Watch 'Desert growth' on the Earth from Space programme Discover more about our planet with the Earth from Space video programme. Join us every Friday at 10:00 CEST for an 800 km-high tour with spectacular images from Earth-observing satellites.
Watch the replay: Earth from Space – special edition Tommaso Parrinello, CryoSat Mission Manager, and Duncan Wingham, Chief Executive of the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council, join the Earth from Space programme to discuss ESA’s ice mission.
André Kuipers: world ambassador Observing Earth from far above, ESA astronaut André Kuipers is acting as a world ambassador for the WWF, which issued its flagship publication the Living Planet Report today.
‘Eye operation’ puts Proba-1 back in business After more than a decade in orbit, ESA’s Proba-1 was showing its age – even hibernating last winter. But a software fix to its startracker, radiation-impaired after surpassing its design lifetime fivefold, has returned the veteran Earth-observing microsatellite to full operation.
Watch 'Hot spots' on the Earth from Space programme Discover more about our planet with the Earth from Space video programme. Join us every Friday at 10:00 CEST for an 800 km-high tour with spectacular images from Earth-observing satellites.
ESA declares end of mission for Envisat PR 15 2012 - Just weeks after celebrating its tenth year in orbit, communication with the Envisat satellite was suddenly lost on 8 April. Following rigorous attempts to re-establish contact and the investigation of failure scenarios, the end of the mission is being declared.
GMES in Eastern Europe As Europe’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security programme nears its full operational phase, its benefits and economic potential for Eastern Europe came into focus last week at a conference in Bucharest, Romania.
Spotlight on Sentinel-2 The vast potential of ESA’s upcoming Sentinel-2 satellites came into focus last week at a symposium in Italy on how they will benefit current and future projects that exploit Earth observation data.
Watch 'Spring has sprung' on the Earth from Space programme Discover more about our planet with the Earth from Space video programme. Join us every Friday at 10:00 CEST for an 800 km-high tour with spectacular images from Earth-observing satellites.
Satellites stay current on ocean currents Satellites offer a frequent overview of our entire planet – covered mostly by water – and provide valuable data to monitor and understand global ocean circulation. Understanding water currents at the ocean surface is important for many applications.
MetOp-B launch postponed PR 12 2012 - Eumetsat and the European Space Agency (ESA) have been informed by the launch service provider, Starsem, that the launch of the MetOp-B satellite by a Soyuz rocket, scheduled for 23 May from Baikonur, had to be postponed. This is due to additional measures required to ensure the availability of safe drop zones for parts of the launcher after lift-off.
ESA Euronews: Global watchdog at risk Europe has adopted an extensive monitoring programme to keep tabs on the environment while keeping us safe. It is called GMES, Global Monitoring for Environment and Security. The Sentinel multi-satellite project is already under way but, financially, clouds are looming on the horizon.
Watch 'Rainforest river' on the Earth from Space programme Discover more about our planet with the Earth from Space video programme. Join us every Friday at 10:00 CEST for an 800 km-high tour with spectacular images from Earth-observing satellites.
MetOp-B mission control team image gallery An image gallery showing ESA’s mission control team training for the launch and critical early operations of MetOp-B, set for liftoff on 23 May.
Latest CryoSat result revealed After nearly a year and a half of operations, CryoSat has yielded its first seasonal variation map of Arctic sea-ice thickness. Results from ESA’s ice mission were presented today at the Royal Society in London.
Investigation on Envisat continues Optical, radar and laser observations of the Envisat satellite show that it is still in a stable orbit. Efforts to regain contact with the satellite have been under way since 8 April, when it unexpectedly stopped sending data to Earth.
Call for Media: CryoSat’s first map of changes in sea-ice thickness Media representatives are invited to attend the unveiling of the first map of the winter 2010–11 changes in Arctic sea-ice thickness measured by ESA’s ice mission. The event will take place on 24 April at the Royal Society in London.
Titanic’s legacy reaches space A century ago, the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg while crossing the North Atlantic and sank at the cost of over 1500 passengers and crew. Today, thousands of boats cross the same iceberg-ridden path with no loss of life – and satellites are helping.
Envisat services interrupted After 10 years of service, Envisat has stopped sending data to Earth. ESA’s mission control is working to re-establish contact with the satellite.
