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Giant Ice Island Breaks off Arctic Shelf |
An ice island the size of a small city is adrift in the Arctic after breaking free from one of Canada's largest ice shelves, scientists said today. The ice island is 37 metres (120ft) thick and measures 9 miles by 3 miles. It broke clear from Ellesmere island, about 500 miles south of the North Pole, 16 months ago, triggering tremors so powerful they were picked up by earthquake monitors 155 miles away. full story |
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Bush Embraces The Endangered Polar Bear
And Accepts The Dangers of Global Warming |
In a landmark decision, the Bush administration has concluded that global warming is endangering the existence of the polar bear - an admission that could force the US government to act to curb the emission of greenhouse gases. In a sharp reversal from its previous position, the Department of the Interior has decided one of nature's most iconic creatures should be listed as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act because "the polar bears' habitat may literally be melting". full story |
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Britain to Construct World's
Largest Offshore Wind Farm |
Two enormous offshore wind farms are to be built in the outer Thames Estuary, the Blair Government said Monday. When completed, the larger of the two, known as the London Array, will be the biggest offshore wind farm in the world. The London Array and Thanet wind farms together total 1.3 gigawatts of green electricity, enough to power a third of London's three million households when fully operational, the government said. full story |
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After Surviving 20 Million Years, China's
Goddess of The River is Driven to Extinction |
For 20 million years, the white-fin dolphin, or baiji, swam China's longest river, the Yangtze. But a few years of breakneck development, overfishing and a massive increase in shipping have reduced sightings of this shy, graceful creature to zero. A recent expedition failed to spot a single Lipotes vexillifer, and now conservationists fear the almost-blind, long-beaked animal is gone for good, the first big aquatic mammal to become extinct due to human activity. full story |
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10 Years to Live: Orang-utan
Faces Extinction in The Wild |
At least 1,000 orang-utans have been killed in fierce forest fires in Indonesia, hastening the species' headlong rush to extinction within the next decade. The fires greatest victim is the orang-utan - Asia's only great ape - which is so endangered that many experts believe that it will become extinct in the wild over the next 10 years. Some 50,000 of them, at most, still survive, and about 5,000 are thought to perish every year as the rainforests on which they depend are felled. full story |
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Bush Junta "Tools Up" To Fight Americans
With Civil Suppression Bill |
"Public Law 109-364, or the "John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007" (H.R.5122) (2), which was signed by the commander in chief on October 17th, 2006, in a private Oval Office ceremony, allows the President to declare a "public emergency" and station troops anywhere in America and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities, in order to "suppress public disorder." full story |
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Polar Bear Populations
Shrinking as Arctic Ice Melts |
Polar bears are losing their icy Arctic habitat to climate change, and five out of the world's 19 polar bear populations are now in decline, polar bear experts said in a report released today. A 30% decline in the size of the total polar bear population within the next 35 to 50 years is likely, the IUCN-World Conservation Union’s Polar Bear Specialist Group said in its report. An estimated 20,000 and 25,000 polar bears exist today. full story |
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Boston Air Traffic Controller
Says 9/11 An Inside Job |
A former Boston Center air traffic controller has gone public on his assertion that 9/11 was an inside job and that Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon tracked three of the four flights from the point of their hijacking to hitting their targets. In an astounding telephone interview, Robin Hordon claims air traffic controllers have been ignored or silenced to protect the true perpetrators of 9/11. full story |
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Government Broke Law in Grizzly Dispute |
The federal government broke the law by not addressing flaws in a study it relied on in allowing maintenance of roads in grizzly bear habitat in parts of Montana, Idaho and Washington, a judge ruled Wednesday. The U.S. Forest Service must conduct a new environmental study because it violated the National Environmental Policy Act, which required them to acknowledge that the research was questioned, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy ruled. full story |
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World Governments Adopt
Sustainable Fisheries Resolution |
Concerned that overfishing, illegal catches, wasteful methods and destructive techniques are depleting fish stocks and ruining fragile marine habitats in many parts of the world, the UN General Assembly Friday called on all nations to take "immediate action," to sustainably manage fish stocks, and protect vulnerable deep sea ecosystems from harmful fishing practices. full story |
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Arctic's Summer Sea Ice Could
Disappear Completely by 2040 |
The Arctic could lose virtually all its summer sea ice by the year 2040 - 40 years earlier than previously thought - according to a study by leading climate scientists. If nothing is done to curb man-made emissions of greenhouse gases the Arctic Basin, from Siberia and Greenland to Canada and Alaska, could be open water in summer within the lifetime of today's children. full story |
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A Generation Is All They Need |
One day we will all happily be implanted with microchips, and our every move will be monitored. The technology exists; the only barrier is society's resistance to the loss of privacy. By the time my four-year-old son is swathed in the soft flesh of old age, he will likely find it unremarkable that he and almost everyone he knows will be permanently implanted with a microchip. Automatically tracking his location in real time, it will connect him with databases monitoring and recording his smallest behavioural traits. full story |
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Cow 'Emissions' More Damaging
to Planet Than CO2 from Cars |
Meet the world's top destroyer of the environment. It is not the car, or the plane,or even George Bush: it is the cow. A UN report has identified the world's rapidly growing herds of cattle as the greatest threat to the climate, forests and wildlife. And they are blamed for a host of other environmental crimes, from acid rain to the introduction of alien species, from producing deserts to creating dead zones in the oceans, from poisoning rivers and drinking water to destroying coral reefs. full story |
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Marine Plants Die in Warmer Oceans
