Information about the causes and consequences of pollution.
Ocean plastic pollution could triple in a decade without action by the ocean economy. TOMRA CEO Stefan Ranstrand responds to the UK Governments Foresight Future of the Sea report and explains how container deposit schemes and sensor-based recycling sorting could provide a solution.
How important are our streams and rivers to us in this age of pollution and interference with natural systems? The effect of conifer plantations is generally negative, but the positive effects on some f these streams could point to ways to improve many such forestry projects, as well as the original moorland.
After banning free plastic bags, can stores begin the process of cutting out all plastic packaging? The alternatives could be much less damaging to our health, our fertility, our wildlife and even our genetic constitution!
What can China avoid polluting that we cant. Well its possible that even greater carbon footprints will quickly be trodden if events follow mazy paths in many places.
When the likes of Cota Doñana are threatened, then all of these precious sites for conservation, from the Great Barrier Reef to all the rainforests worldwide need to be checked. Who is destroying these last places for endangered wildlife on earth? Tourism and care for our personal environment needs assessment for future sustainability.
When a great, immoveable pollution source is faced by an increasingly smaller butterfly population, what is going to happen? Ask the bees, if their nervous systems are still savvy.
The humpback was hunted until only 1400 animals were left. Life seems more secure, though they are still endangered, but is there a future for any oceanic life if we turn a blind ear to the noise we emit, and all the rest of the pollution we dump on the sea?
The move to exploit rainforest and peatland with no motive other than profit is finally being stopped. Indonesia has needed to act on mining, forestry and agriculture for decades, and finally the ball is rolling.
An important step for many countries now is relieving the strain on health services from the heavy but invisible pollution, not only from our cars but actually drawn into our vehicles.
As Paris sinks in
and April promises yet further promises, how are the pollution and carbon footprints decreasing over some of the major players in world climate change?
We rarely see political releases of information about pollution in most countries. Here is Australia becoming more transparent about chemicals and in particular herbicides. Now we need such honesty from dam builders, light polluters and, of course, the major climate changers.
Cats, dogs, tigers and sharks, turtles, butterflies and beetles: take your pick. The danger is in every species we know becoming more and more uncommon. Habitat loss varies from wetland draining, damming and forest clearance to marine pollution, ice loss and mountain tourism. The IUCN at least keep us up-to-date on many animals and plants. Beware- you could be losing one of your local favourite species, and you never knew!
What a mess the oceans are becoming. Climate change and surface temperatures currently occupy our thoughts, alongside the acidification so drastically affecting reefs and molluscs. Light pollution on beaches has misled turtle egg-laying habits and now is proved to prevent corals from spawning in this paper. When we finally reduce carbon footprints, it is likely the sea can breathe easier, but human ecologies must soon recover their ethics as far as all of these neglected species are concerned.
elephant in Parisor will it change the mindset there?
Paris is becoming tense as every (sensible) nation negotiates how best to beat pollution and help those affected by global warming and its associated climate change One very large event in the Pacific is about to help us decide what is necessary in the most unpleasant way possible. Perhaps Paris will propel us to a united purpose--- or to ultimate pessimism?
The consideration of all factors in your environment is a policy that escapes most politicians, many scientists and even you. Water is inescapable, becoming more scarce and highly useful for normal life. Just ask a Martian. When we look back on the 21st century, and not the 20th as we do here, it is certain that water will be seen as one of the most critical losses from our societies, from the African deserts, to the American groundwater crises; from Manilas complex water privatisation to simple pollution by nuclear, chemical and fuelling industries.
With respect for China in many countries becoming more important, the new legislative powers being used there seem to be having some effect. Prosecutions for the well-known and disastrous pollution of air and water in cities and countryside, will certainly stem the political and social consequences of some of the hazards in the nation.
Lots of animals, their habitats and people were harmed before the production of these photographs. Without these records, we might imagine we were conquering our problems of pollution, climate change and habitat destruction. Not so.
While the world ponders climate change, Texas, which suffers badly from drought, has been trying to frack its way forward. It now seems these workers will have to return home and that oil is not the future. It has lasted over a century, but the oil executives are now grasping at straws, instead of embracing renewable or at least less polluting energies. New jobs will have to be found, but this is not the first time oil has gone bust!
We all dream of a perfect world where grass is green and rivers flow through forests surrounding clean cities. Reality is a human concentration on warfare and greed for land. To make up for the sins of the past alone, we have to spend a lot of time and money in disposing of the mistakes. Now for the future of no forest, polluted land, and nothing left alive in the rivers and oceans.
Many levers have been tried in establishing conservation aims. This series of really cold swims will test to see if the Antarctic can be maintained as a pollution and overfishing-free zone. That is certainly the way it should remain, but greed can always be counted as a major factor in human affairs.
The damage afforded by our emissions on changing the climate are compounded by large-scale pollution of the oceans and overfishing as if they are going out of fashion. And they are! The realisation here is that we are going to lose many more marine plants and animals than we thought, unless the stress of conservation shifts to less-known animals and plants.
The future of our energy needs lies heavily with solar power. Unless wind and solar renewables kick off more and more new and technological moves, we will be left with failing and polluting energy solutions by politicians who understand even less about what could happen to the Earth than we do.
