Archive for the 'Environment' Category
The Ticking Time-Bomb at the Bottom of the Baltic Sea
April 21st, 2014Via: The Economist: THERE IS something dangerous lurking in the shallow waters of the Baltic Sea. Nearly 70 years after the victorious Allies dumped thousands of tonnes of Nazi chemical weapons and chemical agents into the Baltic Sea, experts have warned of an environmental disaster as the weapons corrode and their deadly contents spill into […]
Corn Ethanol Is a Scam
April 20th, 2014Thanks Captain! Via: Fortune: OK, can we please stop pretending biofuel made from corn is helping the planet and the environment? With huge subsidies for ethanol in gasoline, with all States now selling gasoline having some ethanol blend, and a general misconception that these biofuels are green, corn ethanol has taken on a $30 billion/yr […]
China Just Revealed a Major State Secret: Nearly 20% of Its Farmland Is Polluted
April 18th, 2014Does one double or triple this number to approach the reality of the situation? Via: Quartz: Almost one-fifth of China’s farmland is polluted, according to a government report released this week. Officials have acknowledged the country’s problems with water and air pollution, but the extent of soil contamination has been a closely guarded “state secret,” […]
This Tower Pulls Drinking Water Out of Thin Air
April 11th, 2014Via: Smithsonian Magazine: The invention from Arturo Vittori, an industrial designer, and his colleague Andreas Vogler doesn’t involve complicated gadgetry or feats of engineering, but instead relies on basic elements like shape and material and the ways in which they work together. At first glance, the 30-foot-tall, vase-shaped towers, named after a fig tree native […]
Beef Prices Hit All-Time High in U.S.
April 9th, 2014Via: Los Angeles Times: Come grilling season, expect your sirloin steak to come with a hearty side of sticker shock. Beef prices have reached all-time highs in the U.S. and aren’t expected to come down any time soon. Extreme weather has thinned the nation’s beef cattle herds to levels last seen in 1951, when there […]
When the Rivers Run Black
March 20th, 2014Via: Medium: The most toxic byproduct of coal-fired power isn’t carbon dioxide. It’s the residue that’s left over. When coal is burned in a plant, just like in a home, it produces two kinds of ash: fly ash, which rises, and bottom ash, which sinks to the floor of the furnace. Together, they comprise coal […]
Voracious Worm Evolves to Eat Biotech Corn Engineered to Kill It
March 18th, 2014Via: Wired: One of agricultural biotechnology’s great success stories may become a cautionary tale of how short-sighted mismanagement can squander the benefits of genetic modification. After years of predicting it would happen — and after years of having their suggestions largely ignored by companies, farmers and regulators — scientists have documented the rapid evolution of […]
Forests Around Chernobyl Aren’t Decaying Properly
March 15th, 2014Via: Smithsonian: Nearly 30 years have passed since the Chernobyl plant exploded and caused an unprecedented nuclear disaster. The effects of that catastrophe, however, are still felt today. Although no people live in the extensive exclusion zones around the epicenter, animals and plants still show signs of radiation poisoning. Birds around Chernobyl have significantly smaller […]
Cyclone Lusi
March 13th, 2014A cyclone is going to cause havoc in my part of the world over the next day or so. My ISP already sent out an email pretty much telling everyone to prepare to lose Internet access. Never mind that the power goes out here at the drop of a hat. So, if I’m not posting, […]
The E-Waste Disaster in Ghana
March 7th, 2014Via: Kevin McElvaney:
