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What A Week It Was: Apocadocuments from
View By Scenario:
Species Collapse:(5)
Plague/Virus:(6)
Climate Chaos:(11)
Resource Depletion: (3)
Biology Breach:(9)
Recovery:(8)
This Week's Top Ten Very Scary Tags:
global warming  ~ climate impacts  ~ contamination  ~ pandemic  ~ rising sea level  ~ carbon emissions  ~ water issues  ~ alternative energy  ~ airborne pollutants  ~ stupid humans  ~ plastic problems  



ApocaDocuments (42) gathered this week:
Sun, May 3, 2009
from McClatchy Newspapers:
Inspectors find safety problems at nuclear weapons complex
Contractors at one of the nation's major nuclear weapons complexes repeatedly used substandard construction materials and components that could've caused a major radioactive spill, a recently completed internal government probe has found. One of the materials used at the Savannah River Site on the South Carolina-Georgia border failed to meet federal safety standards and "could have resulted in a spill of up to 15,000 gallons of high-level radioactive waste," the Energy Department's inspector general found....The DOE inspector general's probe found instances of hiring Savannah River Site subcontractors who sold standard commercial materials instead of the required military-grade components, which are subjected to tougher testing during production under higher standards. One commercial subcontractor sold goods through retail catalogues. ...


Surely, they'd be more careful when constructing nuclear power plants, right?

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Sun, May 3, 2009
from Canada.com:
Arctic research centre scrambles to survive
The Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory in Nunavut gives Canadian researchers a unique window on the polar atmosphere. But the facility known as PEARL, which at 1,500 kilometres above the Arctic Circle is about as far north as you can get and still be on dry land, faces a precarious future despite the stated commitment to Arctic science by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government. Two key sources of federal money that keep the lab and its science going are drying up, says Drummond, who leads the work at PEARL.... The Harper government also restated it's committed in the budget to building a "world-class, High Arctic research station." The station, expected to take about a decade to construct, is to serve as a "hub" for Arctic science activity. But observers say there is a danger that the know-how and expertise needed to optimize use of the new station will be lost if existing Arctic research programs such as PEARL are neglected or phased out. ...


After all, why should we know about what we fear?

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Sun, May 3, 2009
from Washington Post:
MD Men Who Overfished Rockfish Sentenced to Prison
Three fishermen accused of dramatically underreporting their rockfish harvests received prison terms last week, as federal prosecutors continued a crackdown on a black market fish trade involving more than a dozen people, including several in St. Mary's County, authorities said.... The three men sentenced last week overfished about $2.15 million worth of striped bass. Crowder was responsible for about $956,000; Dean, $100,000; and Quade, $151,000, prosecutors said.... Golden Eye Seafood, a Southern Maryland fish wholesaler and check-in station, and its owner, Robert Lumpkins, 55, of Piney Point, were also charged last month with violating federal fishing laws. ...


Ahh, rockfish, we hardly knew ye.

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Sun, May 3, 2009
from New York Times:
As Bats Die, Closing Caves to Control a Fungus
The federal Forest Service is preparing to close thousands of caves and former mines in national forests in 33 states in an effort to control a fungus that has already killed an estimated 500,000 bats. A Forest Service biologist, Becky Ewing, said an emergency order was issued last week for caves in 20 states from Minnesota to Maine. A second order covering the Forest Service’s 13-state Southern region should be issued this month. The sites will be closed for up to a year, Ms. Ewing said.... Bats play a important role in keeping insects like mosquitoes under control. Bats eat from April to October, usually consuming their body weight in bugs each night. Ms. Ewing said the loss of 500,000 bats meant 2.4 million pounds of bugs not eaten in a year. ...


I'm afraid this is closing the bat-barn doors after the bat-cows have fled.