How clean is your home? Rephrase that now and ask yourself how polluted it is, compared to the fresh air, if your neighbourhood has any. You may be hygienic too, which is another kettle of fish (smelly that is). Whatever your situation, we all become complacent. It is not only the drains, polluted with too much detergent. Your own life, that of children and that of older and sick people is endangered by what you do. Awareness is a very simple science, pure and logical, but we must keep up. New products often turn out to be unexpectedly dangerous, even to the manufacturer. The testing now is rigorous, but simpler science is best.
A fight has been going on in Canada and the US to prevent tar sand oil pipelines from stretching across both nations. Some unexpected support from state governments and First Nation spokesmen also includes the 90 belugas who live in the giant river system of the St Lawrence. Pollution is not unknown there, but an enormous oil terminal could bring this population to the brink of extinction.
The influences of ecology are subtle. So far, few have realised that biodiversity, as noted in South Korea, is key to climate change in many situations. Maintaining our ecosystems should be key in these changing times, but our climate changes continue because we have not resolved the pollution or the degradation issues that we have caused. New ideas and new solutions are essential to combating our climate problems, as Norway (and many others) state categorically.
The late Pliocene has a lot in common with our projected temperature rise above two degrees Celsius. Carbon dioxide levels were high then too, so there is comparability which could help us in our quest to get ourselves out of the polluted mess we find ourselves in. The answer is deep down in ocean sediments and tied to glaciation and sea ice !
A conference looks likely to enliven debate on both the Aral Seas fate and the need for interventions on environmental problems that are causing international problems for health, ecology and vast pollution.
More on climate change and changing over from fossil fuels? The crunch is indeed coming for all of us. But like those who resisted the idea of global warming itself, will we refuse to get on with the job of adopting new ideas and, more important, dissuading many from polluting so much and failing to change.
When can we expect a conference to make headway against the mass of polluters and their investment in fossil fuels. So far, only threats of storm and drought seem to have had any effect. Maybe the earth itself will persuade us to finally change our ways as we wait for the next disastrous extreme weather event. Hopefully, we can use the next conference to ''make waves'' as the evidence becomes overwhelming.
Who is aware of their citys invisible pollution problems and how can the health of urbanites be improved? Too often, we are too late in saving the health of our workers and children. Those who know the truth have probably moved out already.
The loss of orcas in Puget Sound and the killing of 1500 pilot whales annually in the Faroes is a sign we need more vigilance. People are polluting, overfishing and still attacking the sea and its creatures. The Faroese do not need food, otherwise they could gladly eat whales. Like too many hunters they are retaining bloodthirsty habits that have no place in society, alongside genocide and other bloodlusts.
Throughout Eurasia, we have several developments in regulations that may protect your health. Particulate matter of both PM2.5 and PM10 sizes is being recognised as an enormous health risk, almost parallel to the former risks taken by farmers, mine and other workers with pneumonocosis.
Can global warming create more dangerous water problems than we had predicted? It seems now that shallow lakes are in great danger of contamination if we feed them agricultural fertilizers. Chinese, African and now American water supplies are regularly affected and made unusable with Microcystis toxins.
The disgraceful lack of control and study of the Alberta tar sands exploitation is leading to people's health problems. As the US considers its imports from Canada, it would be wise to consider just how neglectful the Canadians have been to their residents, air quality, water purity and forests.
When we grow, the incredible result is often poverty and pollution. The corrections needed in our world mean we have to stop behaving as if we have the resources of 5 plants or even just 3. This is only "One Earth" and we must adjust accordingly - and immediately.
More news from Asia today.In what way do nuclear weapons affect our environmental aims? Perhaps we are all suffering from the results of previous testing. It remains to be seen exactly how important these moves towards a nuclear free world work out, after Chernobyl's disastrous aftermath and the possibilities of Fukushima's contamination of the Pacific.
After such a long time, it's amazing that the Mediterranean hasn't been swamped by industrial revolutions or the effects of so many wars. Now the ancient writing on the wall is coming true as recent pollution from fossil fuels acidify and warm the troubled waters. What can we all do about our whole earth climate, after the Med, its the Atlantic and then the Pacific. How long can nature hold out against the onslaught of ignorant emissions that we provide?
We suffer in cities. To alleviate the pollution that affects our lives, new technologies are beginning to relieve us of traffic emissions, although the removal of large vehicles is another useful move that some more enlightened cities have achieved.
Air pollution is rarely linked to water pollution, but the strong links will soon be obvious, just as the surface air movement is influenced by the ocean currents and the temperatures of both. While scientific models can tell us what is going to happen as the earth warms, climate change will also be influenced by small so far neglected fluctuations in chemistry such as these pH changes in our oceans, affecting billions of creatures, and of course, us.
The Sumatran problem where people and industry are always given priority over natural ecosystems is reaching a climax, as the last vestiges of tropical forest go under thee axe. apart from the smoke pollution hanging over the burning, the animal species involved are among the rarest large animals anywhere. It's incredible that local interests can still prevent national government and international organisations from trying to conserve these precious areas still left.
How can we protect our coastal, oceanic and even little seas. As we don't often travel on water nowadays, we need to figure just how 'successful' our various pollutions, fish consumptions and farming and of course the limited conservation efforts have been.
Many pollution events occur in the giant continent, from forest to city, but we are going to have to deal with themand soon!
