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2011-12-24T07:00:00.001-08:00

Environmental News Network

Wildlife Protection at Glover's Reef, Belize Falling Short

Belize, the small Central American nation facing the Caribbean Sea on the Yucatan Peninsula, is home to extremely diverse and tropical wildlife. A large stretch of sea surrounding Glover's Reef, an atoll reef lagoon that is home to a beautiful resort, has been placed under government protection. As a result of the fishing ban, populations of barracuda, groupers, snappers, and other predators have rebounded. However, populations of herbivorous fish have only slightly increased. This means trouble for the corals which depend on the herbivorous fish to eat the algae which collects upon and smothers them.

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2011-12-23T16:00:00.001-08:00

Environmental News Network

Historic Mercury Regs from EPA a Boon for Health, the Environment and Jobs

A few small drops of mercury can contaminate a 20-acre lake and the fish that happen to reside there, thanks to coal-fired plant emissions. Thatâs a major reason why the EPAâs decision to regulate the emissions of mercury, lead and other toxic pollutants from coal- and oil-fired plants is a major victory for the health and environmental welfare of the nation. And please ignore the scare tactics from Big Coal and right-wing politicos about blackouts, job losses and energy security risks as a result of the rules.

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2011-12-23T08:00:00.001-08:00

Environmental News Network

Frankincense May Be Doomed

Frankincense has a long history as an ingredient in incense and perfumes, with references dating back to ancient Egypt. In the Bible, the Magi brought the fragrant resin as a gift to the baby Jesus, along with gold and myrrh -- and it remains part of the classic Christmas story. But frankincense, whose smell is sometimes described as sweet or spicy with a mix of lemon and pine, will soon become only a relic of the past if nothing is done to protect the trees that produce it, according to a new study.

Smoking Linked to Skin Cancer in Women

Conventional thinking suggests that the best way to avoid skin cancer is to use sunscreen, particularly one made from organic materials. New research, however, continues to find other risk factors. Long known as a causative factor in lung cancer, new research suggests that smoking increases your chances of developing skin cancer, especially if you are a woman. For the now, the data is correlational.

Nigeria coast braces for Royal Dutch Shell oil spill

Nigerian authorities were putting emergency measures in place on Thursday to prevent an oil spill from a Royal Dutch Shell facility, the biggest leak in Nigeria for more than 13 years, washing up on its densely populated coast. Tuesday's spill, which Shell said happened while a tanker was loading oil, has led to the complete shutdown of the company's 200,000 barrel per day (bpd) Bonga facility, about 120 kilometers off the coast of the West African nation. Shell's pipelines in Nigeria's onshore Niger delta have spilled several times, which it usually blames on sabotage attacks and oil theft, though it did not in this case. "It's comparable to what happened in 1998 with the Exxon Mobil spill, in terms of the quantity that has been spilled, it's the biggest since then," Peter Idabor, director of Nigeria's National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), told Reuters by telephone from the capital Abuja. In 1998, some 40,000 barrels leaked from a ruptured Mobil pipeline off the coast of Nigeria.

Traditional farming can save threatened species

Traditional farming methods are crucial for protecting a number of threatened bird species in the developing world, including bustards, cranes, ibises and vultures, a study has found. Livestock grazing and features associated with arable farming â" such as hedgerows â" create environmental conditions that certain birds currently depend on for food, shelter and breeding, the authors report.

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2011-12-23T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Diving Marine Mammals and Decompression

Decompression sickness (DCS) describes a condition arising from dissolved gases coming out of solution to form bubbles inside the body upon depressurization. So how do marine mammals, whose very survival depends on regular diving, manage to avoid DCS? Do they, indeed, avoid it? In April 2010, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institutionâs Marine Mammal Center (MMC) invited the worldâs experts in human diving and marine-mammal diving physiology to convene for a three-day workshop to discuss the issue of how marine mammals manage gas under pressure. Twenty-eight researchers discussed and debated the current state of knowledge on diving marine mammal gas kineticsâ"the rates of the change in the concentration of gases in their bodies. "Until recently the dogma was that marine mammals have anatomical and physiological and behavioral adaptations to make the bends not a problem," said MMC Director Michael Moore. "There is no evidence that marine mammals get the bends routinely, but a look at the most recent studies suggest that they are actively avoiding rather than simply not having issues with decompression."

The Female Brain During Pregnancy

Perhaps at no time is the human brain more altered than in a pregnant woman. It is a time of intense changes within the body not felt since puberty. The changes are not all physical though. What causes the unexplained cravings, the odd awakenings in the night, and the overall change in mood? According to a research study published in the journal, Current Directions in Psychological Science, there is a lot which we do not understand about the female brain during pregnancy.

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2011-12-22T16:00:00.001-08:00

Environmental News Network

Power plant rules unveiled: Higher bills, cleaner air

WASHINGTON â" The Obama administration on Wednesday unveiled rules for coal-fired power plants that mean costly investments passed on to consumers, but also health benefits. Hundreds of older plants â" which together make up the largest remaining source of unchecked toxic air pollution in the United States â" will have to cut emissions or shut down.

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2011-12-22T08:00:00.001-08:00

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Plant Plastic: Future of Plastic Is in Plants, not Petroleum

Plastic is a large expense in the beverage industry. The global price of oil directly affects the type of plastic being produced. In 2008, when the price of oil soared to more than $100 per barrel, companies began scrambling to find alternatives to plastic bottles. Enter bioplastics. Several companies have created bottles made from plant-based materials. Coca-Cola Company launched its Dasani PlantBottle, made with up to 30 percent plant-based material, and its Odwalla brand PlantBottle, made with 100 percent PLA (polylactide or polylactic acid), a polymer made from renewable plant materials.

Great Lakes wolves to lose federal protection

Thousands of gray wolves in the Midwest will soon be stripped of federal safeguards under the Endangered Species Act, the government said on Wednesday, in a move that could open the animals to state-licensed hunting. An estimated 4,000 wolves in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and parts of adjacent states are due to lose their status as either endangered or threatened species on January 27, 2012 under the newly issued U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule. Some environmental groups criticized the action as likely to jeopardize the wolf's recovery, but federal wildlife managers said the animal's population had grown robust enough to hand control of the iconic predator back to the states. A review of the Great Lakes wolf population found the species has exceeded its recovery goals in recent years, Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe said in a statement. The agency estimates there are now 2,921 wolves in Minnesota, 687 in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and 782 in Wisconsin.

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2011-12-22T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Texas loses half a billion trees to epic drought

A punishing drought in Texas has not only damaged crops, killed cattle, and led to widespread fires, but has also killed off a significant portion of the state's trees: between 100 and 500 million trees have perished to drought stress according to preliminary analysis. The estimate does not include tree mortality caused by fires. The drought has been linked to La NiÃ±a conditions, which causes drying in the Southern U.S., and has likely been exacerbated by global climate change. In all around 10 percent of Texas' forests may have been lost to the droughtâ"so far. Trees are expected to continue suffering and dying in Texas even if rain comes, however forecasters predict dry conditions will remain in Texas for another six months at least.

Telemedicine

Telemedicine is the use of telecommunication and information technologies in order to provide clinical health care at a distance. It helps eliminate distance barriers and can improve access to medical services that would often not be consistently available in distant rural communities. It is also used to save lives in critical care and emergency situations. Ronald Leach and colleagues at Howard University describe a highly asynchronous service model for healthcare delivery. The approach is much cheaper to implement than direct medicine and even less expensive than other approaches to telemedicine that have been suggested for rural and developing parts of the world. The approach to rolling out their solution is entirely incremental and would provide improved health service even in the initial stages before the system is fully implemented, the team says. "Our proposed service model provides relatively comprehensive, but not universal, healthcare coverage," says Leach.

Exploring Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture

The type of agriculture practiced in a given region depends heavily on the climate and weather that region receives. So naturally, with climate change, agriculture will be forced to change. Certain crops will have to be discarded for alternative crops which may grow better in the new climate. In other cases, agriculture will simply be no longer sustainable. Farms may have to close down or move to different latitudes or elevations. The unpredictable nature of climate change will make this quite a conundrum for farmers and the world at large.

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2011-12-21T16:00:00.001-08:00

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Global Natural Gas Consumption Regains Momentum

Washington, D.C.â"Driven by surging natural gas consumption in Asia and the United States, global use of this form of fossil fuel rebounded 7.4 percent from its 2009 slump to hit a record 111.9 trillion cubic feet Â in 2010, according to a new Vital Signs Online report from the Worldwatch Institute. This increase puts natural gasâs share of total energy consumption at 23.8 percent, a reflection of new pipelines and natural gas terminals in many countries.

Beaming Down Earth's Energy From Space

It's always sunny in low-Earth orbit, so what better place to look for a source of solar energy? With the end of "cheap oil" rumored to be rapidly approaching (if not already upon us), not to mention the effects of fossil fuel use upon the environment and climate, sources of alternate, clean and renewable energy appear to be the unavoidable wave of the future. But the key factor in all these ventures is efficiency -- how to get the most "bang for the buck" in the harnessing, creation and distribution of energy.

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2011-12-21T08:00:00.001-08:00

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Texas drought kills as many as half a billion trees

The massive drought that has dried out Texas over the past year has killed as many as half a billion trees, according to new estimates from the Texas Forest Service. "In 2011, Texas experienced an exceptional drought, prolonged high winds, and record-setting temperatures," Forest Service Sustainable Forestry chief Burl Carraway told Reuters on Tuesday. "Together, those conditions took a severe toll on trees across the state." He said that between 100 million and 500 million trees were lost. That figure does not include trees killed in wildfires that have scorched an estimated 4 million acres in Texas since the beginning of 2011. A massive wildfire in Bastrop, east of Austin in September that destroyed 1,600 homes, is blamed for killing 1.5 million trees. The tree loss is in both urban and rural areas and represents as much as 10 percent of all the trees in the state, Carraway said. "This is a generational event," Barry Ward, executive director of the nonprofit Trees for Houston, which supports forestry efforts, told Reuters on Tuesday. "Mature trees take 20 or 30 years to re-grow. This will make an aesthetic difference for decades to come."

Philippines disaster may have been worsened by climate change, deforestation

As the Philippines begins to bury more than a 1,000 disaster victims in mass graves, Philippine President Benigno Aquino has ordered an investigation into last weekend's flash flood and landslide, including looking at the role of illegal logging. Officials have pointed to both climate change and vast deforestation as likely exacerbating the disaster.

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2011-12-21T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Wine Mortality

Wine consumers, especially in comparison with harder alcoholic spirits drinkers, have been shown generally to have higher levels of education and income, to consume a healthier diet, be more physically active, and have other characteristics that are associated with better health outcomes. However, epidemiologic studies have been inconsistent in showing that, after adjustment for all associated lifestyle factors, consumers of wine have lower risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality than do consumers of other beverages. The new Boston University study examined level of wine consumption and total mortality among 802 older adults ages 55â"65 at baseline, controlling for key sociodemographic, behavioral, and health status factors. Despite a growing consensus that moderate alcohol consumption is associated with reduced total mortality, whether wine consumption provides an additional, an unique protective effect is unresolved as a result.

The Core of the Earth

Based on the abundance of chemical elements in the solar system, the theory of planetary formation, and other chemical constraints regarding the remainder of Earth's volume, the inner core is composed primarily of a nickelâ"iron alloy. Because the inner core is more dense than pure iron or nickel, even under heavy pressures, it's believed that the remaining part of the core is composed of gold, platinum and other similar elements in quantity enough to coat Earth's surface. Identifying the composition of the earth's core is key to understanding how our planet formed and the current behavior of its interior. While it has been known for many years that iron is the main element in the core, many questions have remained about just how iron behaves under the conditions found deep in the earth. Now, a team led by mineral-physics researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has honed in on those behaviors by conducting extremely high-pressure experiments on the element.

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2011-12-20T16:00:00.001-08:00

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Nitrate in the Thames

Nitrate pollution occurs usually as a result of agricultural practices (fertilizer). Intensive agriculture practices developed during the past century have helped improve food security for many people but have also added to nitrate pollution in surface and ground waters. New research has looked at water quality measurement over the last 140 years to track this problem in the Thames River basin. The Thames River catchment provides a good study example because the water quality in the river, which supplies drinking water to millions of people, has been monitored for the past 140 years, and the region has undergone significant agricultural development over the past century. The nitrate transport route as well as application use was studied for its net effects on the Thames.

Climate Change May Bring Big Ecosystem Shifts, NASA Says

By 2100, global climate change will modify plant communities covering almost half of Earth's land surface and will drive the conversion of nearly 40 percent of land-based ecosystems from one major ecological community type -- such as forest, grassland or tundra -- toward another, according to a new NASA and university computer modeling study.

Wind industry accused of blowing off worker safety rule

Wind power is riding a strong breeze. In the last five years, generating capacity in the U.S. has nearly quadrupled. Clusters of tubular wind towers, rising up to 300 feet above ridgelines and gusty plains, are an increasingly familiar sight. But in the scramble to expand clean energy and green jobs, the wind industry has fallen short on worker safety.

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2011-12-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

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Philippines declares national calamity as storm toll nears 1,000

Philippine President Benigno Aquino declared on Tuesday a state of national calamity after flash floods and land slides caused by a typhoon swept through a southern region late last week, killing about 1,000 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless. The national disaster agency said 957 were killed and 49 were missing, with most of the casualties in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in the Mindanao region. Aquino held meetings with officials in the two cities, worst-hit by water, mud and logs that swept down mountains as residents in riverside and coastal villages slept in the early hours of Saturday. "First priority is to relocate to areas that no longer pose a danger to them," Aquino said at a meeting with officials in Cagayan de Oro, as he vowed action to prevent another tragedy of the same magnitude. The disaster agency said more than 338,000 people in 13 provinces were affected by the disaster, with nearly 43,000 still in evacuation centers. More than 10,000 houses were damaged by Typhoon Washi and the flash floods, of which nearly a third were totally ruined. Many schools, roads and bridges were also badly damaged.

Martian Landslide and Meteorite Strike

Cause and effect are not easy to distinguish. Dust avalanches around impact craters on Mars appear to be the result of the shock wave preceding the actual impact, according to a study led by an undergraduate student at the UA. When a meteorite careens toward the dusty surface of the Red Planet, it kicks up dust and can cause avalanching even before the rock from outer space hits the ground, a research team led by an undergraduate student at the University of Arizona has discovered.

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2011-12-20T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Droughts could push parts of Africa back into famine

Drought and erratic rains could lead to further food scarcities in Africa warns the United Nations World Food Program (WFP). The WFP singles out South Sudan, the world's newest nation, and Niger as nations of particular concern. Earlier this year famine killed scores of people, including an estimated 30,000 children, in Somalia. In South Sudan drought and ongoing conflict threaten food supplies for 2.7 million people.

Car Battery (Lead) Mystery

Most people just accept that a car battery works. However, to a chemist it is a perplexing mystery because the prime ingredient (lead oxide) should be an insulator. Chemists have solved the 150 year-old mystery of what gives the lead-acid car battery its unique ability to deliver a surge of current. Lead-acid batteries are able to deliver the very large currents needed to start a car engine because of the exceptionally high electrical conductivity of the battery anode material, lead dioxide. However, even though this type of battery was invented in 1859, up until now the fundamental reason for the high conductivity of lead dioxide has eluded scientists.

