Biology
Breach
August 24, 2009, from Huffington Post
Records that tracked the amount of the weed-killer atrazine in about 150 watersheds from 2003 through 2008 were obtained by the Huffington Post Investigative Fund under the Freedom of Information Act. An analysis found that yearly average levels of atrazine in drinking water violated the federal standard at least ten times in communities in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Kansas, all states where farmers rely heavily on the herbicide.
In addition, more than 40 water systems in those states showed spikes in atrazine levels that normally would have triggered automatic notification of customers. In none of those cases were residents alerted....
In recent years atrazine has been the subject of intensive debate among scientists about its effects on the reproductive systems of frogs and other vertebrate animals. In some studies, male frogs that were exposed to high levels of atrazine have been documented to grow eggs.
August 24, 2009, from Associated Press
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A law that takes effect this week could make criminals out of those who bring Tupperware onto many of Missouri's rivers.
Lawmakers intended to reduce floating debris and pollution from abandoned foam coolers in the state's waterways. But they confused their plastics, and instead of banning Styrofoam, they criminalized the plastic containers found in many kitchens but seldom used to ferry beer and soda down a river.
The mix up means boaters and river floaters can still use foam coolers without fear. But someone who brings dishwasher-safe containers risks up to a year in jail.
August 24, 2009, from St. Paul Pioneer Press
Call it Lake Elmo's Big Dig.
Beginning this summer, enough garbage will be removed from the Washington County Landfill to fill the Metrodome five times.
"Look at this -- it's the size of a football stadium," shouted Jeffrey Lewis over the racket of bulldozers as he pointed to an enormous pit this month. "And this is only one-eighth of it."
Lewis, who manages landfill cleanups for the state, is chasing an environmental bogeyman -- PFCs, or perfluorochemicals -- made by 3M Co.
The clear, odorless PFCs are seeping into the soil from 2.5 million cubic yards of garbage. So Lewis is overseeing the effort to dig up the entire 60-acre site, install liners and replace the garbage.
At $21 million, it easily will be the most expensive landfill cleanup in state history.
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Climate
Chaos
August 24, 2009, from via ScienceDaily
UC Davis' annual Lake Tahoe health report describes a spreading Asian clam population that could put sharp shells and rotting algae on the spectacular mountain lake's popular beaches, possibly aid an invasion of quagga and zebra mussels, and even affect lake clarity and ecology. The dime-sized Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea) that is the researchers' top concern this year probably has been in the lake for only 10 years, but it is already replacing native pea clams in lake sediments. In the areas where they are most numerous, Asian clams comprise almost half of the benthic, or sediment-dwelling, organisms, the report says.
August 24, 2009, from Canadian Press
Climate change is already having a dramatic effect on plants in the High Arctic, turning the once rocky tundra a deep shade of green and creating what could be another mechanism speeding up global warming.
In a new study to be published in the November issue of the journal Ecology, University of British Columbia geographer Greg Henry has, for the first time, confirmed that rapidly rising temperatures in the Arctic are creating major changes in the plants that live there... the average temperature in the area has increased by about 2.5 C -- "an extremely rapid change," says Henry... Henry said the new, denser, shrubbier tundra could speed up global warming even further simply because that vegetation is darker and absorbs more solar energy. Previous studies have suggested that a global spread of thicker plant growth on the tundra could have the same effect as doubling the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
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Resource
Depletion
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Recovery
August 24, 2012, from IPAC-CO2, via EurekAlert
Only two per cent of Canadians believe climate change is not occurring, a new important survey released today by IPAC-CO2 Research Inc. concluded.
The survey comes on the heels of Alberta Premier Alison Redford's recent push for a National Energy Strategy, which would address the future of Canada's oil and gas industries, and its approach to carbon management.
"Our survey indicates that Canadians from coast to coast overwhelmingly believe climate change is real and is occurring, at least in part due to human activity" explained Dr. Carmen Dybwad, CEO of the environmental non-government organization. "These findings have been consistent from 2011 and 2012. Canadians care about issues like extreme weather, drought and climate change."
August 24, 2012, from League of Conservation Voters, via DesdemonaDespair
Sign our petition to ask Obama and Romney this question in the first debate! Help us put the climate crisis in the national spotlight by calling on Jim Lehrer, the moderator of the first presidential debate, to ask about global warming in the first presidential debate.
August 24, 2009, from London Times
Warm ice cream is the holy grail for scientists at Unilever, owner of the Magnum and Ben & Jerry's brands, which is developing a "low-carbon" product to be sold at room temperature and frozen at home.
Unilever hopes that a product sold at room temperature will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Ice cream is one of the company's more energy-intensive products because of the need to keep it frozen during transport and storage... A spokesman for Unilever said that warm, or so-called ambient, ice cream was a "very interesting idea" but one that posed tough challenges that its scientists were trying to solve.
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