Archive for the 'Environment' Category
Fukushima Readies for Dangerous Operation to Remove 400 Tons of Spent Fuel
October 24th, 2013Via: Russia Today: Fukushima operator TEPCO is getting ready for its toughest and the most dangerous clean-up operation. In November it will try to remove 400 tons of spent fuel from plant’s Reactor No. 4. But even a little mistake may result in a new nuclear disaster. The operation is scheduled to start in the […]
Not Round Up Ready: El Salvador Votes to Ban Glyphostate
October 23rd, 2013Via: GM Watch: El Salvador has voted to ban glyphosate, the pesticide that most GM crops are designed to be grown with, along with 52 other chemicals.
The Sixth Stage of Collapse
October 23rd, 2013Dmitry We’re-Fucked-No-Matter-What Orlov outlines how the light at the end of the civilization tunnel is the train. Via: Club Orlov: A solution for avoiding the sixth stage must be found, but I don’t know what that solution would look like. I do find it unsafe to blithely assume that collapse will simply take care of […]
The Rise of Geoengineering
October 22nd, 2013Via: Independent: Geoengineering technologies are the stuff of Hollywood disaster movies. Researchers have suggested sending a giant glass sunshade into space to reflect light; the eruption of artificial volcanoes, or spraying of sulphate aerosols into the stratosphere; dissolving mountains and putting remains in the sea; and, least dramatically, perhaps, filing the ocean with iron filings […]
China: Smog Emergency Shuts City of 11 Million People
October 20th, 2013Via: Reuters: Choking smog all but shut down one of northeastern China’s largest cities on Monday, forcing schools to suspended classes, snarling traffic and closing the airport, in the country’s first major air pollution crisis of the winter. An index measuring PM2.5, or particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5), reached a reading […]
Mexico Bans GE Corn
October 19th, 2013Via: Care2: Just when you think there’s no winning against the biotech industry, news out of Mexico City shows that all is not lost. After years of deliberation, a Mexico judge has placed an indefinite ban on genetically-engineered corn. Effective immediately, companies like Monsanto and DuPont/Pioneer will no longer be allowed to plant or sell […]
India: Cyclone Phailin
October 11th, 2013Via: Accuweather: India is expected to suffer catastrophic impacts from Severe Tropical Cyclone Phailin in less than 12 hours. Destructive winds well over 160 kph (100 mph) and flooding rain of at least 100-200 mm (4-8 inches) is expected across a wide area. There will be a crippling storm surge of 4-6 meters (14-20 feet), […]
South Dakota: Early Blizzard Killed 75,000 Cattle
October 10th, 2013Via: NBC: An unusually early and enormous snowstorm over the weekend caught South Dakota ranchers and farmers unprepared, killing tens of thousands of cattle and ravaging the state’s $7 billion industry — an industry left without assistance because of the federal government shutdown. As many as 75,000 cattle have perished since the storm slammed the […]
Japan Finally Seeks International Help with Fukushima Crisis
October 9th, 2013Via: CBS: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan is open to receiving overseas help to contain widening radioactive water leaks at the crippled nuclear plant in Fukushima, with leaks and mishaps reported almost daily. Abe made the comments Sunday in a speech at an international science forum in Kyoto in western Japan. “We are wide […]
And The Winner Of The World Food Prize Is… The Man From Monsanto
October 8th, 2013Via: NPR: Ever heard of the World Food Prize? It’s sometimes called the “Nobel Prize for food and agriculture,” but it has struggled to get people’s attention. Prize winners tend to be agricultural insiders, and many are scientists. Last year’s laureate, for instance, was , a pioneer of water-saving “micro-irrigation.” This year, though, the World […]
