The Agonist - Environment

Agonist Articles on Environment

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 03:08:11 -0800

Hackers steal electronic data from top climate research center

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:14:41 -0800

Juliet Eilperin | November 21

Washington Post -
Scientists' e-mails deriding skeptics of warming become public

Hackers broke into the electronic files of one of the world's foremost climate research centers this week and posted an array of e-mails in which prominent scientists engaged in a blunt discussion of global warming research and disparaged climate-change skeptics.

The skeptics have seized upon e-mails stolen from the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in Britain as evidence that scientific data have been rigged to make it appear as if humans are causing global warming. The researchers, however, say the e-mails have been taken out of context and merely reflect an honest exchange of ideas.

University officials confirmed the data breach, which involves more than 1,000 e-mails and 3,000 documents, but said they could not say how many of the stolen items were authentic.

Tea Baggers Target Al Gore

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:35:01 -0800

First they organize a tea bagging of a speech by Al Gore, then they vandalize the venue. I wonder if Koch Industries $ paid for the spray paint?

Full Disclosure: While I am not involved with this speech, I do consult for the Alliance for Climate Protection

Why Robinson Crusoe island is at risk

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:25:27 -0800

Steve Connor | Nov 17

The Independent -

Bursting with endemic flora and fauna, the Juan Fernández Archipelago is a hothouse of evolution. But alien species introduced by humans are now threatening this remote 'Galápagos of plants'. Science editor Steve Connor reports

It takes about two hours by light aircraft to fly to the remote Pacific islands of the Juan Fernández Archipelago, 414 miles off the coast of Chile. That's all it takes to destroy the 4 million-year isolation that has protected this oceanic jewel from biological destruction.

Most people who have heard of Juan Fernández know of its links with Daniel Defoe's classic desert-island tale of Robinson Crusoe (pictured, far right). Indeed, the biggest island in the archipelago was renamed Robinson Crusoe Island in 1966 in honour of a Scottish mariner called Alexander Selkirk who was self-marooned there in 1704 for four years and four months – an endurance test that is said to have inspired Defoe's imaginary character.

But the Juan Fernández Archipelago has a more important story to tell. It centres on a long history of geographical isolation that has made it one of the world's most exquisite hothouses of evolution. Its separation from the mainland has meant it has developed an endemic evolutionary signature of its own.

The islands are one of few places on earth that have never been colonised by humans until recently. Selkirk was not the first person to set eyes on the islands – that was the Spanish navigator Juan Fernández in 1574 – but his stay there marked the beginnings of a biological catastrophe that resonates on islands throughout the world. The Juan Fernández Archipelago epitomise what can happen to unique, endemic species when their remote territory is suddenly invaded by alien species introduced by man.

The one thing depleting faster than oil is the credibility of those measuring it

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:39:49 -0800

George Monbiot | November 16

The Guardian - I don't know when global oil supplies will start to decline. I do know that another resource has already peaked and gone into free fall: the credibility of the body that's meant to assess them. Last week two whistleblowers from the International Energy Agency alleged that it has deliberately upgraded its estimate of the world's oil supplies in order not to frighten the markets. Three days later, a paper published by researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden showed that the IEA's forecasts must be wrong, because it assumes a rate of extraction that appears to be impossible. The agency's assessment of the state of global oil supplies is beginning to look as reliable as Alan Greenspan's blandishments about the health of the financial markets.

If the whistleblowers are right, we should be stockpiling ammunition. If we are taken by surprise, if we have failed to replace oil before the supply peaks then crashes, the global economy is stuffed. But nothing the whistle-blowers said has scared me as much as the conversation I had last week with a Pembrokeshire farmer.

Wyn Evans, who runs a mixed farm of 170 acres, has been trying to reduce his dependency on fossil fuels since 1977. He has installed an anaerobic digester, a wind turbine, solar panels and a ground-sourced heat pump. He has sought wherever possible to replace diesel with his own electricity. Instead of using his tractor to spread slurry, he pumps it from the digester on to nearby fields. He's replaced his tractor-driven irrigation system with an electric one, and set up a new system for drying hay indoors, which means he has to turn it in the field only once. Whatever else he does is likely to produce smaller savings. But these innovations have reduced his use of diesel by only around 25%.