My Multimodal Mom: Growing Up With Public Transport When my brother and I were young, my mom would take us on Transportation Days. It goes like this: You can't take any mode of transportation more than once. We would start from home, walking the two blocks to...2010-11-19T16:33:09Z
GM Salmon Safe to Eat? Not so Fast, Critics Say National Geographic Fellow Barton Seaver, a Washington, D.C.-based chef, writer, and ocean advocate talks to Green Guide about genetically engineered salmon. By Rachel Kaufman Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that genetically engineered salmon is safe to...2010-10-29T15:57:38Z
Learning From Urban Farmer and Compost King Will Allen Urban farming visionary Will Allen expands his services, growing even more healthy food in the concrete jungle. Two feet of compost, Allen says, is enough to turn asphalt into a cornfield. By Rachel Kaufman Grow, bloom, thrive: that's Will Allen's...2010-10-21T20:51:38Z
GM Corn Pesticides Found in Indiana Streams Pesticides produced by genetically modified (GM) corn have been found dissolved in streams in Indiana, raising new questions about whether GM foods could have impacts beyond immediate food safety, a new study reports. Jennifer Tank of Indiana's University of...2010-10-12T16:19:35Z
Streetsblog: Intelligent Transportation Around the Corner? Tanya Snyder, Capitol Hill editor for D.C. Streetsblog, recently blogged about how the information age may usher in a new era in intelligent transportation. For instance, when highways get crowded and congested, some people start clamoring for more and wider...2010-10-12T15:36:26Z
Can Oyster Eaters Save Oysters? It seems totally counterintuitive. After all, the Chesapeake Bay is in a pickle right now because its oyster population, which once filtered impurities from the Bay at a rate of 50 gallons of water per oyster per day. The entire...2010-09-27T16:48:55Z
Oregano Moves Cows Toward Climate Neutral A dash of oregano does more than make pizza taste delicious: it also can reduce the amount of methane in cow burps, new research shows. Scientists have been trying to decrease methane from livestock for years; methane is over 20...2010-09-27T15:23:21Z
How to See Fall Colors by Bike and Train The long, hot summer is finally shifting into fall gear. In New England, the maple trees are turning red. It's one of the most beautiful times of year. So why enjoy nature in a way that damages it with...2010-09-17T15:30:10Z
Going the Extra Mile--Tips from Energy-Saving Hypermilers So you don't drive a hybrid. But you can still get better mpg in the car you have. Join the ranks of the hypermilers--people who compete over how much they can improve their fuel economy just by using better...2010-09-03T15:41:49Z
Urban Foragers Cropping Up in U.S. In Sacramento, they pick figs, kumquats, and plums from public trees. In New York, they harvest purslane--an edible flower--from the cracks in the sidewalk. Down south, it's fiddlehead ferns, and just about everywhere, people are picking black walnuts, wild...2010-09-03T14:49:43Z
BPA Linked to Higher Testosterone Levels BPA's in almost everything, it seems. The chemical is great for making transparent, nearly shatter-proof plastic, called polycarbonate, so it shows up everywhere--in CDs, water bottles, even eyeglasses. Now it's in your urine, too. And if you're a guy, it's...2010-08-30T19:55:46Z
Gulf Seafood With a Side of Oil Dispersant? By Tasha Eichenseher Crabbing, shrimping, and fishing along sections of the oil-tarnished Gulf Coast were re-opened last week. The media buzz is about whether the seafood coming out of the Gulf is safe to consume, but you'd never know there...2010-08-24T13:05:00Z
A Brief History Of Carbon Footprint Labeling We're all told to lower our carbon footprint. But as far food goes, it's not always that simple. Companies are increasingly attempting to label products--from cribs to Coke bottles to cabbages--with a number that encompasses all the carbon that went...2010-08-18T13:22:45Z
Genetically Modified Canola Has Legs, Study Says For the first time, a genetically modified (GM) crop has been caught in the wild in the U.S., growing weedlike across roads and parking lots across North Dakota. Cynthia Sagers and colleagues from the University of Arkansas sampled canola plants...2010-08-09T17:16:14Z
Jane of the Jungle Gym Blogs Green Again National Geographic Little Kids blogger Jane of the Jungle Gym occasionally blogs about being a green mom, and here are some recent green-themed posts: Paper Cuts: Jane discusses ways to green your kids' doodling. Gray Matter: Jane tackles those pesky...2010-08-04T17:22:07Z
Environmental Health News
Hard-hit neighborhoods in LA seek zoning protection. They're calling it Clean-Up, Green-Up. It's a proposal to create special zones around some of the most polluted neighborhoods in Los Angeles. It’s a response to residents who say: enough is enough - no more pollution. The idea: clean up the environment and help businesses thrive at the same time.Living On Earth2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
New lead poisoning guidelines: What parents should know. The CDC's decision to redefine the "action level" for lead exposure in kids has renewed some parents' concerns about the best ways to protect their children.USA Today2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
India's dam plans anger Pakistan, symbolise global water woes. South Asia's water supply is unpredictable, and increasingly unmanageable; across all three basins there is less water, and ever more people. The issue of water in this part of the world is back in the spotlight with a case before the Permanent Court of Arbitration between Pakistan and India.Melbourne Age2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
Germany's Merkel losing green battle to cheap coal. Germany's energy mix is undergoing sweeping changes, with massive growth in solar and wind, and a law on phasing out nuclear set to erase 12,696 megawatts of atomic power over the next decade. Germany needs to make up for that loss by importing more or building new power plants using gas or coal.Reuters2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
Pollutants found in remote lakes, rivers. Fish caught from Sullivan Lake's waters during a two-year study had detectable levels of mercury, PCBs, dioxins and flame retardants.Spokane Spokesman-Review2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
EPA final rule revises test procedures for determining pollutants in wastewater. Municipal wastewater treatment plants and companies required to monitor their wastewater discharges will have more flexibility for testing pollutants under an Environmental Protection Agency final rule scheduled for publication May 18 in the Federal Register.Bloomberg BNA2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
