Plug ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, May 18, 2010 from Environmental Health News: Rat study shows stress worsens air pollution health effects Two distinct exposures - one environmental and one social - can act on rats to significantly alter the immune system and increase respiratory problems where one of them alone would not, researchers report. The animal study found that higher exposures to traffic-related air pollution were associated with a rapid, shallow breathing pattern only among chronically stressed rats. This is the first toxicological study to examine how chronic stress modifies the effect of fine particle air pollution on respiratory function. The findings suggest that changes in the immune and inflammatory responses of stressed rats may play a role in making them more susceptible to effects of air pollution. The results are consistent with human studies that report stronger health effects of air pollution among those who experience higher levels of social stressors, such as exposure to violence. This work may shed insight on existing health disparities since lower income populations often experience higher levels of environmental exposures and social stressors. ...	Rats stress me out and so do the studies that use them! ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, May 18, 2010 from UN, via AFP/Yahoo: Ocean fish could disappear in 40 years: UN The world faces the nightmare possibility of fishless oceans by 2050 unless fishing fleets are slashed and stocks allowed to recover, UN experts warned. "If the various estimates we have received... come true, then we are in the situation where 40 years down the line we, effectively, are out of fish," Pavan Sukhdev, head of the UN Environment Program's green economy initiative, told journalists in New York. A Green Economy report due later this year by UNEP and outside experts argues this disaster can be avoided if subsidies to fishing fleets are slashed and fish are given protected zones -- ultimately resulting in a thriving industry.... Environmental experts are mindful of the failure this March to push through a worldwide ban on trade in bluefin tuna, one of the many species said to be headed for extinction. Powerful lobbying from Japan and other tuna-consuming countries defeated the proposal at the CITES conference on endangered species in Doha. But UNEP's warning Monday was that tuna only symbolizes a much vaster catastrophe, threatening economic, as well as environmental upheaval.... According to the UN, 30 percent of fish stocks have already collapsed, meaning they yield less than 10 percent of their former potential, while virtually all fisheries risk running out of commercially viable catches by 2050. ...	But wasn't I taught "there's always another fish in the sea"? ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, May 18, 2010 from WTSP: Tar balls reported on Key West shores About 20 tar balls have washed ashore in Key West, the U.S. Coast Guard said Monday night. They ranged in size from about three inches to about 8 inches. They were found on beaches of the Fort Zachary Taylor and the adjacent Navy beach at Truman Annex. The Coast Guard said they were recovered at a rate of about three tar balls an hour throughout the day. The heaviest concentration was found at high tide, shortly after noon. Samples were collected and will be shipped to a lab for analysis to determine their exact source, the Coast Guard said. ...	Better Pray. 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, May 18, 2010 from Reuters: Pesticides tied to ADHD in children in U.S. study Children exposed to pesticides known as organophosphates could have a higher risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a U.S. study that urges parents to always wash produce thoroughly. Researchers tracked the pesticides' breakdown products in children' urine and found those with high levels were almost twice as likely to develop ADHD as those with undetectable levels. The findings are based on data from the general U.S. population, meaning that exposure to the pesticides could be harmful even at levels commonly found in children's environment. "There is growing concern that these pesticides may be related to ADHD," said researcher Marc Weisskopf of the Harvard School of Public Health, who worked on the study. "What this paper specifically highlights is that this may be true even at low concentrations." Organophosphates were originally developed for chemical warfare, and they are known to be toxic to the nervous system. There are about 40 organophosphate pesticides such as malathion registered in the United States, the researchers wrote in the journal Pediatrics. ...	Maybe that explains why my kids... what was I saying? ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, May 17, 2010 from NASA, via ClimateProgress: NASA: Easily the hottest April -- and hottest Jan-April -- in temperature record It was the hottest April on record in the NASA dataset. More significantly, following fast on the heels of the hottest March and hottest Jan-Feb-March on record, it's also the hottest Jan-Feb-March-April on record. The record temperatures we're seeing now are especially impressive because we've been in "the deepest solar minimum in nearly a century." It now appears to be over. It's just hard to stop the march of manmade global warming, well, other than by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, that is. Most significantly, NASA's March prediction has come true: "It is nearly certain that a new record 12-month global temperature will be set in 2010.″... After the endless disinformation-based global cooling stories of the past few years, it's time for the media to start do some serious fact-based global warming stories (unlike this piece of he-said, she-said journalistic crap from the Boston Globe I'll blog on Monday). ...	Those datas were manimulated by scintists to get reaserch money! ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, May 17, 2010 from HuffingtonPost: Deep sea oil plumes, dispersants endanger reefs The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has already spewed plumes over ecologically sensitive reefs, part of a stalled marine sanctuary proposal that would have restrict drilling in a large swath of the northern part of the vital waterway. Marine scientists fear that two powerful Gulf currents will carry the oil to other reefs. The eastward flowing loop current could spread it about 450 miles to the Florida Keys, while the Louisiana coastal current could move the oil as far west as central Texas. The depth of the gushing leaks and the use of more than 560,000 gallons of chemicals to disperse the oil, including unprecedented injections deep in the sea, have helped keep the crude beneath the sea surface. Marine scientists say diffusing and sinking the oil helps protect the surface species and the Gulf Coast shoreline but increases the chance of harming deep-sea reefs, which are seen as bellwethers for sea health.... These plumes are being eaten by microbes thousands of feet deep, which removes oxygen from the water.... Studies published in a 2005 National Academy of Sciences report show that oil mixed with dispersants damaged certain corals' reproduction and deformed their larvae. The study concluded the federal government needed to study more before using massive amounts of dispersants. ...	Guess we'll get to "study" it in the field. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, May 17, 2010 from Brown University, via EurekAlert: Geologists show unprecedented warming in Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika, the second oldest and the second-deepest lake in the world, could be in for some rough waters. Geologists led by Brown University have determined the east African rift lake has experienced unprecedented warming during the last century, and its surface waters are the warmest on record. That finding is important, the scientists write in the journal Nature Geoscience, because the warm surface waters likely will affect fish stocks upon which millions of people in the region depend.... Lake Tanganyika, one of the richest freshwater ecosystems in the world, is divided into two general levels. Most of the animal species live in the upper 100 meters, including the valuable sardines. Below that, the lake holds less and less oxygen, and at certain depths, it is anoxic, meaning it has no oxygen at all. What this all means is the lake is highly stratified and depends on wind to churn the waters and send nutrients from the depths toward the surface as food for algae, which supports the entire food web of the lake. But as Lake Tanganyika warms, the mixing of waters is lessened, the scientists find, meaning less nutrients are funneled from the depths toward the surface. Worse, more warming at the surface magnifies the difference in density between the two levels; even more wind is needed to churn the waters enough to ferry the nutrients toward the fish-dwelling upper layer. ...	Isn't it time these darned scientists started reporting the good news? ApocaDoc permalink