According to farm scientists at Cornell University, cultivating one hectare of maize in the United States requires 40 litres of petrol and 75 litres of diesel. The amazing productivity of modern farm labour has been purchased at the cost of a dependency on oil. Unless farmers can change the way it's grown, a permanent oil shock would price food out of the mouths of many of the world's people. Any responsible government would be asking urgent questions about how long we have got. more

Last Of The Tasmanian Devils?

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:09:59 -0800

I grew up a hunter. One of my fondest memories was learning to shoot a .410 with my Dad and then quail and dove hunting in the Brush Country of South Texas. One of the cardinal rules of hunting was, as my father always said, "never kill something you're not going to eat." I once shot a crow for the hell of it. My punishment was a healthy serving of real crow that evening. I can say I have literally eaten crow. (It's not so good. And the lesson was learned.)

I've hunted deer a few times in life as well, but as I grew older, sitting in a blind above a sendero waiting for a deer to show up and eat the corn below didn't quite seem sporting.

My father and I traveled to a lot of wild places in the US when I was younger, too. One of the joys was seeing the local wildlife. (At the time it was boring, but now I am grateful.) Somewhere along the line I developed a sense of conservation and appreciation for wildlife in its native setting. So I don't hunt now. If I had to, I could, but it seems pointless. I prefer to watch nature in all its glory. And that's what makes stories like this all the more heartbreaking.

I have seen a badger, ferocious but cute critters that they are. And I saw a mongoose in India. But I doubt I'll ever see a Tasmanian Devil in the wild.

Sometimes I think that if more people grew up hunting they might well appreciate nature's bounty even more. I know this may sound odd, but there is a strange communion between the hunted and the hunter at the time of death. I don't know why this is, but I was always grateful for the animal's sacrifice and the food it provided. It seems that appreciation is lost on we moderns. More is the pity.

Obama's Pesticide-Pushing Nominee

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:15:36 -0800

Kate Sheppard | Washington | November 13

Mother Jones - The president taps an exec from the pesticide lobby—which slammed Michelle Obama's organic garden—for a top agriculture post.

When Michelle Obama announced plans to plant an organic garden at the White House, nearly everybody thought it was a great idea. Everybody except for the pesticide industry. Representatives from a branch of the industry's main trade association, CropLife America (CLA), wrote to the First Lady asking her to respect the role of "conventional agriculture;" they added in a separate note to supporters that the thought of the White House's chemical-free vegetables made them "shudder." But the public swipe at the president's wife didn't stop the administration from nominating senior CLA executive Islam "Isi" Siddiqui to a key post: chief agricultural negotiator for the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR). If confirmed, Siddiqui will be responsible for, among other things, negotiating international agreements governing the use of pesticides.

CLA is the American branch of CropLife International, a powerful global lobby; its members include agriculture giants such as Dow AgroSciences, Monsanto, and DuPont. Siddiqui joined the CLA in 2001 as a registered lobbyist, and since 2003 has served as its vice president of science and regulatory affairs. In that position, he's played a critical role in setting CLA’s domestic and international agenda.

Chiding Michelle Obama for not using "crop protection products" in her garden is one of the milder tactics CLA has deployed in service of its cause. During Siddiqui's tenure at the organization, it has lobbied aggressively to weaken domestic and international regulations on pesticides and other agricultural chemicals.

The New Dust Bowl

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:54:57 -0800

In the 1930s, Okies saw California's Central Valley as a Garden of Eden. Now it's dying of thirst.

Mother Jones, By Josh Harkinson, November/December Issue

When I meet Javier Vaca on a dusty strip of blacktop, he's been walking for three days. The skinny 18-year-old is being carried along in a procession of 7,000 farmworkers and farmers as it crosses California's Central Valley, his baggy jeans and hoodie standing out amid the work boots and button-downs. He's been told only one thing that matters: Marching 50 miles might earn him a job.

