Biology
Breach
October 19, 2013, from KASA
More than 200 barrels of fracking fluid, oil and water blew out of a traditional oil well on BLM land in the San Juan Basin...
On Sept. 30, one of Encana's fractures reached Parko's neighboring vertical well. The pressure was too much for the older well to handle.
"Our highest pressure is around 150 pounds," said Parko Oil pumper Johnny Aragon. "The pressure we were experiencing was in excess of 2,000 pounds, which is a lot more than what the wells are designed to hold."
Encana's operations were approximately 0.5 miles from the Parko well that had the blowout.
"An Encana well, undergoing stimulation operations, may have communicated with the well of a nearby operator," said Encana spokesperson Doug Hock. "That operator's well became over-pressurized resulting in the release of fluid from both the wellhead and a nearby tank."
October 19, 2011, from Huffington Post
Historic drought conditions are fueling the largest algae bloom in more than a decade along the Texas Gulf Coast, killing fish, sparking warnings about beach conditions and making throats scratchy, researchers said Monday.
The extent of the so-called red tide bloom came as no surprise to biologists because the microscopic algae love warm, salty water. Since March, Texas has recorded seven of the 10 driest months in 116 years, so scientists had anticipated a red tide....
The geographic scope of this red tide - affecting areas from Galveston to South Padre Island - is the largest since 2000, Byrd said from her office in Victoria. A variety of dead fish have been reported washing up in places since last month - including a 6-foot tarpon on Padre Island this weekend, but so far this bloom hasn't produced a fish kill as severe as others, Byrd said.
October 19, 2009, from Voice of America
Since 2002 thousands of fish in the United States have died and continue to die in many rivers, most in the rivers of the southern east coast. Researchers have found what they call "the feminization of fish" or the presence of immature eggs in male fish. They have also found different levels of water contamination all related to human activity. The government says twenty percent of male black bass in river basins across the country have immature egg cells in their sexual organs....Scientists have found contaminants such as herbicides, pesticides, estrogen and birth control chemicals in the river. Higher concentrations were found where farming is intense and human population dense. In general, water treatment plants do not remove all chemicals before dumping water back into rivers.
So called endocrine disruptors are especially worrisome because they can change sexual behavior.
October 19, 2009, from Vietnam News
The preliminary results from Ha Noi’s 2009 census, reported that over two million Hanoians are using drilled well water, while a series of surveys have stated that many of the drilled wells in the city are contaminated with arsenic... The census also reported that 22.5 per cent of the 6 million people in the city are using untreated water from pools, lakes, rivers, and other sources. It also stated that 38.5 per cent are using untreated well-water and the remaining 39 per cent have access to clean water.
Viet Nam has more than 1 million drilled wells. Of the reported wells, an estimated 25 per cent are contaminated with arsenic. The levels of arsenic in the water are approximately 20-25 times higher than the permitted level in those areas.
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Climate
Chaos
October 19, 2013, from Guardian
... So what's the big deal about this blizzard?
It's not really winter yet.
The cows don't have their warm jackets on. The cows are still out eating grass in the big pastures. Atlas wasn't just a snowstorm, it was the kind of storm that can destroy the ranchers that have been caring for these cattle for hundreds of years....
Last weekend Atlas hit. It started with rain. The rain soaked the cows and chilled them to the bone. Inches and inches of rain fell. The rain made horrible mud. Then the winds started - 80mph winds, hurricane force....
The snow came down so heavy and so fast the the low spots that the cattle were laying in filled with snow. Not a few inches of snow, not a foot of snow. Enough snow that the cows and their calves were covered in snow.
The cows and calves suffocated or froze to death....
This wasn't just a few cows. Tens of thousands of cows are gone. Some ranchers lost their entire herds. All of their cows, gone.
October 19, 2009, from Beirut Daily Star
BEIRUT: It's autumn but many Lebanese are still happily whiling away their weekends at the beach, taking advantage of the apparent Indian summer while it lasts. As the beach-goers perspire from the hot weather, many environmental experts are starting to sweat over what they claim is the first sign of climate change.
They say Lebanon is already feeling the heat of a warmer world and warn the country's four distinct seasons will be reduced to one long, hot and dry season and a much shorter winter period if global action to mitigate climate change isn't adopted immediately. Environmentalists have already predicted Lebanon's average summer temperatures will increase by 1.2 degrees centigrade.
October 19, 2009, from International Rice Research Institute via ScienceDaily
...by using advanced modeling techniques, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has mapped rice-growing regions in the Philippines that are most likely to experience the negative effects of climate change, showing the extent to which climate change threatens rice production.
Solutions to help farmers adapt are nevertheless available. Cyclone Nargis wreaked havoc on the rice crops and communities of Myanmar in 2008. Since then, IRRI has sent submergence-tolerant and salt-tolerant rice varieties for testing there as more resilient options for farmers.
Massive rat infestations in Myanmar followed cyclone Nargis. Horrific rat infestations also occurred recently in Laos and Bangladesh, where the rodents ate up to 100 percent of rice crops, invaded house stores of food, bit sleeping people, and likely propagated disease. IRRI is hosting an international conference on rodents in rice to help find solutions.
October 19, 2009, from New York Times
The Energy Department has concluded in an internal audit that it does not properly track whether manufacturers that give their appliances an Energy Star label have met the required specifications for energy efficiency. Some manufacturers could therefore be putting the stickers on unqualified products, according to the audit, by the Energy Department's inspector general, Gregory H. Friedman.
The Energy Star program, jointly managed by the Energy Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, has benefited from a renewed emphasis by the Obama administration, as a mechanism for reducing the waste of energy and curbing resulting greenhouse gas emissions. Under the federal stimulus bill, $300 million will go to rebates for consumers who buy Energy Star products.
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Resource
Depletion
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Recovery
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