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Sun, May 3, 2009
from Times Online (UK):
Mission to break up Pacific island of rubbish twice the size of Texas
A high-seas mission departs from San Francisco next month to map and explore a sinister and shifting 21st-century continent: one twice the size of Texas and created from six million tonnes of discarded plastic. Scientists and conservationists on the expedition will begin attempts to retrieve and recycle a monument to throwaway living in the middle of the North Pacific.... Because of their tiny size and the scale of the problem, he believes that nothing can be solved at sea. "Trying to clean up the Pacific gyre would bankrupt any country and kill wildlife in the nets as it went." In June the 151 ft brigantine Kaisei (Japanese for Planet Ocean) will unfurl its sails in San Francisco to try to prove Mr Moore wrong. Project Kaisei's flagship will be joined by a decommissioned fishing trawler armed with specialised nets.... The UN's environmental programme estimates that 18,000 pieces of plastic have ended up in every square kilometre of the sea, totalling more than 100 million tonnes. ...


Perhaps we can just DNA-design a superbug that eats plastic. Surely that wouldn't have any unintended consequences.

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Sat, May 2, 2009
from The Australian:
Animal bugs our biggest risk
...Nine years ago infectious diseases experts attending a US conference were presented with alarming new research that made clear the threat animal infections posed to humans. The study found three-quarters of new diseases affecting people were crossing the species barrier from animals, in which case they are known as zoonoses.... The journal Science reported that after three months of looking through the literature, they found 1709 viruses, bacteria, fungi and other bugs that afflicted humans. Forty-nine per cent had come from animals. When they narrowed the focus to 156 diseases considered emerging, or recent, threats, 73 percent were derived from animals. ...


Zoonoses... or zoonooses?

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Sat, May 2, 2009
from US Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station via ScienceDaily:
New Southern California Beetle Killing Oaks
U.S. Forest Service scientists have completed a study on a beetle that was first detected in California in 2004, but has now attacked 67 percent of the oak trees in an area 30 miles east of San Diego. Their report appears in the current issue of The Pan-Pacific Entomologist and focuses on Agrilus coxalis, a wood-boring beetle so rare it does not even have an accepted common name. Scientists have proposed the Entomological Society of America common names committee call it the goldspotted oak borer. ...


That's too nice a name! Let's just call it an "ugly stupid bug" or something...

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Sat, May 2, 2009
from New York Times:
Seeking to Save the Planet, With a Thesaurus
The problem with global warming, some environmentalists believe, is "global warming." The term turns people off, fostering images of shaggy-haired liberals, economic sacrifice and complex scientific disputes, according to extensive polling and focus group sessions conducted by ecoAmerica, a nonprofit environmental marketing and messaging firm in Washington. Instead of grim warnings about global warming, the firm advises, talk about "our deteriorating atmosphere." Drop discussions of carbon dioxide and bring up "moving away from the dirty fuels of the past." Don't confuse people with cap and trade; use terms like "cap and cash back" or "pollution reduction refund." ...


And what's so wrong about calling it The Apocalypse?

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Sat, May 2, 2009
from Los Angeles KABC:
Tests of women leaders show how toxins turn up in Americans' blood
We hear every day about dangerous chemicals in household products that are linked to cancer, infertility, autism and other diseases -- yet many Americans may not realize just how many of these harmful substances they've actually ingested in the course of everyday living. The answer? About 48. That's according [to] a study by the Environmental Working Group and Rachel's Network, in which five leading minority women environmentalists from different parts of the country volunteered to have their blood tested for toxins. The results, say EWG experts, show that regulation of chemicals in the U.S. is weak and "antiquated" and needs a major overhaul.... It found, in the aggregate, traces of 48 chemicals in the women, notably flame retardants (used to treat some furniture and clothing), synthetic fragrances (from body care products and perfumes), the plastics ingredient Bisphenol A (found in bottles, canned food liners and other products) and the rocket fuel perchlorate (which has been found in some drinking water). ...


Sounds like these gals contain a charming elixir!

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Sat, May 2, 2009
from Environmental Health News:
Big increase in ocean mercury found; study predicts more human threat from fish
Mercury levels in the Pacific Ocean will rise by 50 percent within the next few decades as emissions from coal-fired power plants and other sources increase, scientists reported Friday. The researchers, led by scientists from Harvard University and the U.S. Geological Survey, found that the ocean's mercury levels have already risen about 30 percent over the last 20 years. Combined, the findings mean the Pacific Ocean will be twice as contaminated with mercury in 2050 as it was in 1995 if the emission rates continue. As a result, people around the globe will be increasingly exposed to mercury from eating fish and other seafood. Methylmercury, a neurotoxin, can alter brain development of fetuses and has been linked with learning problems and reduced IQs in some children. ...


