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What A Week It Was: Apocadocuments from

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Species Collapse:	(4)
Plague/Virus:	(3)
Climate Chaos:	(10)
Resource Depletion:	(5)
Biology Breach:	(6)
Recovery:	(2)

This Week's Top Ten Very Scary Tags:
ecosystem interrelationships ~ contamination ~ climate impacts ~ anthropogenic change ~ oil issues ~ corporate malfeasance ~ pandemic ~ health impacts ~ weather extremes ~ unintended consequences ~ antibiotic resistance

ApocaDocuments (30) gathered this week:
Sun, Sep 12, 2010 from BBC: Glow in cattle's eyes may be a sign of mad cow disease The eyes of cattle may reveal signs of neurological disorders such as mad cow disease, say scientists. Noticing the symptoms early may help prevent infected meat from getting into the food supply. Researchers, led from Iowa State University, US, examined the retinas of sheep infected with scrapie - a disease similar to BSE, or mad cow disease. They write in the journal Analytical Chemistry that sick sheep's eyes had a distinctive "glow". ...	I thought that glow meant love. ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Sep 12, 2010 from Contra Costa Times: Delta: A lake in the making The toxic blue-green algae floating in the scientist's jar is a symptom of a disturbing shift in the West Coast's biggest estuary. Common in lakes and reservoirs around the world, this kind of algae is less likely to be found in estuaries where rivers and ocean tides tangle in a restless ebb and flow. But the slime has spread in an increasingly stagnant Delta. After five years of studies, scientists are coalescing around the idea that diverting fresh water to farms and cities has led to a fundamental change in the Delta by slowing flows for most of the year. Other factors are also at play, especially the dramatic conversion of a once vast tidal marsh into a network of deep channels and "islands" first built for farming. In short, the Delta is becoming more like a lake or a lagoon, researchers say. ...	Revelations chapter 2, verse 17: "And the deltas shall become like lakes or lagoons." ApocaDoc permalink
Sun, Sep 12, 2010 from London Independent: Britain must adapt to 'inevitable' climate change, warns minister Britons must radically change the way they live and work to adapt to being "stuck with unavoidable climate change" the Government will caution this week, as it unveils a dramatic vision of how society will be altered by floods, droughts and rising temperatures. The coalition will signal a major switch towards adapting to the impact of existing climate change, away from Labour's heavy emphasis on cutting carbon emissions to reverse global temperature rises. Caroline Spelman, the Tory Secretary of State for the Environment, will use her first major speech on climate change since taking office to admit that the inevitable severe weather conditions will present a "survival-of-the-fittest scenario," with only those who have planned ahead able to thrive. Adapting to climate change will be "at the heart of our agenda," she is expected to say. ...	What is the carbon footprint... of surrender? ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Sep 11, 2010 from EnvironmentalResearchWeb: A sea of troubles This year has been a tough one for the world's oceans. Sea-surface temperatures have continued to rise, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill caused serious pollution, as did numerous smaller leaks, and over-fishing and acidification continue apace. So it's no surprise that ocean life, from the smallest plankton to the largest whale, is showing signs of damage. Only this week the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration designated the eastern North Pacific basking shark a "species of concern" because of the dramatic drop in its numbers despite years of protection from fishing.... And earlier this summer researchers in Canada found that the amount of phytoplankton in the ocean has decreased by 40 percent since 1950 in 8 out of 10 large ocean regions. They ascribed this decline to rising sea-surface temperatures, but added that there may be other factors that they haven't yet discovered. ...	Is that the ocean horizon I see, or the drop-off? ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Sep 11, 2010 from Guardian: RyanAir CEO: Global warming is 'horseshit.' "I believe it's all a load of bullshit. But it's amazing the way the whole fucking eco-warriors and the media have changed. It used to be global warming, but now, when global temperatures haven't risen in the past 12 years, they say 'climate change'. Well, hang on, we've had an ice age. We've also had a couple of very hot spells during the Middle Ages, so nobody can deny climate change. But there's absolutely no link between man-made carbon, which contributes less than 2 percent of total carbon emissions [and climate change].... The scientific community has nearly always been wrong in history anyway. In the Middle Ages, they were going to excommunicate Galileo because the entire scientific community said the Earth was flat... I mean, it is absolutely bizarre that the people who can't tell us what the fucking weather is next Tuesday can predict with absolute precision what the fucking global temperatures will be in 100 years' time. It's horseshit." ...	I trust this man's insight, because he is very rich. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Sep 11, 2010 from Yale360: Are We Nearing Peak Coal? A controversial new study suggests that the world is nearing the peak of readily exploitable reserves of high-quality coal, contradicting prevailing estimates that the globe has enough coal to help meet energy needs for at least a century. Tad Patzek, chairman of the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, said the world could be approaching the peak of coal mining and he predicts that by 2050 the global coal supply will be half what it is today. "We are near or at the peak right now," said Patzek, whose research was published in the journal, Energy. In the coming decades, Patzek said, the world will exploit sources that are easy to reach and lower in sulfur, leaving far less desirable stores underground. Even though numerous studies have forecast that the U.S. and the world have ample coal reserves for the foreseeable future, Patzek said he "completely" disregarded these reserve estimates, saying they are unreliable. Coal plants supply 40 percent of the world's electricity, and Patzek said of his estimates, "If we are right, major restructuring and shrinking of the global economy will follow." ...	Not to worry -- West Virginia has many a mountain to crop. ApocaDoc permalink
Sat, Sep 11, 2010 from USDA, via EurekAlert: Triclosan eventually biodegrades A study by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and cooperators provides new details about how fertilizing soils with biosolids also introduces triclosan--an antibacterial agent in soaps and other cleaning supplies--into the environment. Farmers add "Class B" biosolids, also known as treated wastewater solids, to their fields as a fertilizer.... The scientists determined that triclosan levels in Class B biosolids from a Mid-Atlantic wastewater treatment plant averaged around 15.5 milligrams per kilogram. They then collected surface soil samples from 26 farms in northern Virginia, mostly from pastures. Some fields had never been amended with biosolids and others had been amended with from one to four applications... The results also suggested biological degradation of triclosans in the soils that had been amended with biosolids resulted in the loss of 78 percent of the triclosan after 7 to 9 months, and that up to 96 percent was removed after 16 months. ...	You mean I can still be glad I used Dial?! ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Sep 10, 2010 from Der Spiegel: Military Study Warns of a Potentially Drastic Oil Crisis The term "peak oil" is used by energy experts to refer to a point in time when global oil reserves pass their zenith and production gradually begins to decline. This would result in a permanent supply crisis -- and fear of it can trigger turbulence in commodity markets and on stock exchanges. The issue is so politically explosive that it's remarkable when an institution like the Bundeswehr, the German military, uses the term "peak oil" at all. But a military study currently circulating on the German blogosphere goes even further. The study is a product of the Future Analysis department of the Bundeswehr Transformation Center, a think tank tasked with fixing a direction for the German military. The team of authors, led by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Will, uses sometimes-dramatic language to depict the consequences of an irreversible depletion of raw materials. It warns of shifts in the global balance of power, of the formation of new relationships based on interdependency, of a decline in importance of the western industrial nations, of the "total collapse of the markets" and of serious political and economic crises. ...	Imagine... a think tank that's actually thoughtful! ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Sep 10, 2010 from 350.org: Just left a meeting with the White House... [Bill McKibben writes:] Dear friends, I just walked out of a disappointing meeting with the White House: they refused to accept the Carter solar panel we came to Washington to deliver and said that they would continue their "deliberative process" to discuss putting solar panels back on the White House roof. Well, we're done deliberating. When Pakistan is under water, Russia is on fire, and millions of people are ready for clean energy jobs, it's not time to deliberate: it's time to get to work. Today marks the one month countdown to the 10/10/10 Global Work Party. Will you help us celebrate by signing up to register or attend an event today? ...	Not very bright of you, Obama. ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Sep 10, 2010 from San Francisco Chronicle: Gas line explosion burns San Bruno neighborhood With a thunderous roar heard for miles, a natural gas line explosion ripped through a San Bruno neighborhood Thursday evening, sending up a geyser of fire that killed at least one person and injured more than 20 others, and igniting a blaze that destroyed 53 homes and damaged 120 more, authorities said. The wind-whipped blaze leaped from structure to structure in the neighborhood near Skyline Boulevard and Sneath Lane, west of Interstate 280, raging unabated for almost an hour as emergency crews rushed in and residents streamed out. ...	So... is this a natural disaster? ApocaDoc permalink
