Biology
Breach
July 3, 2012, from Environmental Health Perspectives
Human beings, as a species, are putting on weight. Obesity rates are rising in rich and poor countries alike for a variety of reasons, from changing dietary habits and activity levels to exposure to artificial nighttime light. Mounting evidence from over the past decade suggests that certain chemicals may be playing a role as well. For some people, so-called obesogens may be altering their metabolism and fat cell development, making it harder to maintain a healthy weight.
July 3, 2012, from MediaMatters, via LivingGreen Magazine
Carbon dioxide emissions are not just warming up our atmosphere, they're also changing the chemistry of our oceans. This phenomenon is known as ocean acidification, or sometimes as global warming's "evil twin" or the "osteoporosis of the sea."
Scientists have warned that it poses a serious threat to ocean life. Yet major American news outlets covered the Kardashians over 40 times more often than ocean acidification over the past year and a half....
According to the National Research Council, the chemical changes are taking place "at an unprecedented rate and magnitude" and are "practically irreversible on a time scale of centuries."
July 3, 2011, from New York Times
An ExxonMobil pipeline running under the Yellowstone River in south central Montana ruptured late Friday, spilling crude oil into the river and forcing evacuations.
The pipeline burst about 10 miles west of Billings, coating parts of the Yellowstone River that run past Laurel -- a town of about 6,500 people downstream from the rupture -- with shiny patches of oil. Precisely how much oil leaked into the river was still unclear. But throughout the day Saturday, cleanup crews in Laurel worked to lessen the impact of the spill, laying down absorbent sheets along the banks of the river to mop up some of the escaped oil, and measuring fumes to determine the health threat....
While the cause of the rupture was not immediately known, Brent Peters, the fire chief for Laurel, told The A.P. that it may have been caused by high waters eroding parts of the river bed and exposing the pipeline to debris....
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Climate
Chaos
July 3, 2013, from Christian Science Monitor
...For all the damage it does, El Niņo, a rise in water temperatures off western South America's coast, is difficult to track... But new research suggests that the phenomenon was uncharacteristically active in the late 20th century, relative to the previous seven centuries. That in turn suggests that El Niņo is more responsive to climate change than previously believed and that it might be possible to better predict future conditions.
July 3, 2013, from Reuters
A U.S. judge tossed out on Tuesday a new rule requiring oil, natural gas and mining companies to disclose payments to foreign governments, in a blow to U.S. securities regulators and human rights groups.
U.S. District Judge John Bates said the Securities and Exchange Commission erred in its interpretation of part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law that called for the rule and did not properly consider requests for relief.
Proponents of the resource extraction rule, including international relief organization Oxfam America, say it would help combat corruption and wasteful spending in resource-rich nations.
But business groups say it would cost billions of dollars and yield little shareholder benefit.
July 3, 2013, from Climate Central
The deadly Yarnell Hill Fire continued to rage out of control on Monday, a day after the flames fanned by erratic winds and temperatures topping 100°F overwhelmed a team of elite firefighters, killing 19 of the 20-member crew. The fire has burned about 200 homes and has burned through at least 8,400 acres -- more than quadrupling in size since it began on June 28, according to news reports.... And projections show that the West may be in for more large wildfires in the future. Climate models show an alarming increase in large wildfires in the West in coming years, as spring snowpack melts earlier, summer temperatures increase, and droughts occur more frequently or with greater severity.
July 3, 2012, from Washington Post
Climate change no longer ranks first on the list of what Americans see as the world's biggest environmental problem, according to a new Washington Post-Stanford University poll.
Just 18 percent of those polled name it as their top environmental concern. That compares with 33 percent who said so in 2007, amid publicity about a major U.N. climate report and Al Gore's Oscar-winning documentary about global warming. Today, 29 percent identify water and air pollution as the world's most pressing environmental issue.
July 3, 2012, from Yale Environment 300
...Canada's pristine image -- and more importantly its environment -- is not likely to recover from what critics across the political spectrum say is an unprecedented assault by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper on environmental regulation, oversight, and scientific research. Harper, who came to power in 2006 unapologetic for once describing the Kyoto climate accords as "essentially a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealth-producing nations," has steadily been weakening environmental enforcement, monitoring, and research, while at the same time boosting controversial tar sands development, backing major pipeline construction, and increasing energy industry subsidies.
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Resource
Depletion
July 3, 2012, from George Monbiot
Maugeri's analysis of projects in 23 countries suggests that global oil supplies are likely to rise by a net 17-million barrels per day (to 110-million) by 2020. This, he says, is "the largest potential addition to the world's oil supply capacity since the 1980s".
The investments required to make this boom happen depend on a long-term price of $70 a barrel - the current cost of Brent crude is $95. Money is now flooding into new oil: a trillion dollars has been spent in the past two years; a record $600-billion is lined up for 2012....
So this is where we are. The automatic correction - resource depletion destroying the machine that was driving it - that many environmentalists foresaw is not going to happen. The problem we face is not that there is too little oil, but that there is too much....
Twenty years of efforts to prevent climate breakdown through moral persuasion have failed, with the collapse of the multilateral process at Rio de Janeiro last month. The world's most powerful nation is again becoming an oil state and if the political transformation of its northern neighbour is anything to go by, the results will not be pretty.
July 3, 2011, from BBC
Tanzania will go ahead with plans to mine uranium in the UN World Heritage site Selous Game Reserve, the natural resources minister has told the BBC.
Ezekiel Maige said he told the recent UN World Heritage Centre meeting it would mean the park's size would need to be reduced by less than 1 percent.
The UN body said it would approve the plans, as long as environmental assessments were carried out.
Money made from the mining would help in the park's upkeep, Mr Maige said.
According to the UN cultural organisation Unesco, the 5m hectare-Selous Game Reserve in the south of Tanzania has large numbers of elephants, black rhinos, cheetahs, giraffes, hippos and crocodiles - and is relatively undisturbed by humans....
Firms could expect to earn $200m each year from mining uranium from the site, of which $5m would be paid to the government, he said.
Some of this would be able to help with the costly business of managing the park, and it would provide employment for about 1,600 Tanzanians....
He said it currently costs the government about $490,000 a year to manage it and the income from mining would help pay for guards to stop poaching....
July 3, 2009, from New Scientist
Seagrass meadows are disappearing at an accelerating pace, according to a new report, which is the first to look at the problem on a global scale.
Seagrass meadows, along with coral reefs, mangrove forests, and salt-marshes, provide valuable ecosystem services like nutrient cycling. They also protect edible crustaceans, like shrimps and crabs, and juvenile fish such as salmon. In addition, seagrass meadows provide habitats for endangered species like dugongs, manatees, and sea turtles.
While marine ecologists have been measuring localized seagrass loss for decades, they had never before pooled their information to get a global perspective. So a team led by Michelle Waycott of James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland, Australia pooled data from 215 regional studies, from 1879 to 2006.
They found that the total area of known seagrass meadow had decreased by 29 per cent over the 127 years. They also found that the rate of loss had accelerated, from less than 1 per cent per year in the 1940s to 7 per cent per year since the 1990s.... Overall, the rate of loss is comparable to that for tropical rainforests and coral reefs.
July 3, 2009, from IRIN News (UN)
Electrogaz, Rwanda's public utility, is considering water rationing due to shortages caused by a prolonged drought in parts of the country, officials said.
Yves Muyange, the acting chief executive, said the country was now facing a deficit of up to 22,000 cubic metres of water every day and had no alternative until supplies had been boosted.
"Starting this month, we are going to conduct rationing tests across major towns in the country to find out how to implement the programme," he said.
Muyange said efforts were under way to increase water production across the densely populated country of nine million people.
Environmental specialists blame the drought on climate change, with erratic rainfall and frequent dry spells combining to increase water shortages.
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Recovery
July 3, 2009, from BusinessGreen
China is set to raise its target for installed solar capacity to 2GW by 2011, a fifteen-fold increase on the 140MW goal it set only last year.
The state-run China Daily newspaper reported today that the National Energy Administration, the government office responsible for energy development plans, has decided to increase capacity over the next two years by providing increased subsidies for solar generators worth $0.16 (10p) per kWh.
Chinese solar panel makers, including Suntech Power Holdings, Yingli Green Energy and LDK Solar, are expected to enjoy significant increases in sales as a result of the revised goal, said the newspaper.
July 3, 2009, from New Scientist
A new generation of mean, green electric machines is shifting attitudes to the electric car. Most large automobile companies are pouring money into electric vehicle programmes, and a new report shows venture capitalists are hot on their heels.
Despite the financial recession, venture capital investment in green technology rose, for the first time in six months, during the second quarter of 2009 -- and the biggest winner was transport-related technology, according to the report, issued this week by the Cleantech Group and Deloitte.
The problems faced by the traditional automobile industry, particularly companies in the US, are well documented. But for many investors, now is an "historic opportunity" to take a chunk of the market themselves by supporting new clean transportation options, says Brian Fan, senior director of research at Cleantech.
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