The birds of America are in trouble, and those living in Hawaiian paradise are the worst off, according to a dire report issued by the U.S. Interior Department. The State of the Birds report spreads the alarming news that one-third of bird species across the nation are endangered, threatened, or in serious decline due to habitat loss, polluted water, invasive species, and disease, says the study. Climate change will make things worse, and work is urgently needed to prevent “a global tragedy” of bird loss, the report added [The New York Times].
Bird species native to Hawaii, an isolated ecosystem, are particularly at risk, with 31 species currently listed as endangered. “That is the epicenter of extinctions and near-extinctions,” said John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which helped produce the study. “Hawaii is (a) borderline ecological disaster.” Hawaii’s native birds are threatened by the destruction of their habitats by invasive plant species and feral animals like pigs, goats and sheep. Diseases, especially those borne by mosquitoes, are another killer [AP]. Researchers say that 71 bird species that were found only on Hawaii have gone extinct since humans first settled the islands.
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Several hundred stone-throwing protesters disrupted the opening of the World Water Forum, an international gathering in Istanbul designed to address the growing demand for fresh water, and to find ways to avert conflicts over the limited resource. Outside the meeting riot police clashed with stick-wielding protesters, eventually using tear gas and water cannons to break up the protest. The police also arrested 17 activists who tried to enter the meeting hall.
The need for new environmental policies was highlighted last week when the United Nations warned that nearly half of the world’s people will live in areas with acute water shortages by 2030. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said water scarcity is a “potent fuel for wars and conflict.” Water shortages have been named as a major underlying cause of the conflict in Darfur in western Sudan. Water is also a major issue between Israel and its Arab neighbors, and the states of Central Asia, one of the world’s driest places, where thirsty crops such as cotton and grain remain the main source of livelihood [Reuters].
But the protesters denounced the meeting as a front for multinational companies seeking profits and promoting privatisation…. They say that the council, aided by the World Bank, has driven projects that have raised water costs and worsened scarcities in the developing world [The Guardian].
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The Red List, the world’s most frequently consulted resource for information on endangered species, has come under criticism by scientists and conservationists, some of whom themselves contribute to the list, for being flawed and unscientific. The list, put out annually by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is used to raise awareness and funds for conservation, to inform environmental impact studies, and as a tool for lobbyists.
But many are now questioning the list’s accuracy, saying that the volunteer-collected data is unreliable, and the criteria the IUCN uses to interpret that data are haphazard. “The Red List wants to be a high standard, scientifically based, transparent system, but in reality it hasn’t been” [ABC News], says Matthew Godfrey, one of the specialists who helps compile the list. Green turtles, for example, are classified as endangered despite a population that exceeds two million. “Green turtles are not going to disappear”, said Dr Brendan Godley of … the Marine Turtle Specialist Group. Although some populations of green turtle are at serious risk from egg harvesting, “it’s just not the same level of risk as a population of 50 parrots living on a small island that are being deforested” [The Telegraph].
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The governors of Washington, Oregon, and California are considering plans for a “green freeway” that would see alternative fueling stations implemented along Interstate 5 from Canada to Mexico. As the plan stands, motorists eventually would be able to pull off at I-5 rest stops for more than a cup of coffee and roadside relief: They also would be able to charge, or swap out, their electric-vehicle batteries or fill their tanks with biodiesel, ethanol, hydrogen or compressed natural gas [The Seattle Times].
Opponents to the plan say it would compete with private businesses, but Jeff Doyle from Washington’s Department of Transportation said the state wouldn’t want alternative-fuel stations to disrupt rest-area traffic, so contract companies would have to provide small, low-profile setups. Doyle added that rest-stop fueling sites would be self-service and likely to have little or no on-site staffing [The Seattle Times]. While the plan is facing many rounds of approval before it can become a reality, it does fit into the new administration’s push for green jobs and it would most likely qualify for stimulus money that would get the project going [EcoGeek].
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The Obama administration is moving ahead with the development of the “clean coal” technology of carbon capture and storage, even though experts say that the technology’s high costs will prevent it from being widely adopted for decades. Carbon capture and storage requires that carbon dioxide emissions be captured in the smokestacks of coal-fired power plants and factories, and then converted into a liquid and pumped into reservoirs deep in the earth. “I won’t be surprised if we have some of these [systems] in place in the 2020 to 2030 decade, but … it’s going to be on the margins, just because it costs so much” [Reuters], says energy consultant Bill Durbin.
In 2008 the Bush administration canceled the flagship clean coal project, called FutureGen, which called for the construction of a near zero-emissions coal power plant that would test carbon capture and storage technology. The project’s costs had escalated to $1.8 billion by the time it was canceled, but new Energy Secretary Steven Chu has indicated that he may revive at least parts of the project, saying, “We are taking, certainly, a fresh look at FutureGen, how it would fit into this expanded portfolio” [Greenwire].
