Archive for the 'Environment' Category
China: Yangtze River Drought Crisis Forces Government to Release Five Billion Cubic Meters of Water from Three Gorges Reservoir
May 26th, 2011More iPads! *BOOM* *CRASH* Via: Guardian: The Yangtze – Asia’s biggest river – is experiencing its worst drought in 50 years, forcing an unprecedented release of water from the Three Gorges reservoir. The drought is damaging crops, threatening wildlife and raising doubts about the viability of China’s massive water diversion ambitions. Between now and 10 […]
Amazon Rainforest Activist, and His Wife, Shot Dead
May 26th, 2011Via: Guardian: Six months after predicting his own murder, a leading rainforest defender has reportedly been gunned down in the Brazilian Amazon. José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife, Maria do Espírito Santo, are said to have been killed in an ambush near their home in Nova Ipixuna, in Pará state, about 37 miles […]
Demand for Personal Geiger Counters Soars in Japan
May 26th, 2011Via: Reuters: With a nuclear plant just 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo still leaking radiation, demand for personal Geiger counters has skyrocketed in the Japanese capital and manufacturers are struggling to keep up with the demand. Engineers are battling to plug radiation leaks and bring the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant under control more […]
Soil Contamination from Fukushima Crisis Comparable to Chernobyl
May 25th, 2011Via: Japan Today: Radiation released by the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has caused soil contamination matching the levels seen in the Chernobyl disaster in some areas, a researcher told the government’s nuclear policy-setting body Tuesday. ‘‘A massive soil decontamination project will be indispensable before residents in those areas can return,’’ said Tomio Kawata, […]
Risk From Spent Nuclear Reactor Fuel Is Greater in U.S. Than in Japan
May 25th, 2011Via: New York Times: The threat of a catastrophic release of radioactive materials from a spent fuel pool at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant is dwarfed by the risk posed by such pools in the United States, which are typically filled with far more radioactive material, according to a study released on Tuesday by a nonprofit […]
Fukushima: Workers Suffer from Internal Radiation Exposure
May 23rd, 2011Via: Mainichi: The government has discovered thousands of cases of workers at nuclear power plants outside Fukushima Prefecture suffering from internal exposure to radiation after they visited the prefecture, the head of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said. Most of the workers who had internal exposure to radiation visited Fukushima after the nuclear crisis […]
Tornado Destroys Joplin, Missouri
May 23rd, 2011Via: Missourinet: Emergency responders from throughout Missouri have descended on Joplin after a mile-wide tornado devastated the Southwest Missouri town. Twenty four are confirmed dead, dozens are still missing.
Texas: Alpha Radiation in Harris County Drinking Water
May 22nd, 2011Via: KHOU: Newly-released e-mails from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality show the agency’s top commissioners directed staff to continue lowering radiation test results, in defiance of federal EPA rules. The e-mails and documents, released under order from the Texas Attorney General to KHOU-TV, also show the agency was attempting to help water systems get […]
Homes Saved from Flooding Mississippi River with DIY Levees
May 20th, 2011Must see pictures. Via: Daily Mail: We’ve all undertaken home improvements but these residents in flood-stricken Mississippi have had to embark on major construction projects just to protect their houses and livelihoods. These homes in Vicksburg are all situated along the Yazoo River, a tributary of the overflowing Mississippi River, and their owners have surrounded […]
The Strange Case of Solar Flares Changing Rates of Radioactive Decay
May 18th, 2011Via: Standford University News: No one knows how neutrinos could interact with radioactive materials to change their rate of decay. “It doesn’t make sense according to conventional ideas,” Fischbach said. Jenkins whimsically added, “What we’re suggesting is that something that doesn’t really interact with anything is changing something that can’t be changed.”