We must have a look at western cities and their special problems before we begin criticising the admittedly awful pollution that surrounds some other urban and deforested areas. The European Environmental Agency takes great care to remind us of their problems.
With pseudonyms because the state is still controlling them, conservation activists in Persia protect their bears and leopard. Much more work will keep them busy with anti-pollution measures and protecting the tiny creatures and plants that give Iran such beautiful biodiversity.
A debate from Britain on the European predicaments on emissions control. Climate change is guaranteed. How soon can we negotiate a way to get people to act and changing our predicament?
When push comes to shove, the cross-boundary politics of central Asia have to resolve a nightmare situation where pollution incidents affect even everyday lives. Here, an ancient aluminium plant stands in the way of any accord between two neighbours.
Both European and world health agencies agree that pollution is on the up in some areas. This set of reports indicates that the poor, the old and the young need to take care with their environmental exposure.
When the bee is remembered, we will only think of that delicious honey, and not of that diligent and innovative insect that became extinct because we polluted the planet so much!
This report is explosive in its hard-hitting expose of health concerns for every European (and for that matter, every other) country that uses coal for power.
The examples of how industry can recycle waste stretch back through history, but now its urgent as resources are slim and profits sometimes slimmer. Some recent examples put into focus how waste becomes extra revenue and also how pollution is negated.
Although often overlooked, among the most obvious problems of carbon emissions and constant pollution is the prime environmental concern of garbage build-up.
The Chinese government has failed to halt unprecedented pollution of the air, as well as rivers and the sea.
The ''high seas'' are certainly spoilt and polluted; certainly in no way comparable to the oceanic treasure house left to us a century ago, or even before the production of plastic wastes.
When the Chinese began to exploit their coal reserves and started creating more electricity for their growing factories, they simply ignored many anti-pollution possibilities.
Unnatural islands, created from litter strewn throughout the oceans. This marine pollution eventually accumulates as floating trash islands.
A new nanoparticle technology that has been dubbed 'nano-Velcro' can detect even small amounts of mercury and other heavy metals in water and fish.
Clean technology company develops the first environmentally-sustainable technology to treat red mud, the biggest issue in the aluminium industry. The red mud remediation process is the first commercial treatment available to remove toxic pollutants.
Plastic pollution continues to kill marine turtles around the world as they mistake plastic debris for prey. Turtles in Australia are making their own sad statement on reducing plastics in their marine environment.
Stocks of Bluefin tuna are plummeting from over fishing. Tuna numbers and dangers from contamination are why you shouldn't eat Bluefin tuna.
Remediation of the Hudson River. The Hudson has had to endure almost 200 years of human garbage, chemical and sewage pollution.
Mountain pine beetles not only kill trees, they increase VOC levels in forested areas, a new study shows.
Study looks at the impact of artificial light on the environment. Light pollution can be just as severe as any, given its immense significance to living organisms, their physiology, behaviour, reproduction and predator - prey interactions.
Robotic fish used to find pollution. A four-foot robot fish that uses artificial intelligence to track, find and record water pollution is being tested.
Even a short fall in air pollution can improve heart health, a study undertaken during the Beijing Olympics has discovered.
An overburdened sewage system may collapse under the strain. This can lead to health and ecological contamination, affecting surface and groundwater resources, essentially our drinking water supplies.
Some of the most polluted US cities in 2012, according to a recent report by the American Lung Association.
Loss of biodiversity from species extinctions will have a major impact on the planet and could effect the planet as much as climate change or pollution do, according to a new study.
Cyanide leaks into river system in South Africa. The cyanide leaked into a tributary of the Ngagane River near the town of Dundee in KwaZulu-Natal.
Gulf of Mexico coral has been affected by the Deepwater Hoizon oil spill. Macondo well oil has damaged deep-water corals up to 11km away from the blowout site.
Bottlenose dolphins ill from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. NOAA marine biologists examined 32 dolphins and found they were underweight, anaemic, had low blood sugar and have some symptoms of lung disease and liver disease.
New research warns that the economic costs of asthma caused by traffic pollution are higher than previously thought.
A group of leading environmentalists, investors and academics has called on the Bank of England to investigate whether high carbon and polluting investments pose a risk to the UK financial system.
Whether pollution or simply habitat loss is responsible for almost the last spoon-billed sandpiper has yet to be investigated. The sooner we find ways of preserving in order to conserve, the better!
Reductions in the use of nitrates in agriculture can take decades to take effect in rivers and groundwater, a UK study suggests.
Now oxidised mercury seems to be raining down on us, especially in certain parts of America and near the tropics. Recently, the Dead Sea was found to have one of the highest oxidised mercury levels outside the polar regions.
Solar power and the Arizona desert is a good fit, with the highest radiation in North America, as shown in this map. Hundreds of thousands of hectares will be affected soon by the construction of photovoltaic power generators and various offsite effects. These basic effects of renewable energy are listed as habitat fragmentation, dust creation, pollution by varied chemicals and heat and light generation.
South Africa has gone to great lengths to market it's green-fronting as host to the COP 17, while in not so far away provinces the reality of polluting Business as Usual proceeds.
Aerosols in the atmosphere can create severe storms, rain and snow in some areas and increase drought in others, according to leading scientists.
While air pollution is endangering tens of thousands in UK cities, the Government is seeking to reduce standards, so it can avoid European Union fines, it is claimed.
