Michele Kearney's Environmental Blog - Environmental degradation and waning natural resources including energy resources threaten U.S. security. And the loss of renewable natural resources, including forests, fresh water, fish and fertile soils, can drive political instability and conflict in the developing world, and around the globe. In short, natural resoures, energy and the environment are national security issues.
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Children
have a way of getting to the heart of things, and a new BBC documentary
in the run-up to the anniversary of last year’s tsunami and nuclear
crisis allows Japanese children the time and space to do exactly that.
“Children of the Tsunami,” which aired last week, relies heavily on the
words of those affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami,
which killed at least 16,000 people, to present a fresh picture to the
world’s desensitized eyes. It’s a moving story that should refocus minds
on a country where so much loss and devastation so recently occurred.
Students from Okawa elementary school, where 74 children died in the
tsunami, offer harrowing details about March 11, 2011, distilled down in
a way only a child can do. “It was Manno’s birthday…she was my best
friend,” says Fuka. “I didn’t realize I’d never see her again…So I
didn’t even say goodbye ...
Read More...
Urgent reforms to raise efficiency in the way water is used around the
world are needed to avert serious shortages in the next decades, and
markets in water can help, the OECD said on Wednesday.
In about 40 years' time more than four out of 10 people in the world may
be living in river areas in the grip of severe shortage, it warned.
"Efficient use of water is essential, and pricing it
Three
years after the US Department of Energy (DOE) elected to halt a series
of high-profile forestry experiments, researchers are reporting that
higher atmospheric carbon dioxide levels can increase soil carbon
stocks, even if nitrogen limitations curtail the overall fertilization
effect.
Public
sentiment in many states has turned against nuclear energy following
the March 2011 accident at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power
Station. The Fukushima accident was, however, preventable.
As scientists continue the hunt for energy sources that are safer,
cleaner alternatives to fossil fuel, an ever-increasing amount of
valuable farmland is being used to produce bioethanol, a source of
transportation fuel. And while land-bound sources are renewable,
economists and ecologists fear that diverting crops to produce fuel will
limit food resources and drive up costs
Disasters led by the Japan earthquake cost the world a record figure of
more than $380 billion last year, a UN official said Monday.
While countries are managing to control the disaster death toll,
economic costs are increasing more than ever before, said Margareta
Wahlstrom, the UN special envoy on disaster risk reduction.
She called the $380 billion figure "the minimum" cost, two third
The study, based on an expert workshop led by Columbia University's
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the University of Bristol, assessed
in detail a number of climate change events in the planet's history,
including the asteroid impact that made the dinosaurs go extinct and the
Permian mass-extinction which wiped out around 95 per cent of all life
on Earth. The findings are reported this wee
Wild bees are important pollinators and numerous studies dealing with
pollination of wild plants and crops underline their vital role in
ecosystems functioning.
While honey bees can be easily transported to various location when
needed, wild bees' presence is dependent on the availability of high
quality semi-natural habitats.
| Deals of the Day: China Gains a Foothold in US Energy Wall Street Journal (blog) Foothold in US: China Foothold in US Energy: Since 2010, Chinese companies have invested more than $17 billion into oil and gas deals in the US and Canada, giving their energy-thirsty nation a long-coveted foothold in a region known for innovative new ... |
Rising
income, not the one-child policy, has driven down China's fertility
rate. The policy has outgrown its limited purpose and should be ended to
reverse lingering gender imbalances.
The
real issue behind the Keystone XL pipeline debate is how to manage the
climate effects of the shift from conventional oils to unconventional
oils.
The
notion that diesel exhaust can cause the body harm — specifically
cancer — hardly seems shocking. The US National Toxicology Program
suggests that diesel exhaust particles can be “reasonably anticipated” to be carcinogenic, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer lists them as “probable carcinogens“.
The US Mine Safety and Health Administration cited cancer risks when it
regulated diesel emissions in mining operations back in 2001.
As the first anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster arrives, the cover-up involving nuclear power is more extensive than ever.
The Big Lie was integral to the nuclear push from its start.
