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Thawing Subarctic Permafrost Increases Greenhouse Gas Emissions
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The permafrost in the bogs of subarctic Sweden is undergoing dramatic changes. The part of the soil that thaws in the summer, the so-called active layer, has become thicker since 1970, and the permafrost has disappeared altogether in some locations. This has lead to significant changes in vegetation and
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to a subsequent increase in emission of the greenhouse gas methane. Methane is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. full story
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Pentagon Downplays Report: Climate Change a National Security Threat?
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The Pentagon last year asked two private consultants to consider the potential global impacts of an abrupt and severe change in the world's climate. Which regions might be hurt the worst, they asked, and what would that mean for U.S. national security? The scenario sketched out in the report,
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"Imagining the Unthinkable," may surprise some, though it seems to have been largely discounted by the official who ordered the report.
full story
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Bush Administration Obscures Truth
About Toxic Cleanups
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1 in 4 Americans still live within 4 miles of a Superfund site; All Taxpayers Foot the Bill and Sierra Club. Superfund cleanups have slowed
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The EPA is misleading the public about the Bush Administration's failure to clean up toxic waste sites and protect public health, according to a new analysis released by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group by 50 percent since 2001, with costs for those cleanups shifting from polluters to
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average taxpayers, according to the report. full story
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Mexico Bans Import Of Some GM Corn
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Mexico announced it will ban the import of some genetically modified (GM) corn in a bid to protect its corn industry and consumer health. Victor Manuel Arambula, executive secretary of Mexico's biosafety commission, said Thursday the country would prohibit any research or introduction of corn
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varities engineered for non-agricultural purposes, such as producing chemicals used in pharmaceutical products and plastic. full story
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Bush 'Bending Science To His
Political Needs'
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The Bush administration is guilty of misrepresenting scientific knowledge and misleading the public, a group of America's most senior scientists claimed yesterday. They said the government had manipulated information to fit its policies on everything from climate change to whether Iraq
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had been trying to make nuclear weapons. full story
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Bush Budget Balloons
America's Environmental Deficit
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"The Bush administration's budget reveals a ballooning environmental deficit that is growing even greater than the fiscal deficit. The reason for this is the disproportional cuts that have been directed at environment programs even as overall domestic spending increases. Between FY 2004 and FY 2005
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total investments in environmental protection would decrease by $1.9 billion or nearly six percent. Over the next five years, as the loss of purchasing power taxes remaining resources, the shortfall compared to FY 2004 grows dramatically to a total of $7.0 billion. full story
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Most States Expect Pollution To Rise
If Regulations Change
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A majority of state environmental officials believes that air pollution from coal-burning power plants would increase if the Bush administration's changes to the Clean Air Act were to take effect, according to a survey to be released on Friday by the General Accounting Office. full story
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