Top news headlines, stories and issues from the environment world this week up to October 14th 2011. Topics this week include conservation and wildlife in the UK, North Sea oil drilling, arctic ice and the oil spill in New Zealand.
Organic salts in the form of methyl mercury, threaten the great clean up of the Great Lakes. 170 researchers compiling a third of a million measurements have documented in a major BRI (Biodiversity Research Institute) report exactly how mercury pollution affects the region around the Great Lakes.
From civil unrest over pollution to U.S. complaints about Chinese environmental regulations, the reopening of the JinkoSolar plant is rife with storylines.
Air pollution exposure has been linked to a 30-percent increase in the risk of premature low-weight births among women living in Los Angeles, California. Air quality information was derived from three separate sources, and included data regarding concentrations of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and fine particulate matter.
Technology giant Apple has reportedly been in dialogue with environmental groups in the wake of a scathing August report.
The beer bottles we throw into our recycling bins could ultimately help clean up water polluted with lead, thanks to a new development by scientists at the University of Greenwich, London. Nichola Coleman, a materials chemist at Greenwich, has come up with a way of reusing cullet, fragments of glass jars and bottles, to create a naturally-found rock mineral called tobermorite.
New research indicates that sharks and marine turtles are in trouble around the globe. Scientists offer some new insights into possible methods for reversing these trends. Pressures on marine environments - from rising sea temperatures and overfishing to pollution and oils spills - is taking an increasingly heavy toll on a variety of marine species including turtles and sharks.
It may seem like common-sense to think that an individual living in the city is more likely to suffer from the effects of air pollution than someone in the country. However, you may want or need to consider a face mask if cycling in the city as a study has found increased black carbon intake for city cyclists.
The Chinese government, and the state-run media it controls, vowed that the nation will 'reevaluate and revise a series of environmental quality standards' over the next five years.
A proposed ethanol-production facility in Mozambique will reduce deforestation, improve local farmer's sustainability, and help reduce air pollution. The plan calls for construction of an integrated food-energy business that will replace charcoal-burning fireplaces with ethanol-burning stoves.
As recent events prove, clean technology can be dirty: Chinese authorities have ordered the shutdown of a solar manufacturing plant on the heels of days-long protests.
In order to keep oil away from the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico large amounts of the oil spilled by the Deepwater Horizon well in 2010 were burned, now scientists have measured the impact that decision had on air quality.
Making good on promises to reign in 'heavy-metal' pollution, Chinese officials said Friday that they have ordered two plants to temporarily shut down because of a lead poisoning scare.
Following a June oil spill off the coast of China - a spill that drew the ire of Chinese officials - ConocoPhillips has set up a fund to offset the damage.
Scientists at Texas A&M University believe they have taken the first steps towards a more effective flame-retardant for clothes - one that shouldn't be as damaging to the environment as previous types of fire-proofing. The work is being presented today at the American Chemical Society, which is meeting for the 242nd time, in Denver, Colorado, all this week.
The Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland came to global notice in April 2010 when its eruption and the resulting plume wreaked havoc on European air transportation. Researchers in Germany and Austria published a study on the consequences of the Eyjafjallajokull eruption on air quality.
$11.6 million to clean-up Lake Ellesmere, the most polluted lake in New Zealand, but how effective will it be? Lake Ellesmere, in the Canterbury region of the South island and the fifth largest in the country was noted for the levels of pollution, damaging indigenous wildlife and its ecology, in a report last year.
A new study reveals that microbes have a natural ability to degrade petroleum hydrocarbons that enter the environment as a result of an oil spillage. The study of both oil spills published in the current edition of the US journal Environmental Science & Technology, reveals the vital part that micro organisms play in reducing the overall environmental impact of oil spills.
As second leak is discovered on the Gannet Alpha platform Shell is accused of not releasing information fast enough about the spill. Confirmation on the amount of oil leaked too several days to emerge. This morning (Tuesday) a second leak was discovered at the Gannet Alpha platform, which is 111 miles east from Aberdeen.
Companies stole their resources and polluted their land, Iban longhouse communities assert, and now the Iban want justice. In Malaysian Borneo, 276 Iban families from 15 longhouses are suing timber companies and the government for pollution, trespassing and illegal logging on their land.
A new patent developed by a scientist in Israel allows for fish farms to minimize or even illiminate water pollution and fish contamination. According to a report by the UN Fish and Agriculture Organization, aquaculture (artificially grown seafood) provides over 47% of total world supply of seafood.
Large scale broiler production is affecting water quality in Chesapeake Bay. A report from Pew Environment Group, Big Chicken: Pollution and Industrial Poultry Production in North America, claims that the vast scale of these operations poses a real threat to the environment.
The fish on which we most rely are under threat of extinction says a new survey of scombrids, which include mackerel and tuna - overfishing, pollution and destruction of ocean habitat is the cause say the compilers of the Red List of Threatened Species.
Attempt to remove mention of protests via injunction backfires as Greenpeace supporters tweet pictures. Cairn Energy won an interim injunction on Monday after Greenpeace activists entered their offices. Cairn Energy is responsible for deep-water drilling in the Arctic. Greenpeace said their volunteers wanted to see the firm's ''secret Arctic oil spill response plan''.