The stupider these kids, the less chance they'll figure out we're to blame for ruining their earth.

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Fri, May 1, 2009
from Agence France-Presse:
Pig owners outraged over Egypt's decision to slaughter all beasts
EGYPT has ordered the immediate cull of all pigs in the country as a precaution against swine flu - the first such move in the world. "It has been ordered to immediately begin the slaughter of all herds of pigs in Egypt," Health Minister Hatem al-Gabali said yesterday after meeting President Hosni Mubarak. He said slaughterhouses would begin the cull at the fastest rate possible, as pig owners expressed outrage. Mr Gabali said Egypt - where 26 people died from the H5N1 virus, making it one of the countries most affected by the bird flu strain - was taking the threat of swine flu "very seriously". Precautionary measures such as an awareness campaign and boosting production of protective masks and the anti-viral drug Tamiflu would also be taken, he said. ...


That sounds like throwing the piglet out with the manure lagoon.

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Fri, May 1, 2009
from Canadian Press:
Thou shall not ... kill the planet
The Christian Bible doesn't say anything about global warming, greenhouse gases or overpackaging. And when it mentions pollution by name, it tends to mean things like "blood pollutes the land," as discussed in Numbers. So those looking for biblical references to back up their eco-friendly outlooks have had to look far deeper into their readings. The newly published Green Bible, complete with essays and an index of environment-related references throughout the Old and New Testaments, can help. "It's a wonderful tool," says Katharine Vansittart of the Greening Sacred Spaces program, which helps worship spaces get green retrofits. ...


And the meek shall inherit what's left of the earth.

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Fri, May 1, 2009
from The Charleston Gazette:
Study finds food-wrapper chemicals in blood
A new scientific study has for the first time found a group of chemicals used in coatings on food wrappers in human blood. Previous reports have documented low levels of certain perfluorochemicals -- those used to make commercial products like food wrapper coatings -- in the blood of the general human population. But the new study, led by University of Toronto researchers, focused on chemicals that are actually used in food wrapper coatings and other consumer products... Scott Mabury, one of the study authors, said the results indicate that these food wrapper coatings are likely breaking down in the body into C8, which is also known as PFOA, and a related chemical called PFOS. ...


They say you are what you eat.

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Want more context?
Try reading our book FREE online:
Humoring the Horror of the Converging Emergencies!
More fun than a barrel of jellyfish!
Fri, May 1, 2009
from BusinessGreen:
Plastic bag charge hailed as a huge success
Since launching a 5p charge for food bags last May as part of its Plan A scheme to reduce waste, Marks & Spencers says the number of bags taken to cart posh ready meals home has fallen by 80 per cent, from 460m bags a year to 80m. The National Trust, which introduced a charge on 1 May last year in its shops and garden centres, has managed to slash plastic bag usage by 85 per cent, or one million bags a year. It said just five per cent of its customers were now taking the disposable option.... Tesco, which offers one Green point to its clubcard customers for every bag they reuse, says it has cut bag use by 50 per cent since it launched the scheme in August 2006, saving three billion bags in the process. In the past year alone, 1.8bn bags have been saved. ...


One small step for each person; one small leap toward survival.

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Fri, May 1, 2009
from Purdue University, via EurekAlert:
Fish may actually feel pain and react to it much like humans
Because both groups of fish wriggled at about the same temperature, the researchers thought the responses might be more like a reflex than a cognitive reaction to experiencing pain.... Upon later observation in their home tanks, however, the researchers noticed that the fish from each group were exhibiting different behaviors. "The fish given the morphine acted like they always had: swimming and being fish," Garner said. "The fish that had gotten saline -- even though they responded the same in the test -- later acted different, though. They acted with defensive behaviors, indicating wariness, or fear and anxiety." Nordgreen said those behavioral differences showed that fish can feel both reflexive and cognitive pain. ...


