Shell Shock: 25 Turtle Species in Terrible Trouble

Source: LiveScience Turtles are among the most endangered vertebrates on Earth: roughly half of the world’s 300 species are threatened with extinction. A new report profiles the 25 most vulnerable. Turtle and tortoise populations have been decimated by illegal hunting— for both food and the pet trade — and habitat loss, and many species will go extinct in the next decade unless drastic conservation measures are taken, according to the new report, issued by a coalition... Read More

No Seeds, no Independent Research

Source: Doug Gurian-Sherman, Los Angeles Times Soybeans, corn, cotton and canola — most of the acres planted in these crops in the United States are genetically altered. “Transgenic” seeds can save farmers time and reduce the use of some insecticides, but herbicide use is higher, and respected experts argue that some genetically engineered crops may also pose serious health and environmental risks. Also, the benefits of genetically engineered crops may be overstated.... Read More

How to change a climate skeptic’s mind

Source: MNN Having just ended the warmest year and warmest decade on record, where 97 percent of climate change scientists believe humans are causing this warming, it is perplexing that barely a majority of the U.S. public think humans are responsible for climate change. So, why does the public not see eye-to-eye with scientists about climate change? One reason is that there is a loud community of “climate change skeptics” who make arguments for why humans are not responsible... Read More

Loss of Arctic Ice Imperils Polar Bear Births

Source: LiveScience Loss of Arctic sea ice is linked to a decrease in polar bear birth rates in Canada’s Hudson Bay, according to new research. If the trend continues, the polar bears in the region could be facing a population crisis. In fact, if climate change continues unabated, the researchers say, polar bear populationsacross the entire Arctic will be in serious trouble. Read More  Read More

Mass tree deaths prompt fears of Amazon ‘climate tipping point’

Source: Damian Carrington, Guardian Billions of trees died in the record drought that struck the Amazon in 2010, raising fears that the vast forest is on the verge of a tipping point, where it will stop absorbing greenhouse gas emissions and instead increase them. The dense forests of the Amazon soak up more than one-quarter of the world’s atmospheric carbon, making it a critically important buffer against global warming. Read More  Read More

BP Oil Spill Dispersants Drifted, But Didn’t Degrade

Source: Beth Buczynski, Care2 Despite claims that chemical dispersants would help break down crude oil and eventually degrade in the water, a new study suggests that the spill hung around for months after the well was capped. When the Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico last April, it left an uncapped deepsea well that bled millions of gallons of oil into the ocean. Read More  Read More

The U.K. Introduces GreenBottle

Source: GreenBottle Most plastic is not biodegradable and is made from oil – a depleting and expensive resource. Prices of plastic bottles have increased substantially with the increase in the price of oil. Plastic milk bottles are mostly made from High Density Polyethylene (“HDPE”) and require an estimated 500 years to decompose and account for 130,000 tonnes of landfill waste in the UK each year. When the cap is left on, the disposed plastic bottle takes up... Read More

Records Melt Away on Greenland Ice Sheet

Source: Brett Israel, LiveScience The disappearing Greenland Ice Sheet set several records during an unusually long melt last year, according to a new study. Running from April to mid-September, the melt season of 2010 was about a month longer than usual, said study team member Jason Box, a geographer and climatologist at Ohio State University. The extra-long melt was caused by reduced snowfall and summer temperatures up to 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius) above the... Read More

Oil giant plans new platform near feeding ground of critically endangered whale

Source: ENN Sakhalin Energy Investment Company – part owned by Shell – has announced plans to build a major oil platform near crucial feeding habitat of the Western North Pacific gray whale population. Only around 130 whales of the critically endangered Western population exist today, and their primary feeding habitat – off Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East – is already besieged by multiple oil and gas exploration and development projects. Read More  Read More

Mediterranean Sea may be polluted with 250 billion microplastics

Source: Mongabay The 2010 scientific expedition undertaken by the European program called Mediterranean En-Dangered (MED) reveals that 250 billion microplastics could be found in the Mediterranean Sea. The main goal of the program, which will end in 2013, is to quantify the distribution of plastic pollution and better understand its dynamics in the Mediterranean Sea. Microplastics are usually defined as plastic particles smaller than 5 millimeters, so for most part they are invisible... Read More