The Arctic Ocean could be largely ice-free and open to shipping during the summer in as little as ten years' time, a top polar specialist has said."It's like man is taking the lid off the northern part of the planet," said Professor Peter Wadhams, from the University of Cambridge. Professor Wadhams has been studying the Arctic ice since the 1960s. He was speaking in central London at the launch of the findings of the Catlin Arctic Survey. The expedition trekked across 435km of ice earlier this year. Led by explorer Pen Hadow, the team's measurements found that the ice-floes were on average 1.8m thick - typical of so-called "first year" ice formed during the past winter and most vulnerable to melting.
The Arctic Ocean could be largely ice-free and open to shipping during the summer in as little as ten years' time, a top polar specialist has said.
"It's like man is taking the lid off the northern part of the planet," said Professor Peter Wadhams, from the University of Cambridge.
Professor Wadhams has been studying the Arctic ice since the 1960s.
He was speaking in central London at the launch of the findings of the Catlin Arctic Survey.
The expedition trekked across 435km of ice earlier this year.
Led by explorer Pen Hadow, the team's measurements found that the ice-floes were on average 1.8m thick - typical of so-called "first year" ice formed during the past winter and most vulnerable to melting.
In the wake of a French investigation into reports that nuclear waste is sent from French plants to Siberia, news has emerged that Germany has a long tradition of shipping toxic waste to Russia. The German anti-nuclear group "ausgestrahlt" said that since 1996, Germany's only uranium enrichment plant in Gronau has shipped about 22,000 tons of uranium hexafluoride, which is a compound used in the uranium enrichment process, to Russia. "Ausgestrahlt" reported on Wednesday that only 10 percent of that was returned to Germany as enriched uranium. The anti-nuclear activists said the remaining 90 percent was stored in Siberia, outdoors and in rusting containers. Uranium hexafluoride is highly toxic and corrosive to most metals. URENCO, the uranium-processing firm that runs the Gronau enrichment facility, confirmed that it has shipped more than 27,000 tons of depleted uranium to Russia's state-run firm Tenex since 1996. About 10 to 15 percent of the material was treated and returned to Germany. URENCO says it has meanwhile terminated cooperation with the Russian
The German anti-nuclear group "ausgestrahlt" said that since 1996, Germany's only uranium enrichment plant in Gronau has shipped about 22,000 tons of uranium hexafluoride, which is a compound used in the uranium enrichment process, to Russia.
"Ausgestrahlt" reported on Wednesday that only 10 percent of that was returned to Germany as enriched uranium. The anti-nuclear activists said the remaining 90 percent was stored in Siberia, outdoors and in rusting containers. Uranium hexafluoride is highly toxic and corrosive to most metals.
URENCO, the uranium-processing firm that runs the Gronau enrichment facility, confirmed that it has shipped more than 27,000 tons of depleted uranium to Russia's state-run firm Tenex since 1996. About 10 to 15 percent of the material was treated and returned to Germany. URENCO says it has meanwhile terminated cooperation with the Russian
Germany's incoming government has agreed to reverse plans to abandon nuclear power. Berlin is eager to reduce dependency on gas and oil imports but environmentalists have already vowed to fight the decision. Germany's next center-right government of Christian Democrats and Free Democrats (FDP) under Chancellor Angela Merkel now says that the timetable of abandoning nuclear power by 2020 cannot be kept. Already ahead of Germany's general election at the end of September, the two parties had pledged to extend the life of some of the country's 17 nuclear power plants. Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg on Thursday confirmed that as coalition talks progress to form a new government, the two sides have agreed to accommodate that pledge and keep the nuclear plants running longer.
Germany's next center-right government of Christian Democrats and Free Democrats (FDP) under Chancellor Angela Merkel now says that the timetable of abandoning nuclear power by 2020 cannot be kept.
Already ahead of Germany's general election at the end of September, the two parties had pledged to extend the life of some of the country's 17 nuclear power plants.
Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg on Thursday confirmed that as coalition talks progress to form a new government, the two sides have agreed to accommodate that pledge and keep the nuclear plants running longer.
The executives of electric utilities worldwide are dreaming of a renaissance in nuclear power. But problems with a new, state-of-the-art reactor in Finland suggest that this is unlikely to happen. The industry's alternative strategy is to modernize older plants to drastically extend reactor lifetimes. The managers at Finnish electric utility TVO expressed one last wish before ordering what would be the world's largest nuclear power plant from Siemens and the French nuclear power conglomerate Areva. They wanted the reactor to be painted oxblood red and white, the traditional colors of the picturesque summer homes on Finland's western coast. At least the two companies have managed to fulfill that request. Workers are currently securing colored panels to the turbine building. Otherwise, not much is going as it should be on Europe's biggest nuclear construction site.
