By Victoria Gill, Science reporter, BBC News Polar bears have shrunk over the last century, according to research. Scientists compared bear skulls from the early 20th Century with those from the latter half of the century. Their study, in the Journal of Zoology, describes changes in size and shape that could be linked an increase […]
CHICAGO, Illinois, August 25, 2009 (ENS) – The common herbicide atrazine, known to impact wildlife reproductive health, has contaminated watersheds and drinking water throughout much of the United States, finds a new report released Monday by the Natural Resources Defense Council that raises concern about the chemical’s effects on human reproduction. The environmental nonprofit organization […]
The Nile Delta is under threat from rising sea levels. Without the food it produces, Egypt faces catastrophe By Jack Shenker …Today, however, Nile water barely reaches this corner of the Delta. Population growth has sapped its energy upstream, and what “freshwater” does make it downriver is increasingly awash with toxins and other impurities. Farmers […]
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN – The Associated Press BEIJING — More than 1,300 children have been sickened by lead poisoning in central China, the second such case involving a large number of children this month, state media said Thursday. The official Xinhua News Agency said 1,354 children – or nearly 70 percent of the children tested […]
Algae chokes estuaries on south coast as England enjoys hottest day of year By Steve Connor, Science Editor A combination of calm, sunny weather and high concentrations of nitrate pollutants running into the sea from local farms and sewage works has caused thick mats of green algae to form at a dozen sites on the […]
Mounds of rotting seaweed clogging beaches across northwestern France are emitting a toxic and potentially lethal gas, test results released by the government showed on Thursday. Tests were ordered on the foul-smelling algae, which green groups blame on nitrates fertilisers used by local farmers, after a horse apparently died from inhaling fumes on a beach […]
By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Scientists have detected mercury contamination in every one of hundreds of fish sampled from 291 freshwater streams, according to a U.S. government study released on Wednesday. More than a quarter of those fish contained concentrations of mercury exceeding levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency for the protection […]
ScienceDaily (Aug. 20, 2009) — In the first study to look at what happens over the years to the billions of pounds of plastic waste floating in the world’s oceans, scientists are reporting that plastics — reputed to be virtually indestructible — decompose with surprising speed and release potentially toxic substances into the water. Reporting […]
WASHINGTON, Aug. 19, 2009 — They say there’s no place like home. But scientists are reporting some unsettling news about homes in the residential areas of California. The typical house there — and probably elsewhere in the country — is an alarming and probably underestimated source of water pollution, according to a new study reported […]
Increased amounts of air pollution in China over last 50 years reduces days of rain by up to a quarter RICHLAND, Wash. – New research shows that air pollution in eastern China has reduced the amount of light rainfall over the past 50 years and decreased by 23 percent the number of days of light […]
