News Archives

Week of September 26, 2004

And the ozone layer may be repairing itself

Scientists from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand report that a hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica, which last year reached a record-breaking size, has shrunk by 20% this year. Though they caution that we need to see shrinkage for several years running to know whether the ozone layer is in fact repairing itself, this is encouraging news for the over 180 nations who signed the Montreal Protocol, which curbs the use of ozone-destroying chemicals in an attempt to reverse the ozone layer damage.

Posted by Jennifer on Saturday, October 2 2004, 4:55 PM

But North Sea fish stocks are declining...

New scientific models show that in the last century the quantity of fish in the North Sea has fallen to 40% of previous levels, and some species have completely vanished. Researchers cite over-fishing and warming sea waters for the decline, and found declines in other aquatic species as well.

The loss of sand eel populations, also attributed to warming waters, is blamed for recent catastrophic failures of breeding in northern seabirds.

Experts say last year was bad, but this one's worse.

Martin Heubeck, of Aberdeen University, said: "This has been an almost unbelievably bad breeding season. The scale of the breeding failure of guillemots is unprecedented in Europe."

Earlier this year, I posted about Oceans in Peril, a report from the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. Their report clearly stated the degree to which ocean resources are in danger, and outlined what must be done to mitigate the damage. Now we have even clearer evidence of how our ocean wildlife and other resources are beginning to vanish.

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Posted by Jennifer on Saturday, October 2 2004, 3:24 PM

Right whales near Alaska may be recovering

A pod of 25 northern right whales, including three calves, have been seen in the Bering Sea, more than double the number that were thought to exist there. Populations of right whales in this area were nearly extinguished by illegal whaling, and a calf sighted in 2002 was the first one seen in 100 years. They are among the rarest cetaceans alive today, and scientists are excited to find that their population here may be recovering.

Posted by Jennifer on Saturday, October 2 2004, 2:37 PM

Speaking of hurricanes...

I haven't said much about the recent spate of hurricanes which have assaulted Haiti and the southeastern U.S., but I've been watching for some kind of information on why this surge in frequency is happening now. Most of the analysis I've seen has simply stated that hurricane frequency is known to increase and decrease in cycles. But apparently there is some recent computer analysis which shows that hurricane intensity, and perhaps frequency, may increase with global warming.

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Posted by Jennifer on Friday, October 1 2004, 6:39 PM

Mount St. Helens blows steam; quakes continue on the west coast

Well, Mount St. Helens was expected to explode sometime in the next month, and she started in on it just now. The Forest Service's Volcano Cam seems to be overloaded at the moment, but it had some nice photos if you can get to it. CNN has been running some live coverage as well. They're saying this eruption is small so far, and isn't expected to be as bad as the 1980 eruptions which killed 57 people.

Meanwhile, aftershocks continue in central California, following a 6.0 magnitude quake along the Parkfield segment of the San Andreas fault. This area has been seismically active a number of times in the past, and may produce more strong quakes in this episode.

These are reminders that the Pacific coast has always been, and remains, geologically very active.

Posted by Jennifer on Friday, October 1 2004, 1:38 PM

Russian cabinet backs Kyoto protocol

Russia made a welcome move today when the government decided to back the Kyoto Protocol. The United States has refused to sign, and so Russian agreement was vital to implementing the protocol under international law.

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Posted by Jennifer on Thursday, September 30 2004, 4:56 PM

Le terre vue du ciel

Earth as seen from the sky... an incredible collection of pictures that you really can look at for hours. A reminder of how beautiful is this world we all love so much.

And a tip of the hat to Making Light.

Posted by Jennifer on Wednesday, September 29 2004, 7:48 AM

Bioengineered genetics are everywhere now

In the first iteration of this blog, back on Salon, I noted a NYTimes article which documented the explosion of bioengineered genes mingling with unmodified plantlife. The article makes clear that there is no way for an ordinary consumer to avoid bioengineered food at this point. The genes have already entered so many food plants that they are encountered all the time.

Last weekend, the NYTimes had more coverage of this issue. Researchers for the EPA have found that grass pollen which has been bioengineered to resist herbicides is spreading much further than anyone expected, and fertilizing non-bioegineered strains of grass up to 13 miles away. This is much further than earlier experiments had found the pollen to spread, and it generates the obvious concern that the herbicide-resistant genes may enter the genetic pool for weed species as well, making today's herbicides less useful overall.

In the new study, scientists with the Environmental Protection Agency found that the genetically engineered bentgrass pollinated test plants of the same species as far away as they measured -about 13 miles downwind from a test farm in Oregon. Natural growths of wild grass of a different species were pollinated by the gene-modified grass nearly nine miles away....

"It's the longest distance gene-flow study that I know of," said Norman C. Ellstrand, an expert on this subject at the University of California, Riverside, who was not involved in the study but read the paper.

