Issue 23
March , 2010
 Plague has been identified as a disease of concern to human, wildlife and domestic animal populations within the United States. When one thinks of plague one thinks of the Black Plague in Europe in the Dark Ages that was spread by rodents. However, plague also affects w...Read Full Story
 Whether life exists elsewhere in our universe is a long standing mystery. But for some scientists, there’s another interesting question: could there be life in a universe significantly different from our own?Recently physicists at MIT have shown that in theory, alternat...Read Full Story
 Malaria researchers in Benin say they may have found a replacement for DDT in areas where mosquitoes are resistant to common insecticides.Indoor residual spraying (IRS) of insecticides is a major part of malaria control. But worries over toxicity and environmental persi...Read Full Story
 An iceberg the size of Luxembourg has broken off from a glacier in Antarctica after being rammed by another giant iceberg, scientists said on Friday, in an event that could affect ocean circulation patterns.The 2,500 sq km (965 sq mile) iceberg broke off earlier this mo...Read Full Story
 In April 2008, EPA promulgated regulations governing renovations in target housing (i.e., any housing constructed prior to 1978) and child-occupied facilities. The rule was designed to ensure that owners and occupants of target housing and child-occupied facilities rece...Read Full Story
 Scientists have genetically engineered a mosquito to release a sea-cucumber protein into its gut which impairs the development of malaria parasites, according to research out today (21 December) in PLoS Pathogens. Researchers say this development is a step towards devel...Read Full Story
 Why are some wells contaminated and some are not?
All wells are not equally vulnerable to contamination because of differences in three factors: the general aquifer chemistry, groundwater age, and paths within aquifer systems that allow water and contaminants to reac...Read Full Story
Issue 22
February , 2010
 President Barack Obama urged world leaders to break the deadlock at climate change talks in Copenhagen, although many nations accused the United States of lacking ambition.In a move that could boost Obama's position when world leaders join the U.N. talks next week, thre...Read Full Story
 The poster child for sustainable fish farming—the tilapia—is actually a problematic invasive species for the native fish of the islands of Fiji, according to a new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society and other groups.Scientists suspect that tilapia introduced to ...Read Full Story
 A key deadline for countries to submit emission reduction goals to the United Nations as part of the recently negotiated Copenhagen Accord passed last Sunday. The U.N. received commitments from 55 nations, but 139 countries remain unsupportive of the political statement...Read Full Story
 A Malthusian catastrophe was originally foreseen to be a forced return to subsistence level conditions once population growth had outpaced agricultural production. The catastrophe is that in doing so many people will starve....Read Full Story
 Republican politicians and conservative activists are launching a ballot campaign to suspend California's landmark global-warming law, in what they hope will serve as a showcase for a national backlash against climate regulations.
Supporters say they have "solid comm...Read Full Story
 How different species can evolve the same colors and pattern has always puzzled biologists. Now, scientists at Cambridge University have found "hot spots" in the butterflies’ genes that might one of the most extraordinary examples of mimicry in the natural world. A gene...Read Full Story
 Wind and solar technology made up over half of Europe’s new electricity generating capacity in 2009, as the number of new coal and nuclear facilities fell....Read Full Story
 U.S. farmers grew record-large corn and soy crops in 2009 but production in 2010 could be even bigger, aided by an El Nino weather pattern that is typically a boon to the Midwest but less so for growers in Australia and southeast Asia, a forecaster said on Thursday....Read Full Story
Issue 21
January , 2010
 Brazil's President introduced national legislation that will guide efforts to reduce projected emissions by 36.1 to 38.9 percent by 2020. This legislation comes on the heels of the COP-15 climate change conference held in Copenhagen earlier this month, and demonstrates ...Read Full Story
 Considering it is unlikely that global carbon emissions will start dropping anytime soon, researchers are beginning to look at other methods to combat climate change. One of these is to hook polluting power plants up to massive carbon sinks where instead of the carbon g...Read Full Story
 Outdone by an tower extending over 800 meters in Dubai, the world's former tallest building, Taipei 101, wants to become the highest green structure by completing a checklist of clean energy standards....Read Full Story
 Earth's various ecosystems, with all their plants and animals, will need to shift about a quarter-mile per year on average to keep pace with global climate change.How well particular species can survive rising worldwide temperatures attributed to excess levels of heat-t...Read Full Story
 Sea water under an East Antarctic ice shelf showed no sign of higher temperatures despite fears of a thaw linked to global warming that could bring higher world ocean levels, first tests showed on Monday.