Hot summer means more pollution. A warm winter followed by what’s expected to be a hotter than normal summer will likely increase both air and water pollution which will in turn pose potential health risks, experts warn.Global News Online2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
With natural gas plentiful and cheap, carbon capture projects stumble. A federal proposal to ban the construction of coal-fired power plants that release all of their carbon dioxide into the atmosphere would seem to smooth the way for carbon capture, a budding technology that traps the greenhouse gas for storage or other uses.New York Times2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
New EPA carbon pollution limit draws criticism and record support. With the support of more than 1 million Americans, including approximately 31,000 Massachusetts residents, a coalition of environmental groups will deliver comments to the Environmental Protection Agency Friday to support a proposed carbon pollution limit for new power plants.Springfield Republican2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
Food crisis in Niger escalates. In a country affected by climate change more severely than most, failed crops and no rain have only one conclusion. Niger's food crisis is now being described as past the point of no return.Australia ABC News2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
Pest-control methods that won't kill wildlife. According to the US EPA, from 1999 through 2003, 25,549 children under 6 had poisoning symptoms after exposure to nine common rodenticides. They also pose an unintended threat to pets and wildlife by causing internal bleeding, but not before the victim has accumulated a super-lethal dose that can kill a barn owl (a proficient rodent hunter), a red-tailed hawk or an opportunistic dog or cat.San Francisco Chronicle2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
Trash can may be greenest option for unused drugs. Of course, any disposal method has environmental consequences. Flushing, for instance, has fallen out of favor for all but a handful of drugs because of concerns about water contamination. And researchers say they've determined that trashing drugs, paradoxically, may be the most environmentally-friendly option.National Public Radio2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
The vital chain: Connecting the ecosystems of land and sea. A new study from a Pacific atoll reveals the links between native trees, bird guano, and the giant manta rays that live off the coast. In unraveling this intricate web, the researchers point to the often little-understood interconnectedness between terrestrial and marine ecosystems.Yale Environment 3602012-05-19T09:00-05:00
Bugs help measure impact of new Transoceanic Highway on Amazon. Insects – and aquatic bugs in particular – could be key to understanding how the opening of an ambitious new highway connecting Brazil and Peru will affect the Amazon rain forest.National Geographic News2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
Americans guzzling more bottled water than ever. Despite organized anti-bottled-water campaigns across the country and a noisy debate about bottled water’s impact, Americans are buying more than ever.Fast Company2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
US review so far shows mad cow case was atypical. Investigators are searching for a dozen herdmates of the elderly California dairy cow that had mad cow disease, the Agriculture Department said on Friday, with all signs indicating it was a rare spontaneous case of the fatal brain-wasting illness.Reuters2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
Designer flu. Last summer, scientists sealed off in high-tech laboratories in the Netherlands and Wisconsin transformed one of the world’s most deadly viruses, transmissible by direct contact, into versions capable of spreading through the air.Science News2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
Fixing a deformed frog face. Researchers found that tadpoles have the ability to regenerate parts of their bodies damaged during development. Now they’re trying to determine how that mechanism can be applied to human development.Living On Earth2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
Environmental News Network
New Jersey Takes Slow, Steady Approach to Offshore Wind The international wind power industry is watching Washington, DC to see if lawmakers will extend the federal production tax credit (PTC) for wind power. But their eyes are also focused on Trenton, the state capital of New Jersey, to see if state regulators there will help launch America's long-awaited offshore wind energy industry.
Tropic Atmospheric Circulation An University of California - Riverside led team has identified black carbon and tropospheric ozone as the most likely drivers of large-scale atmospheric circulation change in the Northern Hemisphere tropics zone. While stratospheric ozone depletion has already been shown to be the primary driver of the expansion of the tropics in the Southern Hemisphere, the researchers are the first to report that black carbon and tropospheric ozone are the most likely primary drivers of the tropical expansion observed in the Northern Hemisphere.
Paper or Plastic? Cities in a number of Asian countries, including China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan, are currently on the warpath against plastic shopping bags.
The cities have passed local laws that ban such bags, on the basis that they clog sewers and drainage canals, cause street flooding, choke animals and are responsible for other forms of environmental damage.
China and Taiwan, for example, impose heavy fines on violators. Other countries are appealing for a switch to the production and use of biodegradable bags.
But this misses the point. People do not object to using biodegradable bags, and consider them a welcome return to the traditional practice of using shopping baskets and bags made from locally available materials — such as jute, abaca and cloth — that are less harmful to the environment.
Taste and Temperature Some people like food or beverages hot and some like them cold. What's the difference? Can the temperature of the food we eat affect the intensity of its taste? It depends on the taste, according to a new study by Dr. Gary Pickering and colleagues from Brock University in Canada. Their work shows that changes in the temperature of foods and drinks have an effect on the intensity of sour, bitter and astringent tastes but not sweetness. Their work is published online in Springer's Chemosensory Perception journal. Humans receive tastes through sensory organs called taste buds concentrated on the top of the tongue. Taste is sensed through taste cells, which are known as taste buds. There are about 100,000 taste buds that are located on the back and front of the tongue. Others are located on the roof, sides and back of the mouth, and in the throat.