Next you'll be telling me we should treat fish humanely. Something's fishy about that.

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Thu, Apr 30, 2009
from Shreveport Times:
'Frac' fluid kills 19 cattle
An unidentified substance that apparently flowed from a natural gas drilling site into a pasture is being eyed as a potential cause of the deaths of 19 head of cattle Tuesday evening, according to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.... Authorities believe the cows ingested the [milky white] liquid before dying. Tracks went to and from the puddles, a Caddo sheriff's office spokeswoman said. ...


Thank goodness that stuff would never get into groundwater! (Halliburton said so!)

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Thu, Apr 30, 2009
from Canadian Press:
Soot may be major cause of rapid Arctic warming
Greenhouse gases may not be the only reason the Arctic is thawing so rapidly. A report released Wednesday at an international meeting in Norway says scientists have discovered a new factor behind the surprisingly rapid meltdown -- so-called "black carbon," otherwise known as soot... Scientists have been puzzled for years about why Arctic sea ice is melting faster than climate models predict.... Research in the report shows that tiny particles of soot can reach the Arctic through air currents in just a few days. Some of those particles hang around in the atmosphere, absorbing sunlight and warming the air. The rest fall to the ground, where their darker colour speeds the melting of snow and ice. ...


Soot? Seriously? What are we, trapped in a Dickens novel??

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Thu, Apr 30, 2009
from London Daily Telegraph:
Global warming blamed for unstable ice shelf in Antarctica
The images from the European Space Agency (ESA) revealed that an estimated 700 square kilometres of the Wilkins Ice Shelf have been lost, with satellite data last week showing the first icebergs had started to calve off its northern front. The indications that the ice shelf has become unstable follow the collapse three weeks ago of the ice bridge between the Antarctic mainland and Charcot Island, with the loss of around 330 square kilometres of ice. The collapse of the bridge, which had held back the northern front of the shelf, resulted in existing rifts in the shelf's ice widening and new cracks forming, according to scientists. It is expected the ice will continue to be lost from the "fragile and vulnerable" shelf over the coming weeks. ...


Pity this slow motion train wreck of a planet...

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Thu, Apr 30, 2009
from London Guardian:
Swine flu pandemic alert raised to level five
The World Health Organisation last night raised its swine flu global epidemic threat level to phase five -- the second highest -- as a result of the increasing number of people being confirmed as infected with the virus across the globe. Phase five indicates the disease is able to spread easily between humans and is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent....The increase in threat level comes after a 23-month-old Mexican child died in Texas, becoming the first person to die from swine flu outside the country of origin; while in Spain officials confirmed the first case of the disease in a person who has not travelled to Mexico. ...


Who let the hogs out... Who who who who!

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Thu, Apr 30, 2009
from Inter Press Service:
HEALTH-ARGENTINA: Half of Children at Risk for Lack of Clean Water
More than half of all children in Argentina are at risk of illness because of lack of access to clean, running water, while a large proportion are also threatened by polluting industries and the use of pesticides in agriculture, according to a study by the ombudsman's office... More than one-third of the causes of child mortality are related to modifiable environmental factors, says the study. These include lack of access to safe water, inadequate waste disposal, pollution, accidents and occupational illnesses or injuries in the countryside, industry or informal sector activities. ...


Whatever you do... don't cry for them!

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Thu, Apr 30, 2009
from BBC (UK):
'Safe' climate means 'no to coal'
About three-quarters of the world's fossil fuel reserves must be left unused if society is to avoid dangerous climate change, scientists warn.... [T]his group of scientists says that the cumulative total provides a better measure of the likely temperature rise, and may present an easier target for policymakers. "To avoid dangerous climate change, we will have to limit the total amount of carbon we inject into the atmosphere, not just the emission rate in any given year," said Myles Allen from the physics department at Oxford University. "Climate policy needs an exit strategy; as well as reducing carbon emissions now, we need a plan for phasing out net emissions entirely." ...


