Environment
egrossman | January 10, 2012by Elizabeth Grossman
Next month will mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens' birth. Given the last two centuries' stratospheric advances in technology and the past century's progress in human rights policy, one would think that child labor, dangerous and unhealthy working conditions, and the export of hazardous industrial refuse to poor countries and communities would be a thing of the past. But as several reports released last month show, Dickensian working and living conditions are still very much with us. Children continue to be engaged in hazardous manual labor instead of…
illconsidered | January 9, 2012 Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
skip to bottom Another week of Climate Instability News Information Overloadis Pattern RecognitionJanuary 8, 2012 Chuckles, Durban, Horn of Africa, Australian Climate, Retrospectives, Epsilon Bottom Line, Subsidies, GCF, Thermodynamics, Ecocide, Cook, Post CRU Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy Melting Arctic, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica Food Crisis, unFisherman, Food Prices,…
jdupuis | January 6, 2012Another list for your reading, gift-giving and collection development pleasure.
Every year for the last bunch of years I've been linking to and posting about all the "year's best sciencey books" lists that appear in various media outlets and shining a bit of light on the best of the year.
All the previous 2011 lists are here.
This post includes the following: Mother Nature Network: Best green and environmental books of 2011.
The Best Science and Nature Writing of 2011 edited by Mary Roach
Once and Future Giants: What Ice Age Extinctions Tell Us About the Fate of Earth's Largest Mammals by…
gregladen | January 4, 2012In the beginning of the Fukushima Nuclear Crisis, in the hours and days after the earthquake and tsunami struck, nuclear power experts assured us that no matter how bad it seemed, nuclear material would stay in the reactors. It was unlikely that the reactors would melt down, and if they did melt down a little, that would be OK because the melted down stuff would stay within the reactor vessels. No problem. What actually happened, however, is that the nuclear material in three of the reactors totally melted down, and then melted through in perhaps two or three of the reactors, but at least…
illconsidered | January 2, 2012 Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
skip to bottom Another Week of Climate Disruption News Sipping from the Internet Firehose...January 1, 2012 Chuckles, HNY, Retrospectives, Oil & Sunlight, Ecuador, Cook, Post CRU Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy Melting Arctic, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica Food Crisis, Food Prices, Food vs. Biofuel, Land Grabs, GMOs, Food Production Hurricanes, GHGs, Temperatures,…
illconsidered | December 26, 2011 Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
skip to bottom Another week of Climate Disruption News Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck YearsDecember 25, 2011 Chuckles, Solstice, COP17, Horn of Africa, Retrospectives GFIs, Cook, Post CRU Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy Melting Arctic, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica Food Crisis, Food Prices, Food Riots, Land Grabs, GMOs, Food Production Hurricanes, Temperatures, Paleoclimate…
illconsidered | December 19, 2011 Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
skip to bottom Another week of Climate Disruption News Information is not Knowledge...Knowledge is notWisdomDecember 18, 2011 Chuckles, Durban, Horn of Africa, Canada & Kyoto, AGU, Retro Bottom Line, Ecocide, Cook, Post CRU, FOI Weapon Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy Melting Arctic, Megafauna, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica Food Crisis, Prices, Food vs. Biofuel, Land Grabs,…
illconsidered | December 12, 2011 Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
skip to bottom Another week of Climate Disruption News Information Overloadis Pattern RecognitionDecember 11, 2011 Chuckles, COP18+, Durban: Accord, Text, Reports, Kyoto, GCF, Protests, Misc Horn of Africa, AGU, Huber & Knutti, Bottom Line, Subsidies, GFIs, Free Science, CCPI, Ecocide, Cook, Post CRU Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy Melting Arctic, Polar Bears, Methane,…
gregladen | December 7, 2011There is a lot of news in Ana's Feed about the nuclear power industry world wide, as well as across Japan, and especially disturbing news related to the Fukushima plant in particular. In brief, the main reason that the situation at these reactors seems to be kinda-sorta under control (as in the water in the plants has stopped boiling uncontrollably) is that much of the nuclear fuel has melted its way into the underlying geology, and/or all over the plant's foundation structures, and/or dispersed through groundwater that is moving through the system. Towards nearby rivers and/or the ocean…
esiegel | December 5, 2011"Every time you look up at the sky, every one of those points of light is a reminder that fusion power is extractable from hydrogen and other light elements, and it is an everyday reality throughout the Milky Way Galaxy." -Carl Sagan
(This post is coauthored by Dr. Peter Thieberger, Senior Physicist at Brookhaven National Laboratory.)
