SAN FRANCISCO, California, September 13, 2009 (ENS) – Samples of sand and water from five beaches around the Puget Sound have tested positive for a multidrug resistant form of the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus. This potentially fatal strain of staph is resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotics commonly used to treat it. Dr. Marilyn Roberts, a professor […]
Synopsis by David Buchwalter, Ph.D. and Wendy Hessler Levels of antibiotics measured in streams, lakes and well water near pharmaceutical factories in India are 100,000 to 1,000,000 times higher than levels measured in waters that receive sewage effluent in the US or China. Much of the world’s supply of generic antibiotics is produced in the […]
Basra, Iraq (AFP) Sept 9, 2009 – Iraqis living alongside the ancient Shatt al-Arab waterway, the site local legend says of the Garden of Eden, face an environmental catastrophe because of massive dams built by neighbouring Iran. A vibrant fresh water lifeline teeming with fish has become a salty, polluted channel which is driving people […]
By Marlowe Hood and Richard Ingham (AFP) PARIS — Climate change will disrupt Earth’s precious ozone layer, boosting ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the deep southern hemisphere and reducing UV in far northern latitudes, a study warned on Sunday. By century’s end, UV levels in Antarctica could rise by up to 20 percent at seasonal peaks […]
ScienceDaily (Sep. 8, 2009) — Beginning August 26, 2009, and continuing into September 2009, a large wildfire in the Angeles National Forest north of Los Angeles known as the Station Fire burned more than 140,000 acres through September 3. Carbon monoxide in the smoke from this large fire was lofted as high as 8.3 kilometers […]
French investigators are examining whether a lorry driver has become the first victim of a toxic seaweed that is clogging parts of the Brittany coast. The driver died in July after carrying three truckloads of sea lettuce away from the beaches where it has been decaying, releasing poisonous gas. His death was originally recorded as […]
By Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer State wildlife regulators canceled the San Francisco Bay herring fishing season for the first time Thursday, hoping to rebuild a population that has plunged dangerously low. The 4-0 vote by the state Fish and Game Commission follows a long decline in bay herring. The drop is blamed on environmental […]
By CLARKE CANFIELD, Associated Press Writer PORTLAND, Maine – The basic makeup of the ocean waters off the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic region has fundamentally changed in the past 40 years because of climate change, commercial fishing pressures and growing coastal populations, according to a new report. The 2009 Ecosystem Status Report says fish populations […]
LOS ANGELES, California, September 1, 2009 (ENS) – The level of inorganic mercury in the blood of American women has been increasing since 1999 and it is now found in the blood of one in three women, according to a new analysis of government data for more than 6,000 American women. “My study found compelling […]
By Rob Taylor CANBERRA (Reuters) – Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest living organism, is under grave threat from climate warming and coastal development, and its prospects of survival are “poor,” a major new report found on Wednesday. While the World Heritage-protected site, which sprawls for more than 345,000 square km (133,000 sq miles) […]