But what about "clean coal"? What about carbon-sequestering unicorns?

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Wed, Apr 29, 2009
from Reuters (UK):
186 million in U.S. live with dangerous air pollution
Six in 10 U.S. residents -- more than 186 million people -- live in areas with dangerous levels of air pollution, the American Lung Association reported on Wednesday. The air in many U.S. cities became dirtier last year, the association said in its annual "State of the Air" report. "Despite almost 40 years since the Clean Air Act passed in 1970, six in 10 Americans still live in dirty air areas, areas where the air is unhealthful to breathe," the group's Paul Billings said in a telephone interview.... This year's air pollution numbers were far higher than in last year's report, which found 125 million people, or about 42 percent of U.S. residents, living with unhealthy air pollution. ...


Smmms fnn to mmmnn.

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Wed, Apr 29, 2009
from U.S. News and World Report:
The Truth Behind Global Jellyfish Swarms
Large swarms of jellyfish and other gelatinous animals -- sometimes covering hundreds of square miles of ocean -- have recently been reported in many of the world's prime vacation and fishing destinations.... Are human-caused environmental problems promoting population explosions of jellies? Various types of environmental problems may promote the formation of jelly swarms. These problems include pollution, the overharvesting of fish, the introduction of non-native jelly species into new habitats, the addition of artificial substrate (like fishing reefs, and various offshore platforms) in the ocean and climate change. ...


Let's not float to conclusions. There's not really proof that we're to blame.

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Wed, Apr 29, 2009
from CBC (Canada):
Deep emission cuts needed to limit global warming: scientists
The bottom line is that avoiding dangerous change to climate will be difficult, said NASA space scientist Gavin Schmidt and University of Chicago researcher David Archer in a related commentary in Nature. "Unless emissions begin to decline very soon, severe disruption to the climate system will entail expensive adaptation measures and may eventually require cleaning up the mess by actively removing CO2 from the atmosphere," they wrote. "Like an oil spill or groundwater contamination, it will probably be cheaper in the long run to avoid making the mess in the first place." ...


The "long run"? What's that? I want my profit now.

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Wed, Apr 29, 2009
from Discovery News:
Plastic Water Bottles May Pose Health Hazard
With all of the bad press swirling around certain types of plastic lately, regular old plastic water bottles have maintained a reputation as safe, at least as far as human health is concerned. New evidence, however, suggests that plastic water bottles may not be so benign after all. Scientists in Germany have found that PET plastics -- the kind used to make water bottles, among many other common products -- may also harbor hormone-disrupting chemicals that leach into the water. ... "What we found was really surprising to us," [lead researcher Martin] Wagner said. "If you drink water from plastic bottles, you have a high probability of drinking estrogenic compounds." ...


Hey, my man boobs could use a little definition.

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Wed, Apr 29, 2009
from BusinessGreen:
Smarter grids could provide 700,000 UK job boost
The UK's Digital Road to Recovery report models the likely economic impact of an additional £15bn investment in broadband networks, smart grid technologies, and intelligent transport systems, such as congestion management infrastructure. It concludes that the productivity boost digital networks can deliver for other businesses means that increased investment in ICT technology would prove more effective at creating jobs and boosting the economy than spending on physical infrastructure such as roads and bridges. The report calculated that an additional £5bn in broadband investment would help to create or retain 280,000 jobs, while £5bn for smart grid systems would create or retain 235,000 jobs, and investing the same sum in intelligent transport systems would result in 188,000 jobs. ...


Will that mean we'll start seeing groups of four geeks by the roadside, with three of them watching the fourth one work?