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2011-12-19T16:00:00.001-08:00

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Challenges to Wine-making in a Warming World

Perhaps the largest impact of global climate change will be on agriculture, and there is no crop more sensitive to changes in climate than wine grapes. As temperatures rise and average precipitation levels change, the signature wine-making regions such as those in France and California will be forced to adapt. There have been studies conducted analyzing the influence of weather and climate on wine since long before climate change made the headlines. Recently, studies have modeled climate change's effects up to 100 years into the future. The expected impacts are not bad at first, but in the end, they are not good.

Study finds link between air pollution and increase in DNA damage

A study in the Czech Republic has found a link between exposure to certain air pollutants and an increase in DNA damage for people exposed to high levels of the pollution. They found that breathing small quantities of a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), called benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), caused an increase in the number of certain 'biomarkers' in DNA associated with a higher risk of diseases, including cancer.

Stink? Neanderthal Noses Didn't Notice

Neanderthals had bigger noses than we do, but tracking a scent was never one of their specialties (maybe for the best). New three-dimensional medical imaging scans of fossil human skulls reveal that the so-called olfactory bulbs, the part of the brain that processes odors, are 12% larger in Homo sapiens than they were in Neanderthals.

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2011-12-19T08:00:00.001-08:00

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Southwest, plains face blizzard warnings

The panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma were placed under a blizzard warning on Sunday as the Southwest and plains states braced for two days of bitter cold, heavy snow, rain and high winds. The storm is expected to produce up to 16 inches of snow and wind gusting to 50 mph in the first major snowstorm of the winter for Texas and Oklahoma, the National Weather Service said. A blizzard watch was also in effect until Tuesday for parts of Colorado, New Mexico and Kansas, with high winds and up to a more than a foot of snow expected across the region. The storm was expected to edge into the mountains of Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado before heading east on Sunday night or Monday morning, the agency said in a statement. By Monday night, conditions further east in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles are expected to have deteriorated so much that officials warned motorists to stay off the roads. A blizzard watch or warning means forecasters believe life-threatening winter weather conditions are likely, including winds of at least 35 mph and visibility less than a quarter mile. The mix of rain and snow will move into the Chicago and Detroit areas on Tuesday, forecasters said. In Guymon, in the Oklahoma Panhandle, emergency management officials met on Sunday to go over storm preparations.

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2011-12-19T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Philippine typhoon kills 650, the search for hundreds still missing continues

Rescuers searched for more than 800 people missing in the southern Philippines on Sunday after flash floods and landslides swept houses into rivers and out to sea, killing more than 650 people in areas ill-prepared to cope with storms. Cagayan de Oro and nearby Iligan cities on Mindanao island were worst hit when Typhoon Washi slammed ashore while people slept late on Friday and early Saturday, sending torrents of water and mud through villages and stripping mountainsides bare. The Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) said 652 people were killed in eight provinces in the southern Mindanao region, with more than 800 missing. "Our office was swamped with hundreds of requests to help find their missing parents, children and relatives," Gwendolyn Pang, secretary-general of the PNRC, told reporters. "We're helping coordinate the search with local government, army, police and even other aid agencies." Floods washed away entire houses with families inside in dozens of coastal villages in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan. "This is the first time this has happened in our city," Vicente Emano, mayor of Cagayan de Oro, said in a radio interview. He said officials in the area did not receive adequate warning before the typhoon struck.

Deadly Typhoon kills more than 250 in southern Philippines

More than 250 people were killed and almost twice that number were missing after a typhoon hit the southern Philippines, officials said Saturday, triggering flash floods and landslides and forcing tens of thousands from their homes. Typhoon Washi, with winds gusting up to 90km/h (56 mph), hit the resource-rich island of Mindanao late Friday, bringing heavy rain that also grounded some domestic flights and left wide areas without power. The Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) said 256 people were killed in flash floods in Mindanao and another island. Soldiers and police were recovering more bodies washed ashore in nearby towns. "The death toll might still rise because there are still a lot of missing people," said Gwendolyn Pang, secretary-general of the PNRC. She said the hardest-hit areas were in the cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro. Almost 400 people were unaccounted for, most of them from a coastal village in Iligan. Houses were swept into the sea by floodwaters while people were sleeping inside late Friday. The latest Red Cross figures put the death toll in Iligan at 144. Another 86 were killed in Cagayan de Oro, many of them children.

Chevrolet Carbon Stories: San Juan National Forest tree planting

Whenever you take a breathe, you are breathing in 1/3 more carbon dioxide than your grandparents did. That's a significant increase in just two generations. Now imagine a forest. In one year, an acre of forest absorbs 6 tons of carbon dioxide and emits 4 tons of oxygen. In 2003, the San Juan National Forest suffered a major fire that effectively destroyed and deforested large sections of land in Colorado. The US Forest Service does not plan to replant the burned areas, and this land is not likely to be naturally reforested. In conjunction with the US Forest Service, the National Forest Foundation and local activists with the help of Chevrolet have actively begun to reforest a portion of the burned land with newly planted trees. Along with replanting the forest, this is a great project for its ecological benefits such as restoring habitat, as well as for the local economy.

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2011-12-18T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Higgs Boson

The Higgs boson is a hypothetical massive elementary particle that is predicted to exist by the Standard Model of particle physics. The Higgs boson plays a crucial role in the Higgs mechanism responsible for breaking the electroweak symmetry of the Standard Model . If shown to exist, it would help explain why other elementary particles have mass. It is the only elementary particle predicted by the Standard Model that has not yet been observed in particle physics experiments. In the popular media, the particle is sometimes referred to as the God particle. They're not claiming the discovery yet, but physicists at the CERN laboratory in Switzerland may have finally found the Higgs boson. Just as the rumors suggested, both teams report tantalizing signs that the Higgs is there and that it has a mass about 133 times that of the proton. But one team sees additional oddities, so the results are far from clear.

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2011-12-17T07:00:00.001-08:00

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New large horned viper discovered, but biologists keep location quiet

In a remote forest fragment in Tanzania, scientists have made a remarkable discovery: a uniquely-colored horned viper extending over two feet long (643 millimeters) that evolved from its closest relative over two million years ago. Unfortunately, however, the new speciesâ"named Matilda's horned viper (Atheris matildae)â"survives in a small degraded habitat and is believed to be Critically Endangered. Given its scarcity, its discoverers are working to preempt an insidious threat to the new species.

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2011-12-17T03:36:00.001-08:00

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2011-12-16T16:00:00.001-08:00

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Healthy Food or Junk?

Parents of some obese children could save up to Â£6.58 (about $10) each week by changing their shopping habits and opting for a healthier diet, according to research published in the latest issue of the British Journal of General Practice. The study on the theme of obesity shows that healthier eating does not have to be more expensive, challenging one of the commonly cited barriers to dietary change. The figures showed that healthier eating could cost no more than Â£2.31 ($4) extra a week, and that in some cases, savings of up to Â£6.58 ($10) a week could by made by switching.

Joint USA-Canada Arctic Ocean Survey Comes to an End

Yesterday marked the completion of a five year collaboration between the United States and Canada to survey the Arctic Ocean. As the changing Arctic climate causes the ice to melt, this region will become more accessible to resource recovery. The project's goal was to delineate the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the coastline. According the Convention of the Law of the Sea, each nation has sovereign rights to natural resources on or above the seabed on the extended continental shelf (ECS).

After 40-year decrease, figures show rise in UK acid rain pollution

The UK Government has revealed a year-on-year increase in the amount of sulphur dioxide emissions, which reverses a 40-year downward trend. For the first time since the Seventies, official statistics show a small increase in the emissions of the sulphur dioxide of 2.3 per cent between 2009 and 2010.

Geospatial initiative shows the way

GeoSUR, a Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) open access and web-based initiative for geospatial data-sharing, has received a boost at the Eye on Earth Summit in Abu Dhabi (12-15 December). The conference "Networks of Networks" working group accepted GeoSUR â" one of the first such regional networks in the developing world â" as a "case model".

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2011-12-16T08:00:00.001-08:00

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Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant finally in cold shutdown

Japan declared its tsunami-stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant to be in cold shutdown on Friday in a major step toward resolving the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years. The Fukushima Daiichi plant, 240 km (150 miles) northeast of Tokyo, was wrecked on March 11 by a huge earthquake and a towering tsunami which knocked out its cooling systems, triggering meltdowns, radiation leaks and mass evacuations. In making the much-anticipated announcement, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda drew a line under the crisis phase of the emergency at the plant and highlighted the next challenges: post-disaster clean-up and the safe dismantling of the plant, something experts say could take up to 40 years. "The reactors have reached a state of cold shutdown," Noda told a government nuclear emergency response meeting. "A stable condition has been achieved. It is judged that the accident at the plant itself has ceased," he added, noting radiation levels at the boundary of the plant could now be kept at low levels, even in the event of "unforeseeable incidents."

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2011-12-16T07:00:00.001-08:00

Environmental News Network

Biochar Value to Glacial Soils and Green House Gases

Adding a charred biomass material called biochar to glacial soils can help reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists. Studies by scientists with USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) are providing valuable information about how biochar-the charred biomass created from wood, plant material, and manure-interacts with soil and crops. As part of this effort, ARS scientists in St. Paul, Minn., are studying biochar activity in soils formed from glacial deposits. ARS Soil and Water Management Research Unit in St. Paul, found that amending glacial soils with biochar made from macadamia nut shells reduced a range of greenhouse gas emissions.

Breaking wind

The developer of the largest wind farm ever proposed in North Carolina says the project has stalled because no utility wants to buy the power the project would produce. Iberdrola Renewables, having put more than three years into a 31-square-mile wind farm near the coast, this week began notifying property owners and public officials in Pasquotank and Perquimans counties that the project is on hold indefinitely. If built, the Desert Wind Energy Project near Elizabeth City would have ranked among the largest wind farms in the country.

Killer Claws and Flight

New research from Montana State University's Museum of the Rockies has revealed how dinosaurs like Velociraptor and Deinonychus used their famous killer claws, leading to a new hypothesis on the evolution of flight in birds. In a paper published Dec. 14 in PLoS ONE, MSU researchers Denver W. Fowler, Elizabeth A. Freedman, John B. Scannella and Robert E. Kambic, describe how comparing modern birds of prey helped develop a new behavior model for sickle-clawed carnivorous dinosaurs like Velociraptor.

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2011-12-15T16:00:00.001-08:00

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US Department of Agriculture Releases Stricter Standards for Decreasing Use of Fertilizers

The farming industry in the United States is second to none around the world. There are many reasons why US agriculture is so productive, such as increased mechanization and refined practices to increase crop yields. Another major reason has to do with the nutrients added to the soil. Unfortunately, the overuse of fertilizer on US cropland has resulted in huge environmental problems. Plant nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus drain into waterways, polluting them and suffocating life. With little or no fanfare, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has just released a document titled the National Nutrient Management Standard to address this rising environmental issue.

Melting Glaciers Reveal Future Alpine World

ScienceDaily (Dec. 14, 2011) â" In a hundred years trees may be growing where there are now glaciers. The warm climate of the last few years has caused dramatic melting of glaciers in the Swedish mountains. Remains of trees that have been hidden for thousands of years have been uncovered. They indicate that 13,000 years ago there were trees where there are now glaciers. The climate may have been as much as 3.5 degrees warmer than now. In other words, this can happen again, according to Lisa Ãberg, a doctoral candidate at Mid Sweden University in a new study.

Warning as infectious salmon disease spreads from Europe's fish farms to Canada

The rise of the farmed fish industry in recent years has been accompanied by the emergence of many infectious diseases of fish. One of the most recent and serious diseases is the marine viral disease, Infectious Salmon Anaemia (ISA). First detected in Atlantic salmon farmed along the southwest coast of Norway in 1984, it has since spread throughout the world.

U.S. PV solar installations soar 40 percent in 3rd quarter

(Reuters) - U.S. solar installations soared nearly 40 percent in the third quarter and are likely to be even higher in the current period, though 2011 overall will lag expectations slightly due to a decline in state incentives. Third-quarter photovoltaic solar installations were 449.2 megawatts, up from 324.3 MW in the previous quarter, according to a report released on Wednesday by trade group the Solar Energy Industries Association and research firm GTM Research. That brings the total for this year to more than a gigawatt for the first time ever. For all of 2010, the U.S. installed 887 MW of PV solar.

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2011-12-15T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Romanian Drought, Power, Crops and Survival

The Danube runs from Germany to the Black Sea. It is a long river with many countries on it. Now it is running low due to drought. It has run low before around 2007 most recently. It threatens people, crops, and even nuclear reactors. The nuclear power plant in CernavodÄ is the only nuclear power plant in Romania. It produces around 20% of the country's electricity. It uses CANDU reactor technology using heavy water produced at Drobeta-Turnu Severin as its neutron moderator and water from the Danube â" Black Sea Canal for cooling.

11 billion miles from Earth, "Grand Tour of the Solar System" comes to an end

In 1977, Jimmy Carter was sworn in as president, Elvis died, Virginia park ranger Roy Sullivan was hit by lightning a record seventh time, and two NASA space probes destined to turn planetary science on its head launched from Cape Canaveral. The identical spacecraft, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, were launched in the summer and programmed to pass by Jupiter and Saturn on different paths. Voyager 2 went on to visit Uranus and Neptune, completing the "Grand Tour of the Solar System," perhaps the most exciting interplanetary mission ever flown. Now NASA has announced that Voyager 1 - about 11 billion miles from Earth - has now sailed to the edge of the solar system and is expected to punch its way into interstellar space in the coming months or years. Voyager 2 is not far behind, but on a different trajectory.

Lungfish Locomotion

Today, lungfish live only in Africa, South America and Australia. Lungfish are freshwater fish. Lungfish are best known for their ability to breathe air, and the presence of lobed fins with a well-developed internal skeleton. The eel-like body and scrawny limbs of the African lungfish would appear to make it an unlikely innovator for locomotion. But its improbable walking behavior, newly described by University of Chicago scientists, redraws the evolutionary route of life on Earth from water to land. Extensive video analysis, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveal that the African lungfish can use its thin pelvic limbs to not only lift its body off the bottom surface but also propel itself forward. Both abilities were previously thought to originate in the early tetrapods, the limbed original land-dwellers that appeared later than the lungfish's ancestors.

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2011-12-14T16:00:00.001-08:00

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Vast Stores of Methane Are Released from under the Arctic

Deep under the icy waters of the Arctic, Russian scientists have discovered the release of vast stores of methane, the potent greenhouse gas, far worse than CO2. The scientists sampled the waters along the East Siberian Arctic Shelf, and discovered that the methane that was once dormant at the sea floor is starting bubble up to the surface in enormous plumes. As the climate warms in the Arctic, the sea ice retreats, the sunlight penetrates the water, and the frozen sea floor thaws, causing the release of methane in a gaseous state. The Russian team found over 100 sites where large quantities of methane were released, indicating accelerated Arctic warming into the future.