"I don't want to jack nobody," Vaca says, as though the thought had crossed his mind. When the housing boom imploded last year, he lost a $14-an-hour construction job, a job that had allowed this son of farmworkers to drop out of high school, buy a car, and rent an apartment for his young wife and baby in Fresno. It took him a month to find more work, this time picking peaches at less than half his previous wage. Then the worst drought in more than a decade hit, a court order to protect an endangered fish cut off water to the valley's farmers, and an area larger than Los Angeles went fallow. Vaca now works one day a week while his family survives on welfare and food stamps. "It's hard, man," he says. "Everybody's broke."

The spring morning chill becomes a broil as Vaca and his fellow marchers slowly follow a two-lane road through parched hills. A man squatting next to an ice chest on the median doles out carne asada burritos. "I'm hungry," Vaca says with a wan smile as he stuffs one into his pants pocket and bites into another. He passes an ATV draped in an American flag, where Sharon Wakefield, an almond farmer, is resting her feet. She says she believes that the Mexicans and Central Americans who have joined the California March for Water are basically no different from her mother, who fled Oklahoma during the Great Depression to earn a pittance harvesting hay and cotton in the valley. Except this time, the state has even less to offer them: "We've got no water, no food, no future," she says.

The Central Valley, the thin, fertile band running down the middle of California, has long boasted the world's richest agricultural economy, reliably producing more than a quarter of the nation's fruits, nuts, and vegetables. But it's done so in defiance of ecological reality. The 70-year-old irrigation system that has pumped water into the otherwise arid valley is proving increasingly vulnerable to shifting weather patterns. It now appears that waterwise, 20th century California was an anomaly, a relatively wet period in the midst of a historical cycle of severe drought. And the changing climate will only magnify the problem: By the end of the century, scientists predict, Central California could experience temperatures rivaling Death Valley's and face the loss of 90 percent of the Sierra Nevada snowpack, the region's main water source. "Business as usual won't work in the future," says Eike Luedeling, an expert in plant sciences at the University of California-Davis, whose research shows that higher temperatures will likely decimate the state's $10 billion fruit and nut industry. "Especially for tree crops, adapting will require huge investments that probably a lot of small guys can't make anymore."

Apec leaders drop climate target

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:35:37 -0800

Nov 15

BBC - Leaders remain split on specifying targets
World leaders meeting in Singapore have said it will not be possible to reach a climate change deal ahead of next month's UN conference in Denmark.

After a two-day Asia-Pacific summit, they vowed to work towards an "ambitious outcome" in Copenhagen.

But the group dropped a target to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, which was outlined in an earlier draft.

Leaders also vowed to pursue a new strategy for growth after the world's worst economic crisis in decades.

They resolved to conclude the Doha round of global trade talks in 2010.

In a joint declaration issued at the end of their two-day annual summit, they said: "We firmly reject all forms of protectionism and reaffirm our commitment to keep markets open and refrain from raising new barriers to investment or to trade in goods and services."

They also agreed to keep stimulus spending in place until a recovery was seen.

Nuclear scars: Tainted water runs beneath Nevada desert

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:29:34 -0800

Ralph Vartabedian | Yucca Flat, NV | November 12

LAT - A sea of ancient water tainted by the Cold War is creeping deep under the volcanic peaks, dry lake beds and pinyon pine forests covering a vast tract of Nevada.

Over 41 years, the federal government detonated 921 nuclear warheads underground at the Nevada Test Site, 75 miles northeast of Las Vegas. Each explosion deposited a toxic load of radioactivity into the ground and in some cases, directly into aquifers.

When testing ended in 1992, the Energy Department estimated that more than 300 million curies of radiation had been left behind, making the site one of the most radioactively contaminated places in the nation.

During the era of weapons testing, Nevada embraced its role almost like a patriotic duty. There seemed to be no better use for an empty desert. But today, as Nevada faces a water crisis and a population boom, state officials are taking a new measure of the damage.

They have successfully pressured federal officials for a fresh environmental assessment of the 1,375-square-mile test site, a step toward a potential demand for monetary compensation, replacement of the lost water or a massive cleanup.