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In a blow to the nuclear power industry, the budget released by President Obama last week eliminates most funding for Yucca Mountain, the Nevada site that for decades has been proposed for the permanent burial of radioactive nuclear waste.
The decision will likely be an expensive one, considering how much money the federal government might end up owing the utility industry, and how much—up to $10.4 billion—has already been spent and will have been wasted on the search for a nuclear waste repository since 1983. The courts have already awarded the companies about $1 billion, because the government signed contracts obligating it to begin taking the waste in 1998, but seems unlikely to do so for years. The nuclear industry says it may demand the return of the $22 billion that it has paid to the Energy Department to establish a repository, but that the government has not yet spent [The New York Times].
The 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act called for the establishment of a permanent, high-level nuclear waste repository. Eight proposed sites were narrowed to three, then to one. Over the strong objections of Nevada’s congressional delegation – and controversy over flawed studies – Congress voted in 1987 to approve Yucca Mountain as the sole candidate for a permanent nuclear waste repository. In 2002, President Bush designated Yucca Mountain as the site, and in June 2008, the Department of Energy submitted its license application [Christian Science Monitor].
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In another step toward erasing the environmental footprint left by his predecessor, President Obama issued a memo yesterday temporarily requiring federal agencies to once again consult wildlife experts on how their actions might affect endangered species. The memo will revive a decades-old practice under the Endangered Species Act that calls for agencies to consult with either the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on whether their projects could affect imperiled species. On Dec. 16, the Bush administration allowed agencies to waive such reviews if they decided, on their own, that the actions would not harm vulnerable plants and animals [Washington Post].
In an effort to “help restore the scientific process to its rightful place at the heart of the Endangered Species Act,” President Obama directed the Interior and Commerce Departments to review the Bush regulation, and until the review is complete, Mr. Obama’s memorandum says, agencies must return to the former practice of seeking and acting on scientific advice [The New York Times]. (more…)
A new United Nations report has sparked outrage with its suggestion that fish farming should be dramatically increased to keep pace with growing fish consumption. Although the U.N. report presents aquaculture as a way to take pressure off wild fish stocks, conservationists say that fish farms indirectly snatch the food from many wild predator fish, marine mammals, and birds.
Environmental groups say the report appeared to ignore the huge environmental problems posed by fish farms: particularly the need to “hoover up” vast quantities of smaller fish like blue whiting, anchovies, sardines and sand eels, and more recently even krill, to feed the farmed fish [The Guardian]. Critics also worry that water-borne antibiotics and hormones used in fish farms are polluting the ocean, and say that farmed fish are more likely to catch infectious diseases, which escapees can transmit to wild schools.
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Energy and environmental issues took center stage in President Barack Obama’s first speech to a joint session of Congress last night. He asked Congress to send him legislation that would confront global warming by capping carbon dioxide emissions, and emphasized that clean energy technology can help the United States emerge from the recession.
Obama said: “It begins with energy. We know the country that harnesses the power of clean, renewable energy will lead the 21st century…. Well I do not accept a future where the jobs and industries of tomorrow take root beyond our borders—and I know you don’t either. It is time for America to lead again” [The New Republic]. He noted that the stimulus package includes significant investments in alternative energy research and development, as well as money for making buildings more energy efficient and upgrading the electrical grid. He also pledged to double the use of renewable energy and invest $15 billion dollars in the development of new technologies each year – including wind, solar, advanced biofuels, more fuel-efficient automobiles, and “clean coal” [Grist].
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The Arctic’s ice may be melting, but a vote by a federal fishing council makes it likely that fishing trawlers won’t be moving in to look for rich harvests in the newly accessible Arctic waters. In a preemptive move, the council voted to ban commercial fishing in almost 200,000 square nautical miles of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas along Alaska’s northern coast. These areas are not currently fished, but sea ice melt and the northward migration of certain fish species, such as salmon, raises the possibility that they would be in the not too distant future [Scientific American]. If the U.S. commerce secretary approves the proposal, the ban will remain in place until scientific studies can determine whether fishing can be conducted sustainably in the Arctic.
Says Jim Ayers, of the conservation group Oceana: “Global climate change is making everyone think differently up here and making them understand that precautionary approaches are best.” … The unanimous vote was unusual in that it was largely supported by industry and conservation groups alike and because it was the first time the United States had acted to close a fishery as a result of climate change instead of in reaction to overfishing [The New York Times].
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Following up on President Barack Obama’s inaugural pledge to “restore science to its rightful place,” the economic stimulus package working its way through Congress includes huge chunks of money for scientific research and the development of green technology.
