Archive for the 'Environment' Category
Thousands of Dead Pigs Found in Shanghai River
March 11th, 2013Drinking water quality normal, comrade. Via: South China Morning Post: Chinese officials have found a total of 3,323 dead pigs in a Shanghai river as of Monday afternoon and discovered swine virus in one of them, but they have stressed that the disease is not known to be infectious to humans. The virus is known […]
China: Data About Soil Pollution a ‘State Secret’
March 11th, 2013Don’t worry, they’re just a few Five-Year-Plans away from having the clean, green farmscrapers up and running. Via: Reuters: When China’s environment ministry told attorney Dong Zhengwei he couldn’t have access to two-year old data about soil pollution because it was a “state secret”, it added to mounting public outrage over the worsening environment. Microbloggers, […]
Some Farmers Fed Up with Paying Premium Prices for GM Seeds that Result in Increased Pest Resistance and Crop Failures
March 8th, 2013It would be nice to know a bit more detail about what “some U.S. farmers” means. Via: Farmers Weekly: Some US farmers are considering returning to conventional seed after increased pest resistance and crop failures meant GM crops saw smaller yields globally than their non-GM counterparts. Farmers in the USA pay about an extra $100 […]
China: Concept for Cairn-Shaped Farmscrapers
March 6th, 2013While I definitely wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for any of these to be built, my guess is that you would be hard pressed to find a better gallery of sci-fi cityscapes to look at while you waste time at work. Via: Vincent Callebaut Architectures: Related: Secret Organic Gardens for China’s Elite China Acknowledges ‘Cancer […]
China Acknowledges ‘Cancer Villages’
February 24th, 2013Via: BBC: China’s environment ministry appears to have acknowledged the existence of so-called “cancer villages” after years of public speculation about the impact of pollution in certain areas. For years campaigners have said cancer rates in some villages near factories and polluted waterways have shot up. But the term “cancer village” has no technical definition […]
6 Tanks at Hanford Nuclear Site Leaking Radioactive Waste
February 23rd, 2013Via: Reuters: Six underground storage tanks at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation along the Columbia River in Washington state were recently found to be leaking radioactive waste, but there is no immediate risk to human health, state and federal officials said on Friday. The seeping waste adds to decades of soil contamination caused by leaking storage […]
Midway: Message from the Gyre
February 22nd, 2013Via: Midway Journey:
USDA Received Pathogen Warning Before Deregulating GM Alfalfa
February 22nd, 2013Via: Activist Post: Following a 6 year approval battle, the USDA fully deregulated Monsanto’s Roundup Ready alfalfa in January 2011. A week later, they partially deregulated GM sugar beets. This occurred despite Secretary of Agriculture’s Tom Vilsack’s knowledge of a stark warning letter by Dr. Don M. Huber, Emeritus Professor of Plant Pathology, Purdue University […]
Chelyabinsk Meteor Was Largest to Hit the Earth in Over a Century
February 19th, 2013Via: Wall Street Journal: The meteor that crashed to earth in Russia was about 55 feet in diameter, weighed around 10,000 tons and was made from a stony material, scientists said, making it the largest such object to hit the Earth in more than a century. Large pieces of it have yet to be found. […]
Hundreds Injured After Meteorite Crashes in Russia
February 15th, 2013Update: Meteorite Hits Central Russia, More than 500 People Hurt Via: Reuters: More than 500 people were injured when a meteorite shot across the sky and exploded over central Russia on Friday, sending fireballs crashing to Earth, shattering windows and damaging buildings. — DA14, is that you? Turn the volume down before you play these: […]