Postmaster General Talks Sustainability in Durban While Promoting Junk Mail Back Home

US Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe is a busy man, working incessantly on securing the future of the Postal Service. Yet, last week he found the time to attend the COP17 climate conference in Durban, South Africa, where according to a USPS press release he "heralded the U.S. Postal Service's sustainability successes, making the business case to go green."

ARKive celebrates 100 years since reaching the South Pole

On December 14th 1911, humans set foot on the South Pole for the first time. Norwegian Roald Amundsen and his team reached their goal, just 5 weeks before a British party, led by Robert Falcon Scott. To celebrate this achievement, we thought we would explore the awe inspiring Antarctic, and the creatures found in this icy land.

UN: Canada, out of Kyoto, must still cut emissions

Canada still has a legal obligation under United Nations rules to cut its emissions despite the country's pullout from the Kyoto Protocol, the U.N. climate chief said on Tuesday. Christiana Figueres also said the timing of Canada's move, a day after a deal to extend the protocol was clinched at a U.N. summit in South Africa, was regrettable and surprising.

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2011-12-14T08:00:00.001-08:00

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International Sustainability Standards: Pros and Cons

Sustainability is an economic, social, and ecological concept. It is intended to be a means of configuring civilization and human activity so that society and its members are able to meet their needs and express their greatest potential in the present, while preserving biodiversity and natural ecosystems, and planning and acting for the ability to maintain these ideals indefinitely. Sustainability affects every level of organization, from the local neighborhood to the entire globe. With that said how do you specifically define what is sustainable? Economic needs are fairly easy to figure out; ultimately it is do you make a profit or not. Social needs will depend on the society involved and every society is different. There is a difference between urban and rural needs for example much less North Africa, China, and the US. Ecological standards will also vary because it is far from clear how much resilience that an ecosystem has and as a result there will be constant and shifting debate on those standards.

Dying Aspen

Over the past 10 years, the death of forest trees due to drought and increased temperatures has been documented on all continents except Antarctica. This can in turn drive global warming by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere by trees and by releasing carbon locked up in their wood. New research led by Carnegie researcher and Stanford University PhD student William Anderegg offers evidence for the physiological mechanism governing tree death in a drought. The work is published the week of December 12 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study concentrated on the aspen die-off, called Sudden Aspen Decline or SAD which began after severe droughts between 2000 and 2004 and affects about 17 percent of aspen forests in Colorado, as well as parts of the western United States and Canada. SAD continued through 2010, when the research was conducted.The aspens are all native to cold regions with cool summers, in the north of the Northern Hemisphere, extending south at high altitudes in the mountains. They are all medium-sized deciduous trees reaching (50â"100 feet tall.

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2011-12-14T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Ancient Huron Wood

Once Lake Huron was above the water level as it is today. Humans tended to live the near the water edge so there may be ancient clues under the lake waters. Under the cold clear waters of Lake Huron, University of Michigan researchers have found a five-and-a-half foot-long, pole-shaped piece of wood that is 8,900 years old. The wood, which is tapered and beveled on one side in a way that looks deliberate, may provide important clues to a mysterious period in North American prehistory. "This was the stage when humans gradually shifted from hunting large mammals like mastodon and caribou to fishing, gathering and agriculture," said anthropologist John O'Shea. "But because most of the places in this area that prehistoric people lived are now under water, we don't have good evidence of this important shift itselfâ" just clues from before and after the change."

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2011-12-13T16:00:00.001-08:00

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Rising Greenland

An unusually hot melting season in 2010 accelerated ice loss in southern Greenland by 100 billion tons â" and large portions of the islandâs bedrock rose an additional quarter of an inch in response. Thatâs the finding from a network of nearly 50 GPS stations planted along the Greenland coast to measure the bedrockâs natural response to the ever-diminishing weight of ice above it. The Greenland ice sheet is a vast body of ice covering 660,235 square miles, roughly 80% of the surface of Greenland. It is the second largest ice body in the world, after the Antarctic Ice Sheet. The ice sheet is almost 1,500 miles long in a north-south direction, and its greatest width is 680 miles at a latitude of 77Â°N, near its northern margin. The mean altitude of the ice is 7,005 feet.

Northwestern Study Analyzes Artificial Performance Enhancements

In high-pressure athletics, competition on a global scale requires every possible edge one can muster. A tenth of a second can make the difference between winning the prize or going home empty-handed. This is why steroids came into use to enhance the human body. However, according to a study from Northwestern University, another enhancement has gone relatively unnoticed while extending a tremendous advantage to the athlete, especially in competitive swimming. In fact, it was the apparel, the high-tech swimsuit that made such a significant contribution to swimming times, that it was banned in 2009.

Green Christmas suggestions from IzzitGreen

Just in time for our readers' last minute Christmas Shopping, our friends from IzzitGreen have come up with five great eco-friendly Holiday gifts. As an additional eco-incentive 50% of the proceeds earned for any purchase of the Get to Know Nature bag will go directly to the Get to Know organization and help support their mission to keep the National Parks of the U.S. and Canada vibrant. Enjoy! Get to Know NatureBag The NatureBag is packed full of fun activities designed to support Get to Know's main mission to connect kids with the great outdoors. The all-weather activity booklet and other accessories encourage exploration and natural awareness through lead experiential activities. Pack up all the eco-friendly tools made from recycled materials into the unique fair trade, organic cotton shoulder bag and away you go! Last year the Get to Know NatureBag received the Gold Medal Award from Parentâs Choice as an eco-friendly and socially sound choice. http://www.gettoknow.ca/store/naturebagGrowBottles Everything you need to grow fresh herbs and gain the culinary respect (or envy) of your friends is packaged into these beautiful recycled GrowBottles, and they're made completely with sourced and re-purposed materials. With a little water and love the GrowBottles can continue to produce year after year with your own seeds or one of the refill kits. Thanks to brilliant design and the power of hydroponics, growing fresh herbs indoors has never been so easy. Available in Oregano, Chives, Basil, Parsley and Mint certified organic seed varieties.

UK issues severe weather alert as experts warn of worst storm in decades

Government officials have this afternoon issued a warning as one of the stormiest periods the UK has seen for several years is set to worsen. Weather experts warn the strength of an incoming low-pressure system can already be compared to the Great Storm of 1703. According to the advisory released by the Central Office of Information this afternoon, the end of the week in particular could see dramatic stormy conditions across England and Wales.

EPA To Unveil Stricter Rules For Power Plants

More than 20 years ago, Congress ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate toxic air pollution. It's done that for most industries, but not the biggest polluters â" coal and oil-burning power plants. The EPA now plans to change that later this week, by setting new rules to limit mercury and other harmful pollution from power plants.

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2011-12-13T08:00:00.001-08:00

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Canada first nation to pull out of Kyoto protocol

Canada on Monday became the first country to announce it would withdraw from the Kyoto protocol on climate change, dealing a symbolic blow to the already troubled global treaty. Environment Minister Peter Kent broke the news on his return from talks in Durban, where countries agreed to extend Kyoto for five years and hammer out a new deal forcing all big polluters for the first time to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Canada, a major energy producer which critics complain is becoming a climate renegade, has long complained Kyoto is unworkable precisely because it excludes so many significant emitters.

International Mountain Day â" 11th December 2011

Since 2003, the United Nations General Assembly has designated the 11th December as International Mountain Day, in order to raise global awareness of the importance of mountains. The annual celebration was born from the success of the 2002 UN International Year of Mountains, which saw the creation of the Mountain Partnership, an alliance dedicated to protecting mountains for both people and wildlife.

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2011-12-13T07:00:00.001-08:00

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New Mapping Tool Reveals Thousands of Record-Breaking Extreme Weather Events in 2011

NEW YORK (December 8, 2011) â" In 2011, there were at least 2,941 monthly weather records broken in communities throughout the US., as detailed in a new interactive extreme weather mapping tool and year-end review released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The powerful web-based tool allows Americans to draw the connections between climate change and extreme weather in the cities and towns in which they live. "From heat waves to floods to fires, 2011 was a year of extreme weather for communities throughout the United States. This alarming, yet illuminating data is indicative of what we can expect as climate change continues," said Kim Knowlton, NRDC Senior Scientist who spearheaded the development of the web-based tool. "Actions can be taken today to limit the worst effects of climate change. Our leaders need to make climate change preparedness a priority, if these events will be occurring more frequently and with more intensity." The national survey provides a unique aggregation of state-by-state extreme weather, detailing a range of extreme weather events including record-breaking temperatures, rainfall and snowfall in each state. The survey found at least 1,302 heat-related records, 1,090 rainfall records and 549 snowfall records were broken in counties across the nation. Especially hard-hit regions include the Midwest and Northeast, which endured heavy flooding and the greater Texas region, which endured an extended period of wildfires, extreme heat and drought.

Bicycle Power

How to get to work and such. Always a perplexing problem. European Union (EU) wide reductions of GHG (greenhouse gas emissions) are under scrutiny by many critics as the progress and actual results seem to fall short of the goals set by the EU this year. Recent reports affirm that the EU will not achieve the reduction of transport emissions by 60% between 1990 and 2050 through technology alone. An interesting take on the subject is revealed by a recent study authored by the European Cyclists' Federation (ECF), which has quantified emissions savings of cycling compared with other modes of transport. Even taking into account the production, maintenance and fuel [food] related to bicycle use, emissions from cycling were over 10 times lower than those stemming from the passenger car.

Dead Trees in the Sahel

The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition between the Sahara desert in the North and the Sudanian Savannas in the south. It stretches from west to east across the North African continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea. It is a sort of coast line for the arid Sahara desert to the north. There is an on-going long term drought in this region. A new study, which is scheduled for publication Friday, Dec. 16, in the Journal of Arid Environments, was based upon climate change records, aerial photos dating back to 1954, recent satellite images and old-fashioned footwork that included counting and measuring over 1,500 trees in the field. The researchers focused on six countries in the Sahel, from Senegal in West Africa to Chad in Central Africa, at sites where the average temperature warmed up by 0.8 degrees Celsius and rainfall fell as much as 48 percent. They found that one in six trees died between 1954 and 2002. In addition, one in five tree species disappeared locally, and indigenous fruit and timber trees that require more moisture took the biggest hit. Hotter, drier conditions dominated population and soil factors in explaining tree mortality, the authors found. Their results indicate that climate change is shifting vegetation zones south toward moister areas.

International Mountain Day â" 11th December 2011

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2011-12-12T16:00:00.001-08:00

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Landmark Deal Emerges from Durban Climate Talks

Yesterday, as the climate talks in Durban were coming to the close, delegates from around the world finally arrived at a compromise. After a marathon negotiation which spanned three sleepless nights, the delegates managed to save the international process and stave off collapse. The hope going into the talks was to finalize the agreement that was proposed the previous year, and that is what they did. The agreement establishes a new multi-billion dollar fund to assist developing nations adapt to a changing climate and produce clean energy. In addition, Europe has kept the Kyoto treaty alive for another five years.

International Mountain Day â" 11th December 2011

Life Possible On 'Large Regions' of Mars

Charley Lineweaver's team, from the Australian National University, compared models of temperature and pressure conditions on Earth with those on Mars to estimate how much of the distant planet was livable for Earth-like organisms. While just one percent of Earth's volume -- from core to upper atmosphere -- was occupied by life, Lineweaver said their world-first modeling showed three percent of Mars was habitable, though most of it was underground.

Smart Tips for Eco-friendly, Cost-effective Shipping

Shipping is the lifeblood of the modern economy, vital for businesses to stay active and meet the demands of their clients. Often, in the rush to get products out, shippers will overlook practices which may be considered greener, for shipping practices that are easier because "itâs the way it has always been done." In a world of limited resources, this is an attitude that businesses will have to get away from. It will become ever more important to choose environmentally-friendly shipping practices while also keeping costs down. Here are a few tips in the right direction. Choose the right size shipping container Sometimes, shippers find themselves limited by the size of boxes they can use to ship their products. For example, they can have a product that is about 2 cubic inches, but their smallest box is a cubic foot. This equates to 1,726 cubic inches of wasted space. It also equates to a lot of extra cardboard as well as extra packaging material inside to keep the nut, or bolt, or whatever it is from bouncing around. The importance of having the right size shipping containers in stock is crucial for preserving resources and cutting costs.

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2011-12-12T08:00:00.001-08:00

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UK approach on renewable energy is deeply flawed, claims new report

The Government's roll-out strategy for sources of renewable energy are misguided, according to a highly critical report released today by the Adam Smith Institute and the Scientific Alliance. The UKâs plans for renewables are unrealistic, and these technologies cannot provide the secure energy supply the country needs, the report suggests and it claims present policies will lead to an energy crisis by the middle of this decade. The report states that wind and solar power do little to reduce carbon emissions, as they need large-scale back up generating capacity to compensate for their down times.

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2011-12-12T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Psychedelic gecko, "Elvis" monkey in new Mekong finds

A wildly-colored gecko, a fish that looks like a gherkin, and a monkey with an Elvis-like hairstyle are among the more than 200 new species discovered in the Greater Mekong region last year, environmental group WWF said on Monday. The area's diversity is so astonishing that a new species is found every two days, but regional cooperation and decision-making must take centre stage to preserve its richness, the group added. The dangers posed to local wildlife were highlighted earlier this year, when WWF said that Vietnam's Javan rhinos have been poached into extinction. "While the 2010 discoveries are new to science, many are already destined for the dinner table, struggling to survive in shrinking habitats and at risk of extinction," said Stuart Chapman, Conservation Director of WWF Greater Mekong, in a statement. Among the new species highlighted in the report "Wild Mekong" is a gecko with bright orange legs, a yellow neck, and a blue-gray body with yellow bars on its bright orange sides, discovered on an island in southern Vietnam.

UN Climate deal reached in Durban

Climate negotiators agreed a pact on Sunday that would for the first time force all the biggest polluters to take action on greenhouse gas emissions, but critics said the action plan was not aggressive enough to slow the pace of global warming. The package of accords extended the Kyoto Protocol, the only global pact that enforces carbon cuts, agreed the format of a fund to help poor countries tackle climate change and mapped out a path to a legally binding agreement on emissions reductions. But many small island states and developing nations at risk of being swamped by rising sea levels and extreme weather said the deal marked the lowest common denominator possible and lacked the ambition needed to ensure their survival. Agreement on the package, reached in the early hours of Sunday, avoided a collapse of the talks and spared the blushes of host South Africa, whose stewardship of the two weeks of often fractious negotiations came under fire from rich and poor nations.

Geo-engineering: a bad idea whose time has come?

The mainstream approach to climate change does not seem to be working so some scientists and policymakers say it may be time to look into something completely different: re-engineering Earth's climate. Variously called geo-engineering, climate remediation and planet hacking, the idea is to do on purpose what industry and other human activities have done inadvertently, which is to change the amount of climate-warming greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and as a result, cool it down. The concept has been around for nearly a century, from about the same time scientists and engineers noted the warming effect carbon dioxide emissions had on climate. Until quite recently, the notion has been relegated to the fringes of debate. Global climate talks have focused instead on curbing future emissions of greenhouse gases, known as mitigation. But in the lead-up to the latest round of U.N. climate negotiations in Durban, South Africa, there have been serious examinations of what it might take to start countering the effects of increasing carbon dioxide in the air.

ExxonMobil Energy Use Predictions

There are many predictions, many demands and many possibilities for future energy use and sources. ExxonMobil has just released their prediction of how energy demands will be served in the next few decades. ExxonMobilâs just-released Outlook for Energy: A View to 2040 takes a look into the future and finds that technology advancements over the next three decades will produce greater supplies of energy, more diverse supplies of energy and new ways to save energy â" all of which will be essential to meeting future energy demand. ExxonMobilâs 2012 Outlook for Energy sees efficiency, developing world economic growth and natural gas reshaping global. Demand through 2040 is to be about 30 percent higher in 2040 versus 2010 as population grows and global GDP doubles; demand in developing nations to rise nearly 60 percent; natural gas from shale and other unconventional rock formations will account for 30 percent of global gas production by 2040; demand growth would be more than four times the projected 30 percent without expected gains in efficiency.

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2011-12-11T16:00:00.001-08:00

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Measuring carbon emissions: How can business really be accurate?

The Department of Energy and Climate Change recently published the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme performance league tables which has ranked companies according to their carbon emissions. While the program is aimed at improving energy efficiency and cutting emissions in large public and private sector organizations, some believe there are alternative and more effective ways of doing this. Earlier this year, the US Department of Energy (DoE) issued recommendations for measuring and publishing energy efficiency in Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) for all data centers with the aim of delivering a consistent and repeatable measurement strategy that allows data center operators to monitor and improve the energy efficiency of their facilities. The DoE has openly recognized how effective PUE is but the question remains as to which measurement should be used in the UK. Should we follow the US example of using PUE or stick to the controversial CRC scheme?

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2011-12-10T16:00:00.001-08:00

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Super Hospital Disinfection

One of the nastier things to happen to a hospital patient is to go to be cured but end up being infected by something from the hospital. A Queenâs University infectious disease expert has helped in the development of a disinfection system that may change the way hospital rooms all over the world are cleaned as well as stop bed bug outbreaks in hotels and apartments. "This is the future, because many hospital deaths are preventable with better cleaning methods," says Dick Zoutman, who is also Quinte Health Careâs new Chief of Staff. "It has been reported that more than 100,000 people in North America die every year due to hospital acquired infections at a cost of $30 billion. Thatâs 100,000 people every year who are dying from largely preventable infections." The new technology involves pumping a mix of ozone and hydrogen peroxide vapor gas mixture into a room to completely sterilize everything â" including floors, walls, drapes, mattresses, chairs and other surfaces. It is far more effective in killing bacteria than wiping down a room.

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2011-12-09T16:00:00.001-08:00

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Weather experts warn of second huge storm to hit length and breadth of UK

A second hurricane-strength storm is heading for the UK and this time the entire country looks set to suffer. Forecasters say the next severe storm is now brewing in the North Atlantic and will bring with it cold air, snow and sleet as well as hurricane-strength winds from Monday evening.

More Shrubbery in a Warming World

ScienceDaily (Dec. 8, 2011) â" Scientists have used satellite data from NASA-built Landsat missions to confirm that more than 20 years of warming temperatures in northern Quebec, Canada, have resulted in an increase in the amount and extent of shrubs and grasses.

How global finance fuels a secretive and unethical land grab in Africa

Global banks, investment houses and pension funds are gobbling up farmland in poor countries for food and biofuels production. GRAIN, winners of the 2011 Right Livelihood Award, says this secretive and unjust practice needs to stop.

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2011-12-09T08:00:00.001-08:00

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Climate talks mean life or death for island states

So while climate change delegates haggle over deadlines, binding targets and finance, some of the world's poorest states are warning that rising sea levels and storms will sweep them away unless the world agrees to tackle global warning. "We will be one of the first countries to go under water," said Foua Toloa, a senior politician on Tokelau, an island half-way between Hawaii and New Zealand that is no more than five meters above sea-level. "We are a small and fragile nation very susceptible to environment and climate developments." Grenada's Foreign Minister Karl Hood, chairman of the 43-nation Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), whose members are in the frontline of climate change, was even more blunt: "If we don't act now, some of us will die." Many low lying nations can already calculate the cost of rising greenhouse gas emissions in lives lost, economies shattered and landscapes transformed. "By 2025, rising sea levels could lead to the displacement of at least 10 percent of the population", Comores Vice President Fouad Mohadji told delegates at climate change talks in the South African port city of Durban.

One Quarter of World's Agricultural Land "Highly Degraded", UN Report Concludes

On Monday, the UN released the results of the first ever global study on the state of Earthâs land. The main finding: 25 percent of all land is highly degraded making it unsuitable for agriculture. The implications of this finding are enormous; the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that farm output must increase by 70 percent by 2050 to accommodate the food needs of an estimated 9 billion humans.

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2011-12-09T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Wind turbines are supposed to like the wind!

Huge wind turbine erupts in flames as 165mph winds strike Scotland These amazing pictures show the moment a huge wind turbine erupted in flames after it was struck by hurricane-force winds in Scotland. Local photographer Stuart McMahon from Ardossan, North Ayrshire, snapped the fireball as it wrecked the turbine earlier this afternoon. Stuart told ClickGreen tonight the blades on the 30mw turbine had been braked and were not turning as the ferocious winds swept across Scotland. "It was clear that the turbine caught fire first and the flames spread to the covering of blades," he said. "There was debris still on fire being swept off in the wind and across the fields." "These are huge structures and to see one on fire was a spectacular sight." "The fire must have lasted for about 15 or 20 minutes until the fire brigade turned up to put out the fire." The Ardrossan wind farm was sold by Scottish and Southern Energy to Infinis last year for Â£54 million. It comprises of 15 turbines with the capacity to power about 29,500 homes.

Spider Musical Patterns

There is something about beautiful music and pretty spider webs. Using a new mathematical methodology, researchers at MIT have created a scientifically rigorous analogy that shows the similarities between the physical structure of spider silk and the sonic structure of a melody, proving that the structure of each relates to its function in an equivalent way. The step-by-step comparison begins with the primary building blocks of each item â" an amino acid and a sound wave â" and moves up to the level of a beta sheet nanocomposite (the secondary structure of a protein consisting of repeated hierarchical patterns) and a musical riff (a repeated pattern of notes or chords). The study explains that structural patterns are directly related to the functional properties of lightweight strength in the spider silk and, in the riff, sonic tension that creates an emotional response in the listener.

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2011-12-08T16:00:00.001-08:00

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NJ Governor Christie's Energy Master Plan

The 138 page document has been released by the New Jersey Governor's Office that is a master plan on energy for the state. This final version is largely the same as the draft document released last summer, save for a few changes. It lays out the direction for how the state will meet its energy demands over the next decade. The point that stands out is the goal for renewable energy, which has been lowered to 22.5 percent by 2021 as compared to the goal of 30 percent by the previous administration. The plan sets an overall goal of obtaining 70 percent of electricity from clean energy sources by 2050, which would include nuclear, natural gas, and hydroelectric.

European Pesticides in Waterways

Insecticides enter rivers through runoff from fields and to a lesser extent when they drift into the water during application. Contamination levels have been rising in many central and southern European countries for 20 years with the biggest growth expected in areas that now have relatively low agriculture pesticide pollution, the Helmholtz study shows, based on projections through 2090. Insecticides enter rivers through runoff from fields and to a lesser extent when they air drift into the water during application. Contamination levels have been rising in many central and southern European countries for 20 years with the biggest growth expected in areas that now have relatively low agriculture pesticide pollution based on projections through 2090.

Discovery Channel backtracks, promises to air climate change episode of new Frozen Planet series

Discovery Channel has announced that it will, in fact, air the last episode of the new series Frozen Planet, which focuses solely on the impact of climate change at the world's poles. By the creators of universally-acclaimed Planet Earth, the full series explores the wildlife and environs of the Arctic and Antarctic, but the Discovery Channel came under fire after it announced it would not air the last episode, called "On Thin Ice", which deals specifically with climate change. A petition on Change.org garnered 75,000 signatures calling on the Discovery Channel to air the full series, before the network caved and announced it would do so.

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2011-12-08T08:00:00.001-08:00

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Solar power can now be produced for less than $1 a watt, study finds

Solar PV energy can now be produced for less than $1 a watt although the public is being kept in the dark about its true viability, according to a new study by Queen's University.

U.N. Climate Conference close to deal on Climate Fund

Negotiators are close to agreeing the shape of a Green Climate Fund, which is designed to help poor nations tackle global warming and nudge them towards a new global effort to fight climate change. Rich countries have pledged up to $100 billion a year by 2020 to aid poor states most directly affected by rising global temperatures to adapt their economies and protect themselves from adverse weather. But critics say it could remain a hollow shell unless there is also agreement on where the actual funds come from -- and how the money is spent. "I have a fair amount of confidence this is going to get done in a positive way," U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern told reporters on Wednesday. Only a few technical operational details remained to be thrashed out, he said. China has said it wants the fund set up before it will make its domestic climate efforts binding under an international agreement from 2020. Other important developing countries also want the fund's design agreed in Durban.

Double Tsunami

When is a tsunami not the worse case: when it becomes a double tsunami. Researchers have discovered that the destructive tsunami generated by the March 2011 TÅhoku-Oki earthquake was a long-hypothesized merging tsunami that doubled in intensity due to passing over rugged ocean ridges, amplifying its destructive power before reaching shore. Satellites captured not just one wave front that day, but at least two, which merged to form a single double-high wave far out at sea â" one capable of traveling much longer distances without losing its power. Ocean ridges and undersea mountain chains pushed the waves together, but only along certain directions from the tsunamiâs origin.

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2011-12-08T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Chevrolet Carbon Story 4 Rockingham County Landfill

Americans create over 200 million tons of trash each year. As garbage in landfills decomposes, it creates a gas that is half methane (the primary component of natural gas), which has 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. Instead of letting the gas escape into the air, landfill gas projects collect the gas and destroy it through either flaring, or using the gas to power electric generators or boilers. Thus garbage is turned into energy. As part of its Carbon Initiative Program, Chevrolet is supporting the Rockingham County (Virginia) Landfillâs methane capture and use program. Rockingham County Landfill collects the methane from the landfill and pipes it to Rockingham (Virginia) Memorial Hospital (RMH) where it will fuel boilers that produce steam, heat and electricity for the Hospitalâs use. RMH is a LEED certified facility and one of the first hospitals to utilize landfill gas for the vast majority of their fuel needs. Destroying landfill gasses helps to reduce odors and other hazards associated with Landfill Gas emissions, and it helps prevent methane from migrating into the atmosphere and contributing to local smog and global climate change. Over the next few years, Chevrolet will be investing in projects that will help reduce up to 8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Every carbon-reducing project Chevrolet invests in will be based in the United States, and each will be focused in one of three areas: renewable energy, energy efficiency programs, and forestry (including conservation). Chevrolet has chosen projects they believe will make a lasting difference in communities across the country. Progress is already underway, and Chevrolet estimates it will take up to five years to achieve the initial goal. There's still a lot of work to be done, but every project is a step in the right direction.

Atoms and Glass Fibers

A highly sensitive method to detect atoms has been developed at the Vienna University of Technology. Glass fiber cables are indispensable for the internet â" now they may also be used as a quantum physics lab. The Vienna University of Technology is the only research facility in the world, where single atoms can be controllably coupled to the light in ultra-thin fiber glass. Specially prepared light waves interact with very small numbers of atoms, which makes it possible to build detectors that are extremely sensitive to tiny trace amounts of a substance. Professor Arno Rauschenbeutelâs team, one of six research groups at the Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology, has presented this new method in the journal âPhysical Review Lettersâ. The research project was carried out in collaboration with the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany.

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2011-12-07T16:00:00.001-08:00

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Climate and Global Radiation Balance

Scientists at the Universities of Bristol and Southampton have developed an important new insight into climate sensitivity â" the sensitivity of global temperature to changes in the Earthâs radiation balance â" over the last half million years. Climate sensitivity is a key parameter for understanding past natural climate changes as well as potential future climate change. In a study in Journal of Climate, the researchers reconstructed, for the first time, climate sensitivity over five ice-age cycles based on a global records of sea surface and polar temperature change. These were compared with a new reconstruction of changes in the Earthâs radiation balance caused by changes in greenhouse gas concentrations, in surface reflectivity, and those due to slow changes in the Earth-Sun orbital configuration.

Combining Medical Marijuana with Opiates to Fight Chronic Pain

Scientists have found that patients who suffer from chronic pain can receive greater relief if medical marijuana is combined with their opiate-based pain medicine. Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco have conducted a small scale study to see if this combination produces any real benefits. They intended to show that the cannabis, rather than relieving pain itself, actually caused the opiate medicine such as morphine or oxycodone to be more effective. While the cannabis did not bolster the opiates in the blood, the patients all declared that their pain had been significantly decreased.

Global Nuclear Generation Capacity Falls

Washington, D.C.â"Due to increasing costs of production, a slowed demand for electricity, and fresh memories of disaster in Japan, production of nuclear power fell in 2011, according to the latest Vital Signs Online (VSO) report from the Worldwatch Institute. Despite reaching record levels the previous year, global installed nuclear capacityâ"the potential power generation from all existing plantsâ"declined to 366.5 gigawatts (GW) in 2011, from 375.5 GW at the end of 2010.

On the edge of extinction, giant ibis discovered in new region of Cambodia

The world's largest ibis, and one of the world's most endangered birds, has received some good news. A giant ibis (Thaumatibis giganteawas) has been photographed in the Kampong Som Valley in Koh Kong Province in Cambodia, the first record from this province in nearly a hundred years. Adults can grow to reach nearly 3.5 feet (106 centimeters) long.

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2011-12-07T08:00:00.001-08:00

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Amazon forest loss lowest in more than 20 years

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon region fell to its lowest in 23 years in the year through July, the government said Monday, attributing the drop to its tougher stance against illegal logging. Destruction of the Brazilian portion of the world's largest rain forest dropped 11 percent to 6,238 square km (2,400 square miles) over the 12-month period, satellite data from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research showed. That is less than a quarter of the forest area that was destroyed in 2004, when clear-cutting by farmers expanding their cattle and soy operations reached a recent peak. Brazil has stepped up its monitoring and enforcement policies in the Amazon in recent years but the improvement has partly been driven by slower global economic growth that has reduced demand and prices for the country's farm produce.

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2011-12-07T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Electric Car Rental In Paris

Electric cars do not pollute as do internal combustion vehicles. The relative problem is one of frequent charging and limited distances. Pay-as-you-drive electric car rentals are expected to help cut pollution and reduce traffic in Paris, as the new fleet of fully electric Autiolib vehicles hits the French capital. As of December 5, Parisians could take the bubble cars for a ride from more than 1,200 parking spots where they rest for recharge. They would cost 10 euros a day or 15 euros a week, while an annual fee of 144 euro allows users to take the car for only half an hour each time for 5 euro, just over the price of two underground tickets. The Autolib system builds on the success of the Velib bicycle-sharing service.

