Environment
More nuclear reactor accidents predicted
“Severe Nuclear Reactor Accidents Likely Every 10 to 20 Years” is a sobering headline in the May 22, 2012 edition of Science Daily, which reports on a European study that suggests “catastrophic nuclear accidents such as the core meltdowns in Chernobyl and Fukushima are more likely to happen than previously assumed. Based on the operating [...]
Nanoparticles may be hazardous to wildlife and humans
“Scientists at the University of Plymouth have shown, for the first time in an animal, that nanoparticles have a detrimental effect on the brain and other parts of the central nervous system. They subjected rainbow trout to titanium oxide nanoparticles which are widely used as a whitening agent in many products including paints, some personal [...]
(Half) Life in the Atomic Age [UPDATED]
Reportedly, North Americans, especially those of us on the West coast, are breathing in or ingesting a few “hot particles” every day from the meltdown at the nuclear power plant about 5,000 miles away in Fukushima, Japan [following the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011]. This is not the feared radioactive cloud of post-apocalyptic-nuclear [...]
Environmental safeguards under attack from right
Republican politicians are taking aim at regulations designed to safeguard the environment. Already this session, the congressional right has succeeded in cutting $1.6 billion from the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and another $49 million from budgeted programs related to climate change, as reported by the New York Times. The Times cites several [...]
Why are we using up the Earth?
“Humans take roughly 40% of the life that the land and the coastal seas produce. For one mid-sized creature, that is a staggering proportion,” writes Carl Safina in “Why are we using up the Earth?” on CNN. “The United Nations expects the population to grow by mid-century to more than 9 billion people; that’s two [...]
Garbage Planet [UPDATED]
Garbage. On average, each of us deposits over four pounds of garbage every day in waste baskets around the house. That’s about 30 pounds of garbage per person, per week. If we didn’t take the trash out, it would soon fill up our houses and apartments. If garbage trucks didn’t haul it away, it would [...]
Earth becoming a smoking, glowing, oily mess
“We . . . are turning our planet into a smoking, glowing, oily mess . . . plundering Mother Earth of her treasures . . . refusing to recognize the growing evidence that our reliance on oil, coal and nuclear threatens our health, our security, our economy, our nation and the world,” said Rep. Dennis [...]
Gulf oil spill a reminder of our limits [UPDATED]
“There is only one meaningful response to the horrific oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and that is for America to stop messing around when it comes to designing its energy and environmental future. The only meaningful response to this man-made disaster is a man-made energy bill that would finally put in place an [...]
Earth Day(dreaming)
This 40th annual Earth Day — April 22, 2010 — follows last month’s 4th annual Earth Hour and 12th annual World Water Day. Forgive me, but this blitz of environmental days is leaving me dazed. It’s not that I don’t concur with Earth Day’s high-minded objective “to advance climate policy, energy efficiency, renewable energy and [...]
Is Earth past the tipping point?
Once a tipping point is passed, a major change occurs, one that may be difficult or impossible to reverse. If a business crosses the tipping point threshold, the worst that can happen is that it goes bankrupt. But what if Earth passes that point with respect to its environment? The April, 2010, issue of Scientific [...]
Main Menu
- About
- Twelve crises [UPDATED]
- Scenarios [UPDATED]
- Are there any safe investments anymore? [UPDATED]
- Fifty items for extended emergencies [UPDATED]
- Boring legalisms
- Credits
- Contact
- Description
Recommended sites
- Charles Hugh Smith
- Climate Progress
- Culture Change
- Early Warning
- Global Climate Change - NASA
- Mother Earth News
- National Geographic - Environment
- No-Dig Vegetable Garden
- Post Peak Living
- The Oil Drum
