by Johann Hari …The ubiquitous cranes have paused on the skyline, as if stuck in time. There are countless buildings half-finished, seemingly abandoned. In the swankiest new constructions – like the vast Atlantis hotel, a giant pink castle built in 1,000 days for $1.5bn on its own artificial island – where rainwater is leaking from […]
By AUDREY MCAVOY, ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER HONOLULU — The population of false killer whales in waters close to Hawaii appears to have dramatically declined over the past 20 years, a new study says. It’s not known for sure why the dolphin species is decreasing, but the academic paper says the reason likely has to do […]
Mercury levels in the Pacific Ocean are rising, a new study suggests.1 The increase may mean that more methylmercury, a human neurotoxin formed when mercury is methylated by microbes, accumulates in marine fish such as tuna. The research comes as researchers and policymakers, who have tended to focus on atmospheric concentrations of the element, are […]
March 25, 2009 — Fish caught near wastewater treatment plants serving five major U.S. cities had residues of pharmaceuticals in them, including medicines used to treat high cholesterol, allergies, high blood pressure, bipolar disorder and depression, researchers reported Wednesday. Findings from this first nationwide study of human drugs in fish tissue have prompted the Environmental […]
By Rina Chandran ALANG, India (Reuters) – A global economic slowdown has hit industries ranging from automakers to investment banks, but in one small town on India’s western coast, business is at record levels and workers can hardly keep up with demand. In Alang, home to the world’s largest ship breaking facility on the coast […]
Go down to the beach today and you’ll find plenty of garbage among the sand — but that’s nothing compared with the continent-sized whirlpools of lethal waste out there beyond the horizon By WINIFRED BIRD, Special to The Japan Times Umbrella handles. Pens. Popsicle sticks. Lots and lots of toothbrushes. These are just a few […]
(Cell Press) By combining data from 48 studies of coral reefs from around the Caribbean, researchers have found that fish densities that have been stable for decades have given way to significant declines since 1995. The study appears online on March 19 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. "We were most surprised to discover […]
Not only is plastic the ubiquitous bane of modern consumerist lifestyles, it’s also increasingly seen as a potential health hazard. Fact: we now know that hard plastic polycarbonate water bottles, canned food and soda pop linings contain the “genderbender” chemical bisphenol A, which hormonally mimics estrogen. Now German researchers have found another unknown estrogenic […]
Leatherback turtles, the most widely distributed reptiles on Earth, are threatened with extinction themselves, in large part due to the carelessness of humans. A professor addresses the threat of plastics to this endangered species. Since leatherbacks prefer eating jellyfish, it’s widely believed they mistake bags or other plastics for their meals. They survived the […]
VietNamNet Bridge – Fish are dying en masse in the Nhue River and the lakes of Hoan Kiem, Linh Dam, Dinh Cong, and the West Lake, causing terrible smells and causing concern for local residents. The incident has been happening in Nhue River for four days. Dead fish covers up to a kilometer of the […]