CO2 from the Air

What seems to be directly correlated to global warming is CO2 in the air. So why not take it directly out of the air? Since most of the worldâs governments have not yet enacted regulations to curb emissions of greenhouse gases, some experts have advocated the development of technologies to remove carbon dioxide directly from the air. But a new MIT study shows that, at least for the foreseeable future, such proposals are not realistic because their costs would vastly exceed those of blocking emissions right at the source, such as at the power plants that burn fossil fuels.

The Southern Continent's Hidden Landmass Revealed

The southernmost continent of Antarctica is almost entirely covered with a thick sheet of ice. The average thickness of the ice is an amazing one mile (1.6 km), and up to 3 miles thick in some places. Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey have published a new detailed map which pierces the ice to see the land mass below. They found mountain chains which rival the European Alps, and that large portions of the frozen continent actually rest on the sea bed, not on land.

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2011-12-06T16:00:00.001-08:00

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A Green Military: Saving More than Energy

The Pentagon says that it aims to "develop more energy-efficient weapons, embrace non-oil energy sources, and demand more energy-conscious behavior from the troops." This move towards energy efficiency in all the branches of the military was mandated by congressional directives and presidential orders, many dating to former President George W. Bush and expanded on by President Barack Obama.

Yellow Pages: Will the Madness Ever Stop?

This post gets easier to write every year. As I've reported many times in the past, a truckload of yellow pages has been dropped off at my apartment building. This year, there seems to be a new technique â" actually putting the individual bags at each apartmentâs door instead of just dumping them in the foyer. This likely increases uptake of the books since no one wants to be blamed for having debris in the hallway in front of their door.

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2011-12-06T08:00:00.001-08:00

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At least 74 percent of current warming caused by us

A new methodology to tease out how much current climate change is linked to human activities has added to the consensus that behind global warming is us. The study, published in Nature Geoscience found that humans have caused at least three-quarters (74 percent) of current warming, while also determining that warming has actually been slowed down by atmospheric aerosols, including some pollutants, which reflect sunlight back into space.

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2011-12-06T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Pipeline deal could open up Alaskan oil

Two U.S. agencies have reached an agreement with ConocoPhillips on a plan in Alaska that could let the company be the first to drill for crude and gas in a national oil reserve in the state, the Interior Department said on Monday. The agreement, which was with the company, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, confirms that construction of a pipeline and bridge over the Colville River to the Alpine development known as CD-5 is acceptable, as long as environmental mitigations and other changes are outlined in the permit application. The development is in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, which is managed by the Interior Department. The Army Corps of Engineers is expected to carry out the remaining steps associated with the permit review in coming weeks. Lisa Murkowski, a U.S. senator from Alaska, said the agreement could begin to open up the NPR-A to crude and national gas production. The reserve is estimated to contain more than 1 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil.

Low Cost Solar Cells

The cost of a solar cell is given per unit of peak electrical power. Manufacturing costs necessarily include the cost of energy required for manufacture. Solar power must become more efficient and less expensive to compete with energy produced by fossil fuels. Silicon-based solar cells are the dominant technology in the field, but the widespread adoption of these cells has been slowed by their high costs. Solar cells that use inorganic nanocrystals or quantum dots could be a cheaper alternative, but they are generally less efficient at turning solar energy into electricity. Technion-Israel Institute of Technology researchers have now found a new way to generate an electrical field inside the quantum dots, making them more suitable for building an energy-efficient nanocrystal solar cell.

European Automakers Meet in Brussels

Last Friday, there was a gathering of the European Union's car manufacturers to discuss future cuts in CO2 emissions. In 2009, the EU set legally binding fuel efficiency standards for automobile CO2 emissions at 120 grams per kilometer (g/km). A binding emissions cap will be imposed in 2012 at 130 g/km. By 2020, the European Commission has the objective of reaching 95 g/km. This ambitious objective was supposed to be supported and confirmed at last Friday's meeting. But automakers could not reach a common position, and the issue has been left on the table.

Global Carbon Emissions Reach Record 10 Billion Tons, Threatening 2 Degree Target

ScienceDaily (Dec. 4, 2011) â" Global carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels have increased by 49 per cent in the last two decades, according to the latest figures by an international team, including researchers at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of East Anglia. Published December 4 in the journal Nature Climate Change, the new analysis by the Global Carbon Project shows fossil fuel emissions increased by 5.9 per cent in 2010 and by 49 per cent since 1990 -- the reference year for the Kyoto protocol.

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2011-12-05T16:00:00.001-08:00

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Three-quarters of English Channel sea birds contain toxic levels of plastic

Data from studies monitoring the amount of consumer plastic eaten by sea birds suggest that levels in the North Sea are well above targets... and the figures are rising. For the most recent monitoring period, the target amount was exceeded in well over half the birds studied, with the English Channel being the worst affected region with 74% of birds over the threshold.

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2011-12-05T08:00:00.001-08:00

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Heavy Beijing smog causes flight delays, cancellations

A heavy fog blanketed parts of northern China on Monday, delaying flights and causing hundreds of cancellations, while smog hung in a dark haze over Beijing. As of 2 p.m. (0600 GMT), 126 flights had been delayed by an hour or longer and 207 were cancelled at Beijing, the world's second-busiest airport, Xinhua news agency said. The Beijing sky was so dark that many drivers kept their headlights on throughout the day, giving the city an eery, netherworld feeling. "Such super foggy weather looks like the end of the world," commented one microblogger using the name David Jiaoxiaomao. China's national weather forecaster said the fog was likely to persist across parts of China to Wednesday, causing more transport disruptions. By then, a cold front would begin dispersing the fog, said the forecaster, according to Xinhua. Highways across the northern provinces of Shandong and Hebei were also closed.

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2011-12-05T07:00:00.001-08:00

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The Beginning of the Last Ice Age Melt

The end of the last ice age and the processes that led to the melting of the northern and southern ice sheets supply information on changes in our climate. Although the maximum size of the ice sheet in the northern hemisphere during the last ice age is relatively well known, there is little reliable data on the dimensions of the Antarctic ice sheet. A publication appearing in the journal Science on 1 December now furnishes indications that the two hemispheres attained their maximum ice sheet size at nearly the same time and started melting 19,000 years ago.

Plastic Bags: On Their Way Out?

In California alone, consumers use upwards of 19 million plastic bags per year, which require approximately 8 million barrels of oil to produce. 90 percent of the bags used in the United States never get recycled. Globally, of the 500 billion of the flimsy, single-use bags we go through, many end up either in landfills or as wind-blown or ocean gyre litter that gets consumed by wildlife and marine life, resulting in many agonizingly painful deaths. For many environmentalists and concerned consumers, plastic bags represent Public Enemy #1. Across the globe, cities, counties and countries are grappling with this environmental disaster. Countries that have banned their use include Italy, Thailand, Bangladesh, Israel and Rwanda, as well as a number of cities in India, Australia and Canada.

Winds leave thousands without power in California

High winds returned to the Los Angeles area early on Saturday as over 100,000 homes and businesses lost power, due to fallen trees and other damage from an ongoing windstorm. Southern California Edison said that at mid-afternoon it still had 73,600 customers affected by the outages, which were mainly concentrated along the San Gabriel Valley foothills east of Pasadena. The area saw "near hurricane force winds" that caused flying debris to knock over power poles, said Edison spokesman Gil Alexander. Unusually powerful winds first began striking the Los Angeles region on Wednesday night, in a storm that has raised concern among local fire departments about potential wildfires igniting and spreading at lightning speed. By mid-morning on Saturday, wind gusts of 73 miles per hour were clocked atop a mountain near Acton, 30 miles northeast of Los Angeles, according to automated weather stations.

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2011-12-04T16:00:00.001-08:00

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EPA proposes less costly pollution rule on boilers

The U.S. environmental regulator said on Friday it slashed the cost of proposed pollution rules on industrial boilers by $1.5 billion year by allowing some plants to fine tune existing equipment or burn cleaner fuels. The Environmental Protection Agency, under pressure from Republicans and industrial groups who accuse it of pushing for clean air rules that will cost companies with billions of dollars, has been looking for ways to ease costs and increase flexibility. The EPA on Friday proposed rules it says are more flexible than ones the agency introduced in 2010. The rules allow some plants to do maintenance on equipment, avoiding costs from adding new controls or replacing boilers. More than 99 percent of the country's boilers, from heavy industry to small businesses and universities, are either clean enough and not subject to the new rules, or will only need to do tune ups and maintenance to comply. The agency said health benefits from reduced pollution would be maintained. "Gathering the latest and best technical information and real-world data has helped us find ... the sweet spot that's affordable, practical regulations that provide the vital and long overdue health benefits Americans demand and deserve," Gina McCarthy, the EPA assistant administrator for air, told reporters in a teleconference.

The Banning of BPA

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an organic compound with two phenol functional groups. It is used to make polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins, along with other applications. As it has been known to be estrogenic since the mid 1930s, concerns about the use of bisphenol A in consumer products have been regularly reported in the news media since 2008, after several governments issued reports questioning its safety, prompting some retailers to remove products containing it from their shelves. Reaction on a regulatory level has been mixed from around the world with differing rules on state. local and federal levels. This October, California Governor Jerry Brown signed the Toxin-Free Infants and Toddlers Act (Assembly Bill 1319) into state law, and it will go into effect on July 13, 2013. The purpose of the law is to protect children from potential health hazards that may result from BPA exposure and consumption. It bans the use of BPA in all products related to babies and children. California Assembly Member Betsy Butler introduced the bill into legislation, which gained the support of the governor and many legislators. California has some of strictest health and environmental laws and regulations in the United States. The banning of BPA in California further widens the gap between state and federal health laws and regulations.

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2011-12-04T07:00:00.001-08:00

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In the News: Yellowstone wolves provide climate change insight

Information collected and analysed has provided insights into how certain aspects of the grey wolf population have altered with the changing environment, including population size, genetics, body size, and even the timing of key life cycle events, such as the age at which they first have pups.

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2011-12-03T07:00:00.001-08:00

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New Large Boiler Rules

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing changes to Clean Air Act standards for boilers and certain incinerators based on extensive analysis, review and consideration of data and input from states, environmental groups, industry, lawmakers and the public. The proposed reconsideration would achieve extensive public health protections through significant reductions in toxic air pollutants, including mercury and soot, while increasing the ruleâs flexibility and addressing compliance concerns raised by industry and labor groups. The changes also cut the cost of implementation by nearly 50 percent from the original 2010 proposed rule while maintaining health benefits. Soot and other harmful pollutants released by boilers and incinerators can lead to adverse health effects including cancer, heart disease, aggravated asthma and premature death. In addition, toxic pollutants such as mercury and lead that will be reduced by this proposal.

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2011-12-02T16:00:00.001-08:00

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Deforestation and forest degradation down in the Brazilian Amazon since August

Deforestation and forest degradation are down moderately from August through October 2011 relative to the same period a year ago, reports a satellite-based assessment released today by Imazon, a Brazilian group. Imazon's near-real time system, which tracks change in forest plots 25 hectares (62 acres) or larger, found that 512 square kilometers of rainforest were cleared between August 2011 and October 2011, the first three months of the deforestation calendar year, which runs from August 1 through July 31 to coincide with the dry season when it is easiest to measure forest cover. The figure represents a 4 percent decline from the 533 square kilometers cleared in 2010.

Walnut Industry May Crack Under Climate Pressure

Eat all the walnut treats you can this holiday season. They might not be so plentiful in coming years. Commercially grown walnut trees (Juglans nigra and Juglans regia) are very particular about their growing conditions and drought or untimely frosts can crack the walnut tree's defenses.

NASA data confirms pollution has nearly halved from US coal power plants

A team of scientists have used the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA's Aura satellite to confirm major reductions in the levels of a key air pollutant generated by coal power plants in the eastern United States. The pollutant, sulphur dioxide, contributes to the formation of acid rain and can cause serious health problems.

Whales win, walruses lose in warmer Arctic

The Arctic zone has moved into a warmer, greener "new normal" phase, which means less habitat for polar bears and more access for development, an international scientific team reported on Thursday. Arctic air temperatures were higher - about 2.5 degrees F (1.5 degrees C) higher in 2011 than the baseline number for the previous 30 years - and there was a dramatic loss of sea ice and glacier mass, the scientists said in a telephone briefing. With less bright ice to reflect sunlight, and more dark open water to absorb it, the Arctic's changed characteristics are likely to feed on each other and accelerate, specialists from 14 countries said in an annual assessment called the Arctic Report Card. (here) "We've got a new normal," said Don Perovich, an expert on sea ice at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory in New Hampshire.

Green policies can halve CO2 emissions from energy sector, says OECD and IEA

Rising global energy demand and the need to drastically cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions require a transformation in the way nations produce, deliver and consume energy, according to a new joint report from the OECD and IEA. The Green Growth Studies: Energy report says governments need to increase energy efficiency and lower the carbon-intensity of the sector. As developed countries renew their energy infrastructure and developing countries build new power plants to meet growing energy demand, the time is right to make crucial choices for the future of the energy sector, the report says. With the energy sector responsible for the majority of CO2 emissions, green growth policies could halve worldwide energy-related emissions of CO2 by 2050 using a combination of existing and new technologies.

Electric Car Battery Safety

Electric cars may present different hazards than conventional design. Recent crash tests as well as one report of a battery fire suggest that the present car design may have to be improved. Crash tests have been carried out in the well known Euro NCAP testing center on the Volt and the Renault Fluence EV that gives tested cars crash resistance ratings scores ranging from 1 to 5 points. Overall crash test results of both of cars resulted in the Fluence EZ having an over crash test rating of 4 points, as compared to the Volt receiving a higher score of 5 points, highest in the auto safety rating program. One Chevy Volt battery pack that was being closely monitored following a government crash test caught fire. Another recently crash-tested battery emitted smoke and sparks.

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2011-12-02T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Watery Earthquakes

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time. A new study presents geophysical evidence of fluids (water) migrating into the creeping section of the San Andreas fault that seem to originate in the region of the uppermost mantle that also stimulates tremor, and evidence that along-strike variations in tremor activity and amplitude are related to strength variations in the lower crust and upper mantle. From the pattern of electrical conductivity and seismic activity they were able to deduce that rock water acts as a lubricant.

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2011-12-01T16:00:00.001-08:00

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The Durban Climate Talks

Global climate discussions have moved from Cancun to Copenhagen, and now to Durban, South Africa. They began last Monday in the hopes of finding a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, the global mandate that set targets for cutting carbon emissions. Kyoto was never ratified by the United States, the world's leading carbon emitter, and did not apply to the large growing Asian economies of China and India. Durban began amid downplayed expectations that a worldwide agreement would take place, especially following the disappointing climate talks in Copenhagen. This may be a blessing in disguise in that it will force climate activists to pursue a different strategy. Rather than a top-down approach, some are now calling for local policies that would create incremental change.

Is there room for wildlife as Africa grapples with development?

