By 2030, demand in India will grow to almost 1.5 trillion m3, driven by domestic demand for rice, wheat, and sugar for a growing population, a large proportion of which is moving toward a middle-class diet. Against this demand, India’s current water supply is approximately 740 billion m3. As a result, most of India’s river […]
By Idrak Abbasov PIRALLAHI ISLAND, Azerbaijan, November 24, 2009 (ENS) – The fishermen perched on the beached boats on the Azerbaijan coast watched Faiq Balayev as he threw out his net, drew it in and trudged back to the shore. They need not have bothered, since he had once again failed to catch any shrimps. […]
Sixty years ago, the Soviet Union detonated its first nuclear weapon, nicknamed “First Lightning”, at a test facility on the steppe of northeast Kazakhstan (formerly the Kazakh SSR). The test site, named the Semipalatinsk Polygon, would go on to host 456 atomic explosions over its 40-year existence. Residents in the surrounding area became unwitting guinea […]
Physicians for Social Responsibility has released a groundbreaking medical report, “Coal’s Assault on Human Health,” which takes a new look at the devastating impacts of coal on the human body. Coal combustion releases mercury, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and dozens of other substances known to be hazardous to human health. This report looks […]
Chemicals in plastics alter the brains of baby boys making them “more feminine” and uninterested in rough games, say researchers. Males exposed to high doses in the womb went on to be less likely to play with boys’ toys like cars or to join in rough and tumble games, they found. The University of Rochester […]
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Man-made ponds and rice fields irrigated using groundwater may be responsible for arsenic contamination of groundwater in Bangladesh, a study has found. Arsenic is a naturally occurring chemical poisonous to humans and is known to cause skin lesions and cancers of the bladder, kidney, lung and skin. While it is known […]
By Ralph Vartabedian, November 13, 2009 Reporting from Yucca Flat, Nev. – A sea of ancient water tainted by the Cold War is creeping deep under the volcanic peaks, dry lake beds and pinyon pine forests covering a vast tract of Nevada. Over 41 years, the federal government detonated 921 nuclear warheads underground at the […]
By Suzanne Kanehl Just south of Liangqiao, in southern China’s Guangdong province is the small village of Shangba. On the surface, this community of roughly 3,300 appears to be a tranquil, rural village comprised of sugar cane fields and plentiful rice paddies. When a closer look is taken, the people of Shangba have been living […]
By DINA CAPPIELLO, Associated Press Writer – Tue Nov 10, 7:31 pm ET WASHINGTON – Nearly half of lakes and reservoirs nationwide contain fish with potentially harmful levels of the toxic metal mercury, according to a federal study released Tuesday. The Environmental Protection Agency found mercury — a pollutant primarily released from coal-fired power plants […]
By FRAN RIMRODNovember 11, 2009 – 10:40AM There are fears the oil that spewed from a leaking well off the West Australian coast has polluted a stretch of the Indonesian coastline, jeopardising the local fishing industry. The Greens are calling on operator PTTEP Australasia to compensate West Timorese fishing communities in West Timor if reports […]