A new paper, out on Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences today, is casting light on what happened to the flood of oil from BP's Deepwater Horizon unprecedented spill. The results of the analysis of the uniquely-obtained oil samples - from both the gushing well-head, and the drifting oil plumes discovered 3,600 feet down - are helping to map out the implications of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill for the Gulf of Mexico, and the ongoing risks of deep-water drilling for oil in the future.
With the 63rd annual meeting of the IWC ongoing this week, the WWF has issued a call for the badly-split international organization to reform itself - and put the conservation of whales as its top priority. Threats from oil-and-gas exploration, ship strikes and noise pollution can - and should be tackled - whilst member nations remain deadlocked over whaling.
A paper published yesterday, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, suggests that the same coal-powered stations helping to bump up greenhouse gas emissions may be helping to hold temperatures back too. The cooling-sulfates from China's coal-fueled economic boom are being removed to stop local pollution - but could that give global warming an alarming kick upwards?
Particulate matter - pollution partly caused by tailpipe fumes - causes depression, memory and learning difficulties, says a new study out in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. Tests on mice have revealed, for the first time, that prolonged exposure to the fine suspension of particles causes real changes to the structure of the brain.
New project launches to help improve scientists ability to track air pollutants via satellite. Low flying planes will be seen across Maryland in a programme called DISCOVER-AQ which is designed to improve the ability of satellites to measure the ground level air quality on earth from space.
Where we are headed: the transition to a low-carbon way of living. The Wealth of Nature forms a trilogy with The Long Descent and The Ecotechnic Future, by looking closely at how we are squandering our natural wealth and what the consequences of this will be. John Michael Greer is one of the most clear-sighted of authors who are grappling with the multiple crises of peak oil, climate change, pollution, and the social and economic factors which make our leaders' responses to these scourges so difficult.
A new study shows that a stressful home can increase the risk of lung damage in children who are exposed to high levels of traffic pollutants. Children with higher levels of stress, subjected to the same levels of traffic pollution as those in low stress families, had decreased respiratory function.
New green technology employed to reduce the pollution in the Ganga river basin from tanneries. The environmental impact of the leather industry on the Ganga River on which is rests has long been a thorn in the side of the Indian government. To preserve the leather, numerous chemical treatments need to be employed.
A new study on the use of fuels in Ghana's capital shows that the poor are locked out of clean fuel use - so suffering from increased pollution from tiny particles in cooking smoke. With the country developing its natural gas potential, the authors - publishing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - argue that both the health of the poorest, and the country's forests, will benefit from the slashing of charcoal use, in favor of gas.
Warm nighttime temperatures change wind patterns, trapping pollutants in cities. Amongst U.S. cities, Houston has some of the highest levels of pollutants like ozone at the ground level. In Houston, urban development inhibits winds from sweeping pollutants out to the ocean at night.
Algae could be used to clean polluted waters and scientists believe there could even be money to be made from the process' byproducts. The algae - described as turf scrubbers - are used in areas the size of fields and can 'clean' water contaminated with nitrogen and phosphorus.
The health of those toiling in e-waste workshops in China is at serious threat from the pollution produced - so says a new study looking at the air samples from the Chinese e-waste 'capital' of Taizhou. The research, published in Environmental Research Letters, shows high levels of inflammation and dangerous oxidants, in lung samples exposed to pollutants from the e-waste complex.
The UK's Energy and Climate Change Committee gave 'shale gas' the green light in the UK yesterday - with the Chair, Time Yeo, dismissing pollution worries as 'hot air'. Given that regulators in both the US and France are putting 'fracking' in the environmental dock, the decision by the Parliamentary Committee seems decidedly rash.
New transportation options can help to cut back on greenhouse gasses and reduce air pollution in the environment.
A study has found that the prevalence of fertiliser-derived nitrogen as a pollution source in the Caribbean is declining. This is attributed to the adoption of more environmentally sensitive agricultural practices in recent years which have changed fertiliser application practices.
Obama administration hopes to clarify 'vague'' Clean Water Act closing the door on majority of water pollution. In a move delighting environment groups, but drawing concern from agricultural lobbies, the new definition of the 1970s act could the increase the government's abilioty to protect streams, wetlands and other sensitge waterways from pollution.
The new 2012 Ford Focus Electric is an all-electric vehicle that runs on electricity stored in powerful, state-of-the-art batteries. Tired of having to fill up on expensive gasoline and being reliant on polluting fossil fuels to power your transportation? If you answered yes, be sure to check out the new, 2012 Ford Focus all-electric car.
Two-thirds of Michigan students are stuck in schools in the most polluted parts of the state, says a new study in Health Affairs. That's leading to bad effects on student's health and performance, and points to the need for stronger environmental assessment during planning for school sites, say the authors.
Small fry may be at greater risk from population plunges than the big predatory fish, says a study out today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. That flips the convention that has fish species at the top of the food pyramid as most vulnerable to pollution and overfishing pressures; anchovies and sardines need looking after too.
The American Lung Association's State of the Air 2011 report released April 27 says that ''the majority of American cities most-polluted by ozone (smog) or year-round particle pollution (soot) have improved,'' during 2007-2009. The report covers three measures: ozone, short term particle (solid and liquid) levels and year-round particle levels.
Our insatiable appetite is devastating fish populations in the Mediterranean. The report documents the first comprehensive assessment of native marine species for an entire sea; an enormous undertaking. Almost half the species of Mediterranean sharks and rays are threatened, in addition to at least 12 other fish species. The main threats to fish populations in this region are - predictably and sadly - overfishing and pollution.
In a first for conservationists seeking to help the beleaguered loggerhead sea turtle, scientists making use of satellite transmitters have been able to accurately track how the turtle's movements expose them to a range of man-made chemicals. And it seems that those turtles that are Floridan stay-at-homes fare better than those ranging along the eastern US seaboard.
Soaring gold prices are causing tumbling rainforests in Peru's Amazonian lowlands says a new study published today in the open-access journal PloS ONE. A leap in the area being felled for small-scale gold mining has bought with it increased emissions of mercury, toxic both to impoverished miners and to the wider environment. Controlling mercury may be the key.
At BP's first AGM since the Deepwater Horizon disaster, protests inside and outside the meeting show the company faces a battle to win back trust. At around 10pm on 20 April 2010, BPs Deepwater Horizon rig exploded killing 11 workers and leading to 4.9 million barrels of oil flooding into the Gulf of Mexico. The ramifications of the disaster to the local community are still being felt.
Ozone levels could be cut if the charging of electric cars is timed just right - so says a paper in Environmental Research Letters published online tomorrow. The authors looked at the effect on pollution from power-plants - which still feed much of the electricity for electric cars - and found night was best for reducing ozone hazes. This reinforces to the need to plan electricity tariffs to encourage the best charging behavior from the growing electric car-using population.
A film that contrasts the recovery of rivers in the North East of England with the pollution in their Indian counterparts will be premiered on April 19. To be shown at the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle on Tyne in North East England,'Black River Business' arose from the experiences of Indian director Sudheer Gupta while based at Durham University's Institute of Advanced Study (IAS) in the region.
The EU put forward its long-planned carbon tax this week, a move that will change energy taxes so that they are based on carbon emissions. Loud complaints are already being heard from car-makers and driver-lobby groups. But the new rules won't initially raise fuel prices at all. And that is the real worry, as fuel use ultimately needs to reflect the real cost to the planet - which means, in the end, prices for the worst polluting fuels will have to rise.
A colony of endangered Northern Rockhopper penguins is facing a grim future after a ship grounded on an important breeding island in the South Atlantic Ocean. The remoteness of the Tristan islands and the fact that there is no air field on any of the islands has caused major headaches for the oil spill management efforts.
With the one-year anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil spill disaster looming in the near future, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) has released a report written by senior scientist Dr. Doug Inkley that details the current state of both the wildlife and the wetlands in the region. Although the report's findings indicate that some species have begun to show signs of recovery, many others are still in peril and will require the help of legislators, conservation groups, scientists and regulatory bodies in order to survive.
A survey on the reactions of Gulf locals, one year on from the biggest marine oil spill in history, shows that denizens of Louisiana and Florida had differing outlooks on some aspects of the disaster. Distrust of BP was common, but those from Louisiana felt they had suffered more, and were more likely to leave - despite both states suffering a similar economic losses.
New funding to clean rivers and waterways to boost wildlife. The funding represents the start of a four year programme to tackle pollution, invasive weeds and removing redundant man-made structures like dams and weirs that inhibit the growth and development of natural wildlife.
A new study on the total climate-impact of fossil fuels shows that natural gas is more dangerous to the planet than coal - but that top of the roost for climate-change causing fuels may well be shale gas. This massive new energy resource, being aggressively exploited across the US, has been slated for the waste-water pollution contamination from 'fracking'. Now its image as a 'clean' transitional fuel is in doubt too.
Biodiversity improves water quality and helps ecosystems to withstand pressures from pollution, according to a new study published yesterday in the journal Nature. In the study, Cardinale demonstrates exactly why streams that have more species are better at removing these nutrient pollutants from the water, confirming that niche differences among species provides the mechanism for biodiversity's cleansing ability.
The dwarf seahorse, which resides in seagrass located throughout the Gulf of Mexico, Florida and the Caribbean, is threatened with extinction from pollution caused by the Gulf oil spill disaster.
The Senate voted down yesterday the McConnell measure to coral the EPA, and prevent it from tackling US-sourced greenhouse gas pollution. The vote, split evenly at 50-50, was ten short of the 60 majority needed. That left the EPA free to continue its attempts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from major emitters such as power plants and refineries.
The role of West Africa as the world's toxic waste dump has been highlighted by the discovery of excessive levels of dangerous PCBs, along the region's coast. The study, in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, suggests that the source of these banned chemicals may well be illegal waste dumps and huge ship graveyards - left by companies seeking to exploit lax enforcement of environmental regulations in the area.
As the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl approaches, Greenpeace warns the risk of food contamination remains. Greenpeace has warned hundreds of thousands of people in the Ukraine could still face radiation poisoning after food in the area surrounding the exclusion zone at Chernobyl was found to be contaminated.
With a second oil price spike in three years threatening a fragile world economy, could 'Peak Oil' production be around the corner. And if so, will it help wean us off of polluting-oil use - or usher in a darker dirtier future?
Pollution levels in China's rural areas to be cut by 2015. China's rapid industrial growth over the last generation has come at a cost. Air pollution causes an estimated 400,000 deaths a year along with 75 million asthma attacks. This year the Chinese government announced an ambitious programme to cut the country's pollution, embarking on a programme beginning in 2011 until 2015.