Sensors lowered through three holes drilled in the Fimbul Ice ...Read Full Story
 The US Geological Survey reports that earthquake related deaths numbered 1783 worldwide, a big decrease from 2008 when more than 88,000 died, with more than 87,000 of the deaths occurring in the Eastern Sichuan, China earthquake in May 2008.
In 2009, the worst earthq...Read Full Story
 Bangladesh relies heavily on groundwater for the irrigation of dry-season rice. However, the groundwater used for irrigation often contains high concentrations of arsenic, potentially jeopardizing the future of rice production in the country. In seasonally flooded field...Read Full Story
 In every US climate policy negotiation thus far, a major sticking point has been the issue of economic competitiveness. If the US independently imposes a price on carbon — through a cap-and-trade system or a carbon tax, for example — domestic industries automatically fa...Read Full Story
 In an editorial published in the December's issue of E-Scrap News, authored by Good Point Recycling and American Retroworks owner and CEO, Robin Ingenthron, called the Basal Action Network (BAN) "false and damaging to our integrity." In his Talking Points piece, Ingent...Read Full Story
 Global PC shipments were up 2.3 percent in the third quarter of 2009 ,after three consecutive quarters of losses. The findings are outlined in the latest report from IDC, and attribute the rise to a strengthening consumer market and back-to-school shopping. Notebooks an...Read Full Story
 As part of Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s commitment to strengthen and reform chemical management, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a series of actions on four chemicals raising serious health or environmental concerns, including phthalates....Read Full Story
 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week issued new regulations to manage the shipping of hazardous waste between the U.S. and the other 29 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations. The newly-issued final rule "aligns EPA's hazardou...Read Full Story
Issue 20
December , 2009
 The survey by Clean Air Watch volunteers is the first comprehensive snapshot of smog in the United States in 2009. It found that the national health standard for smog, technically ozone, was breached more than 2,600 times through August 31 at monitoring stations in 37 s...Read Full Story
 State and Federal agencies have begun poisoning a nearly 6-mile stretch of the Chicago
Sanitary Ship Canal to kill off invasive Asian carp while maintenance is performed on an electrical barrier intended to keep the fish out of Lake Michigan. The Lake’s ecosystem is al...Read Full Story
 Industrial carbon dioxide emissions have increased dramatically since the 1950s, and oceans have until recently been able to absorb the greater amounts of emissions. Sometime after 2000, however, the rise in emissions and the oceans' carbon uptake decoupled. Oceans cont...Read Full Story
 according to the U.S. EPA and researchers from Baylor University, fish all over the country are literally stuffed to the gills with medicine. The findings are part of a pilot study testing for pharmaceuticals and personal care products in our nation’s waterways. The res...Read Full Story
 The British Met Office plans to re-examine 160 years of temperature data after admitting that public confidence in the science on man-made global warming has been shattered by leaked e-mails.
The new analysis of the data will take three years, meaning that the Met Of...Read Full Story
 Proximity to a wind power project does not generally hurt property values, according to a new report that seeks to settle a long-standing concern with the technology.