The reported crash of wildlife populations in the Maasai Mara reserve in Kenya is the most well-publicised example of a crisis that's unfolding throughout East Africa. The regionâs 'Big Five' species and other wildlife are currently facing their most serious crisis in modern times. Significant populations of elephants, lions, rhinoceros and other species are on the decline, threatening not only the regions fragile ecosystems but also economic livelihoods that depend on ecotourism revenue.

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2011-12-01T08:00:00.001-08:00

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US considering using toxic fungi in war on drugs

Using fungi to kill coca and other illegal drug crops would be a risky tactic, as there is not enough data about how to control these killer molds and what effect they could have on people and the environment, according to a U.S. study released Wednesday. The U.S. Congress asked scientists to look into whether some types of fungi, called mycoherbicides, could stem the flow of illicit drugs into the United States by killing the plants used to make cocaine, marijuana and opium. But scientists from the National Research Council, one of the national academies of science that advises U.S. policymakers, said evidence about the fungi was sketchy and incomplete. "There are too many unresolved questions regarding efficacy -- whether they'll really perform in real-time conditions, and whether they'll be safe to non-target plants," said Raghavan Charudattan, chairman of the committee that prepared the report and professor emeritus in the University of Florida's department of plant pathology. "We did not see any data where a high level of control could be achieved," he said.

Ladybugs Changed Color in Response to Climate Change

Thirty years ago, if you were walking along the coast of the Netherlands and picked a two-spot ladybug off the leaf of a European lime tree, chances were that the bug would be red with black spots. If you were farther inland, you'd have had a good chance of finding a bug that was black with red spots. In the past 3 decades, however, researchers have been finding more red bugs inland. The reason, they believe, is that a warming climate and fewer sunny days might be driving a shift in ladybug color.

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2011-12-01T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Charlotte to Install First Airport Worm Composting System

While it seems logical that many restaurants have already begun to reap the benefits of installing onsite worm composting operations, airports may not be the first place people would think of to have such systems in place. The Charlotte Douglas International Airport will change that fact when they open a $1.1 million recycling center in February 2012, to include a vermicomposting system that will use 300 pounds of worms to chow down on up to two tons of airport patron waste per day.

Global forestry loss is not as great as first feared, UN study confirms

The rate of global deforestation, mainly the conversion of tropical forests to agricultural land, averaged 14.5 million hectares a year between 1990 and 2005, according to a satellite-based survey released today by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The findings of the global remote sensing survey show that the worldâs total forest area in 2005 was 3.69 billion hectares, or 30 per cent of the global land area. Worldwide, the net loss of forest area between 1990 and 2005 was not as great as previously believed, since gains in forest areas are larger than previously estimated, according to the survey.

Book Review: Homegrown and Handmade

Gone are the days when people relied on what they could grow or make to sustain their families. These days you go to the grocery store and you can find almost any food you desire, at any time of the year. Though having everything accessible all the time has its benefits, it is also has its downsides. In order to produce such quantities of food, the farming industry relies on mass use of antibiotics, hormones, and pesticides. Then there's the other unsustainable and questionable practices like hybrid chickens and genetically modified produce. These practices are not only harmful to the farmers who manage the food, but their health effects on consumers are still uncertain. It's starting to seem the only way to 'protect' yourself from these unwanted additives is to grow and raise everything you eat and use on your own. This isn't always an option, especially for those of us who live or work in cities, and don't have the time or space to grow all their own food. Deborah Neimann's book, "Homegrown and Handmade: A Practical Guide to a More Self-Reliant Living" is as an introduction to self-reliance for people who don't necessarily have the time or resources to grow everything for ourselves, but are interested in taking the first steps to a more sustainable lifestyle.

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2011-11-30T16:00:00.001-08:00

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Another record breaker: 2011 warmest La NiÃ±a year ever

As officials meet at the 17th UN Climate Summit in Durban, South Africa, the world continues to heat up. The UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has announced that they expect 2011 to be the warmest La NiÃ±a year since record keeping began in 1850. The opposite of El Nino, a La NiÃ±a event causes general cooling in global temperatures. Despite La NiÃ±a, it was a very, very warm year to the point that it is the warmest decade on record," explained WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud during a press briefing in Geneva.

Walnut Trees Survival

Walnut trees are deciduous,30â"130 feet of the species Juglans. The 21 species in the genus range across the north temperate Old World from southeast Europe east to Japan, and more widely in the New World from southeast Canada west to California and south to Argentina. Warmer, drier summers and extreme weather events considered possible as the climate changes would be especially troublesome - possibly fatal - for walnut trees, according to research at Purdue University.

Hearing on overturning NY fracking ban draws huge turnout

The final hearings on regulations that would end a ban on drilling for natural gas in New York state got under way on Tuesday in a packed auditorium at Sullivan County Community College. In a last chance for communities to voice their views for and against a controversial drilling technique called fracking, about 300 people turned up, many of whom were left in the rain as the house spilled above capacity. Advocates of fracking, which involves blasting chemical-laced water and sand into shale rock to release gas, told a rowdy, polarized audience that drilling would create jobs and boost New York's ailing economy. Those against blamed it for contaminating water wells and threatening the safety of local communities. Outside, signs read "Don't frack with our water" and "Jail the frackers". Others disagreed. "We fight wars and import oil to get resources that we have at home," said Edward Allees, 88, from Jeffersonville, New York. "What is so special about New York that we can't drill here?" New York sits atop the Marcellus Shale formation, the largest U.S. deposit of natural gas, which also stretches across parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio.

Atrazine

Atrazine is a widely used herbicide. Its use is controversial due to widespread contamination in drinking water and its associations with birth defects and menstrual problems when consumed by humans at concentrations below government standards. Although it has been banned in the European Union, it is still one of the most widely used herbicides in the world. An international team of researchers has reviewed the evidence linking exposure to atrazine â" an herbicide widely used in the U.S. and more than 60 other nations â" to reproductive problems in animals. The team found consistent patterns of reproductive dysfunction in amphibians, fish, reptiles and mammals exposed to the chemical. The researchers looked at studies linking atrazine exposure to abnormal androgen (male hormone) levels in fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals and studies that found a common association between exposure to the herbicide and the feminization of male gonads in many animals.

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2011-11-30T08:00:00.001-08:00

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Arizona Uranium MIning

Dennison Mines recommenced development work on the Arizona 1 mine in April 2007 and restarted Uranium mining operations in November 2009. The mine is an underground operation employing a combination of long hole and shrinkage stopping methods at a mining rate of 335 tons per day, four days per week. Ore from the Arizona 1 mine is hauled by truck approximately 325 miles to the White Mesa mill. The mine employs a total of 32 people. Conservation groups and American Indian tribes today filed an appeal in the 9th Circuit Court challenging a lower court ruling that allowed the uranium mine near Grand Canyon National Park to re-open without updating decades-old environmental reviews. The Arizona 1 uranium mine is located near Kanab Creek immediately north of Grand Canyon National Park. In 2010, conservation groups and tribes sued the Bureau of Land Management for failing to modernize 23-year-old mining plans and environmental reviews prior to allowing Denison Mines to resume uranium mining after the mine was shuttered in 1992. A federal judge in Phoenix this fall sided with the Bureau and the uranium industry saying no new plans or reviews were needed, prompting the current appeal.

A Clean Energy Resource Too Large to be Ignored â" Geothermal Power Gains Steam

Geothermal powerâs been something of an orphan when it comes to the drive to transition from fossil fuel to clean, renewable energy economies. Thatâs despite the release of recent studies showing that the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia â" Western Australia in particular â" have geothermal resources that dwarf their energy needs, and despite the fact that itâs a proven, time-tested, economic source of clean, reliable baseload power. Thatâs not to say that there arenât places around the world where geothermal power project exploration and development isnât ramping up at a fast pace. Boise, Idaho; Reno, Nevada; Reykjavik, Iceland; the UAEâs Masdar City; and Perth, Australia stand out when it comes to tapping into and harnessing earthâs geothermal resources, according to a Global Innovation Series post on Mashable Tech.

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2011-11-30T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Is Thorium the Energy Panacea We Have Been Waiting For?

Thorium is a naturally-occurring, radioactive, and amazingly abundant metal that was discovered in 1828 by Swedish chemist, Jons Jakob Berzelius. The mineral, named after the Norse god of thunder, has languished in relative obscurity for many years as opposed to its much more recognized cousin, uranium. However, conversations have been popping up about thorium in recent years and how it can be a game-changer in the energy industry. Thorium has incredible potential as an ultra-safe, clean, and cheap nuclear energy source which can power the world for millennia.

A Clean Energy Resource Too Large to be Ignored â" Geothermal Power Gains Steam

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2011-11-29T16:00:00.001-08:00

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Travel special: Has the ski industry got its head in the snow about climate change?

Every year, one million skiers take to the slopes from the UK alone, while a staggering five million Brits consider themselves to be skiers even if they don't actually make it to the mountains. Europe is home to thousands of ski resorts, with Austria, France, Switzerland and Italy among the most popular. The Alps alone has more than 600 resorts with more than 10,000 pipes, half pipes and ski lifts catering for 85 per cent of the UK's skiers. But what impact does the annual influx of tourists have on mountainous regions' delicate eco-systems? And what effect is climate change having on the ski business itself?

US carbon capture project starts to bury one million tonnes of CO2

An ambitious US carbon capture and storage (CCS) project has begun a three-year trial to pump one million tonnes of CO2 underground. The Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC) has begun injecting carbon dioxide (CO2) for the first million-tonne demonstration of carbon sequestration in the US. The CO2 will be stored permanently in the Mount Simon Sandstone more than a mile beneath the Illinois surface at Decatur.

A Clean Energy Resource Too Large to be Ignored â" Geothermal Power Gains Steam

Aquate Groupâs Floating Cover Could Save Israel's Water

Israel's desert climate makes water a rare treasure, but even as the country takes extreme measures to keep fresh water flowing to its citizens, the simple process of evaporation is making the battle even harder. Some estimate that 20% of Israel's fresh water is lost to evaporation.

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2011-11-29T08:00:00.001-08:00

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New Chemical Hazard Studies

Some chemical information is considered confidential for a variety of reasons. Periodically these reasons are reviewed and the in time confidentiality protection can be dropped. Since 2009, 577 formerly confidential chemical identities are no longer confidential and more than 1,000 health and safety studies are now accessible to the public that were previously unavailable or only available in limited circumstances. In 2010 EPA issued new guidance outlining the agencyâs plans to deny confidentiality claims for chemical identities in health and safety studies under the federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that are determined to not be entitled to CBI status. EPA has been reviewing CBI claims in new and existing TSCA filings containing health and safety studies.

A Clean Energy Resource Too Large to be Ignored â" Geothermal Power Gains Steam

Aquate Groupâs Floating Cover Could Save Israel's Water

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2011-11-29T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Kyoto Protocol a "Thing of the Past", says Canada

Canada dismissed the Kyoto Protocol on climate change on Monday as a thing of the past, but declined to confirm a media report it will formally pull out of the international treaty before the end of this year. Although the Conservative government walked away from its Kyoto obligations years ago, a formal withdrawal would deal a symbolic blow to global talks to save the agreement, which opened in Durban, South Africa on Monday. Canada says it backs a new global deal to cut emissions of greenhouse gases, but insists it has to cover all nations, including China and India, which are not bound by Kyoto's current targets. Although Japan and Russia share Canada's view, and the United States never ratified Kyoto, no nation has yet formally renounced the treaty. "Kyoto is the past," Environment Minister Peter Kent told reporters in Ottawa, describing the decision by Canada's previous Liberal government to sign on to the protocol as "one of the biggest blunders they made." The Conservatives - who green groups say are recklessly pushing development of the Alberta oil sands and ignoring the environment - complain the Liberals signed Kyoto and then did nothing to stop the country's emissions from soaring.

A Clean Energy Resource Too Large to be Ignored â" Geothermal Power Gains Steam

Corals' Environmental Premonition

As Earth's climate has warmed, one group of species that has not fared well has been corals, the sedentary marine species which lives symbiotically with algae. Warmer waters cause the algae to become heat-stressed, causing them to die or be expelled by the coral. This causes coral bleaching, a fatal phenomenon that has occurred worldwide with increasing frequency. A team of researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University have now revealed the complex molecular signals that lead to the coral's self-inflicted death.

Aquate Groupâs Floating Cover Could Save Israel's Water

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2011-11-28T16:00:00.001-08:00

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Old Plastic Bottles Bring Light

Millions of people in the Philippines live in (relative) darkness. The cost of electricity is beyond the means of many, so residents of poorer communities resort to candles or kerosene lamps, which pose serious health and fire hazards.

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2011-11-28T08:00:00.001-08:00

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Can the Kyoto Protocol be saved?

Countries will make a last ditch effort to save a dying Kyoto Protocol at global climate talks starting on Monday aimed at cutting the greenhouse gas emissions blamed by scientists for rising sea levels, intense storms and crop failures. Kyoto, which was adopted in 1997 and entered into force in 2005, commits most developed states to binding emissions targets. The talks are the last chance to set another round of targets before the first commitment period ends in 2012. Major parties have been at loggerheads for years, warnings of climate disaster are becoming more dire and diplomats worry whether host South Africa is up to the challenge of brokering the tough discussions among nearly 200 countries that run from Monday to December 9 in the coastal city of Durban. There is hope for a deal to help developing countries most hurt by global warming and a stop-gap measure to save the protocol. There is also a chance advanced economies responsible for most emissions will pledge deeper cuts at the talks known as the Conference of the Parties, or COP 17.

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2011-11-28T07:00:00.001-08:00

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A Better Nano Battery

Renewable energy such as solar has a basic problem: No sun , no power. In order to make it more usable the Power must be stored for off peak use when the sun does not shine. Batteries though die when repeatedly recharged. Stanford researchers have developed part of better battery, a new electrode that employs crystalline nanoparticles of a copper compound. In laboratory tests, the electrode survived 40,000 cycles of charging and discharging, after which it could still be charged to more than 80 percent of its original charge capacity. For comparison, the average lithium ion battery can handle about 400 charge/discharge cycles before it deteriorates too much to be of practical use.

Snow Shoveling

When one shovels snow one thinks of back problems and slipping. Another urban legend tells of heart attacks. Urban legend warns shoveling snow causes heart attacks, and the legend seems all too accurate, especially for male wintery excavators with a family history of premature cardiovascular disease. However, until recently this warning was based on anecdotal reports. Two of the most important cardiology associations in the US include snow -shoveling on their websites as a high risk physical activity, but all the citation references indicate that this warning was based one or two incidents.

Mars Science Laboratory launches, on its way to Mars

Yesterday, NASA began a historic voyage to Mars with the launch of the Mars Science Laboratory, which carries a car-sized rover named Curiosity. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard an Atlas V rocket occurred at 10:02 a.m. EST. "We are very excited about sending the world's most advanced scientific laboratory to Mars," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "MSL will tell us critical things we need to know about Mars, and while it advances science, we'll be working on the capabilities for a human mission to the Red Planet and to other destinations where we've never been." The mission will pioneer precision landing technology and a sky-crane touchdown to place Curiosity near the foot of a mountain inside Gale Crater on Aug. 6, 2012. During a nearly two-year prime mission after landing, the rover will investigate whether the region has ever offered conditions favorable for microbial life, including the chemical ingredients for life. "The launch vehicle has given us a great injection into our trajectory, and we're on our way to Mars," said Mars Science Laboratory Project Manager Peter Theisinger of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "The spacecraft is in communication, thermally stable and power positive."