Speeding Climate Change |
Global warming is reducing the numbers of microscopic plants in the world's oceans, a new study of satellite data reveals. Scientists say that means there are fewer plants to absorb the greenhouse gas CO2 humans are pumping into the atmosphere, leading to a further increase in global warming. By comparing 9 years of global ocean satellite data with records of Earth's changing climate, scientists found that whenever climate temps warmed, marine plant life in the form of microscopic phytoplankton declined. full story |
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Ebola Virus Plus Hunting Could Wipe Out Gorillas |
The Ebola virus has wiped out as many as 5,000 lowland gorillas in the region surrounding the Lossi Sanctuary in Africa, a much higher number than previous estimates, according to new research published today. The scientists propose that ape-to-ape transmission is a major factor in the spread of the disease among the endangered animals. full story |
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Half the Peruvian Amazon
Leased for Petroleum Development |
Conservation groups based in Washington warned today that the Peruvian government is signing so many contracts with multinational oil companies that half the rainforest of the Peruvian Amazon is now covered with oil leases. The Peruvian Amazon contains some of the most pristine and biodiverse rainforests on Earth, says said Dr. Matt Finer of Save America's Forests, who has spent years working as an ecologist in the rainforests of Peru and Ecuador. full story |
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WWF Survey: Borneo
Orang-utan Population Threatened |
Drastic habitat reduction, poaching and the illegal pet trade have left the world’s largest population of western Bornean orang-utans facing local extinction unless immediate protection measures are taken, a WWF survey finds. The survey reveals that about 1,030 western Bornean orang-utan, out of an estimated population of 4,800 throughout Borneo, are found in and around Indonesia's Betung Kerihun National Park. full story |
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U.S. Court Bans Oil and Gas
Roads on Roadless National Forests |
A federal district judge ruled yesterday that the Roadless Area Conservation Rule should be applied to prohibit road construction on hundreds of oil and gas leases issued on national forest roadless areas since the rule was first enacted in '01. Judge Elizabeth Laporte of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Calif. issued the order, which bans road construction on 327 oil and gas leases issued by the Bush administration since January 2001, most in Colorado, Utah and North Dakota. full story |
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Growth of Global Greenhouse
Gas Emissions Accelerating |
Global emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide have more than doubled since 1990 and the rate of increase is accelerating, according to new information gathered and analyzed by the Australian government research service. The scientists say this trend, based on data collected over the past 30 years, indicates that recent efforts to cut back on emissions have had little impact on emissions growth. full story |
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U.S. Petitioned to List
12 Penguin Species as Endangered |
The Center for Biological Diversity filed a formal petition with the U.S. govt. today requesting that 12 species of penguins worldwide be added to the list of threatened and endangered species under the federal Endangered Species Act. Each of the penguin species faces threats that include global warming, introduced predators, disease, habitat destruction, disturbance at breeding colonies, oil spills, marine pollution, depletion of krill which feeds their prey species, and in some cases, direct harvest. full story |
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E.U. Votes for Profits over Protection of
Collapsing Bluefin Tuna Stocks in Meditteranean |
The European Union, under pressure from France and Italy, during the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) meeting, torpedoed attempts by the United States to properly regulate the number of tuna caught each year. The Commission even failed to agree to stop fishing during the most of the spawning season and blocked proposals for the creation of a working group to identify those responsible for the illegal catches. full story |
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The Earth Is Shrinking |
Our early 21st century civilization is being squeezed between advancing deserts and rising seas. Measured by the land area that can support human habitation, the earth is shrinking. Mounting population densities, once generated solely by the addition of over 70 million people per year, are now also fueled by the relentless advance of deserts and the rise in sea level. full story |
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Loggerhead Turtle Numbers Slide
on Florida Nesting Beaches |
The largest remaining loggerhead sea turtle rookery in the United States is in steep decline, according to the latest Index Nesting Beach Survey compiled by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The analysis shows that nest counts have slumped 22.3 percent from 1989 to 2005. There has been a 39.5 percent decline since 1998. An average of 14,423 loggerhead turtles nested on Florida beaches between 2001 and 2005. full story |
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House and Senate Pass Bill Aimed at
Further Criminalizing Animal-rights Actions |
The House of Representatives on Monday passed the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, extending current federal law to specifically criminalize not only interfering with "animal enterprises" -- a commercial or academic enterprise that uses or sells animals or animal products for profit, food or fiber production, agriculture, research, or testing -- but also interfering with organizations that do business with "animal enterprises," such as their lawyers or insurance companies. full story |
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Climate Change Pushing Bird Species to Oblivion |
Birds are suffering the escalating effects of climate change in every part of the planet, finds a new report released today by the global conservation group WWF at the United Nations climate change conference in Nairobi. The report reveals a trend towards a major bird extinction due to global warming. The researchers found declines of up to 90% in some bird populations, as well as total and unprecedented reproductive failure in others. full story |
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25 Percent Renewable Energy
by 2025 Possible for USA |
Renewable resources could produce 25% of the electricity and motor vehicle fuels used in the US by 2025 at little or no additional cost, finds a RAND Corp. study issued today. Renewable sources currently provide about 6% of all U.S. energy supplies. Using a computer model, researchers assessed the possible impact that a 25% renewable energy target for electricity and motor vehicle could have on total national energy expenditures and on emissions of local air pollutants and CO2 by 2025. full story |
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