Fri, Sep 10, 2010 from Planet Green / Discovery: More Than Half of Penguin Species are Under Threat More than 180 scientists and government officials have recently gathered in Boston for the 7th International Penguin Conference. The conclusions of the conference are rather alarming: the scientists warn that 10 of the 18 penguin species are experiencing population decline and that a variety of things are threatening their long-term survival, with some of these species facing extinction by the end of the 21st century. Four main factors are threatening penguins. The first is over-fishing: Because of the rapid increase in fishing operations in the past decades, penguins are now competing with us for food, and our industrial fishing fleets are simply more effective at catching fish. "The large scale harvesting of anchovy and sardine stocks have directly reduced the prey available to many penguin species including Macaroni and Chinstrap penguins in the South Atlantic" Thousands of penguins are also killed when they are caught in fishing nets. The second factor is climate change: Many penguin species are highly dependent on small schooling fish for food. The changing climate can affect the migratory patterns of these fish, making it harder for penguins to find food.... ...	Death March of the Penguins. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Sep 9, 2010 from Climatewire: Obama's Climate Image Blurs as He Nears Last Half of Presidential Term Barack Obama was considered a climate change savior 20 months ago, rushing into the White House with promises to price carbon, accelerate renewable energy technology and participate in a worldwide effort against global warming. He was a champion to environmentalists and sometimes described the atmospheric impacts of unregulated emissions as a threat to his own family. Global warming, he said in 2007, is not "a someday problem; it is now." But the legislative remedy would have to wait. Now, nearly two years into Obama's term, the president's climate image has changed. He is no longer a champion to some, and others are astonished at his administration's unenthusiastic support of a climate bill in the Senate this year. It failed without a vote. ...	Seems the president is more interested in maintaining the status quobama. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Sep 9, 2010 from ProPublica: Do "Environmental Extremists" Pose Criminal Threat to Gas Drilling? As debate over natural gas drilling [1] in the Marcellus shale reaches a fever pitch, state and federal authorities are warning Pennsylvania law enforcement that "environmental extremists" pose an increasing threat to security and to the energy sector. A confidential intelligence bulletin [2] sent from the Pennsylvania Department of Homeland Security to law enforcement professionals in late August says drilling opponents have been targeting the energy industry with increasing frequency and that the severity of crimes has increased. ...	"Environmental extremists" = people who give a shit about the planet. ApocaDoc permalink
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Thu, Sep 9, 2010 from Science2.0, via DesdemonaDespair: Greenland, West Antarctic Ice Caps Melting At Half The Speed Previously Predicted The Greenland and West Antarctic ice caps are melting at half the speed previously predicted, shows a team from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft, The Netherlands) and SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research in Nature Geoscience. The melting of the ice caps has been charted since 2002 using the measurements produced by the two GRACE satellites. From space they detect small changes in the Earth's gravitational field and these changes are related to the exact distribution of mass on Earth, including ice and water. When ice melts and lands in the sea, this therefore has an effect on the gravitational field. Based on this principle, previous estimates for the Greenland ice cap calculated that the ice was melting at a rate of 230 giga-tons per year (i.e. 230,000 billion kg), which would result in an average rise in global sea levels of around 0.75 mm a year. For West Antarctica, the estimate was 132 giga-tons per year. However, it now turns out that these results were not properly corrected for glacial isostatic adjustment, the phenomenon that the Earth's crust rebounds as a result of the melting of the massive ice caps from the last major Ice Age around 20,000 years ago. These movements of the Earth's crust have to be incorporated in the calculations, since these vertical movements change the Earth's mass distribution and therefore also have an influence on the gravitational field. ...	Finally, science proves that science is wrong. ApocaDoc permalink
Thu, Sep 9, 2010 from EuropeanVoice: 'No extra money' for biodiversity protection European politicians warn that there will be no additional funding for developing nations. The European Union looks set to disappoint developing countries by turning down requests for more money to protect biodiversity outside the EU.... "They are asking for more financing. That's normal. But we have a problem, we don't have it," said Joke Schauvliege, the Flemish minister for environment, who is leading discussions with her counterparts from other member states. "We are now in a financial situation where we are not in a position to put more money on the table," she told journalists at a biodiversity conference in Ghent, Belgium.... But the Commission's environment department spies a window of opportunity, with reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy also getting under way - two policies long under fire for failing to prevent habitat loss, pesticide pollution and overfishing. "Biodiversity is not just about protecting species. It is also about nature's ability to produce the goods and services that we need," Potocnik told delegates. "We have to go beyond lip service and truly integrate biodiversity into our policies." ...	Worldwide upport for coal production: 334.6 billion. Tax breaks for millionaires: 481.4 billion. A functioning ecosystem: priceless.* ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Sep 8, 2010 from Scientific American: Report: 21 percent of Africa's freshwater species threatened with extinction More than a fifth of Africa's freshwater species are threatened with extinction, and their disappearance could threaten livelihoods across the continent, according to a new study by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The study, conducted for the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species, assessed 5,167 African freshwater species over a five-year period. Two hundred scientists contributed to the report, which covers fish, mollusks, crabs, aquatic plants and aquatic insects such as dragonflies and damselflies.... [A]n introduced species (the Nile perch, Lates niloticus) have caused a reduction in the lake's native species over the last 30 years and as a result threatened traditional fisheries that any in the region depend upon for their livelihoods and food supplies. According to the study, 45 percent of the 191 fish species in Lake Victoria are threatened or even thought to already be extinct. Lake Victoria is located between Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Sometimes overfishing is the problem, thanks to Africa's growing population. In Lake Malawi (located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania), the population of one important fish species, Oreochromis karongae, has declined 70 percent in just the past 10 years. The IUCN has listed the species as endangered since 2004. ...	Why, that glass is three-quarters full! ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Sep 8, 2010 from Uppsala University, via EurekAlert: Turning a new page on antibiotic resistance For 70 years the world has mismanaged the common good of antibiotics. The result is a growing global burden of antibiotic resistance, threatening to take health care back to an era where ordinary infections might once again become fatal. At a historic three day conference at Uppsala University, Sweden, 190 delegates representing 45 countries and many leading stake holders - civil society, academia, industry, governments, authorities, supranational organizations - agreed on Wednesday to turn a new page and move towards concerted action on antibiotic resistance.... * A shared conviction that antibiotic resistance is a universal problem. Like global warming, it requires joint action, not least by governmental alliances. * A strong recommendation to all stakeholders to speed up the efforts to limit unnecessary use of antibiotics, while at the same time making the medicines affordable and accessible in developing countries. * A global network of surveillance will require common methods, and is crucial for both prudent use and needs driven development of new agents.... ...	Let's hope that Uppsala doesn't become another Copenhagen. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Sep 8, 2010 from Canadian Press: Birds dying in oilsands at 30 times the rate reported, says study A new study says birds are likely dying in oilsands tailings ponds at least 30 times the rate suggested by industry and government. The results add weight to arguments that depending on industry to monitor its own environmental impact isn't working, said study author Kevin Timoney, an ecologist whose paper was published Tuesday in the Wilson Journal of Ornithology. "We need to have credible scientific monitoring," Timoney said. Bird deaths are currently tracked through industry employees reporting carcasses. The eight-year annual average of such reports, from 2000 to 2007, is 65.... The 14-year median, including raptors, songbirds, shorebirds and gulls, is 1,973 deaths every year. ...	I'll just bet the idea of industry monitoring itself ... came from industry. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Sep 8, 2010 from EnvironmentalResearchWeb: The rise and rise of water shortage Over the past 2000 years, population increase has been four times more significant than climate change in the rise of water shortage. That's according to researchers from Finland and The Netherlands, who have analysed population growth, climate data and water-resource availability.... "Water shortage increased extremely rapidly from 1960 onward, with the proportion of the global population living under chronic water shortage increasing from 9 percent, or 280 million people, in 1960 to 35 percent (2,300 million) in 2005." "The pace of growth of water scarcity - which according to our analysis is very rapid in many geographically large and highly populated regions of the planet - is striking," said Kummu. ...	Meet you at the deep end. ApocaDoc permalink
Wed, Sep 8, 2010 from New York Times: Extreme Weather in a Warming World The need for developing resilience in the face of worst-case weather is glaring and urgent. With or without shifts propelled by the buildup of human-generated greenhouse gases, as populations continue rising in some of the world's worst climatic "hot zones" -- sub-Saharan Africa being the prime example -- the exposure to risks from drought and heat will continue to climb, as well. In poor places, the risk is exacerbated by persistent poverty, dysfunctional government and a glaring lack of capacity to track climate conditions and design agricultural systems and water supplies around them.... The impact of warming on calamitous weather remains primarily one of frequency. The odds of extreme and prolonged heat or heavy rains will rise with an unabated buildup of warming emissions.... For temperatures, reality is matching the pattern forecast by climate scientists for more than two decades. The prediction? Heat waves -- and new record highs -- are ever more likely while unusually cold stretches -- and new cold records -- are ever less likely. This trend has already been measured over the 48 contiguous states. And there's every sign this will continue, according to a recent study led by scientists at Stanford University. ...	