The study, released yesterday by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, assessed nearly 7,500 single...Read Full Story
 Popular thinking about how to improve food systems for the better often misses the point, according to the results of a three-year global study of salmon production systems. Rather than pushing for organic or land-based production, or worrying about simple metrics such ...Read Full Story
 Companies need to move towards using greener chemicals because the principal drivers demanding such change -- science, regulation, and business-to-business environmentally preferable purchasing programs -- are surging and will intensify....Read Full Story
 Las Vegas has far from a clean reputation, but in Forbes' list of America's Most Toxic Cities, Las Vegas is named the least toxic of 40 major metropolitan areas.Forbes ranked the cities based on the number of Superfund sites in the principal city, number of facilities t...Read Full Story
Toxics Link organised International Conference on Heavy Metals and E-waste on October 26 and 27 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. A detailed report by Toxics Alert....Read Full Story
Issue 19
November , 2009
 Fewer U.S. citizens consider climate change to be a "serious threat" compared to two years ago, even as scientific evidence demonstrates that the problem has become increasingly severe, according to a recent nationwide public opinion poll....Read Full Story
 NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
is introducing a new Web site that will provide a centralized resource for information on these near-Earth objects - those asteroids and comets that can approach Earth. The "Asteroid Watch" site also contains links for the interested pu...Read Full Story
 Europe attempted to reassert its international leadership in the fight against global warming offering to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by up to 95% by 2050 and by 30% by 2020 if a climate change pact is sealed in Copenhagen in six weeks' time....Read Full Story
 Old, "multiyear" ice -- the glue that holds the polar ice cap together and forms the Arctic's defense against encroaching warming -- is slowly disintegrating, a process that is plain to see from the air....Read Full Story
 Since rivers and ponds in Bangladesh were contaminated with bacteria, Bangladeshis switched to wells. But soon after, in the early ‘80s, researchers realized those wells were harming Bangladeshis with a new poison—arsenic....Read Full Story
 For several years now scientists and conservation groups have called on the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) to reduce the amount of catch it allows its 48 member nations to net each year and thereby allow bluefin populations to re...Read Full Story
 The illicit trade in ivory, which has been increasing in volume since 2004, moved sharply upward in 2009, according to the latest analysis of seizure data in the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS)....Read Full Story
 On November 11, former Vice President Al Gore delivered a keynote speech to builders, architects, contractors and other professionals involved in the green building industry at Chase Field in Phoenix. The speech marked the kick off of the US Green Building Council’s (US...Read Full Story
Issue 18
October , 2009
 Earlier this year, the National Park Service announced a controversial plan to ban lead ammunition and fishing tackle in the parks....Read Full Story
 One can drive across the country on algae--and a 700-pound battery pack--or so proved the crew behind the documentary Fuel Embarking on September 8 and pulling into New York City today, just in time for the film's premiere, the Algaeus covered 3,750 miles.
The algae ca...Read Full Story
 Latest on the list of extinction are the frogs. A report published in ENN states that unusual varieties of frogs are rapidly disappearing from rainforests in Central America....Read Full Story
 Driving in a relatively fuel efficient car (25-30 miles per gallon) usually generates fewer greenhouse gas emissions than flying....Read Full Story
 Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words, particularly when the picture is used to illustrate science....Read Full Story
 Converting the rubbish that fills the world’s landfills into biofuel may be the answer to both the growing energy crisis and to tackling carbon emissions...Read Full Story
 The researchers analyzed data from dozens of studies to determine how planting new biofuel crops can influence the carbon content of the soil....Read Full Story
 The conference at Oxford University is the first to consider the global consequences of climate change beyond 2 degrees Celsius, and is jointly sponsored by University’s Environmental Change Institute, the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and the Met Office Ha...Read Full Story
Experts from the Met Office, the University of Exeter and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, have found that projections of increasing ozone near the Earth's surface could lead to significant reductions in regional plant production and crop yields....Read Full Story
Issue 17
September , 2009
 People want to save the planet but are unwilling to make radical lifestyle changes like giving up air travel or red meat to reduce the effects of climate change, a straw poll by Reuters showed....Read Full Story
 After Hurricane Katrina flattened New Orleans exactly four years ago, on Aug. 29, 2005, the city emerged as an inadvertent symbol of global warming, the first American victim of climate change. More than 200,000 homes were destroyed during the Category 5 hurricane.But s...Read Full Story
