NEW YORK, New York, 22 May 2012 (ENS) – Oceans cover about 72 percent of Earth’s surface area and there are an estimated 250,000 marine species. “Yet, despite its importance, marine biodiversity has not fared well at human hands,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today in his message to mark the International Day for Biological […]
By ALICIA CHANG, AP Science Writer28 May 2012 Across the vast Pacific, the mighty bluefin tuna carried radioactive contamination that leaked from Japan’s crippled nuclear plant to the shores of the United States 6,000 miles away – the first time a huge migrating fish has been shown to carry radioactivity such a distance. “We were […]
1. Potomac RiverPollution and Clean Water Act rollbacks have national implications. 2. Green RiverWater withdrawals could threaten a water-strapped region. 3. Chattahoochee RiverNew dams and reservoirs threaten to dry up the river flow. 4. Missouri RiverOutdated flood management putting public safety at risk. 5. Hoback RiverNatural gas development putting clean water, world-class fishing and wildlife […]
Trends in number of global freeflowing rivers greater than 1,000km in length Trends from pre-1900 to the present day and estimated to 2020 (line), in comparison with the number of rivers dammed over time (bars). WWF, 2006 The rapid development of water management infrastructure – such as dams, dykes, levees, and diversion channels – have […]
[Not a surprise to Desdemona readers.] By Erin Hale, www.guardian.co.uk15 May 2012 Twenty years on from the Rio Earth summit, the environment of the planet is getting worse not better, according to a report from WWF. Swelling population, mass migration to cities, increasing energy use and soaring carbon dioxide emissions mean humanity is putting a […]
8 May 2012 (MCCIP) – The Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP) launched its latest Report Card [pdf] today at the World Fisheries Congress in Edinburgh. It focuses on how climate change is affecting the fish and shellfish we find in our seas, providing both opportunities and threats, and what the social and economic consequences […]
4 April 2012 (Surfmeisters) – Ocean lovers everywhere, we are at crisis point. The top predator species in the food chain of our oceans is being hunted to extinction. Some shark specie populations are estimated to have declined by over 99% since the 1970′s! The repercussions for marine eco-systems are dramatic and have devastating consequences […]
Watch Gulf Still Grapples With Massive BP Oil Leak 2 Years Later on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour. [Sorry for the ad.] 20 April 2012 (PBS) – Two years after the largest oil leak in U.S. history, the Gulf of Mexico region still struggles with its impact. Jeffrey Brown, David Valentine of the University […]
By Sandy Bauers, Inquirer Staff Writer20 April 2012 The scientists were a little tired and burned out. For two weeks, they had been aboard a research ship in the Gulf of Mexico, trying to find and analyze deep-sea communities of coral on the dark bottom, nearly a mile below. A robot submersible was down there […]
By Dahr Jamail 19 April 2012 NEW ORLEANS (IPS/Al Jazeera) – “The fishermen have never seen anything like this,” Jim Cowan told Al Jazeera. “And in my 20 years working on red snapper, looking at somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 fish, I’ve never seen anything like this either.” Cowan, with Louisiana State University’s Department of […]
