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Measurements of Winter Arctic Sea Ice Show continuing Ice Loss, says CU-Boulder Study

By Guest PostMarch 27, 2011EnvironmentArctic sea ice, climate scientists, greenhouse gas, ice extents measured, long-term record

The 2011 Arctic sea ice extent maximum that marks the beginning of the melt season appears to be tied for the lowest ever measured by satellites, say scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder’s National Snow and Ice Data Center.

The CU-Boulder research team believes the lowest annual maximum ice extent of 5,650,000 square miles occurred on March 7. The maximum ice extent was 463,000 square miles below the 1979-2000 average, an area slightly larger than the states of Texas and California combined. The 2011 measurements were tied with those from 2006 as the lowest maximum sea ice extents measured since satellite record keeping began in 1979. (more…)

Radiation Level in Seawater off Nuclear Plant “Fukushima-1” Exceeded 1250 Times

By Guest PostMarch 26, 2011Environmentfukushima daiichi nuclear plant, Japan, millisievert, radiation levels, radioactive iodine, radioactive water, reactor, seafood, seawater

Levels of radioactive iodine in seawater just offshore of the embattled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant spiked to more than 1,250 times higher than normal, Japan’s nuclear and industrial safety agency said Saturday.

Samples taken Friday morning from a monitoring station 330 meters off the coast were significantly higher than results from the previous morning, when the level was 104 times above normal, according to CNN International. (more…)

New Research Suggests Wild Birds May Play a Role in the Spread of Bird Flu

By Guest PostMarch 25, 2011Environmentavian influenza viruses, bird flu, bird flu outbreak, chicken farms, migratory birds, pathogenic avian influenza

LAUREL, Md. — Wild migratory birds may indeed play a role in the spread of bird flu, also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1. (more…)

Ancient Trash Heaps Gave Rise To Everglades Tree Islands

By Guest PostMarch 24, 2011Environmentancient trash heaps, everglades tree islands, fixed tree islands, garbage mounds, prehistoric humans, tree islands

SANTA FE, N.M.— Garbage mounds left by prehistoric humans might have driven the formation of many of the Florida Everglades’ tree islands, distinctive havens of exceptional ecological richness in the sprawling marsh that are today threatened by human development. (more…)

Think Globally, but Act Locally When Studying Plants, Animals, Global Warming, Researchers Advise

By Guest PostMarch 22, 2011Environment, Natureagriculture, air pollution, butterfly, camille parmesan, climate, climate change, climate change impacts, effects of climate change, extinctions, global scale, global warming, greenhouse gas, habitat fragmentation, human activities, invasive species, los angeles, mediterranean geraniums, michael singer, multiple factors, natural changes, nobel prize, plants and animals, policy makers, quino checkerspot butterfly, san diego, southern california, species, united states, urban sprawl

AUSTIN, Texas — Global warming is clearly affecting plants and animals, but we should not try to tease apart the specific contribution of greenhouse gas driven climate change to extinctions or declines of species at local scales, biologists from The University of Texas at Austin advise.

Camille Parmesan, Michael C. Singer and their coauthors published their commentary online this week in Nature Climate Change.

“Yes, global warming is happening. Yes, it is caused by human activities. And yes, we’ve clearly shown that species are impacted by global warming on a global scale,” says Parmesan, associate professor of integrative biology. (more…)

Radiation Hazard Issued for Japanese Spianch and Milk

By PravdaMarch 21, 2011Environment, Healthcaesium, canola, chrysanthemum greens, fukushima prefecture, health hazard, ibaraki prefecture, iodine, milk, nuclear power plant, radiation, radioactive substances, spinach, tokyo metropolitan area, ukushima, vegetables

The government is considering restricting shipments of spinach and milk from certain areas near the quake-damaged Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant because radiation stronger than permissible standards has been detected in those products.

Radioactive substances exceeding national standards have been detected in samples of spinach from Ibaraki Prefecture and of raw milk from Fukushima Prefecture, the government said late Saturday. (more…)

Researchers Find That Pollution Forms an Invisible Barrier for Marine Life

By Guest PostMarch 18, 2011Environmentanthropogenic factors, bacteria, chemicals, chlorinated hydrocarbons, coastal areas, coastal water ecosystems, contaminants, discharge, ecosystem based management, evolutionary trajectory, heavy metals, human impacts, human stressors, jon puritz, larvae, los angeles, marine life, municipal treatment plants, nutrients, ocean, pacific coast, petroleum hydrocarbons, plankton, pollutants, population, rob toonen, sea stars, sewage, southern california bight, species, starfish, toxic, united states, urban runoff, urban runoff plumes

Over 50 percent of the population in the United States and over 60 percent in the world live in coastal areas. Rapidly growing human populations near the ocean have massively altered coastal water ecosystems.

One of the most extensive human stressors is the discharge of chemicals and pollutants into the ocean. In the Southern California Bight, more than 60 sewage and urban runoff sources discharge over 1 billion gallons of liquid on a dry day with the two largest sources of contaminants being sewage from municipal treatment plants and urban runoff from highly modified river basins. (more…)

Japan Worst-case Scenario Unlikely to Cause Catastrophic Radiation Release

By Guest PostMarch 17, 2011Environmentboiling water reactor, Chernobyl, chest x-rays, explosion, fuel rods, fukushima plant, Japan, john lee, meltdown, nuclear reactor, nuclear reactors, power blackouts, radioactivity, release of harmful radiation, thomas downer, three mile island accident, united states, worst case scenario

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— While exposed spent fuel rods at the failing nuclear reactors in Japan pose new threats, the worst-case scenario would still be unlikely to expose the public to catastrophic amounts of radiation, says a University of Michigan nuclear engineering professor who is an expert on this particular kind of reactor.

“For the public, I don’t believe it would be much higher than two additional chest x-rays,” said John Lee, a professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, citing the results of the Three Mile Island accident. (more…)

Category Archives: Environment