Blogging the End of the World™
By Tom Knudson, tknudson@sacbee.com17 April 2011 Outside Palm Desert, a young bobcat dies mysteriously at a nature preserve. South of Nevada City, a farmer finds an owl dead near his decoy shed. In San Rafael, a red-shouldered hawk bleeds heavily from its mouth and nose before succumbing at an animal care center. Each of those […]
By Quirin Schiermeier 12 April 2011 As radioisotopes pour into the sea from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, one reassuring message has been heard over and over again: the Pacific Ocean is a big place. That the isotopes will be vastly diluted is not in question. Nevertheless, scientists are calling for a marine survey […]
TOKYO, April 17 (Kyodo) – The government will decide whether people evacuated from areas around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant can return to their homes after plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. settles the crisis in six to nine months as it plans, industry minister Banri Kaieda said Sunday. … Kaieda also admitted […]
TOKYO, April 17 (Kyodo) — Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Sunday it will take at least six months before the utility can stabilize troubled nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, saying that about three months are needed to achieve a ”steady reduction” in radiation leaks. … At a news conference in Tokyo, TEPCO […]
By IAN URBINA16 April 2011 WASHINGTON — Oil and gas companies injected hundreds of millions of gallons of hazardous or carcinogenic chemicals into wells in more than 13 states from 2005 to 2009, according to an investigation by Congressional Democrats. The chemicals were used by companies during a drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or […]
April 11 (NPR) – The typical American uses 99 gallons of water a day for activities like washing clothes, bathing, toilet-flushing and cooking. But that amount doesn’t even come close to the amount of water used on a daily basis by electrical power plants. Each day, coal, nuclear and natural gas plants use about five […]
April 16 (NPR) — National Parks Week kicks off Saturday, but the celebration comes at a rough time for National Parks. Harried by federal funding cuts and urban development, the nation’s park system is also facing the rising threat of climate change. Those effects are becoming most visible in Yellowstone, one of the best known […]
By LESLIE KAUFMANPublished: April 15, 2011 Weeks after he was sworn in as governor of Maine, Paul LePage, a Tea Party favorite, announced a 63-point plan to cut environmental regulations, including opening three million acres of the North Woods for development and suspending a law meant to monitor toxic chemicals that could be found in […]
Contact: Dr. Herilala Randriamahazo, Madagascar Tortoise Conservation CoordinatorTurtle Survival Alliance/MadagascarPhone: +261 0331187993, +261 0343776701Email: herilala@turtlesurvival.org Antananarivo, Madagascar, April 8 — Despite being one of the most culturally significant and iconic species in Madagascar, the Radiated Tortoise (Astrochelys radiata) is being catapulted to extinction because it is a source of food for local people and a […]
TOKYO, April 16 (Kyodo) – The accumulated radiation level in Namie, 30 kilometers from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, in the three weeks through Friday stood at 17,010 microsieverts, according to a tally released by the science ministry Saturday. The accumulated levels during the period starting March 23 stood at 9,850 microsieverts in […]
