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Water Scarcity in American Southwest Gets Serious

Posted by ep-admin on Saturday, 23 October 2010 in Water Conservation

Water scarcity has always been a problem in the southwestern desert, with practically everyone relying on one river, the Colorado, to quench their thirst and the thirst of their crops. Increased water demands coupled with a long protracted drought in the Upper Colorado River Basin has created a pote...

White House Lifts Ban On Offshore Drilling

Posted by ep-admin on Saturday, 23 October 2010 in Oil Spill

The Obama administration announced Tuesday that companies able to meet new safety standards will be allowed to drill in the Gulf of Mexico, ending a six-month moratorium that had been scheduled to end next month. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the new rules imposed after the BP spill — the wor...

Is coal power headed for a downsizing in US?

Posted by ep-admin on Tuesday, 19 October 2010 in Mining

Tougher federal air pollution rules coming next year could prompt electricity companies to close as many as 1 in every 5 coal-burning power plants in America, primarily facilities more than 40 years old that lack emissions controls, according to a recent Wall Street analysis. The regul...

Launch the Summer of Solutions: Change the Story

Posted by ep-admin on Tuesday, 19 October 2010 in Sustainable Development

This is a call. On the basic level, it’s very simple; it’s a call for youth leaders all across the country who are ready to dig down into the grassroots and work with people in their communities to create solutions. We’re looking for leaders who want to plan a summer program next summer that will s...

A Fracking Disaster in the Making: Report

Posted by ep-admin on Sunday, 17 October 2010 in Fossil Fuels

The earth-shattering exploitation of deep deposits of shale rock for natural gas production has broken global records in northeast British Columbia and now threatens critical water supplies across the country, warns a new Munk School of Global Affairs report by award-winning B.C. journalist Ben Parf...

Canadians are realizing the present and future peril of climate change

Posted by ep-admin on Thursday, 14 October 2010 in Environmental Heroes

In 2009, Indigenous communities throughout the world called for a global mobilization “In Defence of Mother Earth” on October 12, 2010, reclaiming “Columbus Day” and transforming colonial holidays into days of action in solidarity with Indigenous peoples. Responding to this call and the dema...

Population - The True cause of Climate Change

Posted by ep-admin on Wednesday, 13 October 2010 in Climate Change

BOULDER—Changes in population growth and composition, including aging and urbanization, could significantly affect global emissions of carbon dioxide over the next 40 years, according to a new study out next week. The research, appearing in Proceedings of the National Academy...

Villagers despair in Hungary's red wasteland

Posted by ep-admin on Tuesday, 12 October 2010 in Earth Violators

Hungarians displaced by the toxic sludge that flooded a rural valley are beginning to wonder whether they will ever go home, says the BBC's Nick Thorpe in Ajka. Villagers from Kolontar say they doubt whether they will ever be able to go back home The Sports Hall in Ajka contains ...

Elderly people evacuated from the village of Kolontar silting in the beds in the Sports Hall in Ajka

America's Food Waste Equates to Wasted Energy

Posted by ep-admin on Wednesday, 06 October 2010 in Food

America is certainly the land of plenty. This country has been blessed with an overabundance of natural resources and some of the world's most fertile agricultural land. However, every year millions of tons of food is wasted. According to a new study published in the journal, Environmental Science &...

Cleanair system said to cut energy costs by up to 25 percent

Posted by ep-admin on Tuesday, 05 October 2010 in Air Quality

According to the University of Copenhagen’s Prof. Matthew Johnson, approximately one-sixth of the energy consumed in the world is used for heating, cooling and dehumidifying air in buildings. Because that air accumulates toxins and pathogens, he explains, it must constantly be expelled and r...

Rivers Worldwide in Peril

Posted by ep-admin on Tuesday, 05 October 2010 in Lakes/Rivers/Wetlands

Dams, agricultural runoff, pesticides, sewage, mercury pollution from coal plants, invasive species, overconsumption, irrigation, erosion from deforestation, wetland destruction, overfishing, aquaculture: it's clear that the world's rivers are facing a barrage of unprecedented impacts from humans, b...

The Walrus - The Latest Victim of Global Warming

Posted by ep-admin on Sunday, 03 October 2010 in Wildlife Conservation

Move over, polar bear. The Pacific walrus may be the new icon of global warming. Like polar bears, walruses are dependent on floating sea ice to rest, forage for food and nurture their young.Like polar bears, walruses are suffering because of a scarcity of summer and fall sea ice in Arctic waters...

The car of the future is here

Posted by ep-admin on Saturday, 02 October 2010 in Transportation

Jaguar has unveiled a new supercar that has much in common with a jet plane. It'll accelerate quicker than a Lamborghini LP640, has a greater top speed than a Ferrari 458 Italia, and spews out fewer emissions than a Toyota Prius. Behold, friends, the holy grail of motoring: the Jaguar C-X75...

GM maize 'has polluted rivers across the United States'

Posted by ep-admin on Saturday, 02 October 2010 in Agriculture

By Steve Connor, Science Editor An insecticide used in genetically modified (GM) crops grown extensively in the United States and other parts of the world has leached into the water of the surrounding environment. The insecticide is the product of a bacterial gene inserted into GM maize and other ...

The Bears are hungry in the Rockies

Posted by ep-admin on Friday, 01 October 2010 in Wildlife Conservation

A shortage of berries and other foods that hungry bears normally rely on to bulk up before hibernation has sent conflicts with humans spiraling to unprecedented levels in the Rockies.Wildlife officials in parts of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming say they are experiencing a record year for so-called probl...

Potentially habitable planet discovered

Posted by ep-admin on Friday, 01 October 2010 in Transportation

Washington, D.C. Astronomers have found a new, potentially habitable Earth-sized planet. It is one of two new planets discovered around the star Gliese 581, some 20 light years away. The planet, Gliese 581g, is located in a "habitable zone"—a distance from the star where the planet receives just the...

Coral Bleaching in the Caribbean

Posted by ep-admin on Sunday, 26 September 2010 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

Due to above-average water temperatures in the Caribbean Sea, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts that coral bleaching will be very likely this year. It may even be as severe as 2005 when 80 percent of corals were bleached and 40 percent died. There have been reports ...

Coastal Cleanup Day

Posted by ep-admin on Friday, 24 September 2010 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

Coastal Cleanup Day (CCD) is an international event with over 90 countries around the world participating, making it one of the largest volunteer efforts on the planet! Last year, over 14,000 volunteers from Los Angeles County joined together to pick up over 300,000 pounds of trash and recyclables f...

Can coral reefs adapt to climate change with migration?

Posted by ep-admin on Friday, 24 September 2010 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

Is it possible for corals to move or grow in other places that are more conducive to their needs? Stephanie Wear is a marine scientist with The Nature Conservancy’s Global Marine Team. She said that there is little evidence that this is happening: At this point, there is little evidence that cor...

Coral Can Recover from Climate Change Damage, New Research Suggests

Posted by ep-admin on Tuesday, 21 September 2010 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

A study by the University of Exeter provides the first evidence that coral reefs can recover from the devastating effects of climate change. Published Jan. 11, 2010 in the journal PLoS ONE, the research shows for the first time that coral reefs located in marine reserves can recover from the impacts...