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2011-11-27T16:00:00.001-08:00

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Mexican farmers suffer worst drought in 70 years

Mexico is being battered its worst drought in seven decades, which has devastated farm life and is expected to continue into next year. The lack of rainfall has affected almost 70 percent of the country and northern states like Coahuila, San Luis Potosi, Sonora, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas have suffered the most acute water shortage. Due to the drought and a cold snap at the start of the year, the government has cut its forecast for corn production two times in 2011. It now expects a harvest of 20 million tonnes compared to a previous estimate of 23 million. Crops that cover tens of thousands of acres have been lost this year and roughly 450,000 cattle have died in arid pastures. Crucial dams, typically full at this time of year, are at 30 to 40 percent of capacity. "This is very serious," Ignacio Rivera, an official at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, told Reuters. "Statistics on precipitation in the country show us that this year has been the driest in the last 70 years." The country has total arable land of 22 million hectares (54.4 million acres) that can be tilled over two planting seasons while the national cattle herd last year was just over 32.6 million.

Australia setting up world's largest marine preserve

Australia moved to set up the world's biggest marine park on Friday to protect vast areas of the Coral Sea off the country's northeast coast and the site of fierce naval battles during World War Two. Environment Minister Tony Burke said the park would cover almost 1 million square km -- an area the size of France and Germany combined -- and would help protect fish, pristine coral reefs and nesting sites for sea birds and the green turtle. "The environmental significance of the Coral Sea lies in its diverse array of coral reefs, sandy cays, deep sea plains and canyons," Burke said. "It contains more than 20 outstanding examples of isolated tropical reefs, sandy cays and islands." The new park would also cover ships sunk in the Battle of the Coral Sea, a series of naval engagements between Japanese, American and Australian forces in 1942, considered the world's first aircraft carrier battle.

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2011-11-27T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Air pollution costs Europe billions

Air pollution caused more than 100 billion euros ($134.95 billion) in health and environmental damage, highlighting the need for more renewables sources of energy, a report published on Thursday by the European Environment Agency found. Europe's 10,000 largest factories and energy facilities resulted in 102-169 billion euros in health issues, such as respiratory and cardiovascular problems, and environmental costs because of air pollution in 2009, the most recent available data. Per citizen, the cost was between 200-300 euros. "This analysis shows the significant impact of fossil-fueled power stations and the very high costs they impose on people's health and the environment, making the case for introducing cleaner types of energy even more urgent," European Environment Agency Executive Director Jacqueline McGlade said in a statement. The power generation sector was the biggest contributor of damage costs, with 66-112 billion euros, the study showed. It covered the EU 27 member states as well as Norway and Switzerland. A small number of facilities, 622 or 6 percent of the total number, represented 75 percent of the total damage costs resulting from air pollutants, such as heavy metals, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide greenhouse gases.

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2011-11-26T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Contest Challenges Youth to "Get to Know" Their Wild Neighbors

Renowned wildlife artists Robert Bateman and Wyland are challenging American youth to get outdoors and "get to know" their wild neighbors of other species by entering the Get to Know Contest. Youth age 5-18 are invited to create art, writing photography and video entries based on first-hand experiences with nature, which they can submit at www.gettoknow.ca until November 30, 2010. Bateman and Wyland hope the Get to Know Contest will inspire youth to build meaningful connections with nature. "The investment we are making by connecting youth with nature is the most important one we can make for this generation," says Wyland. Youth disconnection from nature stems from the trend of young Americans spending progressively more time indoors, to the detriment of healthy outdoor activity. As of 2010, American school-aged youth are packing a staggering 53 hours a week in front of entertainment media screens â" up from 44 hours per week in 2004. And while they are aware of global environmental issues like climate change and deforestation in the Amazon, they often cannot name ten different plants and animals in their own backyard. "Caring for this planet begins with getting to know our neighbours of other species", reiterates Robert Bateman, who started the Get to Know Contest in Canada in 2000.

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2011-11-25T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Da Vinci's Last Supper faces new threat of damage from air pollution

Having survived long centuries, political upheaval, and even bombings during World War II, Leonardo Da Vinci's masterpiece Last Supper now faces the risk of damage from air pollution due to its location in one of Western Europe's most polluted cities. In late 2009, the refectory of Santa Maria Delle Grazie Church, where the painting is located, installed a sophisticated heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system to protect the painting from the polluted air of Milan.

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2011-11-24T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Silk Versus Synthetic Fibers

Scientists at Oxford University and The University of Sheffield have demonstrated that natural silks are a thousand times more efficient than common plastics when it comes to forming fibers. A report of the research is published this week in the journal Advanced Materials. The finding comes from comparing silk from the Chinese silkworm to molten high density polyethylene (HDPE) - a material from which the strongest synthetic fibers are made. The researchers used polarized light shining through a disk rotating over a plate to study how the fibers are formed as the two materials are spun.

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2011-11-23T16:00:00.001-08:00

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Sustainability Culture Saves Billions for DuPont

Davide Vassallo is a global practices leader for DuPont's Sustainable Solutions Group. As environmental stewards for a company that is the owner and operator of more than 150 production facilities around the world, his group has found that energy efficiency improvements can often be achieved for little or no cost. After running a large number of workshops on the subject, he has found that moving personnel from a culture of consumption to a culture of conservation is key to significant savings.

Bathtub-sized marine sponge rediscovered after a century of extinction

Not found alive for over a century the evocatively named Neptune's cup sponge (Cliona patera) has been rediscovered off the shores of Singapore. Researchers with the environmental consulting DHI Group found the species during a routine dive. Although the specimen they found was small, the goblet-shaped sponge can reach nearly 5 feet (1.5 meters) high and the same in diameter.

Can Soup and BPA

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2011-11-23T08:00:00.001-08:00

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Meet the Survival characters â" Scalloped hammerhead

Name: Scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini) Stats: Status â" Endangered (EN) Length - up to 430 cm Weight - up to 152 kg

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2011-11-23T07:00:00.001-08:00

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UN Climate Chief warns Science, not politics must drive Durban climate talks

Global climate talks need to focus on the growing threat from extreme weather and shift away from political squabbles that hobble progress toward a tougher pact to rein in greenhouse gas emissions, the head of the U.N. climate panel said. Negotiators from nearly 200 countries meet in Durban, South Africa, on Monday for two-week talks, with minimal expectations of major progress toward an agreement that will eventually bind all major economies to emissions caps. Rajendra Pachauri warned the latest round of talks risked being bogged down by "short-term and narrow political considerations." "It is absolutely essential that the negotiators get a continuous and repeated exposure to the science of climate change," Pachauri told Reuters in an interview late on Tuesday. "If we were to do that it will definitely have an impact on the quality and outcome of the negotiations, after all these are human beings, they have families, they are people also worried about what is going to happen to the next generations."

The Chevrolet Carbon Stories, Part 3 Metrolina Greenhouse

It's no secret that all buildings, whether residential or business, need energy for heat. No building is a better example than a greenhouse, which traditionally uses fossil fuels to create enough heat to grow plants. That's a lot of energy expended. But what if we can substitute fossil fuel for biomass, especially waste wood or tree trimmings / waste from forests in place of fossil fuels? As part of its Carbon Reduction Initiative, Chevrolet is supporting Metrolina Greenhouse in North Carolina. Metrolina grows over 70 million plants a year and is one of four greenhouse projects from the same developer that is utilizing biomass burners for heating the greenhouse instead of fossil fuel burners. The greenhouses grow plant materials that are shipped all over the U.S. The biomass fuel is mostly wood that would otherwise be destined for the landfill, or low value wood from forest thinnings. This type of biomass meets the United Nation's Clean Development Mechanismâs "Definition of Renewable Biomass." This project will reduce fossil fuel consumption, divert waste from landfills and improve the quality of air for the community surrounding it.

Explosives in Your Shoes

For those who fly the ritual of standing barefoot waiting to be scanned as your shoes are intimately examined for explosives, is a common airport mishap. The ability to efficiently and unobtrusively screen for trace amounts of explosives on airline passengers could improve travel safety â" without invoking the ire of inconvenienced fliers. Toward that end, mechanical engineer and fluid dynamicist Matthew Staymates of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and colleagues have developed a prototype air sampling system that can quickly blow particles off the surfaces of shoes and suck them away for analysis.

Study: Today's Teenagers May Be Most Out-of-shape In US History

A report from Northwestern University in Chicago looks at the status of the cardiovascular health of current adolescents in the United States, and its findings were not encouraging. It says that teens today have a higher likelihood of dying at a younger age than today's adults. The causes listed include high blood sugar, obesity, poor diet, smoking, and limited exercise. Of course this is not true for all teenagers; some may be in better shape than the rest of us will ever be. However, in the case of teenage health, the lows outweigh the highs, bringing average teen health to a dismal level.

Meet the Survival characters â" Scalloped hammerhead

Name: Scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini) Stats: Status â" Endangered (EN) Length - up to 430 cm Weight - up to 152 kg

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2011-11-22T16:00:00.001-08:00

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How Islamic Finance can Contribute to the Global Economy

While not many ordinary Western consumers understand the principles of Islamic finance, an increasing number of Western institutions have begun to incorporate its principles into operations in some parts of the world. Islamic finance bans interest, gambling and speculation. Few people know that it also promotes the kind of focus on partnership and productive investment that seems to have been missing from the global boom of the first decade of the 21st century.

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2011-11-22T08:00:00.001-08:00

Environmental News Network

Population Control

In this day and age most societies worry about too large a population increase. However, there is always another point of view. Worried about its dwindling numbers, the Roman Catholic church in southern India is exhorting its flock to have more children, with some parishes offering free schooling, medical care and even cash bonuses for large families. The strategy comes as Indiaâs population tops 1.2 billion, making it the second most populous country in the world after China, and runs counter to a national government policy of limiting family size.

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2011-11-22T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Economic woes no excuse for climate inaction, says China

Economic problems in Europe and elsewhere should not get in the way of a new pact to fight global warming, China's top climate official said on Tuesday ahead of major climate talks in South Africa. Delegates from nearly 200 countries meet from Monday till Dec 9 in Durban as part of marathon U.N.-led negotiations on a broader pact to curb growing greenhouse gas emissions as the world faces rising sea levels and greater weather extremes. "After the financial crisis, every country has had its problems, but these problems are just temporary," Xie Zhenhua, vice-director of the National Development and Reform Commission, told reporters on Tuesday. Officials in Beijing have suggested economic turmoil in Europe and political unrest in North Africa have pushed climate change far down the list of global priorities, overshadowing next week's talks and undermining plans to provide cash and technical support to poor nations to adapt to climate change.

School Pizza is a Vegetable

Last week, Congress passed a bill that allegedly labels pizza as a vegetable in school lunches. How did pizza spontaneously become a vegetable? Has it always been considered a vegetable? Was it Congress? Was it the USDA? Some report it is because of lobbyists. Although lobbyists do play an influential role, its more so the system of legislation and regulation that creates such strange laws. Can we trust a governmental system that says a pizza is a vegetable?

The Contribution of Peatland CO2 to Climate Change

Peat, the accumulated turf made up of decayed vegetation, forms in many parts of the world in places like bogs, moors, and swamp forests. Due to its high carbon content, it can be harvested and burned as fuel. There are estimates that the global inventory of peat, covering 2 percent of all land area, contains 8 billion terajoules of energy. A new study has revealed that peat also has a high potential to contribute to climate change. The study, published by researchers from Bangor University in Maine, found that drought causes the release of far more carbon dioxide from peat than previously assumed.

Exoplanet Count to 700

One can look up and count the stars that can be seen. Finding exoplanets orbiting these stars is a different matter because they cannot be seen by the naked eye. There are two main counters of the exoplanents: NASA and the European count. NASA is more conservative while Europe will include the new exoplanet when it is announced. So Europe will also be slightly more. The count topped 500 in November 2010, and it passed 600 just two months ago when scientists with the European Southern Observatory announced 50 newfound planets, including one super-Earth that might be a good candidate for hosting life. Now it is 700.

Markets drive conservation in Central Africa

Madrid, Spain â" Certification has shown that commercial forestry can co-exist with conservation objectives in the Congo Basin, according to conclusions reached at an international seminar "Forest management as a tool for cooperation and rural development in Central Africa", organized yesterday in Madrid by WWF/Global Forest & Trade Network (GFTN) in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs of Spain.

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2011-11-21T16:00:00.001-08:00

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Uranium Mining â" The Virginia Battleground â" Environmental Concerns vs. Corporate Interests

The Virginia General Assembly is expected to vote next year on whether to lift a 30-year moratorium on uranium mining in the state. The issue has prompted an expensive lobbying campaign by the company that wants to mine a huge deposit known as Coles Hill in Pittsylvania County and an intense fight by environmentalists who want to stop it. The battle has pitted neighbor against neighbor in the county, in south central Virginia, an area known as Southside.

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2011-11-21T08:00:00.001-08:00

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Can Electric Cars Help Automakers Reach 55 MPG?

Under rules announced by the White House this summer, cars will have to get an average of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025 â" nearly twice what the current average is. Reaching that goal will take not only feats of engineering but also changing how Americans think about their cars and how they drive them.

Uranium Mining â" The Virginia Battleground â" Environmental Concerns vs. Corporate Interests

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2011-11-21T07:00:00.001-08:00

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African nations show leadership for action against climate change

Africa is leading the push for clean energy policy-making as climate change turns millions of its people into "food refugees," the head of the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP) Achim Steiner said. "On the African continent, there is sometimes more leadership being shown by countries, by governments, than we see in some of the industrialized nations," Steiner told Reuters. "Kenya is currently doubling its energy and electricity generating infrastructure largely using renewables. These are policies that are pioneering, that are innovative," he said. Kenya generates most of its energy from hydroelectric dams but water levels have fallen due to recurring drought. It is now investing heavily in geothermal and wind power. The African Development Bank is financing Africa's biggest wind farm on the shores of Lake Turkana, one of the windiest places on Earth. The $819-million project aims to produce 300 megawatts (MW) of electricity per year, boosting Kenya's energy supply by 30 percent.

The World Carbon Cycle in the Last Ice Age

The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth. It is one of the most important cycles of the earth and allows for carbon to be recycled and reused throughout the biosphere and all of its organisms. Has it always been the same? A reconstruction of plant productivity and the amount of carbon stored in the ocean and terrestrial biosphere at the last ice age has just been published in Nature Geoscience. The research by an international team of scientists greatly increases our understanding of natural carbon cycle dynamics.

Mystery deepens over Europe-wide radiation alert

A Hungarian laboratory has denied claims made by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it is the most likely source of the outbreak of radioactive particles recently detected in the skies above Europe. Low levels of iodine-131 were measured in the atmosphere above the Czech Republic and several other European countries earlier this month and the IAEA moved swiftly with assurances it posed no danger to public health.