A cheap, clean, efficient and virtually limitless source of energy would be just what our world needs right about now. The cheap sources -- coal, oil, and gas -- are dirty, destructive, and limited, while the clean sources -- wind and solar -- are expensive and…
illconsidered | December 5, 2011 Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
skip to bottom Another week of Climate Disruption News Sipping from the Internet Firehose...December 4, 2011 Chuckles, COP18+, Durban Reports, Durban GCF, Durban Kyoto, Durban Protests, Durban Misc Horn of Africa, Bottom Line, GFIs, Crap Detector, Ecocide, Cook, Post CRU Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy Melting Arctic, Megafauna, Report Card, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica Food…
illconsidered | November 28, 2011 Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
skip to bottom Another week of Global Warming News Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck YearsNovember 27, 2011 Chuckles, COP17+, Horn of Africa, Schmittner et al. CRU2, SREX, GCF, Ecocide, Cook, Post CRU Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy Melting Arctic, Antarctica Food Crisis, GMOs, Food Production Hurricanes, Monsoon, GHGs, Carbon Cycle, Temperatures, Aerosols, Paleoclimate ENSO,…
illconsidered | November 21, 2011 Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
skip to bottom Another week of Global Warming News Information is not Knowledge...Knowledge is notWisdomNovember 20, 2011 Chuckles, COP17+, CVF, Horn of Africa, SREX, NY State Lee et al., WEO, BEST, Subsidies, GCF, Cook, Post CRU Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy, European I-131 Melting Arctic, Polar Bear, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica Food Crisis, Food Prices, Food Production…
gregladen | November 17, 2011The Fukushima nuclear power plant was opened to journalists for the first time; See below for numerous links to related stories.
There appears to be very high levels of radiation at Fukushima plant reactor #3, and at either reactors 1 and 3, or both, nuclear fission may have been occurring in the melted down remains. Ideally, once a plant is turned off, i.e., control rods inserted etc. etc., the state of "criticality" is stopped and there is no more fission, or at least, only a small background level. But, if a nuclear power plant's core melts down, nuclear material can re-accumulate in…
oracknows | November 17, 2011When it rains it pours, as they say.
Yes, sometimes there's so much going on that I can't possibly blog about it all, particularly now that I've cut back a bit. This week seems to be turning into one of those weeks. Yesterday, I couldn't resist having a bit of fun with the grande dame of the anti-vaccine movement, Barbara Loe Fisher when she released a seriously hypocritical and silly press release whining about how mistreated she thinks her organization, the Orwellian-named National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) has been because the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) had the audacity…
esiegel | November 16, 2011"She eyes me like a pisces when I am weak
I've been locked inside your Heart Shaped box for weeks
I've been drawn into your magnet tar pit trap
I wish I could eat your cancer when you turn black" -Nirvana, Heart-Shaped Box
By looking at the right combinations of wavelengths of light, one can literally find almost anything in the depths of space.
Image credit: Daniel Marquardt, of nebula IC 1805.
But back on Earth, we have some surprising natural features that have been captured from above with nothing more than a camera.
Image credit: NASA / STS-129 / Space Shuttle Atlantis, retrieved from…
illconsidered | November 14, 2011 Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
skip to bottom Another week of Global Warming News Information Overloadis Pattern RecognitionNovember 13, 2011 Chuckles, COP17+, Horn of Africa, Bangkok, BEST, Curry, OWS, WEO Oceans & Fires, Bottom Line, Subsidies, Greenland, Cook, Post CRU Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy, I-131 in Europe Polar Bears, Methane, Geopolitics Food Crisis, Food Prices, Food Riots, Food vs. Biofuel…
illconsidered | November 7, 2011 Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
skip to bottom Another week of Climate Disruption News Sipping from the Internet Firehose...November 6, 2011 Chuckles, COP17+, BASIC, Horn of Africa, Bangkok, G20, BEST, Curry, Cook Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Koolaid, Nuclear Policy Melting Arctic, Geopolitics, Antarctica Food Crisis, Agro-Corps, Food Prices, GMOs, Food Production Hurricanes, GHGs, Carbon Cycle, Feedbacks, Paleoclimate,…
illconsidered | October 31, 2011 Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
skip to bottom Another Week in the Ecological Crisis Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck YearsOctober 30, 2011 Chuckles, COP17+, Rogelj, Maplecroft, BEST, OWS, WCRP, Monnett The Cree Prophecy, Bottom Line, Subsidies, Planet 3.0, Cook Fukushima Note, Fukushima News Melting Arctic, Polar Bears, Geopolitics Food Crisis, Agro-Corps, Food Prices, Land Grabs, GMOs, Food Production Hurricanes, Monsoon…
gregladen | October 29, 2011The radiation at the Fukushima plants has gone up, rather than down, since June. This may be because contaminated water has become more concentrated due to evaporation. The release of radiation from the plant into the air continues, although a covering over Reactor 1 is almost completed. The release of radiation from the plant into the sea continues, and plankton are shown to be contaminated to a level that raises some concern. Mid month, the plant was measured to be releasing about 100 million becquerels per hour. The reactors are still not uniformly shut down to less than boiling.…