Cars That Run on Natural Gas - Alternative Fuels Find out how an alternative fuel used all over the world may find its way into American vehicles. Natural gas is abundant, clean and already a part of our everyday lives—and it may be the next big alternative fuel.
In the world of alternative fuels, electric, hydrogen and even hybrid vehicles get most of the attention. Not many people are aware of another alternative automotive fuel that burns cleaner than gasoline, is found abundantly in the United States and is already in heavy use around the world: natural gas. Natural gas is by no means a new fuel; it’s been used to heat homes and cook food in gas stoves for more than a century. But only recently have automotive technicians begun exploring the possibility of using natural gas as an alternative to gasoline in automobiles here in the United States.
When used in automobiles, natural gas comes in two forms:
Compressed natural gas (CNG)
Liquefied natural gas (LNG)
Both forms require storage in cylinders that are often located in the trunk of the vehicle. When being burned by an engine, natural gas works very similarly to gasoline; vehicles that run on natural gas will have spark plug timing and compression optimized for that type of fuel.
Natural sinks still sopping up carbon Earth's ecosystems keep soaking up more carbon as greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere, new measurements find. The research contradicts several recent studies suggesting that "carbon sinks" have reached or passed their capacity. By looking at global measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide, the new work calculates instead that total sinks have increased roughly in line with rising emissions.
Hotels charge you (for free) Curious about electric cars? On your next vacation, give one a test drive—and instead of paying high gas prices, charge up for free. Major car rental companies, which have been offering hybrid vehicles for years, are now getting into the electric car (EV) market. And an ever-growing number of hotels, resorts, and even B&Bs are adding free electric-car charging stations to entice guests to get off the grid and plug in their cars when they travel.
Environmental Health News
Germany's Merkel losing green battle to cheap coal.Germany's energy mix is undergoing sweeping changes, with massive growth in solar and wind, and a law on phasing out nuclear set to erase 12,696 megawatts of atomic power over the next decade. Germany needs to make up for that loss by importing more or building new power plants using gas or coal.Reuters2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
Hot summer means more pollution.A warm winter followed by what’s expected to be a hotter than normal summer will likely increase both air and water pollution which will in turn pose potential health risks, experts warn.Global News Online2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
With natural gas plentiful and cheap, carbon capture projects stumble.A federal proposal to ban the construction of coal-fired power plants that release all of their carbon dioxide into the atmosphere would seem to smooth the way for carbon capture, a budding technology that traps the greenhouse gas for storage or other uses.New York Times2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
New EPA carbon pollution limit draws criticism and record support.With the support of more than 1 million Americans, including approximately 31,000 Massachusetts residents, a coalition of environmental groups will deliver comments to the Environmental Protection Agency Friday to support a proposed carbon pollution limit for new power plants.Springfield Republican2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
Food crisis in Niger escalates.In a country affected by climate change more severely than most, failed crops and no rain have only one conclusion. Niger's food crisis is now being described as past the point of no return.Australia ABC News2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
The vital chain: Connecting the ecosystems of land and sea.A new study from a Pacific atoll reveals the links between native trees, bird guano, and the giant manta rays that live off the coast. In unraveling this intricate web, the researchers point to the often little-understood interconnectedness between terrestrial and marine ecosystems.Yale Environment 3602012-05-19T09:00-05:00
How to smear sunblock on a planet.Similar to the way a slather of sunscreen can help prevent sunburn, one of its ingredients—titanium oxide—could be injected into the stratosphere to help keep the Earth from overheating, according to a British chemical engineer.Business Week2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
Rio+20 to mull giving UN climate body more teeth: Brazil.France, backed by at least 100 countries, is proposing to turn the second-string UNEP into a global super-agency on a par with other UN specialized agencies such as the World Health Organization or the Food and Agricultural Organization. But Washington is strongly opposed to the idea.Agence France-Presse2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
ABC 'climate death threats' reports undermined.The accuracy of the ABC's reporting on climate change has been called into question by an activist who uncovered documentary evidence that undermines one of the national broadcaster's most sensational reports on the subject.The Australian2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
Prime Minister says New Zealand agriculture must focus on quality.Intensification, the use of new science and technologies to combat global warming and market access are the key ways the government can help NZ farmers meet the demands of the world rapidly increasing requirement for protein, Mr Key said.Gisborne Herald2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
Climate research has a ring of truth.A historic study of tree rings is being used as part of an international collaboration known as Past Global Changes, or PAGES. Its backers aim to improve the accuracy of future climate projections by reconstructing the past 2,000 years of climate across the world.Sydney Morning Herald2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
Universities can be test beds for sustainability, prof says.Universities are uniquely positioned to transform their entire campuses into “societal test beds for sustainability,” says a University of B.C. geography professor who has been named 2012 environmental scientist of the year by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.Vancouver Sun2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
US drafts environmental programs for Indonesia .Amid public skepticism over the Indonesia-US climate change partnership signed in Bali two years ago, the US government has renewed its commitment to help Indonesia in environmental protection.Jakarta Post2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
EU airline carbon cash should help fill climate fund.EU nations should pledge that funds from paying for airline emissions will help poor countries deal with global warming, the bloc's climate chief said on Tuesday, after finance ministers stopped short of a firm commitment.Reuters2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
New green standards for travel, tourism.Delegates attending this year’s Tourism Indaba in Durban this past weekend were introduced to new green standards that include climate change.Swazi Observer2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
Billions for climate, not one more cent for defense.On Thursday, Sen. James Inhofe decried the green agenda being imposed on the military by the Obama administration at the same time the defense budget is cut. We wonder if the environment is the uppermost thing on the minds of soldiers being shot at by the Taliban and avoiding being blown up by IEDs.Investors Business Daily2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
We're putting our foot in it.We are heading for hell in a fossil-fuelled handcart, spinning towards implosion. Planet Earth is not able to keep pace with humanity's demands nor cope with its wasteful by-products. And the gap - the "ecological overshoot" - is growing.Auckland New Zealand Herald2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
Green growth or steady state? Rival visions of a green economy.International discussions regarding the need to locate a viable economic model to deal with the urgent demands on environmental policy continue to run into difficulty. Such negotiations face major political, financial and ideological hurdles.Guatemala Times2012-05-19T09:00-05:00
Ancient Extinction Linked to Glaciers New details on the Earth's first mass extinction event are revealed by a study that explored temperatures and glacier expansion at the time.
