The elemental form of mercury is not as toxic to humans and wildlife as the organic form of mercury, methylmercury, which can accumulate in blood, feathers, and fur. An inorganic element found in the earth’s crust, mercury is naturally released into the environment through geological events such as volcanic eruptions. Elemental mercury (abbreviated Hg, from […]
[The usual Desdemona disclaimer: So the leaders of men conceived of their most desperate strategy yet.] 12 October 2011 A U.S. panel has called for a concerted effort to study proposals to manipulate the climate to slow global warming — a heretical notion among some environmentalists. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, Jane C. […]
Caption by William L. Stefanov, Jacobs/ESCG at NASA-JSC10 October 2011 The rainforest of South America, also known as Amazonia, has been undergoing a continual and accelerated conversion process into farmlands (including pasture for livestock) since the early 1960s. This process has typically been achieved by clearing the forest using fire—“slash and burn”—followed by planting of […]
By Ben Raines, Press-Register 12 October 2011 DAUPHIN ISLAND, Alabama – A dolphin carcass, bloated and violet in the morning sun, was found on Fort Morgan early Saturday, bringing the number lost since the BP oil spill to more than 400. Three other dolphins have washed up in Alabama in the past week, including a […]
An oil spill from a stranded cargo ship off New Zealand is the country’s worst environmental disaster in decades, the government says. Officials say 350 tonnes of oil may have leaked from the 775ft (236m) Rena, which ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef off the port of Tauranga on Wednesday. Bad weather has halted work […]
By Faimon A. Roberts, Advocate Florida Parishes bureau11 OCtober 2011 This year’s white shrimp harvest in the waters off Louisiana’s southeastern coast is significantly lower than in the past, forcing some people in the industry to look elsewhere for product and scale back operations while others blame the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. “I […]
By Seth Koenig, BDN Staff7 October 2011 SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — They’re called dead muds. Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere combined with unregulated nitrogen pollution are having a deadly effect on Maine’s shellfish, some researchers say. Scientists are starting to measure the impact of increasingly acidic waters on coastal organisms, and what […]
IITATE, October 8 (The Economist) – CREST the hill into the village of Iitate, and the reading on a radiation dosimeter surges eightfold—even with the car windows shut. “Don’t worry, I’ve been coming here for months and I’m still alive,” chuckles Chohei Sato, chief of the village council, as he rolls down the window and […]
By Jeff Kart, Bay City, Michigan9 October 2011 Elkhorn coral is endangered. And it’s being threatened by us, as in humans, and what we flush down the toilet. A recent study published in the journal PLoS One says that human sewage is largely responsible for a disease which is killing off elkhorn coral in Florida. […]
October 3 (Mainichi Japan) – Three months after the start of full-scale water circulation system operations at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, high-level radioactive waste has kept piling up amid no clear indications of its final disposal destination. As of Sept. 27, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) had accumulated about […]
