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[Resource Depletion]: from Financial Times, Mon May 20 2013:
China: High and dry
...In the face of China's rapid economic expansion and growing presence on the global stage, it is often forgotten that the country is running out of water. In per capita terms, China's water resources are just a quarter of the world average. Eight of China's 28 provinces are as parched as countries in the Middle East such as Jordan and Syria, according to China Water Risk, a consultancy based in Hong Kong....The economic problems are formidable, with the water shortage threatening to slam a brake on growth.
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Let them drink Coke.
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[Read more stories about: water issues]
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[Climate Chaos]: from GreenTech Media, Mon May 20 2013:
How Low Can Utility Emissions Go?
When it comes to emissions, carbon dioxide tends to get the lion's share of the headlines.
But there have been large gains in some of the other major emissions of the largest power producers in the U.S., according to a new report from NRDC and major energy companies, Benchmarking Air Emissions.
The ninth annual report found that sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) are 70 percent and 72 percent lower, respectively, than they were in 1990. Mercury is down 40 percent since 2000, the first year that it was tracked.
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In the post-Apocalypse we can (gingerly) pat ourselves on our leprosy-infested backs.
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[Read more stories about: airborne pollutants, climate impacts, carbon emissions, habitat loss, smart policy]
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[Plague/Virus]: from Washington Post, Mon May 20 2013:
Measles outbreaks flourish in UK years after discredited research tied measles shot to autism
More than a decade ago, British parents refused to give measles shots to at least a million children because of now discredited research that linked the vaccine to autism. Now, health officials are scrambling to catch up and stop a growing epidemic of the contagious disease.
This year, the U.K. has had more than 1,200 cases of measles, after a record number of nearly 2,000 cases last year. The country once recorded only several dozen cases every year. It now ranks second in Europe, behind only Romania.
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Why were these two people allowed to have so many children!
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[Read more stories about: pandemic]
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[Climate Chaos]: from University of Colorado at Boulder, Mon May 20 2013:
World's Melting Glaciers Making Large Contribution to Sea Rise
While 99 percent of Earth's land ice is locked up in the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, the remaining ice in the world's glaciers contributed just as much to sea rise as the two ice sheets combined from 2003 to 2009, says a new study led by Clark University and involving the University Colorado Boulder. The new research found that all glacial regions lost mass from 2003 to 2009, with the biggest ice losses occurring in Arctic Canada, Alaska, coastal Greenland, the southern Andes and the Himalayas.
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This loss of mass is likely responsible for the growing obesity epidemic.
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[Read more stories about: arctic meltdown, anthropogenic change, rising sea level]
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[Climate Chaos]: from Science Daily, Thu May 16 2013:
Methane Emissions Higher Than Thought Across Much of U.S.
After taking a rented camper outfitted with special equipment to measure methane on a cross-continent drive, a UC Santa Barbara scientist has found that methane emissions across large parts of the U.S. are higher than currently known, confirming what other more local studies have found. Their research is published in the journal Atmospheric Environment....
Leifer was joined by two UCSB undergraduate students on the road trip from Los Angeles to Florida, taking a primarily southern route through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, and along the Gulf of Mexico. They used specialized instrumentation, a gas chromatograph, to measure methane. The device was mounted in the RV, with an air ram on the roof that collected air samples from in front of the vehicle....
The researchers meandered slowly through areas of fossil fuel activity, such as petroleum and natural gas production, refining, and distribution areas, and other areas of interest. The wide range of sources studied included a coal-loading terminal, a wildfire, and wetlands.
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This would be scarier if I believed in "science."
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[Read more stories about: methane release, anthropogenic change, death spiral]
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[Climate Chaos]: from Scientific American, Wed May 15 2013:
Climate Change Has Shifted the Location of the North and South Poles
Researchers at the University of Texas, Austin, report that increased melting of the Greenland ice sheet -- and to a lesser degree, ice loss in other parts of the globe -- helped to shift the North Pole several centimeters east each year since 2005.
"There was a big change," says lead author Jianli Chen, a geophysicist.
From 1982 to 2005, the pole drifted southeast toward northern Labrador, Canada, at a rate of about 2 milliarcseconds --or roughly 6 centimetres -- per year. But in 2005, the pole changed course and began galloping east toward Greenland at a rate of more than 7 milliarcseconds per year....
Chen estimates that data on polar shifts goes back roughly a century, well before the advent of Earth-monitoring satellites. "We don't have a long record of measuring the polar ice sheet," he says. "But for polar motion, we have a long record."
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Humans have long since lost track of true north.