UK Report: Time to 'Move On' from Climategate Despite a few reservations about previous investigations, it's time to move on from the Climategate scandal, a parliamentary report concludes.
China's Most Environment-Minded Live in Big Cities Chinese residents living in big cities tend to be more environmentally active than those living in smaller cities, perhaps because they face more consequences from pollution, according to a study.
Strange Claim: The Sun Rose 2 Days Early in Greenland A town on the western coast of Greenland may have seen the first sunrise of spring two days early, and experts disagree whether global warming or a simple, optical illusion is responsible.
Environmental Health News
With natural gas plentiful and cheap, carbon capture projects stumble. A federal proposal to ban the construction of coal-fired power plants that release all of their carbon dioxide into the atmosphere would seem to smooth the way for carbon capture, a budding technology that traps the greenhouse gas for storage or other uses.
Fracking ‘must be monitored.’ Council chiefs must keep a watchful eye on fracking in the Lancashire countryside if it becomes a fully-fledged commercial operation, a committee has urged.
Fears mount in Northern Ireland over threat of fracking. Serious environmental concerns have been raised after a swathe of land across the north west was identified as a potentially rich site for the controversial technique of ‘fracking’ for fuel.
Windsor schools leasing oil, gas rights beneath elementary school. Oil and gas development and hydraulic fracturing near public schools is common in southern Weld County and other highly developed areas north of Denver, a study by a Boulder environmental group shows. But while the study didn't include northern Weld County, Windsor school officials say oil and gas drilling could occur beneath at least one school there.
Marcellus Shale waste: being treated in Lancaster County. The debate over Marcellus Shale drilling has hit close to home. Though the wells used for drilling natural gas aren't in Central Pennsylvania, some of the waste is here. The city of Lancaster's public works department recently found out that waste has been treated here since 2011.
McGregor businesses fear effects of truck traffic. Fracking is creating controversy in the historic tourist destination as a steady stream of heavy trucks loaded with silica sand is stirring dust, noise and discontent.
Mark Ruffalo: Colorado mothers battle to stop drilling. Four mothers in Erie, Colo., are doing something extraordinary to ensure the health and safety of their children. Their effort will help expose the truth about natural gas.
Pennsylvania doctors worry over fracking 'gag rule'. Doctors say they need to know what's in natural gas drilling companies' secret chemical formulas in order to treat patients who may have been exposed to them. A new law in Pennsylvania will give physicians access to the information, but says they can't tell anyone else, not even other doctors, what's in those formulas.
Fracking threat to local water supply. The water supply to the Limavady Borough could be contaminated by a controversial method of extracting natural gas from underground, according to Sinn Féin.
To nuke or frack? The minister of energy, Dipuo Peters, has backed fracking for gas in the Karoo, but what could this mean for South Africa's nuclear ambitions? Critics view renewable energy such as solar power as a far more sustainable way to create energy as well as employment in the region.
Golden Bay is urged to go fracking-free. The Golden Bay Community Board has been asked to pre-emptively ban "fracking" in its area. The request from Phil Clearwater, chairman of the Spreydon-Heathcote Community Board in Christchurch, is part of a grassroots opposition to the practice used to extract oil and gas.
Mixed reaction to draft underground water impact report. There's been a mixed reaction to the Queensland Water Commission's report into the impact of coal seam gas on underground water. Yesterday the first definitive analysis of how the gas mining boom is affecting water in the Surat Basin was released in Toowoomba.
Greens put heat on TRC over fracking. More than 50 people attended a public forum in New Plymouth last night where Green Party MP and energy spokesman Gareth Hughes discussed the Greens' proposed nationwide moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, a practice that involves forcing chemicals into wells to produce more oil or gas.
