By KEITH BRADSHER SHENZHEN, China — In this sprawling metropolis in southeastern China stand two hulking brown buildings erected by a private company, the Longgang trash incinerators. They can be smelled a mile away and pour out so much dark smoke and hazardous chemicals that hundreds of local residents recently staged an all-day sit-in, demanding […]
ScienceDaily (Aug. 11, 2009) — 21st century British woodlands are less distinctive than those of the early 20th century due to environmental change. Native woodland plants have re-organized over the last 70 years in response to increased soil fertility and loss of light related to increased canopy shading. The research was carried out by a […]
Air quality in Malaysian Borneo is worsening as large numbers of fires rage near the Sarawak-Brunei border, reports the Star newspaper. The Air Pollutant Index (API) reached as high as 197 in parts of Sarawak on Sunday, according to Malaysia’s Environment Department. Fires are set in Sarawak to clear brush and forest in and around […]
Without drastic cuts in emissions, the Transpolar Drift, one of the Arctic’s most powerful currents and a key disperser of pollutants, is likely to disappear because of global warming by Kate Ravilious WITHIN 60 years the Arctic Ocean could be a stagnant, polluted soup. Without drastic cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions, the Transpolar Drift, one of […]
By BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press Writer ISLAMORADA, Fla. – Boat captain Tad Burke looks out over Florida Bay and sees an ecosystem that’s dying as politicians, land owners and environmentalists bicker. He’s been plying these waters for nearly 25 years, and has seen the declines in shrimp and lobster that use the bay as a […]
By BRETT FRENCHThe Billings Gazette As the climate warms over the next four decades, portions of Wyoming and Montana are at ground zero for larger areas burned by wildland fires and an increase in air pollution from those fires. The forecasts come from a recently released study done for the Environmental Protection Agency by Harvard’s […]
By DUNCAN MANSFIELD (AP) KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Valley Authority raised its estimates for cleaning up a massive coal ash spill to $1.2 billion on Friday, and partly blamed its third-quarter loss of $167 million on that cleanup. Officials also suggested a rate increase could be looming. The nation’s largest public utility said in […]
WASHINGTON, DC, July 29, 2009 (ENS) – Polluted water at American beaches jeopardized the health of swimmers last year and climate change is making conditions worse, according to the 19th annual beachwater quality report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council. Climate change is expected to further increase the presence of pathogens that cause […]
By Matt Walker, Editor, Earth News Two thirds of all species of freshwater crab maybe at risk of going extinct, with one in six species particularly vulnerable, according to a new survey. That makes freshwater crabs among the most threatened of all groups of animals assessed so far. The study is the first global assessment […]
By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, an area choked by low oxygen levels that threatens marine life, is smaller than expected this year but more deadly, the government said on Monday. The zone, caused by a runoff of agricultural chemicals from farms along the Mississippi River, measured […]