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[Read more stories about: melting glaciers, arctic meltdown]
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[Recovery]: from US Pirg, Tue May 14 2013:
New Report: Reduction in Driving Likely to Continue
As the average number of miles driven by Americans heads into its eighth year of decline, a new report from the U.S. PIRG Education Fund finds that the slowdown in driving is likely to continue. Baby Boomers are moving out of the phase in their life when they do the most commuting, while driving-averse Millennials move into that phase. These demographic changes and other factors will likely keep driving down for decades... The Millennial generation is leading the change in transportation trends. 16 to 34-year-olds drove a whopping 23 percent fewer miles on average in 2009 than in 2001" the greatest decline in driving of any age group.
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Shoot. There goes the resale value on my my Chevrolet Millennial.
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[Read more stories about: airborne pollutants, climate impacts, climate impacts, carbon emissions, wisdom]
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[Biology Breach]: from Michigan Live, Tue May 14 2013:
Small crack found in tank at Palisades nuclear plant; inspection still ongoing, executives say
Eight days after Palisades Nuclear Power Plant shut down May 5, an inspection is still ongoing of the safety injection refueling water tank.
Until that inspection is complete, residents of Southwest Michigan won't know what the permanent solution to repair the leaking tank will be. It will, however, have to pass muster with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph....So far, the inspection has turned up a crack about ˝-inch-long around a nozzle...
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A little crack goes a looooong way.
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[Read more stories about: contamination, health impacts, radiation]
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[Recovery]: from InsideClimate News, Mon May 13 2013:
A Rare Bipartisan Clean Energy Bill Is Ready for Passage
...Legislation is moving through both houses to tweak the tax code to let clean energy developers form a master limited partnership, or MLP, a type of publicly traded company structure not subject to corporate taxes.
For three decades, coal, oil and gas companies have used MLPs to raise hundreds of billions of dollars for pipelines, refineries and other projects. The financing vehicle is credited with helping sustain the nation's current drilling boom....No one expects much opposition to the Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act, the companion bills introduced last month. Co-sponsors include conservative Republicans and legislators from oil and gas states. The American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry's main trade group, is among its backers.
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I'd say "hell freezing over" except that the Arctic is already melting.
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[Read more stories about: anthropogenic change, carbon emissions, renewable energy, climate impacts]
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[Species Collapse]: from BBC, Mon May 13 2013:
'Dramatic decline' warning for plants and animals
More than half of common plant species and a third of animals could see a serious decline in their habitat range because of climate change.
New research suggests that biodiversity ...
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[Plague/Virus]: from New Scientist, Sat May 11 2013:
Plague of locusts blankets Madagascar
A locust plague of epic size is devastating the island nation of Madagascar, threatening the lives of 13 million people already on the brink of famine.
Billions of locusts ...
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[Biology Breach]: from Maclean's, Thu May 9 2013:
When Science Goes Silent
... It's just one of many such stories of muzzled federal scientists and suppressed research that are being brought to the union's attention, he says. All against the backdrop ...
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[Climate Chaos]: from Al Jazeera, Wed May 8 2013:
Climate talks end inconclusively, again
Another week of international climate negotiations ended in Bonn, Germany on Friday, but there was little mid-level bureaucrats could do when world leaders remain in thrall ...
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[Climate Chaos]: from The Keeling Curve, Mon May 6 2013:
The Keeling Curve
Want to watch the slow-motion trainwreck of our climate in real time? Go to the Keeling Curve web site and see current ppm rate of CO2 concentration as we march inexorably ...
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[Climate Chaos]: from BBC, Mon May 6 2013:
Arctic Ocean 'acidifying rapidly'
Scientists from the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) monitored widespread changes in ocean chemistry in the region....
It is well known that CO2 warms ...
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Apoc-o-Meter
from the last 7 days
or visit our:
"Perfect as a bathroom reader."
Humoring the Horror of the
Converging Emergencies
94 color pages
$24.99 now $15!
Or read FREE online!
Play:
It's weekly, funny, and free!
Random Sample PANIQuestion:
What is most troubling about Australian swine flu?
a) It is resistant to Tamiflu.
b) It makes you grow horns.
c) It is mixing with Avian flu.
d) It killed thousands.
e) It is killing swine.
Answer: It is resistant to Tamiflu.
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The ApocaDocs try to make fun of the horror of environmental collapse
by locating a handful of news items every day, and giving each a
punchline. The stories are categorized into five main topics: Species Collapse (ecosystem
interrelationships, invasive species, the sixth extinction, pesticide
effects, and more); Resource Depletion (peak oil, peak
phosphorus, overfishing, topsoil loss, aquifer declines, and more);
Biology Breach (toxic runoff, radiation, GMOs, pharmwater,
contamination, and idle destruction); Climate Chaos (global warming,
weather extremes, ocean warming, and more); and Infectious Disease
(pandemics, viruses, antibiotic resistance). To avoid deep depression,
we also include stories of Recovery
(alternative energy, innovations, species restoration, better policies, social
change, and the like).
For more information, see About The ApocaDocs.
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