The deluge -- it's apres moi. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 7, 2010 from Sydney Morning Herald, from DesdemonaDespair: 20 years left: mammals plunge into extinction in northern Australia At dusk, the dry savannah of the Kimberley was once alive with the scuttling and foraging of the burrowing bettong, a marsupial whose ''countless numbers'' were marvelled at by early surveyors. Along with many species of quolls, bandicoots, possums and marsupial rats, the bettongs had thrived for millions of years in northern Australia, surviving ice ages, surging sea levels and human hunters. But many of these natives are unlikely to survive another decade or two, according to a new report which reveals an abrupt, stunning plunge towards mass extinction in the past few years. At the 136 sites across northern Australia that have been repeatedly surveyed since 2001, the mammal populations have dropped by an average of 75 per cent. The number of sites classified as ''empty'' of mammal activity rose from 13 per cent in 1996 to 55 per cent in 2009. ''Twenty years ago we would go out and it would be a bonanza of native animals,'' a Charles Darwin University researcher, John Woinarski, said. ''Now we hardly catch anything - it's silent.'' ...	It's the burrowing bettong's Gallipoli. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 7, 2010 from New Scientist: Humans with monkeypox virus cases rocket Human cases of an African virus related to smallpox have jumped 20-fold since 1986, far more than anyone suspected. The researchers who discovered the rise are calling for urgent studies to assess whether it could pose a global threat. Monkeypox mostly infects rodents, and jumps to humans when they eat infected animals. Exposure to smallpox, or smallpox vaccine, immunises people to monkeypox, so there were fears that the virus might establish itself in people after smallpox was eliminated and vaccination stopped.... Now, Anne Rimoin of the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues report that people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are 20 times more likely to catch monkeypox than they were in 1986.... "It might be more exposure to animals, but the sheer size of the increase suggests more transmission between humans," says Rimoin. This could be because, unlike in 1986, three-quarters of the people in the region have never been exposed to smallpox or its vaccine, leaving them susceptible. Or the virus might have changed, she says. "Every infection is a chance for the virus to adapt to humans." Intriguingly, in 1999 and in Rimoin's recent sample, very few cases died, compared with 10 per cent in 1986. ...	Watch out!/It's the Monkey's Pawx. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 7, 2010 from Telegraph.co.uk: Rising tide of acid mine water threatens Johannesburg A toxic tide of acid mine water is rising steadily beneath Johannesburg which, if left unchecked, could cause earth tremors, power blackouts and even cancer among residents, experts have warned. The water is currently around 600 metres below the city's surface but is rising at a rate of between 0.4 and 0.9 metres per day, meaning it could overflow onto the streets in just under a year and a half. Because it would take 13 months to build a pumping station to clear the water, a legacy of 120 years of mining around Johannesburg, the state has just four months to find the millions of pounds needed to fund it. It is currently locked in negotiations with multinational mining firms who have profited from the area's rich natural resources over who should pay and how much. ...	I just don't think we'll be decreasing quarterly earnings to pay for your problem. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 7, 2010 from Jakarta Globe: Feces, Arsenic Pervade Water Supply, Sickening Half a Nation Water contaminated by feces and harmful chemicals may be responsible for making almost half of all Indonesians sick, health experts say. World Bank data shows that in 2006, 42 percent of Indonesians suffered from diarrhea caused by waterborne diseases, up from 28 percent in 1996. A study two years ago by the Ministry of Health showed that in addition to bacteria that cause the more common infectious diseases, many of Indonesia's sources of water also contained unacceptably high levels of toxic chemicals that could lead to more serious illnesses such as cancer and anemia. ...	Water contaminated by feces that creates diarrhea sounds like a vicious, shitty cycle. ApocaDoc permalink