The executives of electric utilities worldwide are dreaming of a renaissance in nuclear power. But problems with a new, state-of-the-art reactor in Finland suggest that this is unlikely to happen. The industry's alternative strategy is to modernize older plants to drastically extend reactor lifetimes.
The managers at Finnish electric utility TVO expressed one last wish before ordering what would be the world's largest nuclear power plant from Siemens and the French nuclear power conglomerate Areva. They wanted the reactor to be painted oxblood red and white, the traditional colors of the picturesque summer homes on Finland's western coast.
At least the two companies have managed to fulfill that request. Workers are currently securing colored panels to the turbine building. Otherwise, not much is going as it should be on Europe's biggest nuclear construction site.
Guess why the Finns asked for a turnkey contract? The next EPR's will not be prototypes, and they will incorporate the lessons learned. Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
The Big WrapThis matchup between a Florida gator and Burmese python shows the snake's tenacity in hunting big game. Exotic snakes are making inroads in domestic climes, as described in the Science & the Public blog. USGS Some were pets whose bodies and appetites apparently got too big for their owners to support. Most are probably descendants of released pets. Today, thousands of really big non-native snakes -- we're talking boa constrictors, anacondas and pythons -- slither wild in southern Florida. And there's nothing holding them in the Sunshine State. Which is why a report that was released today contends they pose moderate to high ecological threats to states on three U.S. coasts. Indeed, the homelands of these snakes share climatic features with large portions of the United States -- territory currently inhabited by some 120 million Americans. Based on comparisons of the temperatures, rainfall and land cover found in the snakes' native range, it's possible that these slithering behemoths could stake claims to territory as far north as coastal Delaware and Oregon. Or so Gordon Rodda and Robert Reed of the U.S. Geological Survey observe in a 300-page assessment. As North America's climate warms, the two predict, these invaders might even expand that range -- by the end of this century becoming permanent residents of the Midwest. The red states contain climate and land features that might make them hospitable to giant, invasive snakes.
The Big WrapThis matchup between a Florida gator and Burmese python shows the snake's tenacity in hunting big game. Exotic snakes are making inroads in domestic climes, as described in the Science & the Public blog. USGS
Some were pets whose bodies and appetites apparently got too big for their owners to support. Most are probably descendants of released pets. Today, thousands of really big non-native snakes -- we're talking boa constrictors, anacondas and pythons -- slither wild in southern Florida. And there's nothing holding them in the Sunshine State. Which is why a report that was released today contends they pose moderate to high ecological threats to states on three U.S. coasts.
Indeed, the homelands of these snakes share climatic features with large portions of the United States -- territory currently inhabited by some 120 million Americans. Based on comparisons of the temperatures, rainfall and land cover found in the snakes' native range, it's possible that these slithering behemoths could stake claims to territory as far north as coastal Delaware and Oregon. Or so Gordon Rodda and Robert Reed of the U.S. Geological Survey observe in a 300-page assessment. As North America's climate warms, the two predict, these invaders might even expand that range -- by the end of this century becoming permanent residents of the Midwest.
The red states contain climate and land features that might make them hospitable to giant, invasive snakes.
Then again, as the learned producers behind the Anaconda series of movies have shown us, we can never be TOO worried about giant killer snakes.
A snake from South America that never made it up the isthmus to the Gulf Coast of North America is not a native species because its from "The Americas". Ecosystems are more specific than that. I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.
A threat to three US coasts AND to Mexico, Central America and, eventually, to South America as well.
But presumbly it wouldn't be able to survive somewhere on the way down, or it would have made it up to the U.S. by itself anyway.