"It is one of the largest resource losses in the country," said Thomas S. Buqo, a Nevada hydrogeologist. "Nobody thought to say, 'You are destroying a natural resource.' "

Los Angeles Times Photo Gallery: Nevada's nuclear legacy

See Also Previous Agonist Thread: Toxic waste trickles toward New Mexico's water sources

Graham Censured for Sensible Climate Stance

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:22:11 -0800

Kate Sheppard | Charleston County, SC | November 11

Mother Jones - The Republican Party of Charleston County, S.C. on Monday voted to censure Sen. Lindsey Graham over his support for climate legislation and his willingness to work across party lines on the issue.

The Republican has often worked with Democrats in Congress, but Charleston County Chairwoman Lin Bennett says his work on climate legislation is the last straw.

The party resolution passed Monday says Graham has weakened the Republican brand. Bennett expects a similar resolution to be introduced at the state GOP convention next year.

Bennett called his views "out of step with the beliefs of Republican voters."

Gives New Meaning To The Term 'Albatross'

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:02:12 -0800

This is unreal.

Finally a bipartisan issue

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:44:02 -0800

High BPA levels linked to male sexual problems

How long before congress gets involved? ;)

Why is Earth’s upper atmosphere cooling?

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:04:30 -0800

Moises Velasquez-Manoff | 11.10.09 | CSM Blog

Temperatures at the earth’s surface have increased by between 0.2 and 0.4 degrees C in the past 30 years. The vast majority of scientists attribute this warming trend to higher concentrations of greenhouse gases – CO2, methane, CFCs, and others – which warm both the earth’s surface and lower atmosphere by holding heat in.

But one of the seeming paradoxes of more greenhouse gases is that while they seem to warm the earth’s surface, they also seem to be cooling the higher layers of the atmosphere: Surface temperatures have gone up in recent decades, but they’ve declined to varying degrees in the stratosphere (above 20 km), the mesosphere (above 50 km), and the thermosphere (above 90 km).

In the lower and middle mesosphere, for example, temperatures have fallen by between 5 and 10 degrees C during the past three decades. And the outermost part of the atmosphere, around 350 km high — the so-called thermosphere — has, as would be expected by cooling, contracted.

(Here’s a review of these observed changes in Science, the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.)

The science behind the observed stratospheric cooling is complex, but important to understand.

Some people cite this cooling as evidence that greenhouse gases aren’t warming and that human-induced climate change isn’t happening. But the conclusion, it seems, should be the opposite.

In 1989, scientists predicted that more greenhouse gases would cool the stratosphere.

Indeed, Venus, which many say has a “runaway” greenhouse effect — its atmosphere is 97 percent carbon dioxide and temperatures at its surface can reach 900 F. — has a stratosphere that’s four to five times cooler than ours.

It’s also worth remembering that Earth supports life as we know it only because of a greenhouse effect. Without some heat-trapping ability, Earth’s surface temperature should be, on average, around -0.4 F. Instead, it’s a nice 57 F.

So why is our stratosphere cooling?

As Dr. Elmar Uherek of the Max Planck Institute explains, human activity affects the stratosphere in two ways:

1. By ozone depletion.
2. By increasing carbon dioxide.

GOP Senators Absent at Start of Climate Debate

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:32:59 -0800

Washington DC | November 3

AP - Republicans boycotted the start of committee debate Tuesday on a bill to curb greenhouse gases, protesting that the bill's costs have not been fully examined. The action put a spotlight on the difficulties Democratic leaders face in moving climate legislation this year.

Republican Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio attended the session for 15 minutes to explain the GOP's argument for staying away. He insisted the tactic ''is not a ruse'' to block the bill, but concern that its widespread impact on the country has not been made clear.

But Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, the panel's chairman, argued the EPA already has provided ''a full blown economic analysis'' and that Majority Leader Harry Reid has promised further studies when the bill is merged with other legislation. She insisted ''we're not rushing we are taking our time.''

The partisan rift in the Environment and Public Works Committee, which delayed votes on amendments to the legislation, exposed the sharp divisions in the Senate over how to address global warming. Democrats also have been split on the issue. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who said he had deep reservations about the bill also was absent.