 Fifty-five million years ago, the world was a much warmer place. The poles were ice-free year-round. Palm trees grew in Alaska....Read Full Story
Earth's oceans are vast reservoirs of carbon dioxide (CO2) with the potential to control the pace of global warming....Read Full Story
 Interestingly, the Arctic had been cooling for nearly two millennia before reversing course in the last century due to increase greenhouse gases to the earth's atmosphere....Read Full Story
 Just a few hundred years ago, the world's rivers and lakes were full of fish. In fact freshwater fish were so plentiful that they were used to feed farm animals regularly.But the new study suggests that freshwater species have declined despite efforts at marine conserva...Read Full Story
 A recent study shows that golf courses can play an important role for conservation in cities and other impacted areas, but that doesn't mean courses harbor as much wildlife as natural settings....Read Full Story
 Illegal on-line sales of endangered species have raised serious concerns amongst the species preservation lobbies , agencies and civil societies worldwide....Read Full Story
Issue 16
August , 2009
The United States and China have agreed to a research partnership on energy efficient buildings and communities....Read Full Story
Aluminum as a substitute for glass bottles has been inching its way into the consumer experience in the last few years, most notably in the US in the form of beer bottles...Read Full Story
Chinese demand for the pangolin, a scale-covered anteater, is forcing the endangered animals closer to extinction, wildlife organizations announced this week....Read Full Story
The world will remain heavily dependent on fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal for the rest of this century...Read Full Story
According to an essay published in the September/October issue of Foreign Affairs, reducing emissions of black carbon soot and ground-level ozone would quickly make a considerable dent in the climate change problem and would also contribute to public health and protect ...Read Full Story
Issue 15
July , 2009
 According to a team of Swedish and German scientists, the challenge of meeting future water needs, under the impact of climate change and rapidly growing human demands for water, may be less bleak than widely portrayed....Read Full Story
 China has recently allocated 23 billion yuan for energy-saving, anti-pollution, ecological, and environment protection projects....Read Full Story
 Three Iowa State researchers contributed their expertise in modeling North America's climate to a study to be published in the Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres....Read Full Story
 The ability of plants to tell the time, a mechanism common to all living beings, enables them to survive, grow and reproduce. An international team has studied this circadian clock from a molecular viewpoint and has found an ecological implication: it makes climate chan...Read Full Story
 The rain band near the equator that determines the supply of freshwater to nearly a billion people throughout the tropics and subtropics has been creeping north for more than 300 years, probably because of a warmer world, according to research published in the July issu...Read Full Story
 New research, which reconstructs the extent of ice in the sea between Greenland and Svalbard from the 13th century to the present indicates that there has never been so little sea ice as there is now....Read Full Story
A new edition of "North American Agroforestry: An Integrated Science and Practice," published by the American Society of Agronomy adds to the excitement and builds upon the science. Agroforestry can create greater economic value, enhance biodiversity, and improve soil, ...Read Full Story
 U.S.can no longer afford the dangers that their dependence on petroleum poses for their national , economic or environmental security. So alternate sources are to be tapped. Biofuel seems to be that light at the end of the proverbial tunnel....Read Full Story
Issue 14
June , 2009
Innovative ideas abound the Green Green world and economy, it seems.
To start with Jet fuels derived from algae, camelina and jatropha -- plants that pack an energy punch, are not eaten as food and do not displace food crops -- could be approved and replacing petrole...Read Full Story
Green-collar workers from energy-efficiency consultants to wastewater plant operators constitute a tiny but fast-growing segment of the U.S. economy, according to a study published today by the Pew Charitable Trusts....Read Full Story
It took only 40 years for the Caribbean's spectacular branched corals to be flattened. Research reveals that the corals have been replaced by shorter rival species — and points to climate change as at least partly to blame, as per reports on ENN...Read Full Story
According to Nigeria's Minister of Environment, Mr. John Odey, as published in a recent report,his country loses over 350,000 hectares of land every year to deforestation and other impacts of climate change.The nation's natural forests had decreased from 25.7% to 16%, a...Read Full Story
Human rights can be a "compass" to guide research and policy development for climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, according to a report.The International Council on Human Rights Policy (ICHRP) says climate change will threaten — directly or indirectly — ...Read Full Story
Minorities and indigenous people frequently bear the brunt of the ravages of climate change but also often come last on the aid list because they are on the margins of society....Read Full Story
