Physicians for Social Responsibility released a report titled: “Coal’s Assault on Human Health,” which reviews the potential impact of coal on human health. Coal combustion produces mercury, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and dozens of other substances known to be hazardous to human health.
Physicians for Social Responsibility was a Nobel Peace Prize recipient in 1985.
“California experienced centuries-long droughts in the past 20,000 years that coincided with the thawing of ice caps in the Arctic, according to a new study by UC Davis doctoral student Jessica Oster and geology professor Isabel Montañez.” Quoted from the UCDavis press release.
New research shows that daily record high temperatures have occurred twice as often as record lows over the last decade across the continental United States.
Canada’s oil sands resource is one of the most valuable resources in that country. Many people want to develop it and many others do not. Lisa Raitt, Canadian Natural Resources Minister and her staff are lobbying in the United States to promote development.
China is rapidly modernizing, and the country is generating three times as much trash compared to 20 years ago. In some areas the trash is accumulating rapidly, and could become a serious health hazard.
In the ranking of the world’s proven oil reserves, Canada stands behind only Saudi Arabia. Canada possesses an estimated 178.6 billion barrels of crude oil accessible using current technology. Of this reserve, 174 billion barrels are in Alberta’s Athabasca oil sand fields.
“The arctic could potentially alter the Earth’s climate by becoming a possible source of global atmospheric carbon dioxide. The arctic now traps or absorbs up to 25 percent of this gas but climate change could alter that amount.” Quoted from the USGS press release.
Coral reefs are a valuable part of aquatic ecosystems. They also happen to be quite valuable to the global economy. This article discusses the relative “price” of preserving environments like these.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch – a mass of trash and debris the size of Texas – has been growing in the North Pacific Gyre. Project Kaisei is an endeavor that aims to retrieve the garbage and somehow use it as fuel. This article includes a video and photo slideshow.
The American Petroleum Institute has a video that explains the horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing processes. It explains the drilling, fracturing, equipment, materials and environmental concerns.
This is an excellent video from an authoritative source.
A previously unknown volcanic eruption in 1809 kicked off the coldest decade in the past 500 years. This eruption was larger than the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo and was followed in 1815 by the eruption of Tambora. The result was a global lowering of temperature.
More than two months after a blowout at a newly-drilled oil well, crude oil and gas condensate continued to leak into the Timor Sea, between northwest Australia and Indonesia. According to news reports, the company responsible for the leaking well has tried to cap it three times without success.
The former port of Aralsk was recently 60 miles from the shoreline of the Aral Sea. However, a dam built by the World Bank and Kazakh government is causing the water to rise – Aralsk is now 15.5 miles from the shoreline.
This is a photo slideshow featuring Nantucket, Massachusetts, where 92% of the island’s waste is recycled. Residents of the island reuse, recycle, and compost almost everything. Their landfill, which is mined for aluminum and other materials, is shrinking.
Google Earth can become a powerful tool for people and organizations that are striving to help the environment. Google has applauded their efforts by featuring some of their work in a collection of videos.
About a dozen virtual tours of global environmental “hot spots” will be featured at the December 17-18 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. One of the hotspots is a mountaintop removal coal mine in West Virginia.
The combined global land and ocean surface temperature was the second warmest September on record, according to NOAA, based on records going back to 1880.
EPA plans to revoke an issued permit for a mountain top removal coal mine in West Virginia. The agency says that the surface mining operation could violate the Clean Water Act.
Four PacifiCorp hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River will be decommissioned. Environmentalists are pleased because the dams reduced water quality and salmon will be able to swim upstream to their historic spawning areas.
A lengthy article on the 60 Minutes website describes several places where coal as is either intentionally or unintentionally in locations where people can contact it, water that has contacted it or breathe the dust particles. Is it unsafe in any of these situations?
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is holding 79 coal-mining permits that use the controversial mining method of “mountaintop removal”. EPA is considering their potential impact on water quality.
Environmental groups are urging Washington to impose a moratorium on oil and gas drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. They are concerned about the impact of drilling on wildlife and the Arctic Ocean environment.
A video describes how NASA scientists can use the thermal wavelengths from Landsat data to estimate how much water is being used on a field-by-field basis.
In this video, Penn State professor Richard Alley, one of the world’s leading climate researchers, explores some of the basic research behind climate change and explains how climate change might impact our future. He is interviewed by Patty Satalia, host of the Penn State “Conversations” interview series.
“An explosion of knowledge has been made in the last few years about the basic biology of corals, researchers say in a new report, helping to explain why coral reefs around the world are collapsing and what it will take for them to survive a gauntlet of climate change and ocean acidification.” Quoted from the Oregon State press release.
USGS scientists are involved in a wide range of microbiology research to understand pathogens in contaminating drinking water, West Nile Virus in bird species, plague in Black-Footed ferrets, microorganisms as potential sources of alternative energy and other microbiology issues. They have a “Microbiology and the Environment” website to share information about their activities.
“A damaged oil well northwest of Western Australia continued to leak fuel into the Timor Sea in the first week of September 2009. This natural-color image shows the area affected by the oil slick on September 3. Compared to an image captured on August 30, the area affected appears larger, but that doesn’t automatically mean there is more oil. According to news reports, chemicals that help the oil disperse are being dropped on the slick from airplanes.” Quoted from Earth Observatory.
Welcome! Every day you can find links to several earth science news topics right here.
Bookmark this page and visit often. You can also receive them for free by RSS feed or in a daily email message.
Hobart King
Advertising
Popular From Geology.com
The East Africa Rift System: Learn some basics about the East Africa Rift System from this article by James Wood and Alex Guth of Michigan Technological University.
What are Meteorites? Join meteorite hunter, Geoffrey Notkin, as he begins a series of monthly articles on the topic of meteorites.
Marcellus Shale: The most overlooked resource in the eastern United States!
Mineral Rights / Oil & Gas: Who owns the minerals under your land? Have they been sold? Can someone mine without your permission?