Pumping water from High Plains aquifer reducing stream flows, threatening fish habitat

Suitable habitat for native fishes in many Great Plains streams has been significantly reduced by the pumping of groundwater from the High Plains aquifer -- and scientists analyzing the water loss say ecological futures for these fishes are "bleak." Results of their study have been published in the journal Ecohydrology. Unlike alluvial aquifers, which can be replenished seasonally with rain and snow, these regional aquifers were filled by melting glaciers during the last Ice Age, the researchers say. When that water is gone, it won't come back -- at least, until another Ice Age comes along. "It is a finite resource that is not being recharged," said Jeffrey Falke, a post-doctoral researcher at Oregon State University and lead author on the study. "That water has been there for thousands of years, and it is rapidly being depleted. Already, streams that used to run year-round are becoming seasonal, and refuge habitats for native fishes are drying up and becoming increasingly fragmented."

Uranium Mining â" The Virginia Battleground â" Environmental Concerns vs. Corporate Interests

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2011-11-20T16:00:00.001-08:00

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Delaware River Basin natural gas drilling vote postponed

A key vote to lift a ban on drilling for natural gas in the Delaware River Basin has been postponed, prompting claims of victory from environmentalists concerned about water contamination. The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), which regulates water use across the 14,000-square-mile (36,260-square-km), gas-rich basin, suspended a vote scheduled for Monday amid speculation that its five members lacked the three votes needed to allow drilling. "There are still some open issues that the commissioners have to work through," said DRBC spokesman Clarke Rupert, who had no new date for the vote. Earlier this month, the DRBC proposed ending the drilling moratorium in the basin that stretches across parts of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware and sits atop the United States' biggest natural gas deposit: the Marcellus Shale. Under proposed new regulations, the DRBC said it will provide water for no more than 300 natural gas wells over 18 months, at which point they will reassess the rules. The delay has frustrated drillers and the governor of industry-friendly Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, who is keen to develop the state's slice of the basin.

Uranium Mining â" The Virginia Battleground â" Environmental Concerns vs. Corporate Interests

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2011-11-20T08:00:00.001-08:00

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Uranium Mining â" The Virginia Battleground â" Environmental Concerns vs. Corporate Interests

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2011-11-20T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Uranium Mining â" The Virginia Battleground â" Environmental Concerns vs. Corporate Interests

Climate Extremes to Come

The weather has always been an interesting variable in the lives of every person. What impact will global warming have? Will there more extreme weather behavior? A new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that an increase in heat waves as well as hurricanes, floods, and droughts will likely become more intense in the next century. The United Nations IPCC's new special report on extreme weather, which includes a range of possible scenarios based on future greenhouse gas emissions, urges governments worldwide to draft plans to minimize the likely human and economic costs of these weather phenomena.

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2011-11-19T08:00:00.001-08:00

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London Bridge Will Soon Be All Lit Up With LEDs!

London Bridge hasnât fallen downâ"yet. But any 117-year old bridge is bound to need a few updates here and there. The latest round of improvements will help cut the amount of energy required to light the landmark by 40 percent. Thereâs no denying that London Bridge is an iconâ"a song praising its usefulness in times of conflict is sung to children before they can walk. But in recent iterations, the bridge has incorporated inefficient technologies that mar its noble history.

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2011-11-18T16:00:00.001-08:00

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Date and Rate of Earth's Most Extreme Extinction Pinpointed: Results Stem from Largest Ever Examination of Fossil Marine Species

ScienceDaily (Nov. 17, 2011) â" It's well known that Earth's most severe mass extinction occurred about 250 million years ago. What's not well known is the specific time when the extinctions occurred. A team of researchers from North America and China have published a paper in Science which explicitly provides the date and rate of extinction.

Snack on that! Are insects the future of food?

With seven billion people to feed, agriculture is feeling the strain. So are creepie crawlies the solution? Gavin Haines takes a closer look

Galactic Process

New observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope are expanding astronomers' understanding of the ways in which galaxies continuously recycle immense volumes of hydrogen gas and heavy elements. This process allows galaxies to build successive generations of stars stretching over billions of years. This ongoing recycling keeps some galaxies from emptying their fuel tanks of interstellar gas and stretches their star-forming epoch to over 10 billion years.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson: EPA to propose utility carbon rules next year

The top U.S. environmental regulator will propose early next year twice-delayed rules on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, she told the energyNOW television show. "I can't tell you what the regulations say right now, but what we are planning to do is release them early next calendar year," Lisa Jackson, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, told the program in a segment seen by Reuters that is to be broadcast over the weekend. The EPA in June delayed the proposed rules on power plants, which are the largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, saying it needed more time after talking with businesses, states and green groups. It delayed them again in September. Republicans in the House of Representatives have waged a war on EPA clean-air regulations, saying such rules will kill jobs and add costs to businesses suffering in a battered economy. In September, President Barack Obama directed the EPA to delay a major rule on smog-forming pollutants until 2013, forcing Jackson to embrace a George W. Bush-era smog rule she previously described as legally indefensible. The move led some environmentalists and health groups to worry the administration would subject other clean-air rules to long delays.

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2011-11-18T08:00:00.001-08:00

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Starving Bacteria

Though it was known in the nineteenth century that bacteria are the cause of many diseases, no effective antibacterial treatments were available back then. In 1910, Paul Ehrlich developed the first antibiotic. Bacteria are also notorious for existing antibiotic treatments. A new study is showing that bacteria that are starving tend to resist antibiotics better. During an infection there is a tendency to starve bacteria under certain conditions. How can this be reversed? "Bacteria become starved when they exhaust nutrient supplies in the body, or if they live clustered together in groups know as biofilms," said the lead author of the paper, Dr. Dao Nguyen, an assistant professor of medicine at McGill University.

How Appleâs Product Design Reduces Carbon Footprint

Apple products come in black, whiteâ"and green, says the company's environmental Web page: "Apple reports environmental impact comprehensively. We do this by focusing on our products: what happens when we design them, what happens when we make them, and what happens when you take them home and use them."

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2011-11-18T07:00:00.001-08:00

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Ten-point plan to save the oceans

The world has made lacklustre progress in meeting most of the commitments it made 20 years ago to safeguard the oceans, says a report. At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, agreements were made on issues such as sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, capacity building, and biodiversity; later, the Johannesburg Summit in 2002 in South Africa set targets and timetables to achieve those goals.

New "Super" Mouthwash Under Development May Eliminate Cavities

Generic mouthwash does a fantastic job cleaning out your mouth and leaving you with a minty fresh feeling. Now there is a new kind of mouthwash which is under development, that has the potential to eliminate tooth decay and cavities. Developed at the UCLA School of Dentistry, the mouthwash utilizes a new type of anti-microbial technology. A recent clinical study, involving 12 subjects showed remarkable results. Those who rinsed just once with the new mouthwash almost completely eliminated the S. mutans bacteria, known to cause tooth decay.

How Appleâs Product Design Reduces Carbon Footprint

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2011-11-17T16:00:00.001-08:00

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How Appleâs Product Design Reduces Carbon Footprint

Gamburtsev Mountain Birth

The Gamburtsev Mountain Range (also known as the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains) is a subglacial mountain range located in Eastern Antarctica. The current speculated age of the range is over 34 million years[6] and possibly 500 million years. The birth of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains buried beneath the vast East Antarctic Ice Sheet â" a puzzle mystifying scientists since their first discovery in 1958 â" is finally solved. The remarkably long geological history explains the formation of the mountain range in the least explored frontier on Earth and where the Antarctic Ice Sheet first formed. The findings are published this week in the journal Nature

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2011-11-17T07:00:00.001-08:00

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U.S. proposes to double auto fuel economy by 2025

The Obama administration proposed on Wednesday doubling auto fuel efficiency to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, a White House energy priority that has come under scrutiny in Congress. The plan grew out of an uneasy agreement between the administration, automakers and environmental groups to reduce U.S. dependence on oil imports and cut tailpipe emissions. Regulators hope to finalize the proposal by summer following a 60-day public comment period. The administration wants to give industry five years to develop fuel-saving technologies further and plan products before the rule would start taking effect in 2017. "We expect this program will not only save consumers money, it will ensure automakers have the regulatory certainty they need to make key decisions," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. Current standards require automakers to raise efficiency from 27 mpg today to 35.4 mpg by 2016. Targets beginning in 2017 would require a 5 percent annual efficiency gain for cars and 3.5 to 5 percent for light trucks, which include SUVs, pickups and vans.

Chevrolet's Carbon Initiative Program, Part Two

In the U.S., the best wind resources are in the Northern Plains â" but itâs virtually impossible for a single individual to build a multi-million dollar turbine. But if a group of individuals come together, they can work with an enterprising electric company to create a community- supported wind farm. As part of its Carbon Initiative Program, Chevrolet is supporting the Crow Lake Wind Project, a 108 turbine, 162 MW wind project owned by the Basin Electric Cooperative, a public power entity serving rural cooperative power customers principally in the north central plains states. The project was built utilizing a first-of-its-kind community wind investment partnership. In addition, this is the largest project currently operational in South Dakota. The first 100 turbines, owned by Basin Electric Cooperative, enabled the two smaller projects to be developed. Seven turbines are owned by a group of around one hundred local community investors (farmers, ranchers, local businesses). The last turbine is owned by the Mitchell Technical Institute, a school providing vocational education to local students â" including training in construction, operations and maintenance of wind farms. Fully operational since February 2011, the Crow Lake Wind Project introduces wind energy into a system heavily dependent on conventional coal combustion, diversifying the resource base. It also supplies and supports rural consumer-owned electric cooperatives and creates community jobs in construction and operations.

Tarantula Nebula

The Tarantula Nebula has an apparent magnitude of 8. Considering its distance of about 160,000 light years, this is an extremely luminous non-stellar object. Its luminosity is so great that if it were as close to Earth as the Orion Nebula, the Tarantula Nebula would cast shadows. In fact, it is the most active starburst region known in the Local Group of galaxies. It is also the largest such region in the Local Group with an estimated diameter of 200 parsecs. This spiderweb-like tangle of gas and dust is a star-forming region called 30 Doradus. It is one of the largest such regions located close to the Milky Way galaxy, and is found in the neighboring galaxy Large Magellanic Cloud. About 2,400 massive stars in the center of 30 Doradus, also known as the Tarantula nebula, are producing intense radiation and powerful winds as they blow off material. Multimillion-degree gas detected in X-rays (blue) by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory comes from shock fronts -- similar to sonic booms -- formed by these stellar winds and by supernova explosions. This hot gas carves out gigantic bubbles in the surrounding cooler gas and dust shown here in infrared light from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (orange).

Why Wood Smoke May not Be Good for You

Some people enjoy the scent of a wood fire. Still smoke is full of particulate matter and exotic trace chemicals. Two new studies led by University of California, Berkeley, researchers spotlight the human health effects of exposure to smoke from open fires and dirty cook stoves, the primary source of cooking and heating for 43 percent, or some 3 billion members, of the world's population. Women and young children in poverty are particularly vulnerable. In the first study, the researchers found a dramatic one-third reduction in severe pneumonia diagnoses among children in homes with smoke-reducing chimneys on their cook stoves. The second study uncovered a surprising link between prenatal maternal exposure to woodsmoke and poorer performance in markers for IQ among school-age children.

How Texas Wind Power Inspires Performance Art

The stories of Texasâ wind farms are commonly told in terms of acres and megawatts. Artists Laura Zak and Kim Cypert, however, want to dig deeper into the cultural and social impacts of the stateâs booming wind industry. Zak and Cypert are working on a performance art show incorporating insights from the digital wind energy oral history collection at Texas Tech Universityâs Special Collection Library, in Lubbock. The collection, which includes interviews with farmers, landowners, wind developers, municipal leaders and environmentalists, documents the experiences of those affected by wind energy development in Texas.

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2011-11-16T16:00:00.001-08:00

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Revenge of the internal combustion engine

At the Chevrolet dealership here, customers want to see and touch the Volt, the gasoline-electric hybrid hailed by enthusiasts as the kind of innovation that could secure the future of General Motors. But they usually kick the Volt's tires and move on, often to a Cruze. The compact Chevy gets up to 42 miles per gallon, and you can buy two of them for the cost of one $40,000 Volt. Call it the revenge of the internal combustion engine. Major automakers and the Obama administration have bet heavily on hybrids and pure electric vehicles. But new and more efficient gas engines are winning on the showroom floor, an inconvenient truth that could slow the acceptance of electric cars. "They come in to look at a Cruze. They drive a Volt. They go back to the Cruze. It really helps us with sales of the Cruze," said Michael Mosser, general manager of Suburban Chevrolet of Ann Arbor. The plug-in Volt has become General Motors Co's high-mileage halo car. But the hybrid has also been outsold by its simpler sibling by 200 to 1. Globally, GM has sold about 5,000 Volts versus 1 million Cruzes.

How we tell intimate stories...BBC

Our world may be very big, but sometimes it is the smallest stories that teach us the most. BBC Earth brings you three incredible videos where an innovative use of technology has captured the true magic of nature. Did you know you can see colonies of grass cutter ants from space? Producer Rupert Barrington explains how he managed to get closer than ever before to a nest of up to 5 million grass cutter ants. A filming-first for the BBC Earth team is not the only example of innovation in natural history. Executive Producer Mike Gunton, gives a fascinating insight into the imagination of the male Vogelkop bowerbird.

A LEAFâ¢ That Does More Than Float

Once you see a Leaf coming at you, you know it. After it passes by, you look for it in the rear view mirror and it's gone. The 2012 Nissan LEAFâ¢ is peppy and cute. No other words express quite how it differs from other electric vehicles being offered by major car manufacturers. It is cute; it has neat 16-inch alloy wheels and a superb sound system. It will take you where you want to go, so long as it's not more than 100 miles (without a charge), and you can top up at any of the charging stations you find using the LEAFâ¢'s smart on-board display. My recent drive of the Nissan LEAFâ¢ at the Snow Jam event in San Diego on November 11, 2011 took me along the quiet streets of Del Mar, California. The LEAFâ¢ is responsive, with nice acceleration, handling and turn radius. It was overcast and chilly outside and when I went to turn on the head lights I was surprised to find the switch right there at the end of the turn signal. The dash display didnât offer clear visibility for all of the dials and gauges, but with the extra digital speed display placed high up it was easy to know how fast we were going without being distracting. Once again major car companies seem to be trying to give drivers who want electric vehicles something familiar. The look on the outside and the feel of the inside of a LEAFâ¢ does not seem that different of an experience than what you get with a non-electric vehicle. Indeed, the Nissan Snow Jam electric vehicle tour also provided the opportunity to drive the 2012 Nissan Versa, not an electric vehicle.

Bulgarian Air Pollution

Chronic pollution makes Bulgaria one of the worldâs deadliest places to live because of poor air quality, despite years of efforts to improve monitoring and comply with EU standards. But Bulgaria's problems are not isolated and reflect broader concerns over air quality among EU member states. Bulgaria has made steady progress in improving environmental monitoring and adopting regulations on air, water and environmental quality since joining the EU in 2007. Analysts say such steps have been followed by poor enforcement and neglect by both national and EU authorities.

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