Thursday, October 31, 2013

Climate deniers find pushback in Nebraska

Eyes of the Nation on Colorado Towns' Fracking Fight | Common Dreams

Eyes of the Nation on Colorado Towns' Fracking Fight | Common Dreams
"In what many are calling the new "ground zero" in the national fight against fracking, the toxic gas and oil extracting process is on the ballot in four Colorado towns where citizens are taking on the heavyweights of the fossil fuel industry."

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Study: Arctic Sea Ice Loss Shifts Jet Stream, Driving Deluges In NW Europe, Drought In Mediterranean

Study: Arctic Sea Ice Loss Shifts Jet Stream, Driving Deluges In NW Europe, Drought In Mediterranean: Yet another study finds Arctic sea ice loss can shift the jet stream and alter the climate.

Japan Greenlights 'Perilous' Cleanup at Fukushima's Reactor 4 | Common Dreams

Japan Greenlights 'Perilous' Cleanup at Fukushima's Reactor 4 | Common Dreams
"Regulators with Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority gave the final OK Wednesday for the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to begin to remove the 1300 spent fuel rods from the badly damaged Unit 4 pool, thus initiating a decommissioning process which anti-nuclear activist Harvey Wasserman describes as "humankind’s most dangerous moment since the Cuban Missile Crisis"."

Monday, October 28, 2013

Say Goodbye to Your Antibiotics - Truthdig

Say Goodbye to Your Antibiotics - Truthdig
"We’ve reached the limits of medicine’s effectiveness. Thanks to overmedication and the abuse of antibiotics in the agriculture industry, there are infections that can no longer be treated with antibiotics. And there’s nothing left to do except maybe hope for the best."

Campaign To Defeat GMO Labeling In Washington Gets $21 Million From Industry, $550 From Actual People

Campaign To Defeat GMO Labeling In Washington Gets $21 Million From Industry, $550 From Actual People: Human beings who live in Washington have donated .0025 percent of the total funding blitz leveled against the upcoming GMO labeling initiative.

Peer Reviewed Study Shows 14,000 U.S. Deaths from Fukushima

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Nearly 300 Oil Spills Went Unreported In North Dakota In Less Than Two Years

Nearly 300 Oil Spills Went Unreported In North Dakota In Less Than Two Years: Nearly 300 oil spills and 750 "oil field incidents" have occurred in North Dakota since January 2012 and none were reported to the public, according to a report released Friday by the Associated Press.

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Fukushima’s Radiation Gusher: Could the Entire Pacific Fishery Be Tainted? | Alternet

Fukushima’s Radiation Gusher: Could the Entire Pacific Fishery Be Tainted? | Alternet
"The Seattle Times  reported last October that researchers found small amounts of Fukushima’s cesium in albacore tuna caught off the coasts of Washington and Oregon. The albacore warning followed the May 2012 and Feb. 2013 findings of cesium-contamination in Blue fin tuna caught off California."

Friday, October 25, 2013

Beyond Tipping Point: Global Warming Has Raised Arctic Temps to Hottest in 120,000 Years | Common Dreams

Beyond Tipping Point: Global Warming Has Raised Arctic Temps to Hottest in 120,000 Years | Common Dreams
"Scientists have long known that climate change is warming the arctic at an alarming rate. But new research shows that in some areas—where human-caused climate change has driven temperatures higher than they've been for tens of thousands of years—melting polar ice caps are now beyond any hope of saving."

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Fuel Removal From Fukushima's Reactor 4 Threatens 'Apocalyptic' Scenario | Common Dreams

Fuel Removal From Fukushima's Reactor 4 Threatens 'Apocalyptic' Scenario | Common Dreams
"An operation with potentially "apocalyptic" consequences is expected to take place a little over two weeks from now at Fukushima's damaged and sinking Reactor 4, when plant operator TEPCO will attempt to remove over 1300 spent fuel rods holding the radiation equivalent of 14,000 Hiroshima bombs from a spent fuel storage tank perched on the reactor's upper floor."

Fukushima Water Radiation Doubles Overnight | Common Dreams

Fukushima Water Radiation Doubles Overnight | Common Dreams
"Water radiation levels at Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant more than doubled in the span of one night to levels 14,000 times the maximum level for safe drinking water, owner TEPCOadmitted Thursday, setting new records for drainage ditch contamination as toxic spills and heavy rains continue to ravage the crippled facility."

Five Cities That Are Taking Climate Preparation Seriously

Five Cities That Are Taking Climate Preparation Seriously: Cities are taking the lead in climate resiliency, but more must be done to prepare for another Superstorm Sandy-like event.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Pepsi, Nestle, Coca Cola Revealed as Big Money Behind GMO Labeling Fight | Common Dreams

Pepsi, Nestle, Coca Cola Revealed as Big Money Behind GMO Labeling Fight | Common Dreams
"Following ongoing legal pressure from campaign groups and the Washington State Attorney General's office, pro-GMO trade group the Grocery Manufacturers Association released a list of high rolling donors to their campaign aimed at blocking GMO labeling in the state."

Fukushima - A Global Threat That Requires a Global Response

Fukushima - A Global Threat That Requires a Global Response
"The story of Fukushima should be on the front pages of every newspaper. Instead, it is rarely mentioned. The problems at Fukushima are unprecedented in human experience and involve a high risk of radiation events larger than any that the global community has ever experienced. It is going to take the best engineering minds in the world to solve these problems and to diminish their global impact."

Monday, October 21, 2013

Huge GMO News | Common Dreams

Huge GMO News | Common Dreams
"Nobody knows what's going to happen in Washington between now and November 5. But from Mexico, to Hawaii and to the 64 nations that already have GMO labeling, this tide just might be turning."

