While reading news about the disastrous cyclone in Myanmar last Saturday coupled with the government’s unprecedented rejection of international aid, another question skirts the edge of many people’s minds. Is this yet another demonstration of climate change at work?
Continue reading Cyclone Nargis and climate change
Scientists at Scripps Institute of Oceanography have pioneered a project collecting air pollution data north of Los Angeles using unmanned aerial vehicles. The data collection began in April and will continue through January 2009 to generate a full picture of seasonal variations in air pollution.
Continue reading Unmanned aircraft sample California’s smog
On the list of noxious chemicals you’d rather not find in your drinking water, perchlorate ranks pretty high. The chemical - found primarily in rocket fuel, but also used in fireworks and some fertilizers - attacks the thyroid gland, reducing its ability to absorb iodine from the bloodstream. In adults, that can affect the body’s ability to regulate its metabolism; in children - and, most troublingly, in unborn fetuses - it can cause serious developmental problems, including deafness, reduced IQ, and motor problems.
You’d think that federal regulators would be pulling out all the stops to keep perchlorate our of our water supplies - right? Er, wrong: There are currently no federal restrictions on the amount of perchlorate in our drinking water, despite studies that have found the chemical in drinking water in 35 states, affecting a minimum of 11 million people. And what gets into the water also gets into the food-chain: Worrying levels of perchlorate have been found in everything from lettuce to cow’s milk, and a 2005 study found that “virtually all” human breast milk is now contaminated to some degree.
Continue reading EPA to okay rocket fuel in drinking water?
I generally don’t give much credence to articles about which supposedly green celebrity also recently drank bottled water [gasp!]! It’s generally a case of someone claiming the emperor wears no clothes, when really the emperor has been pairing organic cotton clothes with conventionally grown cotton.
However, so much ado has been made of late about whether Sting and wife Trudie Styler are good guys or eco-hypocrites that it had to be addressed.
Continue reading The Sting that makes ya go hmm: Is Sting a hippy-crite?
In the 1970s, DDT poisoning nearly drove the peregrine falcon to extinction. Luckily for them, the U.S. banned DDT in 1972, and the once-endangered species rebounded from 300 breeding pairs 30 years ago to 3,000 pairs today. The species was removed from the Endangered Species List in 1999.
But now a different chemical could once again put the peregrine falcon at risk. According to a study conducted by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, peregrines in the state carry a higher level of industrial flame retardants than any other species in the world.
From a report in the Los Angeles Times:
Scientists said the peregrines, the fastest and most agile birds, are being contaminated with the industrial chemicals from eating urban pigeons that scavenge on city streets.
The study found record levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), specifically a chemical called decabromodiphenyl ether (deca), in peregrine eggs and dead chicks. Worst affected are city-dwelling birds, which sometimes had PBDE levels so high that their eggs were unhatchable.
Could this spell future problems for peregrines and other top predator species? It's probably too early to tell, but it's also probably not too early to take action before the situation gets worse. Maine and Washington have already passed laws to phase out the use of deca, and Sweden banned its use last year. Meanwhile, a bill pending in California would ban all brominated and chlorinated flame retardants. Considering how high levels of PBDEs have already shown up in human blood and breast milk around the world, that might not be a bad idea.
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