Earth and Science News- Earth and Science Videos and News // Current

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8 hours ago

Federal court upholds ban on genetically modified alfalfa: Monsanto petition denied in full

In a decision handed down here today, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has re-affirmed its previous... more

JanforGore
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From The Heart Of The World - The Elder Brothers' Warning

This documentary from 1991 explores the culture and spiritual beliefs of the Kogi tribe -- a pre-Colombian American tribe once... more

Vierotchka
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First Two-Qubit Electronic Quantum Processor

Quantum - atomic and subatomic Quantum computing is the area of study focused on developing computer technology based on the... more

Bigdog_mike
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Bored Scientists Create Saser - The Sonic Laser

The Saser uses ultra-high frequency sound waves, in a similar manner to the way laser uses light waves. The Saser mimics the... more

Bigdog_mike
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An Alternative Way to Make Stem Cells

Scientists have been talking about the medical promise of stem cells for more than a decade, even before human embryonic stem... more

Bigdog_mike
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The White House Organic Garden Contaminated With High Levels of Lead and Other Sludge Wastes

Oh my! Apparently, and a suspected cause, the garden was treated with ComPRO, a commercially available "compost made from a nearby wastewater plant's solid effluent, a.k.a. sewage sludge." Read on.....

Ironically, I understand hemp can absorb some of these toxic elements.

From Huffington Post, July 1

"When Michelle Obama created an organic vegetable garden on the White House lawn earlier this year, the move was greeted with positive headlines and excitement among the food advocacy community. Here, we thought, was a First Lady who understood the importance of locally grown, whole and organic foods in her family's diet.

Unfortunately, something happened on the way to the realization of the First Lady's good intentions. Recently the National Park Service discovered that the White House lawn, where the garden was planted, contains highly elevated levels of lead -- 93 parts per million. It's enough lead for anyone planning to have children pick vegetables in that garden or eat produce from it to reconsider their plans: lead is highly toxic to children's developing organs and brain functions -- however, it's below the 400 ppm the EPA suggests is a threat to human health.

What caused this alarming contamination of the White House lawn? Some news outlets speculated that residue from lead paint might have caused the toxicity. However an article running on Mother Jones online has a more probable explanation. During the 1990s, the Clintons agreed to have the South Lawn of the White House "fertilized" with ComPRO, a commercially available "compost made from a nearby wastewater plant's solid effluent, a.k.a. sewage sludge."

So, the White House lawn became a highly visible example of a little-known, widely conducted practice, "land application." This means disposing of sewage sludge by spraying it over public lands, including parks, and also on an untold number of acres of farmland where our food is grown. Sadly, it's completely legal under current, grossly inadequate EPA rules.

Apparently, the spreading of sewage sludge at the White House was a public relations ploy by the Environmental Protection Agency and, no doubt, the sludge industry to convince the public that using sludge in gardens and farms is as safe as using normal compost. The promotion didn't stop there; as part of its PR effort, EPA offered a $150,000 prize to the winner of a contest to re-brand sludge with a more benign sounding name. The chosen euphemism?: "biosolid". It's a term the agency and the industry consistently use to hide the reality of what sludge is.

So what is sludge, really? A stinking, sticky, dark-grey to black paste, it's everything homeowners, hospitals and industries put down their toilets and drains. Every material-turned-waste that our society produces (including prescription drugs and the sweepings of slaughterhouses), and that wastewater treatment plants are capable of removing from sewage, becomes sludge. The end product is a concentrated mass of heavy metals and carcinogenic, teratogenic, and hormone-disrupting chemicals, replete with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. There are some 80,000 to 90,000 industrial chemicals, including a host of dioxin-like deadly substances, which are allowed to be present in sludge under current EPA rules. What's worse, there's no way of knowing which toxic chemicals and heavy metals are entering the wastewater stream at any given time or in what concentrations. Sludge is always an unknown quantity, and therefore, assessing whether sludge is safe to use for growing food, is -- in practice -- impossible."
continued...Oh my! Apparently, and a suspected cause, the garden was treated with ComPRO, a commercially available "compost made... more

SeaJade
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11 hours ago

Climate Change Is Shrinking Sheep

Climate change is causing a breed of wild sheep in Scotland to shrink, according to research. Scientists say milder winters... more

Vierotchka
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13 hours ago

Even cockroaches get fat on bad food

Cockroaches may be tiny enough to slip through the smallest of cracks, but just like humans, these eternal pests can get fat on an... more

JanforGore
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15 hours ago

Volcano Eruption From Space

The Sarychev Volcano, located on an island off Japan erupts on June 12, 2009. The video was captured from the International Space... more

singrrr
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1 day ago

Environmenal groups protest Alberta tar sands pipeline to US

Why haven't we heard about THIS in conjunction with the bogus emissions targets in this climate bill? Renewable energy? Is... more

JanforGore
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1 response

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1 day ago

Michigan Couple Discovers Mastadon Bones.