The bill’s final composition is far from certain, as Republican senators are trying to cut some provisions to trim costs, and the Senate version will eventually need to be reconciled with the version already passed by the House of Representatives. But the proposed numbers are impressive: The current Senate bill includes $10 billion for the National Institutes of Health, $40 billion for the Department of Energy, and more than $1 billion each for NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Many scientists were surprised and pleased to find that the money isn’t just intended for one-time costs like renovations and new equipment, but will also fund basic research. But that funding comes with conditions. With the exception of the NIH, research agencies under the House bill will have to spend the funds within 120 days. That means that the National Science Foundation (NSF), for example, would have to allocate $3 billion — a 50% increase in its budget — in four months. As of last week, the NSF was still figuring out how it could do that [Nature News].
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To kick off the second week of his administration and signal his commitment to environmental and energy issues, President Barack Obama today asked the Environmental Protection Agency to consider allowing states to set their own strict standards for auto emissions. He also ordered the Department of Transportation to develop national standards for fuel efficiency. The moves are aimed at reversing decisions by [the] Bush administration, which he said had stood in the way of bold action by California and other states to limit greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles. “The days of Washington dragging its heels are over,” Obama said [Washington Post].
In 2007, the EPA administrator denied requests from California and 13 other states for waivers allowing them to set stricter standards for vehicles’ carbon dioxide emissions, despite the fact that the agency’s own staff scientists recommended granting the waivers. During a signing ceremony in the East Room at the White House, Obama made it clear that he sees a pressing need to address the United States’ dependence on foreign oil and the planet-wide threat of global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions. “Year after year, decade after decade, we’ve chosen delay over decisive action. Rigid ideology has overruled sound science. Special interests have overshadowed common sense” [ABC News], he said.
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Behind closed doors, members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) have been discussing a proposal that would give give Japan the right to hunt whales in its coastal waters. IWC officials say the controversial proposal is a compromise measure, as Japan would also have to agree to limit its hunts in the Southern Ocean, but opponents say it amounts to an official sanction of Japan’s whale hunts. The International Fund for Animal Welfare argues that the proposal is part of a dangerous drift towards commercial whaling in the 21st century.”This is Whalergate,” the global director of the fund’s whale program, Patrick Ramage, said [Sydney Morning Herald].
The proposal was put forward by American commission member William Hogarth, a Bush appointee, who has argued that a compromise is necessary to keep Japan from withdrawing from the commission. In recent years, the whaling commission … has been deadlocked between the anti- and pro-whaling camps. Rather than setting a clear direction for conserving and managing whale populations worldwide, its meetings have become contentious donnybrooks in which the two sides have competed for influence while little changed. Worldwide, three countries — Japan, Iceland and Norway — continue to hunt whales, either in the name of research or, in Norway’s case, under a commercial exception established more than 20 years ago [Washington Post].
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Two-headed fish are turning up in Australia’s Noosa River, and experts believe it’s due to something in the water. Millions of fish larvae have been found with two heads (that means one more eye than Blinky) and none of them survive to adulthood. Aquatic animal specialist Matt Lando puts the blame on noxious chemicals wafted from a nearby macadamia nut farm. He said, “When we used the water on-site or have taken bass from the Noosa River those fish appear to have been contaminated and they give rise to deformed or convulsing larvae… I have been working in aquaculture for 10 years and this is the first time I have ever seen anything like it” [AFP].
Last October, Lando sent a report to the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries in which he identified the pesticide endosulfan and the fungicide carbendazim, both used on the neighboring macadamia nut plantation, as the likely culprits. “The timing between the mist spraying and the affected larvae fits hand in glove,” he said. Dr Landos’s report also found that chickens, sheep and horses raised at the Sunland Fish Hatchery at Boreen Point were recording abnormally high levels of foetal deaths and birth defects [The Sydney Morning Herald]. Both chemicals are currently legal in Australia. Carbendazim was voluntarily withdrawn from the U.S. market in 2001 by the chemical company Dupont. Endosulfan is already banned in 55 countries and New Zealand will become the 56th starting this Friday.
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The cats ate the birds until the humans killed the cats, but now the rabbits are out of control.
That’s the sad state of affairs on Macquarie Island, an island near Antarctica that was declared a world heritage site in 1997 due to its status as the sole breeding ground for the royal penguin. For decades researchers have attempted to get rid of the invasive species that have altered the island’s ecological balance, but a new study notes that the latest effort, an all-out push to eradicate feral cats, has had the unintended consequence of allowing a boom in the rabbit population. Those rabbits have quickly denuded the landscape of its vegetation, researchers say.
Things began to go wrong on Macquarie Island … soon after it was discovered in 1810. The island’s fur seals, elephant seals and penguins were killed for fur and blubber, but it was the rats and mice that jumped from the sealing ships that started the problem. Cats were quickly introduced to keep the rodents from precious food stores. Rabbits followed some 60 years later, as part of a tradition to leave the animals on islands to give shipwrecked sailors something to eat [The Guardian]. The invasive species all thrived to the detriment of local species, and by the 1970s biologists were concerned enough to introduce a rabbit-killing disease called myxomatosis, which thinned the rabbit herds considerably. However, that left the cats with less available prey and caused them to begin hunting the island’s native burrowing birds.
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