Shale gas industry hit with higher fines, royalties. The New Brunswick government is proposing 116 different changes to the regulatory framework that oversees the oil and gas industry and in particular the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing.
Proposed fracking regulations no relief to opponents. An opponent of fracking in the small community of Taymouth, N.B. said he won’t be sleeping easier following the announcement of the government’s proposed changes to the shale gas industry.
Drilling supporters launch counteroffensive on moratoriums. Local supporters of Marcellus Shale gas drilling have launched a counteroffensive against towns enacting moratoriums on hydraulic fracturing. The supporters are requesting that local towns support a resolution stating they will not enact temporary bans on drilling.
Peters official concerned about group's role in crafting shale law. A Peters councilman has sent a scathing letter to the head of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, calling out the organization for publishing a "deliberately misleading" bulletin about a legal challenge to the state's new Marcellus Shale law.
Some 200 gather to protest fracking. “If this happens we’re screwed” said north Cleburne County resident Greg Flanders as he addressed an estimated 200 who gathered Monday night in Heflin to protest the proposed leasing of over 118,000 acres of land in the Talladega National Forest for oil and gas exploration.
India's dam plans anger Pakistan, symbolise global water woes. South Asia's water supply is unpredictable, and increasingly unmanageable; across all three basins there is less water, and ever more people. The issue of water in this part of the world is back in the spotlight with a case before the Permanent Court of Arbitration between Pakistan and India.
Pebble Mine could devastate Alaska rivers, streams, EPA says. The Environmental Protection Agency is warning that plans for a massive mine in the hills above Bristol Bay in Alaska — home of the biggest sockeye salmon fishery in the world — could have devastating consequences for rivers and streams and wipe out habitat for fish.
Cattle dying, fields scorched as drought strikes Senegal. In the northeastern nook of Senegal, one of the most stable and developed nations in the drought-hit Sahel region, carcasses of cattle lie in the sun, the fields have withered and food has been depleted.
Breeding wheat to grow where other plants can't. We need to nearly double the amount of food we grow by mid-century if 9 billion people are going to have enough to eat. Feeding the world will mean redefining what is "arable" land.
Feds again smack down plan to pipe water from Wyoming to Colorado. Federal authorities have rejected a Colorado entrepreneur's request for a rehearing on his project to build a Flaming Gorge pipeline and divert Colorado River Basin water from Wyoming to Colorado. Conservationists campaigning against the diversion welcomed the setback.
The future of agriculture may well be in cities. By combining agriculture with architecture, a Columbia University professor hopes to see multi-story high-tech greenhouses become integrated into urban skylines in the near future.
Nairobi's green roofs save on energy, water use. Kenyan architects are designing buildings with green roofs covered in vegetation to cool their interiors, conserve energy and water, and help curb greenhouse gas emissions.
G8 urged to tackle malnutrition, the hidden killer in Mozambique. Globally, malnutrition is the key cause of the deaths of 2.6 million children each year. On present trends, the bodies and brains of an additional 450 million worldwide will fail to develop properly because of inadequate diet over the next 15 years, according to a new report.
Africa may struggle to extract groundwater, experts say. Vast groundwater resources have been revealed in Africa by the first continent-wide quantitative maps. But the resources may not be easily accessible because of political and technical challenges and costs, say experts.
EPA water guidance stresses sustainability, healthy watershed approach. Making water systems more sustainable and focusing efforts in key geographic areas to restore and protect the nation's watersheds are top priorities in the Environmental Protection Agency's recently released fiscal year 2013 National Water Program Guidance.
Colorado River water deal reached. Colorado’s largest water utility has signed a truce with western slope water agencies and governments over its future use of the stressed Upper Colorado River. The agreement inked Tuesday in Grand County is being billed as historic.
Texas must secure a reliable, long-term water supply. I used to get annoyed when it rained. Not anymore. The drought that began in October 2010 demonstrated the vital importance of water to our economy, our health and our natural environment.
Company wants to tap Mojave's public lands for Southern California water. One company is pushing ahead with a proposal to pump enough groundwater every year to supply 100,000 homes and sell it to urban Southern California. If the plan succeeds, it will turn ancient desert groundwater, a public resource, into a fountain of private profit, blazing a new — and some warn ominous — path in the state.
Dam project threatens a way of life in Peru. With encroachment from settlers and speculators, and after a devastating war against Shining Path rebels a decade ago, the indigenous Ashaninkas’ hold is precarious. And they are now facing a new peril, a proposed 2,200-megawatt Pakitzapango hydroelectric dam.
England is stuck in drought despite wettest April on record. Huge swaths of Britain remain stuck in drought after two abnormally dry winters despite the country's having suffered its wettest April on record last month, with little letup in the often torrential downpours enduring into May.
Water-efficient maize boosts harvests for drought-hit Tanzanian farmers. As part of an international research project dubbed Water Efficient Maize for Africa, farmers in Tanzania’s great central plateau are now using five varieties of maize seed that are being tested in an effort increase food production and help farmers adapt to the effects of climate change.
It really is hot in here: U.S. has warmest 12 months on record. Americans just lived through the hottest 12 months ever recorded, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Tuesday, with record averages for the year scorching central Texas, the upper Midwest and much of the Northeast.
