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Archive for April, 2010
Why don’t we hear about toxic household items any more?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 27th, 2010
Guardian: The recent headlines about compensation payments to victims of "toxic sofa" burns have reminded me of all those stories we used to hear about brominated fire retardents and other toxic chemicals that were supposedly in many of our household items. Why don't we hear about these so much any more? Have they all now been eliminated? P Grenville, by email It's certainly a good observation: you're right, we don't hear that much now about the threat of toxic chemicals in everyday ...
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Comments Off on Why don’t we hear about toxic household items any more?Can the Sahara light up Europe with solar power?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 27th, 2010
Guardian: Desertification is a dirty word, but deserts are not entirely without their uses. Plans are underway to transform swathes of the Sahara into a glimmering sea of mirrors, with the goal of piping cheap, clean and efficient solar energy into the heart of Europe. Dubbed the Desertec Industrial Initiative, it will create vast fields of concentrated solar power (CSP) plants – arrays of mirrors which focus the sun's energy to turn water into steam, and so drive electrical turbines. From ...
Reviving the spirit of Rio
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 27th, 2010
BBC: Following the near collapse of the UN climate negotiations in December and the seeming paralysis of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in March, the whole idea of solving the world's environmental problems through multilateral negotiations seems to be in crisis. But, argue Maurice Strong and Felix Dodds, another recent development holds out the promise of reversing the trend. In two years' time, Rio de Janeiro will host another Earth Summit - 20 years ...
Beauty in Black and White: Alaska Before the Effects of Global Warming
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 27th, 2010
Scientific American: Toward the end of World War II, the U.S. Navy began mapping an area of northern Alaska extending south from the Arctic Sea across the North Slope and down to the forested valleys south of the Brooks Range. In an effort lasting a number of years, surveyors flew low in a small plane, snapping thousands of photographs with a large-format K-18 camera pointed out the craft's open door. About 10 years ago, Matthew Sturm of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and his colleagues obtained the ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Beauty in Black and White: Alaska Before the Effects of Global WarmingExperts call for hike in global water price
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 27th, 2010
Guardian: Major economies are pushing for substantial increases in the price of water around the world as concern mounts about dwindling supplies and rising population. With official UN figures showing that 1 billion people lack access to clean drinking water and more than double that number do not have proper sanitation, increases in prices will be – and in some countries are already proving to be – hugely controversial. However experts argue that as long as most countries provide huge ...
Gulf of Mexico spill may hit coast this weekend
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 27th, 2010
Reuters: A giant oil slick from a deadly offshore drilling rig explosion could hit the fragile Gulf Coast shoreline this weekend as the Coast Guard on Tuesday scrambled to staunch an underwater leak that's gushing 1,000 barrels a day into the Gulf of Mexico. The leaking well, 5,000 feet under the ocean surface off Louisiana's coast, has created an oil sheen and emulsified crude slick with a circumference of about 600 miles, covering about 28,600 square miles (74,070 sq. km), the Coast Guard ...
Living world: the shape of life to come
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 26th, 2010
New Scientist: The United Nations has made 2010 its Year of Biodiversity. While there could be as many as 30 million species on this teeming planet, so far fewer than 2 million have been identified. That includes a staggering 114,000 catalogued in the past three years alone. Our exploration of life is just beginning. No wonder the UN is keen that this year should be one of celebration. It is also time to take stock, though. Human activities are causing a mass extinction, but the right action now ...
Sugar Rises Most in Week on U.S. Quota Increase, China Drought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 26th, 2010
Bloomberg: Raw sugar rose the most in a week after the U.S. increased its import quota and on speculation that drought in China will curb production and tighten global supplies. An additional 200,000 short tons (181,437 metric tons) will be added to the original quota of 1.23 million tons for the year ending Sept. 30, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on April 23. Drought in Guangxi and Yunnan, China's top producing regions, reduced output, Liu Xiaonan, an official at the National ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Sugar Rises Most in Week on U.S. Quota Increase, China DroughtSpread of Gulf oil spill puts fragile Louisiana Coast on alert
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 26th, 2010
Christian Science Monitor: Mon Apr 26, 5:46 pm ET Recovery crews are racing to shut down or at least contain oil pouring from the well of a destroyed oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico to prevent it from reaching the fragile Louisiana coastal wetlands. The US Coast Guard reported Sunday that as many as 1,000 barrels of oil a day – or 42,000 gallons – could be leaking into the water from about 5,000 feet below the surface. The Deepwater Horizon, a oil tanker operated by BP, sank Thursday after an explosion two ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Spread of Gulf oil spill puts fragile Louisiana Coast on alertCanada: Ancient artifacts revealed as northern ice patches melt
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 26th, 2010
ScienceDaily: High in the Mackenzie Mountains, scientists are finding a treasure trove of ancient hunting tools being revealed as warming temperatures melt patches of ice that have been in place for thousands of years. Tom Andrews, an archaeologist with the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife and lead researcher on the International Polar Year Ice Patch Study, is amazed at the implements being discovered by researchers. "We're just like children opening Christmas ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada: Ancient artifacts revealed as northern ice patches melt