Archive for November 11th, 2015

Partner in Canada’s Energy East struggled with pollution controls

Reuters: Irving Oil, the company seeking to become the gatekeeper for a new crude oil pipeline from western Canada to the Atlantic Ocean, has struggled to control air pollution at its existing marine terminal in Saint John, New Brunswick. Irving Oil records reviewed by Reuters show the vapor recovery equipment at the terminal on the edge of the province's largest city was shut 37 percent of the time between December 2012 and March 2015 due to near-constant mechanical problems, as millions of barrels of...

El Nino may stir grain markets more than Black Sea drought

Reuters: El Nino could have a bigger impact on grain and oilseed markets than drought in Russia and Ukraine, which may be alleviated before the crucial spring growth period, analysts said on Wednesday. "You can't have a drought problem overnight," David Hightower, president of research firm The Hightower Report, said of conditions in Russia and Ukraine. Speaking at the Global Grain conference in Geneva, he said El Nino, however, could have far-reaching effects if it lowers palm oil output in top producers...

Climate Change Bites Kenyan Tea Farmers

Inter Press Service: You wouldn`t typically expect heavy rainfall and frost in East Africa. But the Earth`s climate is changing -- and this is affecting one of the world`s largest tea-producing regions, in central Kenya. For Joseph Mwangi and his wife, picking tea early in the morning has become more difficult lately. "We have been experiencing frost on the leaves," Mwangi says. "This makes it hard to work, because the frost stings our hands," he added. Mwangi and his wife Alice Muthoni earn their living as tea-pickers...

Research links tundra fires, thawing permafrost

ScienceDaily: Wildfires on Arctic tundra can contribute to widespread permafrost thaw much like blazes in forested areas, according to a study published in the most recent issue of the online journal Scientific Reports. The project, led by the U.S. Geological Survey, examined the effects of the massive Anaktuvuk River fire, which burned roughly 1,000 square kilometers of tundra on Alaska's North Slope in 2007. Using aerial data, researchers detected permafrost thaw in about a third of the fire's footprint, compared...

Monsanto Slammed With Yet Another PCB Contamination Lawsuit as Company Profits Slump

EcoWatch: Embattled agritech giant Monsanto is facing fresh litigation over harm caused by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a highly toxic chemical that the company manufactured decades ago. The city of Oakland, California filed a lawsuit that holds Monsanto accountable for allegedly contaminating of the city`s storm water as well as the San Francisco Bay with PCBs. Before focusing its operations on agrotechnology and supplying the world with its genetically modified seeds, Monsanto was the primary...