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You're still reading! Good for you!
You really should read our short, funny, frightening book FREE online (or buy a print copy):
Humoring the Horror of the Converging Emergencies!
We've been quipping this stuff for more than 30 months! Every day!
Which might explain why we don't get invited to parties anymore.
Wed, Apr 29, 2009
from Reuters:
Major gaps in knowledge of swine flu, say scientists
Scientists trying to gauge the severity of the threat of a swine influenza pandemic face many important knowledge gaps.... "We don't really know the mortality rate, we don't really know which age groups are affected."... "We don't know the cause of death, I think that's really important, what are people dying of? Until we have more epidemiological information it's very difficult to make any kind of judgement [about pandemic potential]."... Even the genetic makeup of the virus is under debate. Scientists agree that it is a H1N1 virus -- named because of the types of haemagglutinin and neuraminidase proteins that it possesses. According to some analyses it is made up of an assortment of human, swine and avian influenza genetic material, while the WHO is saying it is made up of largely swine influenza genes. "By and large when you analyse this virus it is a swine influenza virus," said Fukuda. "I appreciate the difficulty of keeping all of this straight but these are new viruses -- they're new for pigs and they're new for people." ...


If this was CSI: Mexico City, we'd have the answers by the next ad!

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Wed, Apr 29, 2009
from New Scientist:
Geothermal explosion rocks green energy hopes
The bid to produce green power on a commercial scale using heat mined from subterranean rocks -- or "hot rocks" -- has suffered a major setback, with the breach of a four-kilometre-deep well on Friday in the Cooper Basin in South Australia.... The company was in the final stages of commissioning a demonstration one-megawatt power plant for Innamincka when the rupture occurred, and steam started to escape from the well. Drilling deep wells into hot rocks and circulating water to mine heat is technically challenging, and the cause of the breach is still unknown. ...


Who said it'd be easy?

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Tue, Apr 28, 2009
from New Scientist:
How to turn greenhouse gas into a clean fuel
Converting a greenhouse gas into a clean-burning fuel offers two benefits for the price of one. That's the thinking behind a novel process for converting carbon dioxide into methanol at room temperature.... "Our catalyst isn't toxic, and the reaction happens rapidly at room temperature," says team leader Jackie Ying. The catalyst used by Ying's team is a type of chemical called an N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC). The mechanism by which the NHC speeds up the conversion is uncertain, but it appears to change the shape of the CO2 molecule, "activating" it in a way that makes it easier for hydrogen to bond with its carbon atom, says team member Yugen Zhang. ...


A converter in every home? That would suck... carbon dioxide.

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Tue, Apr 28, 2009
from Scientific American:
New York City-sized ice collapses off Antarctica
TROMSOE, Norway (Reuters) - An area of an Antarctic ice shelf almost the size of New York City has broken into icebergs this month after the collapse of an ice bridge widely blamed on global warming, a scientist said Tuesday. "The northern ice front of the Wilkins Ice Shelf has become unstable and the first icebergs have been released," Angelika Humbert, glaciologist at the University of Muenster in Germany, said of European Space Agency satellite images of the shelf. Humbert told Reuters about 700 sq km (270.3 sq mile) of ice -- bigger than Singapore or Bahrain and almost the size of New York City -- has broken off the Wilkins this month and shattered into a mass of icebergs. ...


Cue the theme from Jaws...

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Tue, Apr 28, 2009
from London Times:
Mexico outbreak traced to 'manure lagoons' at pig farm
The first known case of swine flu emerged a fortnight earlier than previously thought in a village where residents have long complained about the smell and flies from a nearby pig farm... The Mexican Government said it initially thought that the victim, Edgar Hernandez, 4, was suffering from ordinary influenza but laboratory testing has since shown that he had contracted swine flu....It is now known that there was a widespread outbreak of a powerful respiratory disease in the La Gloria area earlier this month...about 60 per cent of La Gloria's 3,000-strong population have sought medical assistance since February. ...


Pig shit: the petri dish of plague.

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Tue, Apr 28, 2009
from Yale Environment 360:
A Potential Breakthrough In Harnessing the Sun's Energy
n the high desert of southern Spain, not far from Granada, the Mediterranean sun bounces off large arrays of precisely curved mirrors that cover an area as large as 70 soccer fields. These parabolic troughs follow the arc of the sun as it moves across the sky, concentrating the sun's rays onto pipes filled with a synthetic oil that can be heated to 750 degrees Fahrenheit. That super-heated oil is used to boil water to power steam turbines, or to pump excess heat into vats of salts, turning them a molten, lava-like consistency. The salts are just fertilizers -- a mix of sodium and potassium nitrate -- but they represent a significant advance in the decades-old technology of solar thermal power production, which has traditionally used mirrors to heat water or oil to generate electricity-producing steam. Now, engineers can use the molten salts to store the heat from solar radiation many hours after the sun goes down and then release it at will to drive turbines. That means solar thermal power can be used to generate electricity nearly round-the-clock. ...


