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Ocean Acidification – The Other Carbon Problem

Posted by ep-admin on Sunday, 22 August 2010 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

Humankind's assault on the oceans continues apace. A short time ago, we considered the loss of 40% of the phytoplankton in the oceans since 1950. In my post How We Wrecked The Oceans, marine ecologist Jeremy Jackson explains why he believes the sea will be devoid of fish and other large...

iPads and Kindles are better for the environment than books

Posted by ep-admin on Sunday, 22 August 2010 in Recycling

E-readers are everywhere, even at my local library. But what about the trees? You told us about reading the newspaper online vs. getting the print edition, so now tell us about e-books. Does reading on my Kindle represent a win for the environment? Environmental analysis can be an endless balancing...

Residents of Wyoming Fracking Community Report Illnesses

Posted by ep-admin on Saturday, 21 August 2010 in Human Health

Residents of Pavillion, Wyoming may be getting sick because of hydraulic fracturing, also called fracking. According to an Associated Press report, the group Earthworks Oil and Gas Accountability Project says that four out of five people who have returned a health survey report symptoms that could b...

September Slated for Final Kill of BP Oil Spill

Posted by ep-admin on Saturday, 21 August 2010 in Oil Spill

It now looks like BP’s blown well in the Gulf of Mexico won’t be completely killed until September. BP engineers are conducting a series of tests in preparation for a procedure called a bottom kill to ensure the well can withstand the pressure from the operation. No oil has leaked from the well sin...

4 Die in Asthma Attack - Is Your City Next?

Posted by ep-admin on Saturday, 21 August 2010 in Air Quality

Alberta health officials are investigating after four people died due to asthma attacks during a two-week period last month. Two men in their 20s and a man and woman in their early 50s died in the second and third weeks of the month, said Dr. Marcia Johnson, acting medical officer of health with Alb...

In Grip Of Drought, Floods, Niger Faces Hunger Crisis

Posted by ep-admin on Friday, 20 August 2010 in Food

At the epicenter of a hunger crisis in West Africa's Sahara Desert region, Niger is in desperate need of food aid for nearly 8 million people — more than half the country's population. Yet a cash-strapped U.N. food aid agency has had to make a difficult choice: For now, only children younger than 2 ...

A farmer waits for food distribution near Dakoro, in northern Niger, in May

Massive oil plume discovered in the Gulf

Posted by ep-admin on Thursday, 19 August 2010 in Oil Spill

Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have detected a plume of hydrocarbons that is at least 22 miles long and more than 3,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, a result of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, reports a study published in Science. The 1....

A Colossal Fracking Mess

Posted by ep-admin on Wednesday, 18 August 2010 in Earth Violators

Early on a spring morning in the town of Damascus in northeastern Pennsylvania, the fog on the Delaware River rises to form a mist that hangs above the tree-covered hills on either side. A buzzard swoops in from the northern hills to join a flock ensconced in an evergreen on the rive...

Lobster Dieoffs Linked to Chemicals in Plastics

Posted by ep-admin on Tuesday, 17 August 2010 in Wildlife Conservation

Lobsters in Long Island Sound have suffered intense dieoffs in the past decade, and a peculiar affliction, known as “shell disease,” has been a major contributor. Now, a molecular biologist at the University of Connecticut has discovered that waterborne chemicals, leached from plastics and d...

<p>Lobster showing characteristics of shell disease. Photo courtesy of Rhode Island Sea Grant</p>

Largest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere to be built in Australia

Posted by ep-admin on Monday, 16 August 2010 in Wind

The largest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere will be built in Australia at Macarthur near Hamilton, 260km west of Melbourne, Victoria. Comprising 140 Vestas V112-3.0 MW wind turbine generators, the 420 MW Macarthur Wind Farm will have the capacity to power more than 220,000 average Victo...

Energy Self-Sufficiency Demonstration Project Starts up in Angoon, Promises to Cut Energy Costs by Sixty-Five Percent

Posted by ep-admin on Monday, 16 August 2010 in Energy Efficiency

Angoon, AK-- A demonstration project is underway in Angoon focusing on energy self-sufficiency in Southeast Alaska's rural villages. A large number of rural communities in the region and the state are heavily dependent on fossil fuels, such as diesel and heating oil -unsustainable resources...

Big Oil Maintains Stranglehold on Congress

Posted by ep-admin on Friday, 13 August 2010 in Earth Violators

Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nevada) has just announced he is withdrawing oil disaster legislation until after August recess. Following is a statement by Peter Lehner, Executive Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council: “Two weeks after the U.S. Senate shelved efforts to limit the carbon poll...

Biotech offers promise for producing fuel

Posted by ep-admin on Friday, 13 August 2010 in Biofuels

LOS ANGELES -- Fuel may be a messy business now, as the oil spill fouling the Gulf reminds us. But it might not always have to be. Scientists envision facilities that churn out black gold by enlisting engineered bacteria, yeast and algae to do all the dirty work. Recently, scientists reported a si...

Obama: Gulf beaches open for business

Posted by ep-admin on Friday, 13 August 2010 in Oil Spill

President Obama declared Gulf Coast beaches clean, safe and open for business Saturday as he brought his family to the Florida Panhandle and promised residents that the government wouldn't forget them once efforts to stop the leak are finished. On a warm and muggy day, Obama pledged to "k...

Dissecting the U.S. Wind Market

Posted by ep-admin on Wednesday, 11 August 2010 in Wind

California Doing business in the U.S. wind market is a tumultuous affair. After a number of years of high growth, the wind industry is facing a down year, partly due to the lack of consistent policy. As wind professionals watch the space with uncertainty, it's more important than ever to hav...

Is Russia One Deadly Heat Wave Away From Climate Protection?

Posted by ep-admin on Wednesday, 11 August 2010 in Air Quality

"Practically everything is burning." That's what Russian President Dmitri Medvedev had to say about the results of a massive heat wave that has already left more than 1,000 dead and, according to some estimates, is now killing 700 a day. It took this toll to finally make cli...

Giant "ice island" 4-times the size of Manhattan breaks off of Greenland

Posted by ep-admin on Monday, 09 August 2010 in Climate Change

A large mass of ice broke off of Greenland's Petermann glacier on August 5th, 2010; the largest ice island to calve off Greenland since 1962. The ice island is immense; 4-times the size of Manhattan or over 100 square miles of surface area. The ice island is likely to break down to smaller ice bergs...

Please help save the Leatherback Sea Turtles!!

Posted by ep-admin on Monday, 09 August 2010 in Animals

Dear Family and Friends, On the 8th of January 2011, I will be taking on the challenge of volunteering to help save the Leatherback Sea Turtles in Costa Rica, the largest sea turtle in the world. I will be joining scientist and other volunteers to help end the devastating effects that plague th...

Ten key indicators show global warming 'undeniable'

Posted by ep-admin on Sunday, 08 August 2010 in Climate Change

Melting glaciers, more humid air and eight other key indicators show that global warming is undeniable, scientists said on Wednesday, citing a new comprehensive review of the last decade of climate data. Without addressing why this is happening, the researchers said there was no doubt that every dec...

Help Save Japan's Dolphins

Posted by ep-admin on Sunday, 08 August 2010 in Wildlife Conservation

In The Cove, a team of activists and filmmakers infiltrate a heavily-guarded cove in Taiji, Japan. In this remote village they witness and document activities deliberately being hidden from the public: More than 20,000 dolphins and porpoises are being slaughtered each year and their meat, conta...