Liver disease killing Australia's wombats. A mystery liver disease thought to be caused by introduced weeds is causing hairy-nosed wombats in southern Australia to go bald and die, researchers said Tuesday. A shortage of their usual grasses and alternative foods due to prolonged local drought could be to blame.
Peru's indigenous band together to protect their lands and water rights. As mining, oil and gas exploration and palm oil plantations have expanded into Peru’s Andean highlands and Amazonian lowlands, Peru’s Indigenous Peoples are locked in a struggle for self-determination about land, natural resources and their way of life.
Massive Biloxi project restores damaged water, sewer system. It's being called the largest infrastructure project in Biloxi's history and much of the work is going on underground. After six years of planning, work is finally underway to replace all the water, sewer, and drainage lines that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
Environmental Health News
Company wants to tap Mojave's public lands for Southern California water. One company is pushing ahead with a proposal to pump enough groundwater every year to supply 100,000 homes and sell it to urban Southern California. If the plan succeeds, it will turn ancient desert groundwater, a public resource, into a fountain of private profit, blazing a new — and some warn ominous — path in the state.
Peru's indigenous band together to protect their lands and water rights. As mining, oil and gas exploration and palm oil plantations have expanded into Peru’s Andean highlands and Amazonian lowlands, Peru’s Indigenous Peoples are locked in a struggle for self-determination about land, natural resources and their way of life.
Amid Little Colorado dispute, Navajo look to new water sources. The Navajo Nation’s water comes from a variety of sources—wells, rainfall, reservoirs and rivers. But for some 40 percent on the nation, water comes from gallon jugs and barrels trucked in over miles of dirt roads to reach homes, businesses and livestock. A major construction project in New Mexico will change that for many residents.
Replanting forests in Colorado wildfire areas has benefit for water supply. Pushing to accelerate nature's healing, the U.S. Forest Service is deploying contract labor crews who this week began planting 146,000 more pine and fir trees - an effort to stabilize wildfire-ravaged mountainsides that slump into metro Denver water supplies.
Massive Mongolian mine raises environmental fears. Buried in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia’s economic future rests on a massive mining project called Turquoise Hill. But the economic boon is also, for some, an environmental nightmare as the project will allegedly soak up valuable water resources in the already-arid Gobi.
Drinking water scarcity plagues villages in India. Villages in the northeastern state of Odisha are showing symptoms of desertification, with more and more people in rural belts being denied drinking water, the Census 2011 state household amenities and assets data released on Saturday reveals.
Women, water and the ugly global crisis we're not talking about. Women and girls bear the overwhelming majority of the global water and sanitation burden, trapped by gender and financial dynamics, according to a 2010 report by the World Health Organization.
Vulnerable to climate disruption, Lubbock seeks a sustainable water supply. If the summer of 2011 is any gauge, people living in Lubbock, Texas, in 2050 will regularly experience more challenging conditions. It’s a scenario that gives Aubrey Spear, director of Lubbock’s water utility, plenty to think about.
Calaveras Dam replacement to begin amid retrofit. The Calaveras Dam, which holds back the reservoir that is San Francisco's largest local source of drinking water, was built on top of an earthquake fault, and was deemed seismically unsafe a decade ago. A new dam will be built downstream.
Where every drop of water counts. Management emphasises the important synergy that exists between gender equality and sustainable water management but in this part of the country, women's role is only to look for water but not play a part in managing the scarce resource.
Climate change an extra burden for Native Americans, study says. Because tribal lands are particularly prone to drought, flooding, wildfires and other weather extremes, American Indian tribes suffer disproportionately from the impacts of climate change, a new study from the National Wildlife Federation and other groups reported Wednesday.
The most likely climate disasters on the horizon. From forest die-offs to melting Arctic ice, there are many possibilities for how climate change will affect the planet. But some have a larger chance of happening than others. Which should we be prepared for most, and working hardest to prevent?
Sindh's lawmakers drown government in drinking water access criticism. There was a common demand on Thursday at the floor of the Sindh Assembly – members of the ruling party and joint opposition complained of contamination and a severe shortage of drinking water in their districts.
Dead Sea threatened both by shrinking and flooding. The Dead Sea is dying, goes the conventional wisdom: The water level of the fabled salty lake is dropping nearly 4 feet a year. Less well known: Part of the lake is actually overflowing, threatening one of Israel's key tourism destinations. Heavy industrialization is what's causing the waters on the southern basin to rise.
Green smoke is sighted as Vatican releases glacier report. Climate change is shrinking the world's mountain glaciers, whose retreat creates new risks for humans and sensitive ecosystems alike, warns a new report commissioned by the Roman Catholic Church.
Conservatives lack environmental vision. Why are we on the brink of electing a Conservative government whose platform provides more details about celebrating Canada's victory in the War of 1812 than protecting the air and water upon which life and health depend?
How to solve the world's water crisis. Of all the various crises besetting the developing world, the water crisis may be the hardest for those of us living comfortable lives to comprehend. An infographic video developed for CharityWater, an organization that completes water projects in Africa, should give you some sense of exactly what makes water such a difficult problem in Africa.