A couple in Michigan discover the remains of a Mastadon in there backyard when landscaping the yard. Watch the video.

Mikeysfake1
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1 day ago

U.S. Senate Committee Scraps Florida Drilling Protections

-- 2006 Compromise Betrayed as Oil Rigs Allowed as Close as 45 Miles --

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted today to remove Florida’s unique and critical protections against offshore oil and gas drilling. The amendment, offered by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), revokes long-term protections against Eastern Gulf drilling within 125 miles of Pensacola and 250 miles from Tampa Bay and replaces it with a buffer just 45 miles from Florida’s coastline, effective immediately.

“We’re deeply disappointed that the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee broke its promise to Florida,” said Environment Florida Advocate Adam Rivera. “This is a cautionary tale not to compromise with oil companies and their allies in Congress, since such compromises will not be upheld for long.”

The 2006 Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act put in place current protections for Florida’s federal waters, which last until 2022. The Dorgan Amendment, which was adopted by a margin of 13-10, also opens the “Destin Dome,” long sought after by oil and gas interests, a mere 25 miles from the coast of Pensacola.

Florida would bear huge risk from increased drilling, while receiving a negligible reward. Based on the experience of other Gulf drilling operations, small spills—like the 500 gallon spill off a Louisiana rig in June 2006 that killed hundreds of endangered pelicans in a National Wildlife Refuge—would be common if Florida’s coastal and marine waters were opened to drilling. A catastrophic spill, one that could spoil the ecology and economic value of Florida beaches for generations, would be a real possibility.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration found that the impact on gasoline prices in both the near and long terms from offshore drilling in the Eastern Gulf is “insignificant”—a mere fraction of the savings America could achieve from a slight increase in automobile fuel economy standards or smart investments in urban planning and better public transit.

“Environment Florida thanks Senator Bill Nelson for fighting for our coastal environment and economy. We urge all U.S. Senators to join him in focusing on creating a clean energy economy and stopping global warming, rather than pursuing false solutions that jeopardize our natural heritage,” said Rivera.-- 2006 Compromise Betrayed as Oil Rigs Allowed as Close as 45 Miles -- WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate Energy and Natural... more

julesrs007
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1 day ago

Darryl Hannah: Why I was Arrested in Coal River, West Virginia

A follow up from "March Against Coal Madness: Live From Coal River"... more

SeaJade
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24 responses

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2 days ago

Warming climates make for hotter fires

The recent increase in area burned by wildfires in the Western United States is a product not of higher temperatures or longer fire seasons alone, but a complex relationship between climate and fuels that varies among different ecosystems, according to a study conducted by U.S. Forest Service and university scientists. The study is the most detailed examination of wildfire in the United States to date and appears in the current issue of the journal Ecological Applications.
"We found that what matters most in accounting for large wildfires in the Western United States is how climate influences the build up—or production—and drying of fuels," said Jeremy Littell, a research scientist with the University of Washington's Climate Impacts Group and lead investigator of the study. "Climate affects fuels in different ecosystems differently, meaning that future wildfire size and, likely, severity depends on interactions between climate and fuel availability and production."
To explore climate-fire relationships, the scientists used fire data from 1916 to 2003 for 19 ecosystem types in 11 Western States to construct models of total wildfire area burned. They then compared these fire models with monthly state divisional climate data.
The study confirmed what scientists have long observed: that low precipitation and high temperatures dry out fuels and result in significant fire years, a pattern that dominates the northern and mountainous portions of the West. But it also provided new insight on the relationship between climate and fire, such as Western shrublands' and grasslands' requirement for high precipitation one year followed by dry conditions the next to produce fuels sufficient to result in large wildfires.
The study revealed that climate influences the likelihood of large fires by controlling the drying of existing fuels in forests and the production of fuels in more arid ecosystems. The influence of climate leading up to a fire season depends on whether the ecosystem is more forested or more like a woodland or shrubland.
"These data tell us that the effectiveness of fuel reductions in reducing area burned may vary in different parts of the country," said David L. Peterson, a research biologist with the Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station and one of the study's authors. "With this information, managers can design treatments appropriate for specific climate-fire relationships and prioritize efforts where they can realize the most benefit."
Findings from the study suggest that, as the climate continues to warm, more area can be expected to burn, at least in northern portions of the West, corroborating what researchers have projected in previous studies. In addition, cooler, wetter areas that are relatively fire-free today, such as the west side of the Cascade Range, may be more prone to fire by mid-century if climate projections hold and weather becomes more extreme.The recent increase in area burned by wildfires in the Western United States is a product not of higher temperatures or longer... more