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Environmental News capsules from < and < news services. Jan 02 – Mar 02
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POPE ASKED TO HELP SAVE SEA TURTLES, LOS ANGELES, California, March 15, 2002 (ENS) - A California based conservation group has written to the Vatican asking that turtle meat be declared red meat, and therefore off limits to practicing Catholics during Lent. The group says that consumption of illegally caught turtles is one of the major threats to sea turtles in southern California and Mexico.
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AUSTRALIA'S PROMOTION OF LOGGING PAPUA NEW GUINEA CONDEMNED, By Bob Burton
CANBERRA, Australia, March 15, 2002 (ENS) - Support by an Australian government agency for a Papua New Guinea (PNG) trade fair promoting the logging industry has angered environmentalists but been welcomed by the timber industry’s peak lobby group.
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CLIMATE CHANGE SPREADS DROUGHT ACROSS AUSTRALIA , PERTH, Australia, March 14, 2002 (ENS) - The southwestern part of Australia has been bone dry for 27 years, and Australian government scientists say the lengthy drought could be a foretaste of future experiences across the nation due to the greenhouse effect.
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NON-PERMITTED POLLUTERS GIVEN SECRET FREE RIDE, WASHINGTON, DC, March 11, 2002 (ENS) - New England is the worst and the Rocky Mountain region is the best, but across the country nearly one third of all factories, power plants and other major sources of air pollution do not have permits required under the Clean Air Act. The poor rate of compliance was detailed in agency documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)
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CONSERVATIONISTS ARRESTED AS LOGGER MOVE ON GOOLENGOOK FOREST
MELBOURNE, Victoria, Australia, March 11, 2002 (ENS) - Logging and woodchipping in the old growth Goolengook forest in East Gippsland began in two areas Saturday over the loud protests of conservationists. They have tried for years to safeguard the remote area, six hours from the nearest city, Canberra.
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SINGAPORE'S LAST UNIQUE ANIMALS FACE EXTINCTION Singapore's only unique wild animals (one of the world's largest squirrels and a monkey that lives high in the forest canopy) are perilously close to extinction, a researcher said on Thursday. Peter Ng, the director of a museum on biodiversity at the National University of Singapore, said the cream-colored giant squirrel and the banded leaf monkey have fallen victim to urbanization and shrinking forests.
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COMMON HERBICIDE LINKED TO SEXUAL SIDE EFFECTS IN FROGS
BERKELEY, California, April 16, 2002 (ENS) - Atrazine, the top selling weed killer in the United States, disrupts the sexual development of frogs at concentrations 30 times lower than levels allowed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The researchers who uncovered the problem join environmentalists in expressing concern about heavy use of the herbicide on corn, soybeans and other crops in the U.S. Midwest and around the world.
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POWER COMPANY BUYS OHIO RIVER VILLAGE PLAGUED BY ACID CLOUDS A power company agreed Tuesday to pay $20 million to buy an Ohio River village that was plagued last summer by blue clouds of sulfuric acid gas from the utility's nearby coal-burning plant. The 221 residents of Cheshire will have to move. "Relocation will not be easy, especially for some whose families have lived in Cheshire for generations," said Tom Reese, mayor of the hamlet 90 miles (145 kilometers) southeast of Columbus. "It will be sad indeed to see our village disappear."
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GLOBAL WARMING THREATENS MAJOR FLOODING IN THE HIMALAYAS, SAYS U.N. Nearly 50 high Himalayan lakes could flood their banks in the next 5 to 10 years, sending water crashing down the mountains and threatening thousands of lives, the United Nations said Tuesday. Tests carried out in Nepal and Bhutan found that the temperature has risen by almost one degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) since the mid-1970s, causing snowfields and glaciers to melt and fill the lakes. Source: Associated Press
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04/03/2002 - Updated 03:15 AM ET EPA gives coast waters generally low grades By Traci Watson, USA TODAY Endangered rivers • Missouri River named most endangered — again
WASHINGTON — A groundbreaking federal report card on the waters off America's coasts concludes that the best have earned only a grade of "fair," while many deserve a grade of "poor" because of continued pollution. The report, the first of its kind from the Environmental Protection Agency, concludes that 44% of coastal waters are so damaged that they can't fully support aquatic life, human activities such as fishing, or both. Farming, industry, runoff from development and more have contributed to unhealthy plant and animal populations, polluted mud and unnaturally high levels of plant nutrients along the nation's coasts, according to the report. "What it's saying is there are significant problems with most of our coastal waters," said Robert Wayland, director of wetlands, oceans and watersheds for the EPA. "The message here for the public is not to take these valuable resources for granted." The EPA released the study, the National Coastal Condition Report, in late March. To calculate grades for the water in coastal areas, scientists looked to estuaries, bodies where fresh water and salt water mix. These bodies of water, which include the Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound, filter pollution and shelter wildlife. Researchers collected data on estuaries from a host of federal agencies. Then they looked at seven common factors that indicate estuary health to decide how coastal waters stacked up. The report doesn't consider the waters off Alaska and Hawaii because not enough data are available. The report found the sickest coastal waters in the Gulf of Mexico, which suffers from ills ranging from major loss of wetlands to contaminated fish. Wayland attributed the gulf's low standing in part to the vast acreage from which it collects water. More than 40% of the land mass of the continental USA discharges water to the gulf, he said. The highest marks went to the waters off the Carolinas, Georgia and the east coast of Florida, which scored well on most measures. Their lowest scores were on wetlands loss and the health of bottom-dwelling creatures. The biggest problem for coastal waters is the pollution from countless farm fields, lawns, construction sites, roads and other sources. And that makes the problem harder to solve. "It's a much more difficult challenge when you're trying to inform and motivate millions of landowners," Wayland said.
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SCIENTISTS, ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS ASK BUSH TO END LOGGING ON NATIONAL FORESTS More than 200 scientists around the United States have asked President George W. Bush to halt commercial logging on the national forests and to begin restoring damaged habitat and native species. "Logging has caused devastating impacts on the ability of our national forests to provide wildlife habitat and economically valuable goods and services," said the letter, sent to the White House this week.
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MORE THAN 100 LANDOWNERS SUE DUPONT, FILE CLAIM AGAINST BLM More than 100 Idaho farmers and ranchers sued E.I. duPont de Nemours and Co. on Tuesday, seeking potentially hundreds of millions of dollars for crop damage allegedly done by the herbicide Oust. Aerial and ground applicators of the DuPont chemical also were named in the 5th District Court lawsuit, and a claim raising the same allegations was filed against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
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JAMAICA'S DREAM OF UNIVERSAL ACCESS TO WATER EVAPORATES By Zadie Neufville
KINSGTON, Jamaica, March 27, 2002 (ENS) - The head of Jamaica's water protection agency the Underground Water Authority (UWA) says despite deterioration of watersheds across the island, water shortages are largely due to government's inability to develop available water sources.
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ON ALMOST EVERY BATTLE, ENVIRONMENTALISTS COME OUT LOSERS IN SENATE'S ENERGY BILL --The Senate was where environmentalists hoped to make their stand on energy policy. But after two weeks of votes and horse-trading, an emerging Democratic energy bill appears to be anything but green. Environmentalists lost in their bid to boost automobile fuel economy and on a string of lesser issues: from provisions helping the nuclear industry to one that would allow small trees in national forests to be processed as biomass for electricity generation.
Associated Press
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ADVOCACY GROUP RANKS 10 'MOST ENDANGERED NATIONAL PARKS' Mountain views in some of the country's signature national parks are clouded by air pollution, while historical monuments are crumbling for lack of cash, a park advocacy group says. The National Parks Conservation Association on Monday released its annual list of America's Ten Most Endangered National Parks." --Associated Press--
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EUROPE REJECTS BRAZILIAN MAHOGANY IMPORTS AMSTERDAM,
The Netherlands, March 29, 2002 (ENS) - The long battle Greenpeace has waged against the illegal logging and trade of Brazilian mahogany is bearing fruit.
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EFFECTS OF CLIMATE WARMING ALREADY IN EVIDENCE-- WASHINGTON, DC, March 29, 2002 (ENS) -
Ecosystems around the globe are showing the effects of global warming. Earlier arrival of migrant birds, earlier appearance of butterflies, earlier spawning in amphibians, earlier flowering of plants - spring has been coming sooner every year since the 1960s, researchers reported Wednesday.
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U.S. SETS NET FOR POACHERS OF CHILEAN SEA BASS-- WASHINGTON, DC, March 28, 2002 (ENS) -
The Chilean sea bass, a deep water fish that lives in the cold waters of Antarctica, is in such great demand for the world's specialty markets and luxury restaurants that illegal overfishing is endangering the species.
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OIL WILL DOMINATE GROWING ENERGY DEMAND-- WASHINGTON, DC, March 28, 2002 (ENS) -
World demand for energy is expected to rise by 60 percent over the next two decades, predicts a report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The agency says the increased energy consumption, led largely by oil, will boost releases of carbon dioxide by as much as 3.8 billion metric tons per year in 2020.
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GLOBAL WARMING HITS SPECIES ALL OVER WORLD, SAYS STUDY--
From dying coral reefs to later autumns and endangered male painted turtles, global warming has started to affect plant and animal life across the planet, scientists said Wednesday. The world's mean temperature increased by around 0.6 degrees Celsius in the 20th century (most of the rise came in the last 30 years) and its impact is already being felt by flora and fauna from the equator to the poles.
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MOST OF SOUTHEAST ASIA'S REEFS AT RISK FROM OVERFISHING, POLLUTION, SAYS U.S. GROUP--
About 88 percent of Southeast Asia's coral reefs, which are among the world's most rich and extensive, face destruction from overfishing and pollution, a U.S.-based environmental group said Wednesday. The reefs are important to the economic and social fabric of the region, "yet they are the most threatened reefs in the world," researcher Lauretta Burke of the Washington-based World Resources Institute said in a statement issued in Malaysia.
Associated Press
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NEW ZEALAND TO BAN PET FERRETS TO PROTECT BIRDLIFE--
They stink, eat New Zealand's national icon the kiwi, and raid the burrows of other native animals. Fed up with the carnage, the New Zealand government plans to ban pet ferrets to try to protect native wildlife.
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U.S. GROUP MAKES CHEAP PLASTIC SOLAR-ENERGY CELLS-- Cheap, plastic solar cells that can be painted onto just about any surface could provide power for a range of portable and even wearable electronic devices, scientists said Thursday. A team at the University of California Berkeley said they had come up with a first generation of plastic solar cells, which could someday replace the bulky and expensive silicon-based cells used widely now.
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FALLING COFFEE PRICES AND DROUGHT LEAVE 30,000 HONDURANS HUNGRY--
Falling coffee prices and an ongoing drought have left at least 30,000 people in western Honduras suffering from hunger, the United Nations World Food Program announced Monday. Hundreds of children have become so malnourished, they have had to be hospitalized and can no longer attend school, Ricardo Rivera, a spokesman for the U.N. World Food Program, told a news conference. Associated Press
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WORLD SECURITY DEPENDS ON AVERTING WATER WARS-- NEW YORK, New York, March 22, 2002 (ENS) - More than five million people die each year from water related diseases - 10 times the number killed in wars. Today, on World Water Day, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned, "Fierce national competition over water resources has prompted fears that water issues contain the seeds of violent conflict."
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Roe Herring Trade Leaves Little for Whales, Fish, Birds VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Canada, March 13, 2002 (ENS) -
The roe herring fishery is big business in British Columbia, but not nearly as big as it once was. The fishery takes place as the the herring gather to spawn which occurs in late February to early March in southern B.C., and mid-March to mid-April in the northern part of the province.
Less than 30 years ago, large herring spawns occurred continuously for many weeks in many more areas of the Georgia Strait than they do today, allowing salmon, whales, herons, gulls and other sea birds to eat their fill and leave plenty for the fishermen. This year, Fisheries and Oceans Canada has set what the agency considers a small allowable catch limit because the herring runs are way down as they have been for years.
Critics are calling for a moratorium on commercial herring fishing, at least in the Strait of Georgia, an inshore body of water that provides critical rearing habitat for salmon. They maintain that herring are more valuable in the water, feeding the salmon, than they are being killed so their eggs can go to sushi bars of Japan.
Fisheries critic Dave Ellis says the catch of 8,953 tons allowed March 7 and 8 is way too much even though it was taken in the most abundant herring area around Hornby Island and Denman Island in the center of the Georgia Strait.
Calling the quota "a very large tonnage of herring," Ellis says killer whales, marbled murrelets, and chinook and coho salmon, are endangered or threatened species that are very heavily affected by the loss of this much herring at the most critical time in their breeding cycle.
Many species that are clearly headed for the endangered list, such as great blue heron, are also affected," Ellis said.
Ellis says a study is needed to assess the loss of potential recreational revenues from activities such as bird watching due to the present level of exploitation of the roe herring fishery. The sight of eagles feasting on herring would draw many birders to the Georgia Strait, he believes.
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AIR POLLUTION CONSTRICTS HEALTHY BLOOD VESSELS
ANN ARBOR, Michigan, March 12, 2002 (ENS) - For the first time, researchers have shown that air pollution can harm the blood vessels of healthy humans. The study provides further evidence that everyone - not just people without heart disease or other health problems - may be at risk from breathing polluted air.
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ADMINISTRATION CITES DEFENSE NEEDS IN OPPOSING $20 BILLION FOR WASTEWATER FACILITIES The Bush administration said Wednesday it opposes a House plan to make billions more available to help states with clean water projects because defense spending must take priority. Legislation would set aside $20 billion over five years for Clean Water Act projects to improve sewage treatment systems and reduce stormwater runoff.
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MALAYSIAN STATE BEGINS WATER RATIONING AMID DRY SPELL Hundreds of thousands of Malaysians in a southern state stocked up on water Wednesday as officials imposed rationing amid a water shortage caused by weeks of drought.
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EPA CHIEF DEFENDS HALVING TOXIC WASTE CLEANUPS AS SUPERFUND MONEY NEARS DEPLETION EPA chief Christie Whitman on Tuesday defended cutting by half the toxic waste sites being cleaned up around the nation. The administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency said the fewer sites arise from having to spread the same amount of money each year for more costly, more complex, and larger sites. At the same time, Congress and the Bush administration have been reluctant to reimpose a Superfund tax on polluters and other businesses.
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MEXICAN ENVIRONMENTALIST SPEAKS ABOUT SAVING FORESTS IN HIS HOMELAND Environmentalism in Mexico has a dim future unless young people are taught to be more aware of their world, said Rodolfo Montiel, a Mexican environmentalist who was released from prison late last year. "I actually see (the future) rather poorly. From what I know, there's not a large scale of activism," he said this week. "We need to change our culture and way of life and look for ways to raise our young people in a culture that has a greater awareness of the environment."