Critics feared that emissions trading schemes would lead to the export of pollution to areas where the poor and minority communities lived but a new study says that's not the case, although poor education may be a better indicator of living with pollution.
Counting carcasses is not a good way to measure marine death tolls say scientists who have studied the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on cetacean species in the Gulf of Mexico. As many as 50 times more whales and dolphins were killed than carcasses were recovered after the 2010 disaster.
Internet giant Google is branching out to support new eco-friendly technologies in the transportation sector like Shweeb and Plugless Power. Google is starting dabbling in clean and green transportation technologies and with major funds being put up we may just see some important breakthroughs to help our gridlocked cities and polluted air.
Computers - whilst they don't belch out polluting smoke - eat up a growing amount of energy and an American computer scientist wants to save some of that by writing 'green' computer languages.
Radioactive material continues to flow from the stricken nuclear power plant at Fukushima Daiichi to contaminate food and water supplies. The radioactice cloud continues to spread. Parents have been told that Tokyo tap water is no longer safe for babies to drink after it was discovered that iodine levels are more than twice the recommended limit.
New public workshops have been announced by the EPA that will address the cleanup efforts made necessary from years of pollution in Massachusetts' Housatonic River. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that it will sponsor a series of public workshops for local citizens who want to be involved in the ongoing analysis surrounding the Housatonic River's clean up efforts
Feeling a bit short of breath? You can blame pollution. A research group based at the University of Rochester Medical Centre in New York has been measuring our response to miniscule particles found in our atmosphere. The pollutant particles, which we breathe in as part of our everyday life, have long been associated with and thought to exacerbate several cardiovascular and respiratory conditions.
Description: Sea stars are among marine animals being fenced off genetically by plumes of pollution flowing into the sea. That's the conclusion of a genetic study on Californian sea stars by a pair of scientists at the University of Hawaii. Filed in enviromental issues: pollution/conservation.
Marine pollution does demonstrable harm to sea creatures and new research suggests it also acts as a barrier to movement and makes major changes in the genes of affected populations. The dirtiest outpourings of US land livers are sewage from municipal treatment plants and urban runoff from highly modified river basins.
Summit options New York Times article on Deepwater Horizon tragedy. The production company has optioned an article from the New York Times written by David Barstow, David Rohde, and Stephanie Saul. The piece, entitled 'Deepwater Horizon's Final Hours' was an in depth look at what happened in the run up to the explosion and sinking of the oil rig. Filed under environmental issues: Deepwater Horizon/Energy.
Despite dramatic failures of deep-water drilling, both in the Gulf of Mexico, and closer to home in the Timor Sea, with devastating consequences of the resulting oil spill, the Australian government is considering plans for further oil exploration - in some of its most sensitive marine areas. The Ningaloo Reef, close an important marine migration route, would be threatened by such exploration, according to WWF-Australia.
We all know chemicals in the air can harm us but new research centers in American universities are getting government cash to examine how pollutants interact. Scientists in American universities will receive money from the US Environmental Agency to investigate how pollution in the air affects us by examining how pollutants act together when mixed. Each of four new centers will receive $8million dollars over the next five years to examine how possibly harmful chemicals interact with each other.
Discusses the problem of plastic 'islands' in the ocean and what we can do to correct it. It is a tragic fact the Atlantic has large amounts of plastic contamination which is cluttering up the ocean and causing problems with sea life and marine birds. The plastic containers come in all shapes and sizes take practically forever to biodegrade due to their chemical makeup
New evidence goes some way towards explaining the link between heavy metal concentrations in fish and the chemicals found in sea water. The bad news is that fish stocks are heavily contaminated with heavy metals and toxins; years and years of polluting the sea and abusing the planets natural resources has finally begun to affect human food supply.
As China heads towards revealing a major plan to reduce air pollution, residents of Beijing are suffering from some of the worst air conditions to date. Beijing air quality levels were recorded by the U.S. Embassy staff based in the city as exceeding the standard levels. The maximum level of the air quality charts is 500 API (Air Pollution Index), but in Beijing the recordings soared to a massive 595 API.
China's economic growth is impeded by their country's pollution levels. China's Environment Minister believes the country's faces the greatest conflict between humanity and nature in its thousands of years of civilisation as it is forced to confront its reliance on pollution.
It seems fish have to put up with more than just a voracious fishing industry and oceans becoming more acidic. Noise pollution, such as that from powerboats and jet skis, is also causing them to be distracted from eating. More research is needed to quantify the effects on fish populations, long-term.
Swedish scientists produce evidence highlighting the danger from antibiotic pollution in promoting resistance in bacteria. Antibiotic factories in India, where there is a huge pharmacological manufacturing industry, have been pumping massive doses of antibiotics into rivers.
Almost a year later, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is still affecting wildlife. An unusual increase in the mortality rate among dolphins on the Alabama and Mississippi coasts is being reported this week. At least 24 dolphins have died since the beginning of the year, the majority of which have been infant dolphins, either aborted or stillborn during the calving season.
Reefs at Risk Revisited finds that three quarters of the world's coral reefs are under threat. Reefs at Risk Revisited, a World Resources Institute (WRI) project, is a groundbreaking analysis of threats to the world's coral reefs. This comprehensive assessment found that three quarters of the world's coral reefs are under threat from pollution, overfishing and climate change.