Friday, October 18, 2013

The Government Shutdown's Incalculable Damage to Scientific Research | Alternet

The Government Shutdown's Incalculable Damage to Scientific Research | Alternet
"So Minnesota Republican Representative Michele Bachmann told the Washington Post, commenting on the shutdown that ground many critical government functions to a halt for over two weeks. "It's exactly what we wanted, and we got it." So, what exactly did Bachmann and her Republican colleagues get out of it? A lot more than they may have bargained for, according to scientists employed by the federal government. It is not just that government researchers were locked out of their labs and offices, but whole programs were wastefully delayed and, in some cases, endangered."

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Last Hours of Humanity: Warming the World to Extinction

Last Hours of Humanity: Warming the World to Extinction
"If you were standing outdoors looking at the distant and reddening sky 250 million years ago as the Permian Mass Extinction was beginning, unless you were in the region that is known as Siberia you would have no idea that a tipping point had just been passed and soon 95% of all life on earth would be dead.
It's almost impossible to identify tipping points, except in retrospect."

Former Wall Street Journal Meterologist Explains Why He Decided Never To Fly Again

Former Wall Street Journal Meterologist Explains Why He Decided Never To Fly Again: A former Wall Street Journal meteorologist says he will stop flying after an emotional reaction to the IPCC report.

Is Japan’s Abe Honest About Global Help for Fukushima? | Common Dreams

Is Japan’s Abe Honest About Global Help for Fukushima? | Common Dreams
"“If you calculate the amount of cesium 137 in the pool” at Unit #4, “the amount is equivalent to 14,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs,” says Hiroaki Koide, assistant professor at the Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute"

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Researchers Find Historic Ocean Acidification Levels: ‘The Next Mass Extinction May Have Already Begun’

Researchers Find Historic Ocean Acidification Levels: ‘The Next Mass Extinction May Have Already Begun’: The study finds a "deadly trio" of human-caused effects are proving disastrous for the health of the world's oceans.

Must-See Chart: Cost Of PV Cells Has Dropped An Amazing 99% Since 1977, Bringing Solar Power To Grid Parity

Must-See Chart: Cost Of PV Cells Has Dropped An Amazing 99% Since 1977, Bringing Solar Power To Grid Parity
"The price of solar photovoltaic cells has dropped 99% in the past quarter century. So in an increasing number of markets around the country, solar is at or very close to grid parity."

Get Ready for Extra Helpings of Feces, Pus and Chlorine on Your Plate — America is Deregulating Its Meat Industry | Alternet

Get Ready for Extra Helpings of Feces, Pus and Chlorine on Your Plate — America is Deregulating Its Meat Industry | Alternet
"Fecal contamination is not the only risk posed by the new, laissez-faire system. Under the new HACCP/HIMP rules, bruises, scabs, sores, blisters, infections and tumors on chickens will no longer be considered "Other Consumer Protections" (OCPs) and removed. Already, when half a bird's body is "covered with an inflammatory process" it may still be "salvaged" for food, says an anonymous poultry inspector who is against the new system."

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Radiation Soars 6,700 Times Legal Limit as Fukushima Disasters Continue Unabated | Common Dreams

Radiation Soars 6,700 Times Legal Limit as Fukushima Disasters Continue Unabated | Common Dreams
"TEPCO admitted Thursday that yet another spill at the crisis-hit Fukushima nuclear plant has released water 6,700 times more radioactive than the legal limit, adding to the near daily news of fresh leaks and climbing radiation pointing towards systemic failure to mitigate or contain the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl."

Friday, October 4, 2013

Another Fukushima Tank Springs A Highly Radioactive Leak

Another Fukushima Tank Springs A Highly Radioactive Leak
"I think any rational person has to have serious doubts about the ability of for-profit corporations to protect us from the environmental consequences of of their poor management:"

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Human Assault Pushes Ocean to Limit Unseen in 300 Million Years | Common Dreams

Human Assault Pushes Ocean to Limit Unseen in 300 Million Years | Common Dreams
"The news, the evidence that supports it, and the warning that accompanies it could hardly be more dire."

Prions in Plants? New Concerns Regarding Chronic Wasting Disease

Prions in Plants? New Concerns Regarding Chronic Wasting Disease
"Prions — the infectious, deformed proteins that cause chronic wasting disease in deer — can be taken up by plants such as alfalfa, corn and tomatoes, according to new research from the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison."

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Fukushima Failure: Radioactive Water Bursts from Tank | Common Dreams

Fukushima Failure: Radioactive Water Bursts from Tank | Common Dreams
"Tons of water exposed to radiation have leaked during a transfer operation at the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant, owner TEPCO announced Tuesday. The new leak marks the latest in mounting failures to contain the ever-increasing quantity of water contaminated by efforts to cool the plant's melted reactors."

California’s Government Is Open And Making Clean Energy Available To More Of Its Residents

California’s Government Is Open And Making Clean Energy Available To More Of Its Residents: While the federal government is mired in the latest shutdown crisis, California continues to cement itself as a national leader in clean energy.

The Demand for a Global Take-Over at Fukushima has Hit Critical Mass | Common Dreams

The Demand for a Global Take-Over at Fukushima has Hit Critical Mass | Common Dreams
"Spent fuel rods are the most lethal items our species has ever created. A human standing within a few feet of one would die in a matter of minutes. With more than 11,000 scattered around the Daichi site, radiation levels could rise high enough to force the evacuation of all workers and immobilize much vital electronic equipment."