By Jim Efstathiou Jr. 11 August 2011 Natural-gas companies risk causing serious environmental damage from hydraulic fracturing unless they commit to the best engineering practices, a task force named by Energy Secretary Steven Chu concluded. Regulations to protect public health will work best when drillers embrace techniques that avoid “undesirable consequences,” according to a draft […]
August 10 (NWF) – Populations trends are declining for mule deer and pronghorn antelope herds on both sides of the Colorado-Wyoming border and herds may not be able to fully recover unless federal and state agencies act to protect core habitats, according to a report released today by the National Wildlife Federation. “We are seeing […]
ABUJA, Nigeria, August 5, 2011 (ENS) – Pollution from over 50 years of oil operations in the Ogoniland region of Nigeria is poisoning communities by contaminating their air, land and drinking water, an in-depth scientific assessment by the United Nations Environment Programme reveals. Conducted at the request of the Nigerian government, the UNEP report blames […]
CHAUVIN, Louisiana, August 5, 2011 (ENS) – This year’s dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is roughly equal to the land area of the state of New Jersey, scientists said this week. At 6,765 square miles, this area of low oxygen is the 10th largest on record and is considered about average for the […]
By David Biello25 May 2011 (Scientific American) – The human enterprise now consumes nearly 60 billion metric tons of minerals, ores, fossil fuels and plant materials, such as crop plants and trees for timber or paper. Meanwhile, the seven billionth person on the planet is expected to be born this year—and the human population may […]
By Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent, www.guardian.co.uk28 July 2011 It was seen as one of the most distressing effects of climate change ever recorded: polar bears dying of exhaustion after being stranded between melting patches of Arctic sea ice. But now the government scientist who first warned of the threat to polar bears in a […]
By Verna Gates; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Ellen Wulfhorst10 July 2011 BIRMINGHAM, Ala (Reuters) – Thousands of baby pelicans grunt and hiss at their parents in tightly packed nests on Gaillard Island, a feathered paradise situated off the coast of Alabama. The 1,300-acre, man-made island is hosting more than 50,000 birds this summer as […]
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy 11 July 2011 The hydraulic system that powered the blowout preventer at BP’s failed Macondo well may never have had the capacity to stop last year’s Gulf of Mexico spill or any other such emergency, investigators say. But that possible deficiency — and other findings about the equipment used as a […]
New Study Details Changes in Soil Chemistry and Devastation of Trees and Plants Contact: Kirsten Stade (202) 265-73376 July 2011 Washington, DC — A new study has found that wastewater from natural gas hydrofracturing in a West Virginia national forest quickly wiped out all ground plants, killed more than half of the trees and caused […]
By Rob Evans, Richard Cookson, and Terry Macalister, www.guardian.co.uk 5 July 2011 Serious spills of oil and gas from North Sea platforms are occurring at the rate of one a week, undermining oil companies’ claims to be doing everything possible to improve the safety of rigs. Shell has emerged as one of the top offenders […]