A Purdue University study shows that introducing a new hybrid of the American chestnut tree would reduce the amount of carbon in the Earth's atmosphere....Read Full Story
Hollywood star Julia Roberts immortalised her in a film that was nominated for five Academy Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Writing in a Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen ,finally ...Read Full Story
Issue 13
May , 2009
We all know thatas a process carbon neutral involves “calculating your total climate-damaging carbon emissions, reducing them where possible, and then balancing your remaining emissions, often by purchasing a carbon offset.”However, carbon neutrality , it seems, has bee...Read Full Story
Vauban ,a town in Germany,is on its way to become the poster child for the so-called smart planning movement, which is really just about planning new living communities that look a lot like old living communities. In a report published in ENN, smart planning entails all...Read Full Story
Experts from the state-run Energy Research Institute told the China Daily the nation's emissions of carbon dioxide could reach 5.5 billion tonnes in 2010 and 8.8 billion tonnes in 2035....Read Full Story
Issue 12
April , 2009
It was close to midnight and I wasn’t being able to sleep. See, I’ve had this irritating allergy for about seven years now. My eyes swell up and get all puffy and raw, and the skin around the eyes itches in a strange way from the inside. A helpful and well-meaning skin ...Read Full Story
The largest single use of ethanol is as a motor fuel and fuel additive. The largest national fuel ethanol industries exist in Brazil (gasoline sold in Brazil contains at least 25% ethanol and anhydrous ethanol is also used as fuel in more than 90% of new cars sold in th...Read Full Story
In this edition's People and Places we pay tribute to Gerald ('Gerry') Malcolm Durrell, OBE (January 7, 1925 – January 30, 1995)....Read Full Story
In the 21st century the main threat is failing states.Failing states are of international concern because they are a source of terrorists, drugs, weapons and refugees, threatening political stability everywhere....Read Full Story
A recent report published in ENN states that although Earth is intrinsically a flammable planet due to its cover of carbon-rich vegetation, seasonally dry climates, atmospheric oxygen, widespread lightning and volcano ignitions, the global scope of fire has been reveale...Read Full Story
Could the emergence of spring provide clues to climate change? Some researchers think so .In a project aptly named Project BudBurst they try to find out the nature and the degree of this impact....Read Full Story
Issue 11
March , 2009
 14-year-old Julekha is very hard working and diligent. She comes from Bangladesh and has a family of 8 siblings and adoring parents. She loves to paint and likes bright colours. Like any other child of her age she loves to dress up and wear pretty trinkets! Her charm is...Read Full Story
 Do you know scientists and environmentalists often turn themselves into Sherlock Holmes?
Why?
Well ,the reason , to borrow words from the great detective, is really very elementary...Read Full Story
 Having a good memory would not only help you remember all your algebra formulae well. If new studies published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science are to be believed it is sharp long-term memory that aids migratory birds to return to the same wintering...Read Full Story
 Majority of food waste generated throughout the world ends up in landfill. Food waste decomposing there generates methane.For developed countries this is estimated to be 25 % to 40 %. In USA it is almost 50 %....Read Full Story
 Biogas or renewable natural gas is the name given to the mixture of methane and carbon dioxide gases that is formed whenever organic materials decompose in the absence of air, a process known as anaerobic digestion.When this happens in nature the gases escape into atmos...Read Full Story
 Holi which marks the harvest of Rabi cropand the arrival of springwas traditionally celebrated using natural coloured extracts from seasonal herbs. However, gradually these herbs were replaced by synthetic dyes ,some of which are toxic.This is because of the presence of...Read Full Story
Issue 10
February , 2009
 Paints add colours to our lives.However, what we overlook is the potential environmental and health effects these colorful paints can have....Read Full Story
 The privatisation of the healthcare sector has witnessed a much greater effort to keep hospital environments clean and germ-free. This is largely done through the use of pesticides and chemical disinfectants....Read Full Story
 Yet in another attempt to create awareness amongst the young masses, Environment and Health Public Lecture was held in School of Environment Studies (SES), Delhi University (DU), on 28th Jan ’09, the topic of discussion being “Hazardous Waste”. The panelists included Dr...Read Full Story
 HAQ’s Third Status Report on India’s children comes at a time when the country is trying to build the image of an emerging economic power, even while contending with a deepening global economic slowdown, preparing to host the Commonwealth Games 2010,grappling with the c...Read Full Story
Issue 9
January , 2009
 The Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India, has declared the year 2008-09 as ‘Food Safety and Quality Year’.Previously in 2006 the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 was introduced to give more importance to the safety standards.However this has not...Read Full Story
|
REPORT
/ INTERNATIONAL NEWS