NASA satellites register 368 wildfires in Russia

MOSCOW, August 14 (RIA Novosti) Two NASA satellites registered a total of 368 hotspots from fires across Russia on Saturday, with the central part of the country being the worst affected, a spokeswoman for the ScanEx company said. “Wildfires raging on vast areas and smoke blankets can be clearly seen even on satellite photos of […]

Russia’s peatland fires seen burning for months

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent Wed Aug 11, 2010 12:04pm EDT OSLO (Reuters) – Some of Russia’s smog-causing peatland fires are likely to burn for months, part of a global problem of drained marshes that emit climate-warming greenhouse gases, experts said on Wednesday. Novel carbon markets could offer a long-term fix for peat bogs, from […]

Russia fires cause ‘brown cloud’ that may hit Arctic

By Alister Doyle, Environment CorrespondentTue Aug 10, 2010 11:14am EDT OSLO (Reuters) – Smoke from forest fires smothering Moscow adds to health problems of “brown clouds” from Asia to the Amazon and Russian soot may stoke global warming by hastening a thaw of Arctic ice, environmental experts say. “Health effects of such clouds are huge,” […]

Russia reports 25 percent grain losses from drought, fires

By VOA News and wire services12 August 2010 Russian President Dmitri Medvedev says a full one-quarter of Russia’s grain crops have been destroyed by weeks of drought and wildfires, leaving many Russian farmers close to bankruptcy. Mr. Medvedev spoke Thursday to farmers and grain traders in southern Russia, calling the situation “difficult” and even “extreme.” […]

Graph of the Day: Daily Recovery Numbers for Oiled Birds and Turtles, 9 June 2010 – 5 August 2010

By Paul Rioux, The Times-Picayune Sunday, August 08, 2010, 10:00 AM More than three weeks after BP capped its gushing oil well, skimming operations have all but stopped and federal scientists say just a quarter of the oil remains in the Gulf of Mexico. But wildlife officials are rounding up more oiled birds than ever […]

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals suspected as more girls experience early puberty

By DENISE GRADYPublished: August 9, 2010 A new study finds that girls are more likely today than in the past to start developing breasts by age 7 or 8. The research is just the latest in a flood of reports over the last decade that have led to concern and heated debate about whether girls […]

Crabs provide evidence oil tainting Gulf food web

By JOHN FLESHER, AP Environmental Writer Mon Aug 9, 5:33 am ET BARATARIA, La. – To assess how heavy a blow the BP oil spill has dealt the Gulf of Mexico, researchers are closely watching a staple of the seafood industry and primary indicator of the ecosystem’s health: the blue crab. Weeks ago, before engineers […]

Death rate doubles in Moscow’s smoke, heat crisis

By Nastassia Astrasheuskaya and Alexei Anishchuk; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Paul TaylorMon Aug 9, 2010 9:36am EDT (Reuters) – Scorching heat and acrid smoke have nearly doubled death rates in Moscow, a city official said Monday, as a shroud of smog from raging forest and peat fires beset Russia’s capital for a third week. […]

Booms fail again: Oil penetrates previously pristine Mississippi marsh

By Ben Raines, Press-Register Monday, August 09, 2010, 5:00 AM HORN ISLAND, Miss. — Weeks after BP capped its runaway well, a greasy band of oil appeared on the grasses fringing Garden Pond, a previously pristine interior marsh. Glops of deep brown oil floated on the surface of the saltwater pond Saturday and appeared to […]

Pesticides linked to bee decline, say environmental groups

From the Ecologist, part of the Guardian Environment NetworkFriday 6 August 2010 09.49 BST Environmental groups including the Soil Association and Buglife are making a renewed call for an end to the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, which are among the most commonly used pesticides worldwide, after a new study linked them to a decline in […]

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial