Today OnEarth
Not-so-great white north: More disturbing news from our northern neighbors: Canada is dismantling the nation's entire ocean pollution monitoring program as part of massive layoffs at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. One of the respected scientists losing his job is Peter Ross, among the world’s leading experts on how contaminants affect marine mammals. He writes: “It is with apprehension that I ponder a Canada without any research or monitoring capacity for pollution in our three oceans.” Have we mentioned lately that...
Settlement reached: As a result of a deal worked out with the federal government, BP has announced that it will spend more than $400 million to curb air pollution at its giant Whiting refinery -- the nation's sixth largest -- in northwest Indiana near Chicago. The settlement "could set a precedent for oil companies nationwide." Chicago Tribune
Shell's game: Oil company Shell's, er,...
You sunk my (green) battleship!: The U.S. military has been a leader in the development of cleaner fuel sources in recent years -- in part because the top brass know that using less oil is smart for our national security. The Navy was all prepared for a two-day experiment running an aircraft carrier’s entire battlegroup on biofuels -- until the House Armed Services Committee stepped in last week and told the Pentagon: cut it out you hippies! Keep using fossil fuels instead, because that’s who’s funding our re-election campaigns. (OK, they didn’t say that last part, but you know it’s the reason.)...
All that you touch: This absolutely mind-bending timelapse video of Sunday's annular solar eclipse will remind you how incredibly small and fragile this pale blue dot called Earth really is. Still, we can't help but wish this footage was set to Pink Floyd. Cory Poole
Mongol minerals: Mongolia, the mysterious land of Ghengis Khan and nomadic herders tucked precariously between China and Russia, boasts the fastest-growing economy in the world. This is due entirely...
Crime stoppers: Forget assembling the Avengers -- maybe all S.H.I.E.L.D. needs to do to protect the world from evil is plant more trees. A new study funded by the U.S. Forest Service and the National Science Foundation found that crime rates in neighborhoods with trees are significantly lower than in those without, which runs counter to the notion that vegetation gives criminals a place to hide. ...
The Forest Code: Sounds like a Hunger Games sequel, right? But actually it’s a sweeping piece of legislation that would open vast swaths of Amazonian rainforest to ranching and farming. (As you might guess, Big Ag is in favor.) Now Brazil’s president is being urged to veto the bill, which would gut decades of effort to reduce deforestation. It’s an especially delicate political matter because Rio de Janeiro is hosting an international conference on sustainable development next month. The world, as they say, is watching....
On the defensive: In the wake of the conservative government's recent call to shut down a federally funded environmental research group, Peter Kent, the minister of Environment Canada, told opposition MPs that the environmental scientists would be accessible only to reporters who made "reasonable" requests. During the same session, Kent was asked to justify the $14 billion figure he cited as the reason Canada could no longer adhere to the Kyoto Protocol -- resulting in some subtle backpedaling by Kent....
Less ice, mo' problems: It's not just the Arctic that is suffering from declining ice. A recent study using satellite measurements shows that ice coverage on the Great Lakes has decreased by 71 percent in the past 40 years. That means serious ecosystem changes, from less protection for whitefish eggs to more favorable conditions for the spread of invasive species like zebra mussels. Great Lakes Echo
Dam Peru: A mammoth 2...
Paradise, Lost: Better book your Hawaiian vacation sooner rather than later. A new USGS report found most of the beaches on Hawaii, Oahu, and Maui are eroding away, having lost about 9 percent of their sandy coasts over the past century. Worse yet, the islands have only begun to say aloha to the effects of sea level rise. New York Times
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