Blogging the End of the World™
TOKYO, April 21 (Kyodo) — Highly radioactive water that leaked into the Pacific Ocean from the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in early April contained an estimated 5,000 terabecquerels of radioactive substances, 20,000 times the annual allowable limit for the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday, adding that the leak amounted to 520 tons. […]
By JEFF DONN, AP National Writer20 April 2011 More than 3,200 oil and gas wells classified as active lie abandoned beneath the Gulf of Mexico, with no cement plugging to help prevent leaks that could threaten the same waters fouled by last year’s BP spill, The Associated Press has learned. These wells likely pose an […]
By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News21 April 2011 The Antarctic ozone hole is about one-third to blame for Australia’s recent series of droughts, scientists say. Writing in the journal Science, they conclude that the hole has shifted wind and rainfall patterns right across the Southern Hemisphere, even the tropics. Their climate models suggest the […]
21 April 2011 (NECN/CNN) – Japan has made it illegal to enter the exclusion zone near the Fukushima Nuclear Plant, but authorities say some people have moved back in, and others have been collecting possessions from their homes. The flashing red lights, the warning signs, faces covered with masks, we are entering a no-go zone. […]
April 20 (Asahi Shimbun) – High levels of radiation discovered at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant could disrupt Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s timeline for a cold shutdown of the crippled facility, TEPCO officials acknowledged. On April 18 unexpectedly high levels of radiation were detected in water in the storage pool containing spent fuel […]
NAIROBI, 20 April 2011 (IRIN) – Officials and aid workers in Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region have raised the alarm over the plight of drought-stricken villagers urgently needing food and water. “We are experiencing the worst drought we have seen in decades; since the beginning of March, we have buried 54 people who died from the […]
By Ben Raines, Press-Register 21 April 2011 Researchers contacted by the Press-Register expressed almost uniform surprise at the apparent rebound in nearshore environments a year after 200 million gallons of oil began pouring into the Gulf of Mexico. With the caveat that much remains unknown — and problems could still emerge at any time — […]
By Ben Blanchard; Editing by Chris Lewis and Robert Birsel20 April 2011 BEIJING (Reuters) – Gradually rising sea levels caused by global warming over the past 30 years have contributed to a growing number of disasters along China’s coast, state news agency Xinhua said on Wednesday. Sea levels along China’s coastline had risen 2.6 mm […]
By Jason Straziuso and Tom Odula, Associated Press 20 April 2011 NAIROBI, Kenya—Stephen Omandi scratched out the number “55” on the sign advertising buckets of maize and wrote in the new price: 60 Kenya shillings. The price hike amounted to only $0.06. But for the residents of Nairobi’s largest slum, where most people live on […]
20 April 2011 (Yomiuri Shimbun) – The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has reported to a Cabinet Office safety panel that nuclear fuel pellets in the Nos. 1 to 3 reactors at the quake-hit Fukushima power station are believed to have partially melted. The report was the first time the agency, an organ of the […]