Little darling... I say it's all right!

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Tue, Apr 28, 2009
from London Guardian:
Arctic CO2 levels growing at an 'unprecedented rate', say scientists
Figures from a measuring station in northern Norway show that CO2 levels are increasing by 2-3 parts per million every year... The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has reached a record high, according to the latest figures released by an internationally regarded measuring station in the Arctic. The measurements suggest that the main greenhouse gas is continuing to increase in the atmosphere at an alarming rate despite the downturn in dip in the rate of increase of the global economy. Levels of the gas at the Zeppelin research station on Svalbard, northern Norway, last week peaked at over 397 parts per million (ppm), an increase of more than 2.5ppm on 2008. ...


This is CO2 MUCH of an increase!!!

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Tue, Apr 28, 2009
from Environmental Health News:
Sleeping with the enemy: indoor airborne contaminants
New research studying household air in homes in Arizona found more than 400 chemicals ranging from pesticides to phthalates, confirming that indoor air can be heavily contaminated with pollutants. Pesticides, including diazinon, chlorpyrifos and DDT were found at surprisingly high levels, as were phthalates... A total of 586 individual chemicals were identified. The pesticides diazinon and chlorpyrifos were found in the greatest amounts and both were found in all of the 52 homes tested.... Researchers were not able to identify at least 120 of the chemicals. Many of these unidentified chemicals had structures similar to fragrance compounds. Fragrances made up the major chemical component of the collected chemicals. ...


So... outside is polluted, and inside is toxic? Where else is there?

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Tue, Apr 28, 2009
from American Society of Agronomy, via EurekAlert:
Landfill cover soil methane oxidation underestimated
Landfills are classified as the second-largest human-made source of CH4 in the U.S. Additionally, landfill gas contains numerous non-methane hydrocarbons that are either volatilized directly from waste materials or produced through biochemical reactions during waste degradation.... A value of 0 to 10 percent oxidation has been recommended.... The overall mean fraction oxidized across all studies was 36 percent with a standard error of 6 percent. For a subset of fifteen studies conducted over an annual cycle the fraction of methane oxidized ranged from 11 to 89 percent with a mean value of 35 [plus or minus] 6 percent, a value that was nearly identical to the overall mean. ...


The mean of the means means that landfills are producing three times the recommended maximum. I mean it.

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Mon, Apr 27, 2009
from Bloomberg News:
Galapagos Penguins Need 'Condos' With Global Warming
The Galapagos Islands, renowned for rare animals that inspired Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, may have to create special shelters to save species from global warming and rising sea levels. Scientists who met there last week decided the indigenous penguin needs "condos" built in cooler, higher areas to nest more safely, Giuseppe Di Carlo, marine climate-change manager at Conservation International, said in an interview. Shadier bushes would protect plants and animals such as birds and tortoises that produce too many of the same sex in hotter weather. ...


These condos better be carbon neutral!

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Mon, Apr 27, 2009
from London Guardian:
Call for 20-year fishing ban in a third of oceans
One third of the world's oceans must be closed to fishing for 20 years if depleted stocks are to recover, scientists and conservation groups have warned. Callum Roberts, professor of marine conservation at the University of York, has reviewed 100 scientific papers identifying the scale of closure needed. "All are leaning in a similar direction," he said, "which is that 20-40 percent of the sea should be protected." Friends of the Earth, the Marine Conservation Society and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds all support the idea of a 30 percent closure. ...


Can't you just see it? Giant No Fishin' signs placed all over the planet!

