Archive for the 'Environment' Category
‘Study Predicts Imminent Irreversible Planetary Collapse’
August 14th, 2012Via: Simon Fraser University: The authors recommend governments undertake five actions immediately if we are to have any hope of delaying or minimizing a planetary-state-shift. Arne Mooers, an SFU biodiversity professor and a co-author of this study, summarizes them as follows. “Society globally has to collectively decide that we need to drastically lower our population […]
Fukushima Fallout ‘Caused Physiological and Genetic Damage’ to Butterflies
August 13th, 2012Via: Nature: The collapse of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant caused a massive release of radioactive materials to the environment. A prompt and reliable system for evaluating the biological impacts of this accident on animals has not been available. Here we show that the accident caused physiological and genetic damage to the pale grass […]
South Pacific: 7500sq Miles of Pumice from Underwater Volcano; ‘The Wierdest Thing I’ve Seen in 18 Years at Sea’
August 13th, 2012Via: Scoop: An area of floating pumice 250 nautical miles in length and 30 nautical miles wide was spotted in the South Pacific ocean yesterday by a Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) Orion. The RNZAF Orion, which was on Maritime patrol from Samoa to New Zealand, relayed the information to HMNZS CANTERBURY and last […]
Demand for Water Outstrips Supply
August 9th, 2012Via: Nature: Almost one-quarter of the world’s population lives in regions where groundwater is being used up faster than it can be replenished, concludes a comprehensive global analysis of groundwater depletion, published this week in Nature1. Across the world, human civilizations depend largely on tapping vast reservoirs of water that have been stored for up […]
Toxic Clenbuterol in Chinese and Mexican Meat
July 29th, 2012Via: CBC: Fearing tainted meat, China’s women’s volleyball team has stuck to a strict vegetarian diet for the last three weeks — which the team’s coach is now blaming for his athletes’ abysmal performance. The Chinese team lost four of five matches at a world tournament that ended Sunday in Ningbo, China, falling to the […]
Japan to Probe Active Faults Under Nuclear Plants
July 19th, 2012Via: AFP: Japan’s nuclear safety watchdog on Wednesday ordered a probe into claims the country’s only working nuclear power station sits on an active tectonic fault. The order came as Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) readied to refire a second reactor at the Oi plant, western Japan, just weeks after the first unit was restarted, […]
USDA Prepares To Greenlight Gnarliest GMO Soy Yet
July 18th, 2012Via: Mother Jones: In early July, on the sleepy Friday after Independence Day, the USDA quietly signaled its intention to greenlight a new genetically engineered soybean seed from Dow AgroSciences. The product is designed to produce soy plants that withstand 2,4-D, a highly toxic herbicide (and, famously, the less toxic component in the notorious Vietnam […]
U.S. Geoengineers to Spray Sun-Reflecting Chemicals from Balloon
July 18th, 2012Mmm hmm. Via: Guardian: Two Harvard engineers are to spray sun-reflecting chemical particles into the atmosphere to artificially cool the planet, using a balloon flying 80,000 feet over Fort Sumner, New Mexico. The field experiment in solar geoengineering aims to ultimately create a technology to replicate the observed effects of volcanoes that spew sulphates into […]
Unknown Mystery Creatures Washing Ashore in Hawaii
July 18th, 2012[???] Via: Nine MSN: Biologists have been left mystified by millions of tiny purple creatures washed ashore on beaches in Hawaii. The pea-sized, crab-like animals are dotting the beaches in Honolulu but scientists are yet to determine what they are, TV station KHON2 reports.
China Plans Nuclear Deep-Sea Mining Base
July 15th, 2012Via: Wired: A Chinese company is set to build a nuclear-powered mobile deep-sea station in the western Pacific, according to local reports. The China Ship Scientific Research Centre’s proposed station — which will have huge propellers to enable free movement in the ocean depths — will be manned by 33 crew for up to two […]