"The gene really is essentially going to get out," he added. "What this study shows is it's going to get out a lot faster and a lot further than people anticipated."

The company which produces the seed, Scotts, is a major player in lawn care, and plans several more strains of bioengineered seeds for home gardens. None of the seeds have been approved yet, and this is the largest plot test done to date.

These tests raise many questions, which the paper discusses in another article in their Week in Review section. Andrew Pollack asks "Can Biotech Crops be Good Neighbors?, and reports on the many cases where bioengineered crops have fertilized nearby unmodified plants. There is no evidence, he reports, that the bioengineered genes have so far created any superweeds or have otherwise damaged the ecology. But they do create problems for organic farmers, who can lose their certification if their crops are cross-pollinated in this way, costing time, money, and reputation. So far, the liability issues raised by this cross-pollination haven't been sorted out.

It's been clear to me since that first article that the Pandora's box of genetic mixing is well and truly open, and there's no turning back. And once the next steps are taken, and bioengineered insects and other animals get loose (as they inevitably will), whatever change is coming will get here all the faster. We don't know yet where these genetic changes are taking us, but we're going to find out, ready or not.

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Posted by Jennifer on Tuesday, September 28 2004, 10:59 AM

Bush administration once again deletes unfavorable info

We know that this administration will set aside science when scientific findings conflict with political decisions. And we know that they will punish people who go public with information that they would rather not make public. Today Bush Greenwatch documents the case of a government environmental analyst whose analysis of the environmental impact of a proposed pipeline didn't suit the Administration's needs. This guy was not only fired, but his analysis was removed from the official record.

Bush Greenwatch is essential reading if you want to keep up with this administration's environmental record.

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Posted by Jennifer on Tuesday, September 28 2004, 10:14 AM

Making wetlands from a corn field

According to this article in the NYTimes, it may be easier than you think — if your cornfield was a wetland in a previous existence. Add water, and let the old seedbanks replenish the wetland vegetation. The wildlife will follow. A local group in Illinois, with help from The Nature Conservancy, is turning a 7,000 acre farm back into a swamp.

What a nice echo of the remarkable restoration at Pilgrim Lake.

Posted by Jennifer on Monday, September 27 2004, 6:18 PM

More on the ESA and de-listing gray wolves

NPR's Morning Edition had a great segment today on the EPA's determination to de-list the eastern gray wolf, a subject I've posted about before. They interviewed scientists whose concerns very much match my own, that merely using the Endangered Species Act to increase "head counts" of populations doesn't address our real need to conserve ecosystems and ecological niches. You can listen to the segment on this page; scroll down to the piece titled "White House May De-List Protected Species".

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Posted by Jennifer on Monday, September 27 2004, 8:00 AM

And yet another green blogger post

Meteor Blades at daily kos admits that the environment is a key political issue for him, and frets that most U.S. citizens don't seem to care that much. He also links to an excellent commentary by Bill McKibben in the L.A. Times, which points out how far the U.S. has strayed from the environmental mainstream. At least the mainstream of most developed nations; we're probably still ahead of undeveloped ones. So far.

Anyway, it's nice to see environmental issues getting some play in the better-known blogs.

Posted by Jennifer on Sunday, September 26 2004, 6:05 PM

Corrente posts green

Over at Corrente, one of my favorite political blogs, they've posted today on the politicization of the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service. Very good spot reports on how this administration puts politics ahead of everything, based on press releases of an organization I've long admired: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

Posted by Jennifer on Sunday, September 26 2004, 5:14 PM

More on climate change

Some news this week from the world of our ever-changing climate. First, glaciers in some places are starting to flow into the sea more quickly.

The analysis reveals that four glaciers flowing into the now collapsed section of Larsen B increased in speed by between two and six times over the study period.

"If anyone was waiting to find out whether Antarctica would respond quickly to climate warming, I think the answer is yes," said Dr Scambos.

Another study is also quoted that found an increase in glacier flow of between two and eight times in different locations. Presumably this will lead to an increase in sea levels eventually, but it's not clear how much or how fast sea levels will rise from these glacier inputs.
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In other scientific news, a study of fossils buried over the course of 3000 years shows how different species are affected by climate change. Depending on behavior, what habitats they are dependent on, and random factors such as how much genetic diversity is destroyed by habitat change, different species of voles either died out or managed to survive the Little Ice Age, which lasted about 500 years.

These voles are dependent on thick vegetation for survival, and as the vegetation thinned the population of both species in the study dropped by half. Yet one type of vole managed to maintain its genetic diversity, since members tended to be spread more widely throughout their habitat. The other species, which tended to cluster in tighter communities, lost nearly all of its genetic diversity, and wasn't able to rebound when better times returned. If you're interested in the specifics of how climate change impacts animals, you'll want to read this one.

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Posted by Jennifer on Sunday, September 26 2004, 9:12 AM

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