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Mon, Apr 27, 2009
from Wall Street Journal:
Science Races to Parse New Virus
Avian flu and SARS rudely awoke the world to the possibility of a new pandemic. Could a seemingly more mundane bug now put the world to the test? The swine flu virus that may have killed more than 80 people in Mexico and appears to have sickened hundreds more is still a mystery contagion. But this much is known: The virus is unusually made up of genetic material from avian, pig and human viruses; it can transmit from person to person; and in many people, it only triggers mild symptoms seen in garden-variety influenza....The Atlanta-based CDC has said the current swine flu virus, known as A/H1N1, combines genetic sequences from North American pigs, Eurasian pigs, birds and humans. The H protein that sits on its surface has previously circulated only in pigs and is new to the human immune system -- a crucial condition for starting a pandemic flu. ...


Boinked by the oink!

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Mon, Apr 27, 2009
from London Guardian:
Once there were swarms of butterflies in our skies
...Swarms of butterflies have long disappeared. And a relentless decline may now become terminal for some of our best-loved species. Following the wet summer of 2007, last year was a disaster for butterflies: the lowest number was recorded for 27 years. Of Britain's precious 59 resident species, 12 experienced their worst ever year since the scientific monitoring of butterfly numbers began in 1976....Butterflies find it difficult to fly, feed and mate in bad weather but these figures are not just a seasonal blip caused by freakishly soggy summers. The collecting of British butterflies has ceased to be acceptable and yet butterfly populations have still plummeted. Far more devastating than unscrupulous collectors of old has been industrial agriculture and the loss of 97 percent of England's natural grassland and wildflower meadows; planting conifers or letting our broadleaved woodlands become too overgrown for woodland flowers; and the sprawl of motorways and urban development. To this deadly cocktail has been added a new poison: climate change. ...


From butterfly ... to butterdie.

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Mon, Apr 27, 2009
from New York Times:
Study Says Warming Poses Peril to Asia
With diminished rice harvests, seawater seeping into aquifers and islands vanishing into rising oceans, Southeast Asia will be among the regions worst affected by global warming, according to a report scheduled for release on Monday by the Asian Development Bank. The rise in sea levels may force the sprawling archipelago of Indonesia to redraw its sea boundaries, the report said... Southeast Asia is particularly vulnerable to global warming because of the number of people who live near coastlines and the high rate of poverty. About 19 percent of those in Southeast Asian, some 93 million people, live on less than $1.25 a day and are more vulnerable to the projected increase in typhoons, drought and floods. ...


Well, they sure ain't gonna be able to buy their way out of this problem!

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Mon, Apr 27, 2009
from London Independent:
The missing sunspots: Is this the big chill?
Could the Sun play a greater role in recent climate change than has been believed? Climatologists had dismissed the idea and some solar scientists have been reticent about it because of its connections with those who those who deny climate change. But now the speculation has grown louder because of what is happening to our Sun. No living scientist has seen it behave this way. There are no sunspots. The disappearance of sunspots happens every few years, but this time it's gone on far longer than anyone expected -- and there is no sign of the Sun waking up. "This is the lowest we've ever seen. We thought we'd be out of it by now, but we're not," says Marc Hairston of the University of Texas. And it's not just the sunspots that are causing concern. There is also the so-called solar wind -- streams of particles the Sun pours out -- that is at its weakest since records began. In addition, the Sun's magnetic axis is tilted to an unusual degree. ...


Out damn'd sunspot! out, I say!

ApocaDoc
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Mon, Apr 27, 2009
from Dhaka Daily Star:
All Dhaka rivers left 'dead'
Soft attitude of the government towards polluters and lack of awareness among city dwellers have literally left dead all the rivers and other surface waters in and around the capital. Over the years the government agencies conducted small-scale drives against the polluters without yielding any major success. The polluters have meanwhile continued polluting the rivers side by side with city dwellers linking excreta discharge to the storm sewerage that ultimately falls into the rivers. The immediate past caretaker government had earlier directed industrialists to install Effluent Treatment Plants (ETP) at their respective industries by October 31, 2007. But most of the industrialists defied the directive and the government also did not go for action against the violators. ...


We have met the enemy and he has crapped all over himself.

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