People of a certain age remember 1986 and the Chernobyl disaster, the “worst technogenic accident in history.” Desdemona was playing tennis with a friend as the radionuclide cloud passed overhead. Maybe it was coincidence, but both of us had lymph nodes that were swollen for days; they were little hard nodules like Des hasn’t experienced […]
Here are 2010’s most-viewed stories on Desdemona. A few have had further developments since they were posted, and I’ve noted this where appropriate. Not surprisingly, the most popular event was the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, with seven entries (that’s why this post is about the top twenty stories, instead of the top ten). Six of […]
Controversy in Kern County indicates problems for the oil industry’s future worldwide By Jeremy Miller, From the December 06, 2010 issue of High Country News KERN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA From the “Petroleum Highway” — a rutted, dusty stretch of California State Route 33 — you can see the jostling armies of two giant industries. To the […]
A final refuge of Arctic summer sea ice may be the last outpost for polar bears. By Jessica Marshall Thu Dec 16, 2010 04:05 PM ET As sea ice disappears, a refuge of suitable habitat for polar bears and ringed seals — key polar bear prey — may persist in northeastern Canada and northern […]
By Victoria Gill, Science and nature reporter, BBC News 17 December 2010 Vulture populations in one of Africa’s most important wildlife reserves have declined by 60%, say scientists. The researchers suggest that the decline of vultures in Kenya’s Masai Mara is being driven by poisoning. The US-based Peregrine Fund says farmers occasionally lace the bodies […]
By Jeffrey Jones, editing by Peter GallowayWed Dec 15, 4:53 pm ET CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) – Reclamation in Canada’s oil sands is not keeping pace with rapid development and that could leave the public vulnerable to major financial burdens in years to come, a scientific panel said Wednesday. The study by Royal Society of Canada […]
By BEN CASSELMAN14 December 2010 GALLIANO, Louisiana—On June 10, 1947, Stanolind Oil & Gas Co. won an auction for the right to drill for oil on a plot seven miles off the Louisiana coast. The company built a spindly steel platform and drilled a well in shallow waters. It struck oil, and in 1950, Stanolind […]
NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 15, 2010 (AP) A baby sea turtle escaped from the jaws of a shark, only to get stuck in oil spilled from BP’s well in the Gulf of Mexico. A young dolphin apparently was attacked by his mother, then swam into oil. The animals are among thousands rescued since more than 200 […]
By John Laumer, Philadelphia 14 December 2010 Common sense tells us that, following corn harvest, fragments of corn cobs, leaves, stalks, silk, and pollen may be blown by the wind or carried across the land surface by runoff. Corn plant residues will end up in the sediments of streams lakes and reservoirs. Scientists call the […]
Dec 13, 2010 (CBC) – The decline in wild Pacific salmon populations is not likely caused by sea lice acquired from farmed salmon, a study released Monday suggests. The findings of the study headed by Gary Marty, a professor at the University of California, suggest that the number of wild salmon that return to spawn […]