Indians join fight for an Oklahoma Lake’s flow. Sardis Lake near Tuskahoma, Okla., is fought over as a source of water by communities from Oklahoma City to Fort Worth. Recently, another rival has arrived: the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes, who were exiled to southeastern Oklahoma 175 years ago and given land in the area.
Water and life are precious and inseparable. Every day around the globe, women and girls spend more than 200 million hours collecting water for domestic use. That’s equal to the combined hours worked in a week by all of the employees of Walmart, United Postal Services, McDonald’s, IBM, Target and Kroger, an American grocery chain.
UA project could bring clean water to Navajos. Instead of going straight to the faucet, many Navajos in northeastern Arizona have to drive 40 miles to haul water from a well back to their homes.
In Navajoland, a contentious water deal divides the tribe. The Navajo Nation sprawls across about one-tenth of the Colorado River drainage. But ever since the seven states that depend on the river met to divide its water 88 years ago, the tribe has been pushed into the shadows. About 40 percent of the reservation's 170,000 residents still don't have drinking water piped into their homes.
'Land grab' fears in Africa legitimate. A new report by the International Institute for Environment and Development has found that recent large-scale land deals in Africa are likely to provide scant benefit to some of the world's poorest and most famine-prone nations and will probably create new social and environmental problems.
A bottled-water drama in Fiji. Fiji water is the number one export of any kind from Fiji in dollar value. Yet over half of the people who live in Fiji don't have access to clean, safe water. Americans can get clean water from Fiji more simply than Fijians can.
Discover more about our planet with the Earth from Space video programme. Join us every Friday at 10:00 CEST for an 800 km-high tour with spectacular images from Earth-observing satellites.
Tommaso Parrinello, CryoSat Mission Manager, and Duncan Wingham, Chief Executive of the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council, join the Earth from Space programme to discuss ESA’s ice mission.
Observing Earth from far above, ESA astronaut André Kuipers is acting as a world ambassador for the WWF, which issued its flagship publication the Living Planet Report today.
After more than a decade in orbit, ESA’s Proba-1 was showing its age – even hibernating last winter. But a software fix to its startracker, radiation-impaired after surpassing its design lifetime fivefold, has returned the veteran Earth-observing microsatellite to full operation.
Discover more about our planet with the Earth from Space video programme. Join us every Friday at 10:00 CEST for an 800 km-high tour with spectacular images from Earth-observing satellites.
PR 15 2012 - Just weeks after celebrating its tenth year in orbit, communication with the Envisat satellite was suddenly lost on 8 April. Following rigorous attempts to re-establish contact and the investigation of failure scenarios, the end of the mission is being declared.
As Europe’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security programme nears its full operational phase, its benefits and economic potential for Eastern Europe came into focus last week at a conference in Bucharest, Romania.
The vast potential of ESA’s upcoming Sentinel
Discover more about our planet with the Earth from Space video programme. Join us every Friday at 10:00 CEST for an 800 km-high tour with spectacular images from Earth-observing satellites.
Satellites offer a frequent overview of our entire planet – covered mostly by water – and provide valuable data to monitor and understand global ocean circulation. Understanding water currents at the ocean surface is important for many applications.
PR 12 2012 - Eumetsat and the European Space Agency (ESA) have been informed by the launch service provider, Starsem, that the launch of the MetOp-B satellite by a Soyuz rocket, scheduled for 23 May from Baikonur, had to be postponed. This is due to additional measures required to ensure the availability of safe drop zones for parts of the launcher after lift-off.
Europe has adopted an extensive monitoring programme to keep tabs on the environment while keeping us safe. It is called GMES, Global Monitoring for Environment and Security. The Sentinel multi-satellite project is already under way but, financially, clouds are looming on the horizon.
Discover more about our planet with the Earth from Space video programme. Join us every Friday at 10:00 CEST for an 800 km-high tour with spectacular images from Earth-observing satellites.
An image gallery showing ESA’s mission control team training for the launch and critical early operations of MetOp-B, set for liftoff on 23 May.
After nearly a year and a half of operations, CryoSat has yielded its first seasonal variation map of Arctic sea-ice thickness. Results from ESA’s ice mission were presented today at the Royal Society in London.
Optical, radar and laser observations of the Envisat satellite show that it is still in a stable orbit. Efforts to regain contact with the satellite have been under way since 8 April, when it unexpectedly stopped sending data to Earth.
Media representatives are invited to attend the unveiling of the first map of the winter 2010–11 changes in Arctic sea-ice thickness measured by ESA’s ice mission. The event will take place on 24 April at the Royal Society in London.
A century ago, the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg while crossing the North Atlantic and sank at the cost of over 1500 passengers and crew. Today, thousands of boats cross the same iceberg-ridden path with no loss of life – and satellites are helping.
After 10 years of service, Envisat has stopped sending data to Earth. ESA’s mission control is working to re-establish contact with the satellite.
As ESA’s Envisat satellite marks ten years in orbit, it continues to observe the rapid retreat of one of Antarctica’s ice shelves due to climate warming.