A new nethod of making building material using contaminated harbour sediment. Hazardous chemicals and heavy metals that were once commonly used in heavy industry are now rightly subject to strict controls, but their legacy lives on in the environment where polluted soil is a constant problem when a former industrial site is being redeveloped for other uses.
Scientists have discovered fish feeding at the bottom of Hudson River have developed a gene that means they have a special immunity to PCB toxins. Polychlorinated biphenyls, otherwise known as PCBs started to be used in many commercial and industrial products in the late 1920s and up until the late 1970s, when they were finally banned, they polluted major rivers and waterways around the world.
A humble sea creature is being hailed as the possible solution in the campaign to save the world's oceans from pollution. Scientists at Newcastle University, in North East England, working with colleagues in Africa, say the sea cucumber is important because it is responsible for cleaning up the sea bed by consuming and mixing marine sediments.
Zapping microbes with electricity could replace tonnes of chemicals used in cleaning up mining wastewater, thanks to scientists who have developed a new water treatment system. Microbes are already used in conventional wastewater treatments to mop up contaminants by adding or removing electrons. But to work effectively, they need to be 'fed' using vast amounts of nutrients and chemicals.
Carpooling was once believed to be one of the answers to our traffic congestion and pollution woes, but the latest research shows a picture of decreasing car pooling figures and increasing solo drivers. In the 1980s about one out of every four American was a part of the great car pooling phenomena. Sharing a ride to work was the thing to do and many organisations encouraged and even actively facilitated their employees to be involved in car pooling.
China overtook the United States as the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter in November and is beginning to introduce controls to limit the environmental degradation that accompanies its rapid industrialisation. Already the planet's largest energy consumer and polluter, China has long taken the position that it is the industrialised nations who should be taking up the biggest burden of emissions cuts.
Hybrid vehicles get bigger and better with significant numbers expected to be on the road by 2015. Hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius have been the automotive success-story of the last decade, and this has fuelled growth in hybrid power for bigger vehicles like buses and trucks. Hybrid vehicles use electric power to supplement the polluting and inefficient internal combustion engine (ICE) which powers most vehicles using petrol or diesel.
A recent scientific expedition looking at plastic levels in the Mediterranean Sea has revealed the severity of the micro-plastic pollution problem. The research work has been completed by Mediterranean EnDangered (MED), an international programme bringing together scientists, teachers, sailors, artists and associations for the protection of the Mediterranean Sea.
The state of Arkansas is ringing in New Year in a very peculiar way. On New Year's Eve 2000 birds fell dead out of the sky and in another incident last week, thousands of fish washed up dead on the shores of the Arkansas River. Officers are saying its disease and not really pollution but environmentalists are saying pollutions and the use of fireworks could be the cause.
Soil damaged by pollution spills that include heavy metal can take many years to recover. On 25 April 1998, a tailings dam of the Los Frailes lead-zinc mine at Aznalcollar near the Spanish town of Seville suddenly failed and released 4-5 million cubic meters of toxic tailings slurries and liquid into nearby Rio Agrio, a tributary to Rio Guadiamar.
A new UN climate law Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) is being protesd by various environmental groups as being detrimental for the climate policies already in place. Groups like the Global Justice Ecological Programme say that the REDD is being pushed by powerful interests to allow continued pollution, since industrial countries can offset their emissions by paying poor countries with forests to plant trees to absorb the carbon.
The arsenic contamination of drinking water in Bangladesh in the 1970s was dubbed by the World Health Organisation as the largest mass poisoning of the population in history . The contamination, which led to large numbers of people suffering the effects of chronic arsenic poisoning, is not just responsible for disease and poor health in the region but has also had a devastating effect on Bangladesh's economy.
How composting can help to eliminate organic waste, fertilize the soil, save money and reduce pollution. Back in grade school, composting was often one of the topics that came up in Science class, especially when recycling was the main point of discussion.
New 'contraption' aims to tackle London's air quality by 'gluing pollution to the streets'. The latest bid to tackle London's increasingly poor air quality will see a special solution sprayed onto the capital's roads.
We present some business ideas for those of you who think that the future is greener than the present- we can think of some who don't ---. The advice is general and does not apply exclusively to any one nation.
We use the tiger (this is a prime Siberian example) to show up our failure to conserve wild species, but while we monopolise all the food that animals require, we could remember that it is not only their conservation we urgently need to cover. It is also our own indulgences.
How can you describe the threats existing to species, both large and small? Using the highly-threatened primates, we can perhaps see how they have contrived to exist until the current time. Then we can better understand just how we can prevent factors simply wiping them from the face of the earth, often through ignorance, lack of care, prejudice and of course the universal profit motive. Conservation begins in our minds, but demands much more than that.
The future is certainly renewable, but are we too late to prevent future centuries problems of global warming- and the rest! Here are some current US solutions to waste and warming for you to enjoy---there are some ads in this piece but weve allowed them for one blog only.
Need to save money after the spending boom to end them all? Here are 2 sets of opinions on how to pull out the plugs at night at least.
When dolphins are 'rescued' in various countries, the car given seems to be ill-considered. We are simply looking at the success rate which is reported to be low, in most places. They could even end up in commercial aquarium shows, but they certainly rarely make it back to the sea.
