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.
The August 7, 2008 eruption of Alaska’s Kasatochi Volcano completely covered Kasatochi Island with several meters of ash and volcanic material. It killed all of the island’s plants, fish and animals – it virtually sterilized the island. This ecological event also provided a rare research opportunity – a chance to see how species recolonize the island.
The first commercial ships to attempt a crossing of Russia’s Northeast Passage without the aid of icebreakers left Vladivostok last week. This route saves them 4000 nautical miles in their trip between South Korea and the Netherlands. A small upside to global warming.
The World Bank published a report in 2005 titled: “Natural Disaster Hotspots: A Global Risk Analysis,” that presents a global view of disaster risks associated with some major natural hazards such as drought, floods, cyclones, earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides. The report indicates that 3.4 billion people, more than half the world’s population, live in areas where at least one hazard could significantly impact them. Quoted from a Columbia University press release of 03/05.
NOAA has a large collection of graphs, tables and maps that document climate change. They have maps and charts for temperature, precipitation, sea ice extent, atmospheric measurements and more.
An article on the Strategic Risk website suggests that climate change might produce water shortages that lead to conflict in some parts of the world and that climate change could cost 5 to 20% of GDP annually.
Mercury is a global pollutant that ultimately makes its way into every aquatic ecosystem through the hydrologic cycle. USGS published a study that examined mercury in top-predator fish, bed sediment, and water from streams across the United States.
New ordinances now prohibit stores in Mexico City from using non-biodegradable plastic bags. Some other cities around the world have also adopted restrictions on the bags.
Amusement parks across the U.S. have been taking steps to become greener. Some of the changes include replacing incandescent bulbs with LED lights, using alternative fuels, installing solar panels, using biodegradable plates and utensils, and recycling more.
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