Tue, Sep 7, 2010 from New Scientist: Why wartime wrecks are slicking time bombs Thousands of ships sunk in the second world war are seeping oil - and with their rusty tanks disintegrating, "peak leak" is only a few years away... The second world war saw the greatest-ever loss of shipping: more than three-quarters of the oil-containing wrecks around the globe date from the six years of this war. Sunken merchant ships are scattered around trade routes, the victims of attack by U-boats and other craft aiming to disrupt enemy nations' supply lines. Then there are the naval ships sunk during great engagements such as the attack on Pearl Harbor and the battle of Chuuk Lagoon, the Japanese base in the Pacific where the US sank over 50 Japanese ships. In some locations these hulks are already leaking oil, threatening pristine shorelines, popular beaches and breeding grounds for fish. This year, for example, oil has begun to leak from the Darkdale, a British naval tanker that sank in 1941 near the island of St Helena in the south Atlantic Ocean. It was carrying more than 4000 tonnes of oil when it went down. ...	War is (sometimes delayed) hell. ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Sep 6, 2010 from European Space Agency via ScienceDaily: Giant Greenland Iceberg -- Largest in the Northern Hemisphere -- Enters Nares Strait ESA's Envisat satellite has been tracking the progression of the giant iceberg that calved from Greenland's Petermann glacier on 4 August 2010. A new animation shows that the iceberg, the largest in the northern hemisphere, is now entering Nares Strait -- a stretch of water that connects the Lincoln Sea and Arctic Ocean with Baffin Bay... This iceberg is about 30 km long and 15 km wide at its foot and almost 7 km wide at its head, covering an area of around 245 sq km. By 22 August this giant mass of ice had been carried about 22 km from its birth place. ...	Let's nuke it! ApocaDoc permalink
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Mon, Sep 6, 2010 from Inter Press Service: After the floods ...Information from the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) reveals that approximately 25,234,144 people have been affected by floods in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The lack of medical care means that the province could suffer more in the aftermath of the floods than it did during the initial disaster. Statistics reveal that 172,868 people -- 32 per cent of the population in areas affected by floods in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa -- need food on an immediate basis. 270,472 people do not have access to clean drinking water while 162,017 people lack hygiene facilities...Flood victims may have another disaster to contend with soon if this situation continues much longer -- an outbreak of cholera. Cholera is a deadly intestinal infection that can cause death if left untreated. According to an update released by the NDMA on August 26, only 149 cholera kits have been distributed in one province -- the Punjab. ...	Lord, here comes the flood / We'll say goodbye to flesh and blood... ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Sep 6, 2010 from Miller-McCune: Viewing Poisons at Our National Parks America's national parks are heralded as pristine pockets of natural beauty, but that news hasn't stopped airborne pollutants from accumulating at alarmingly high rates in parks in the West. Eight years ago, spurred by reports of contaminants found in alpine and polar ecosystems far from where the pollutants originated, National Park Service leaders assembled an interdisciplinary team of researchers drawn from experts at several universities, government agencies and research groups.... The news wasn't good: • Of the 100 or more toxic substances tested for, 70 were found...• Many fish in parks have reached or exceeded the threshold level of contaminants for consumption by humans or other animals that eat them. ...	How do we know they aren't just tourist airborne pollutants? ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Sep 6, 2010 from via ScienceDaily: Global Warming's Silver Lining? Northern Countries Will Thrive and Grow, Researcher Predicts ...As worldwide population increases by 40 percent over the next 40 years, sparsely populated Canada, Scandinavia, Russia and the northern United States will become formidable economic powers and migration magnets, Laurence C. Smith writes in "The World in 2050: Four Forces Shaping Civilization's Northern Future" (Dutton Books), scheduled for publication Sept. 23....these resources will pour from northern rim countries -- or NORCs, as Smith calls them -- precisely at a time when natural resources elsewhere are becoming critically depleted, making them all the more valuable... Other tantalizing predictions: * New shipping lanes will open during the summer in the Arctic, allowing Europe to realize its 500-year-old dream of direct trade between the Atlantic and the Far East, and resulting in new access to and economic development in the north. * Oil resources in Canada will be second only to those in Saudi Arabia, and the country's population will swell by more than 30 percent, a growth rate rivaling India's and six times faster than China's.... ...	Gee, this sounds soooo sweet, I can't wait! ApocaDoc permalink
Mon, Sep 6, 2010 from Burness Communications via ScienceDaily: In a Changing Climate, Erratic Rainfall Poses Growing Threat to Rural Poor, New Report Says Against a backdrop of extreme weather wreaking havoc around the world, a new report warns that increasingly erratic rainfall related to climate change will pose a major threat to food security and economic growth, especially in Africa and Asia, requiring increased investment in diverse forms of water storage as an effective remedy. "Millions of farmers in communities dependent on rainfed agriculture are at risk from decreasing and erratic availability of water," said Colin Chartres, director general of the Sri Lanka-based International Water Management Institute (IWMI), which released the report to coincide with World Water Week in Stockholm. "Climate change will hit these people hard, so we have to invest heavily and quickly in adaptation." ...	Ashes to ashes... dustbowl to dustbowl... ApocaDoc permalink