Researchers have just linked prenatal exposure to bisphenol-A - a near-ubiquitous industrial chemical - with subtle, gender-specific alterations in behavior among two year olds. Girls whose mothers had encountered the most BPA early in pregnancy tended to become somewhat more aggressive than normal, boys became more anxious and withdrawn. This is the first study to link human behavioral impacts with BPA, a common ingredient in hard polycarbonate plastics and the resins used in food-can linings. Emerging data from an unrelated research group points to another especially rich newfound source of BPA to which people unwittingly may be exposed: thermally printed cash-register receipts (see next blog). At present, there's no way to know whether the apparent behavioral impact of BPA exposures early in development will persist or disappear, says Bruce Lanphear of Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. But this epidemiologist, an author of the new study, says his worry is that if the kids don't grow out of these behaviors - and indeed, the changes are expressed widely across a population - they could greatly increase the number of teens at risk for delinquency, say, or for one day needing medical treatment of depression or anxiety. .... Girls whose mothers had the highest BPA exposures in early pregnancy tended to score high on the "externalizing" component of a test known as BASC-2, for Behavioral Assessment System for Children-2. It's geared to young children and evaluates their tendency towards aggression and hyperactivity. Boys with the highest womb exposures to BPA tended to exhibit an increased "internalizing" BASC score. They were more likely to "be withdrawn or show depressive symptoms, or maybe complain about aches and pains - which is often a manifestation of anxiety," Braun explains. The trend towards a behavioral deviation from the norm in all of these kids was small, Braun says, perhaps 2 to 6 points (as measured on about a 100-point scale) for each 10-fold increase in mom's urinary BPA. That's a magnitude of change similar to the subtle IQ drops attributable to environmental lead exposures in U.S. children, notes Lanphear. Yet when extrapolated across a population, the societal cost of those tiny IQ losses becomes staggering, his calculations indicate. (My bold.)
This is the first study to link human behavioral impacts with BPA, a common ingredient in hard polycarbonate plastics and the resins used in food-can linings. Emerging data from an unrelated research group points to another especially rich newfound source of BPA to which people unwittingly may be exposed: thermally printed cash-register receipts (see next blog).
At present, there's no way to know whether the apparent behavioral impact of BPA exposures early in development will persist or disappear, says Bruce Lanphear of Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. But this epidemiologist, an author of the new study, says his worry is that if the kids don't grow out of these behaviors - and indeed, the changes are expressed widely across a population - they could greatly increase the number of teens at risk for delinquency, say, or for one day needing medical treatment of depression or anxiety.
....
Girls whose mothers had the highest BPA exposures in early pregnancy tended to score high on the "externalizing" component of a test known as BASC-2, for Behavioral Assessment System for Children-2. It's geared to young children and evaluates their tendency towards aggression and hyperactivity. Boys with the highest womb exposures to BPA tended to exhibit an increased "internalizing" BASC score. They were more likely to "be withdrawn or show depressive symptoms, or maybe complain about aches and pains - which is often a manifestation of anxiety," Braun explains.
The trend towards a behavioral deviation from the norm in all of these kids was small, Braun says, perhaps 2 to 6 points (as measured on about a 100-point scale) for each 10-fold increase in mom's urinary BPA. That's a magnitude of change similar to the subtle IQ drops attributable to environmental lead exposures in U.S. children, notes Lanphear. Yet when extrapolated across a population, the societal cost of those tiny IQ losses becomes staggering, his calculations indicate. (My bold.)
Reporting from Washington - The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday released a long-suppressed report by George W. Bush administration officials who had concluded -- based on science -- that the government should begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions because global warming posed serious risks to the country. The report, known as an "endangerment finding," was done in 2007. The Bush White House refused to make it public because it opposed new government efforts to regulate the gases most scientists see as the major cause of global warming. The existence of the finding -- and the refusal of the Bush administration to make it public -- were already known. But no copy of the document had been released until Tuesday. The document "demonstrates that in 2007 the science was as clear as it is today," said Adora Andy, EPA spokeswoman. "The conclusions reached then by EPA scientists should have been made public and should have been considered."
The report, known as an "endangerment finding," was done in 2007. The Bush White House refused to make it public because it opposed new government efforts to regulate the gases most scientists see as the major cause of global warming.
The existence of the finding -- and the refusal of the Bush administration to make it public -- were already known. But no copy of the document had been released until Tuesday.
The document "demonstrates that in 2007 the science was as clear as it is today," said Adora Andy, EPA spokeswoman. "The conclusions reached then by EPA scientists should have been made public and should have been considered."
Politics & Science - Investigating the State of Science Under the Bush Administration
In August 2003, at the request of Rep. Henry A. Waxman, the Democratic staff of the Government Reform Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives assessed the treatment of science and scientists by the Bush Administration. The resulting report -- Politics and Science in the Bush Administration -- found numerous instances where the Administration has manipulated the scientific process and distorted or suppressed scientific findings. These actions go far beyond the typical shifts in policy that occur with a change in the political party occupying the White House. Thirteen years ago, former President George H.W. Bush stated that "[n]ow more than ever, on issues ranging from climate change to AIDS research . . . government relies on the impartial perspective of science for guidance." Today, President George W. Bush's Administration has skewed this impartial perspective, generating unprecedented criticism from the scientific community and even from prominent Republicans who once led federal agencies.
