Archive for the 'Environment' Category
Cold Temperatures Threaten Seed Potato Crop
October 12th, 2009Get Al on the job: Via: AP: Record-low temperatures in southwestern Idaho are threatening to destroy at least a portion of this season’s crop of seed potatoes. Spuds still in the ground could be saved by a layer of snow; a dusting had fallen on Bozeman and the surrounding region by Sunday. Nina Zydak, director […]
Do Temperatures Seem Normal for This Time of Year?
October 7th, 2009Just curious.
Excreted Tamiflu Found in Rivers
October 3rd, 2009Via: Science News: The premier flu-fighting drug is contaminating rivers downstream of sewage-treatment facilities, researchers in Japan confirm. The source: urinary excretion by people taking oseltamivir phosphate, best known as Tamiflu. Concerns are now building that birds, which are natural influenza carriers, are being exposed to waterborne residues of Tamiflu’s active form and might develop […]
The Australian Town That Kicked The Bottle
October 2nd, 2009If there’s no fluoride, pesticides, chlorine or _____ (fill in the blank) in the tap water, great. Via: Independent: Plastic bottles were ceremoniously removed from shelves in the sleepy Australian town of Bundanoon at the weekend as a ban on commercially-bottled water – believed to be a world first – came into force. The ban, […]
New Film Blames Bayer Pesticide for Plight of Honey Bees
September 30th, 2009Via: Independent: It’s a question that has baffled the worlds of agriculture and science – what is it that has caused the mysterious deaths of honey bees all over the world in the last five years? A new film may have the answer. Vanishing of the Bees, which will be released in Britain next month, […]
‘Two Bodies’ on Mafia Waste Ship
September 25th, 2009Via: BBC: Investigators in Italy examining a shipwreck containing possible radioactive waste say they may have found two bodies on board. An underwater camera also showed pictures of orange barrels, with the word “toxic” on their side. The boat lies in 500m of water off the south-western coast of Italy. Officials say they believe the […]
Sydney Dust Storm
September 23rd, 2009Must see pictures. Via: Daily Mail: An outback dust storm has swept across eastern Australia, shrouding Sydney in a dramatic red glow. It’s also been wreaking havoc, disrupting transport and placing health authorities on alert for widespread respiratory illness. International flights were diverted from Sydney, ferries on the harbour were suspended, and motorists were warned […]
Pentagon Wants ‘Space Junk’ Cleaned Up
September 21st, 2009What will be cleaned up first? Orbital space junk, or the plastic apocalypse in the Pacific Ocean? Hmm. Via: Wired: The orbit around Earth is a very messy place and the Pentagon’s far-out research arm wants to do something about it. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency put out a notice yesterday requesting information on […]
China’s “Cancer Villages” Bear Witness to Economic Boom
September 19th, 2009Becky runs a food buying co-op. Both of the “organic” product wholesalers she deals with only sell products like beans, sunflower seeds and peanuts from China. The non-Chinese rice costs 3x to 4x more than the Chinese rice. Obviously, we consume no food from China, regardless of the fact that it’s certified organic. Now, if […]
Italy Finds Wreck of Toxic Waste Ship Sunk by Mafia
September 16th, 2009Related: ‘Toxic waste’ behind Somali piracy Via: Reuters: Italian authorities have found the wreck of a ship sunk by the mafia with 180 barrels of toxic waste on board, one of more than 30 such vessels believed to lie off Italy’s southern coast, officials said on Tuesday. Following a lead from a mafia turncoat, investigators […]
