Graph of the Day: Loss of Headwater Streams to Mountaintop Mines and Valley Fills in Central Appalachian Coalfields, 2011

Map showing loss of headwater streams to mountaintop mines and valley fills (MTM-VF). This diagram depicts the loss of stream miles and channel complexity that can result from extensive mountaintop mining and valley filling. Solid blue lines inside valley fill areas represent buried streams. Note that some headwaters above filled areas are disconnected from the […]

Water level in Fukushima reactor basement rises dramatically as rain and groundwater leak in

BY TAKASHI SUGIMOTO, STAFF WRITER31 May 2011 Water levels in the basement of the No. 1 reactor building at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant increased dramatically on May 29 and 30, raising fears of radioactive water leaking from the site. The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), said the water level […]

Fukushima risks Chernobyl ‘dead zone’

By Yuriy Humber and Stuart Biggs 30 May 2011 Radioactive soil in pockets of areas near Japan’s crippled nuclear plant have reached the same level as Chernobyl, where a “dead zone” remains 25 years after the reactor in the former Soviet Union exploded. Soil samples in areas outside the 20-kilometer (12 miles) exclusion zone around […]

High level of radioactive cesium from snow in Fukushima freshwater fish

By arevamirpal::laprimavera30 May 2011 Radioactive pollution is now detected in snow and freshwater fish. And Japan’s Kan administration still pushes for nuclear power, not just for the Japanese but for the up-and-coming countries in Asia and the rest of the world. From Mainichi Shinbun Japanese (5/30/2011; link, emphasis added): 山岳愛好家らで作る「高山(たかやま)の原生林を守る会」は29日、福島市周辺の山岳地帯から採取した雪の放射線量分析結果を公表した。標高1500メー トル以下を中心に高濃度の放射性セシウムが検出され、最高は箕輪山東斜面の1338メートル地点で1キロ当たり2968ベクレルだった。市内の阿武隈川の ヤマメなど川魚からは国の暫定規制値(1キロ当たり500ベクレル)を上回るセシウムが検出され、雪解け水の流入が原因とみられるという。 On May 29, […]

Japan nuclear plant workers likely exposed to radiation far beyond legal limit

May 30 (Xinhua) – Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) and the Japanese government officials said Monday that two of the utility firm’s employees who have been working at the crippled Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant in northeast Japan may have been exposed to radiation exceeding the legal limit of 250 millisieverts. The two male workers […]

TEPCO believes stabilizing Fukushima reactors by year-end impossible

TOKYO, May 29 (MarketWatch) – Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501.TO) is coming to the view that it will be impossible to stabilize the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant by the end of this year, possibly affecting the timing for the government to consider the return of evacuees to their homes near the […]

Scientists argue against conclusion that bacteria consumed Deepwater Horizon methane

ScienceDaily (May 26, 2011) — A technical comment published in the May 27 edition of the journal Science casts doubt on a widely publicized study that concluded that a bacterial bloom in the Gulf of Mexico consumed the methane discharged from the Deepwater Horizon well. The debate has implications for the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem […]

Anti-mining protest escalates in southern Peru

Reporting by Marco Aquino, Writing by Caroline Stauffer; Editing by Peter Cooney27 May 2011 LIMA (Reuters) – Hundreds of demonstrators mobbed government buildings and burned police cars in southeastern Peru on Thursday as a protest against mining firms intensified 10 days before a presidential election. Some 5,000 protesters have descended on the city of Puno […]

Fukushima nuclear plant is leaking like a sieve

By Geoff Brumfiel26 May 2011 As more details leak out about the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, it’s become clear that something else is leaking—radioactive water from the cores of three damaged reactors. Leaks have been a persistent problem at the plant since it was struck by an earthquake and tsunami on 11 March. […]

Pollution and overfishing spell trouble for dolphins worldwide

By Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss27 May 2011 Dear EarthTalk: How are wild dolphins faring on the high seas? Recent reports of dolphin deaths in the Gulf of Mexico may well be due to last year’s BP oil spill, but I imagine there are many threats to dolphins from pollution, human overfishing and other causes. […]

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