environmental damage

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Feds Will Remove 'Ghost Fleet' From Calif. Bay

52 ships, and their pollutants, will be gone by 2017

(Newser) - Dozens of mothballed US Navy ships that have been sitting in—and polluting—a northern California bay for years will finally be disposed of, the federal government announced today. Composed mainly of obsolete, World War II-era ships, the “ghost fleet” has dumped some 20 tons of toxic metal and...

Informant: Italian Mafia Sank Ship Carrying Nuke Waste

Authorities have pinpointed ship, but haven't confirmed contents

(Newser) - Italian authorities are investigating an informant’s claim that the mafia sank a ship containing nuclear waste off the country’s southwest coast, the BBC reports. Underwater cameras show the ship intact, with barrels nearby marked as containing toxic contents; the informant says that organized crime has gotten into the...

U2 Star Plans 5 Malibu Homes; Locals Annoyed

The Edge's project raises concerns about environment

(Newser) - U2’s the Edge is ruffling the feathers of some of his fellow Malibu residents with a plan to build five houses atop a hill overlooking the Pacific, the Los Angeles Times reports. Both potential neighbors and California preservation agencies charge that David Evans' project is too ambitious for the...

Aussies Croak Toxic Toads
 Aussies Croak 
 Toxic Toads 
Mar 29, 2009 8:45 AM CDT

Aussies Croak Toxic Toads

(Newser) - Aussies killed thousands of "toxic" cane toads today in an annual hunting festival to help reduce their ravenous numbers, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. The toads were introduced in 1935 from South American to eat pest beetles, but they now number in the millions and are driving out local...

Ravenous Beetles Decimate West's Pines

Harsh winter sole hope for containing insect that has affected millions of acres—and is moving east

(Newser) - Peanut-sized bark beetles have drilled into and killed millions of acres of green pines from New Mexico to British Columbia, threatening the Rockies’ iconic lodgepoles with extinction, reports the New York Times. With only costly and temporary fixes available, preservationists are hoping for an atypically frigid winter to contain the...

One-Quarter of Mammal Species Imperiled: Survey

Deforestation, climate change among culprits threatening 1,141 types of beasts

(Newser) - Nearly 25% of the world’s mammal species face extinction, the Guardian reports, and 3% are critically endangered. The stark conclusion, based on research conducted over 5 years in 130 countries, paints an especially bleak picture for marine mammals, the highly regarded Red List says. "We are threatening the...

Ike Pounded Fragile Ecosystems
 Ike Pounded Fragile Ecosystems
Sep 18, 2008 3:43 AM CDT

Ike Pounded Fragile Ecosystems

Coastal damage from development intensified storm's impact

(Newser) - Hurricane Ike caused massive damage to fragile coastal ecosystems already clobbered by development, the Dallas Morning News reports. Damage to wetlands vital to a vast range of life could take a generation to heal, scientists warn. As with Hurricane Katrina, human development had already destroyed marshes and other natural defenses,...

Save Oil for When It's Really Needed
 Save Oil for When 
 It's Really Needed 
OPINION
Sep 2, 2008 12:36 PM CDT

Save Oil for When It's Really Needed

Drilling won't make a difference in gas prices: Horne

(Newser) - Perhaps Americans could spare some domestic oil for the descendants they plan to saddle with a heavy federal debt, New Orleans-based author Jed Horne writes in the Boston Globe. Offshore oil reserves are "not something that should be plundered to keep all-American SUVs running," he says. Horne says...

Overfishing Oceans Leads to 'Rise of Slime'

Depleted stocks throw ecosystems out of whack

(Newser) - Overfishing results in more than just the depletion of one species—it can mean the degradation of entire ecosystems. As the populations of large, predatory fish such as sharks and tuna decline, their prey flourishes, with sometimes-devastating results. The Christian Science Monitor looks at the problem of the world's increasingly...

Oil-Slurping Nanotechnology Next Front in Fighting Spills

MIT scientists create mesh that keeps water out, can hold 20 times its weight in crude

(Newser) - Cleaning up oil might soon get faster and cheaper, thanks to nanotechnology. Scientists at MIT have crafted a paper-like substance that can absorb up to 20 times its weight, the Economist reports. The mesh of nanowires, each 1/1,000th the diameter of a human hair, feels and looks like paper—...

Artists Are Making Junk&mdash;Literally
 Artists Are Making
 Junk—Literally 
OPINION
May 30, 2008 8:25 PM CDT

Artists Are Making Junk—Literally

Despite greenie claims, they flush chemicals, abandon art pieces

(Newser) - Beware the scruffy artists at the corner cafe—they may be serial polluters and not even know it, Laurie Fendrich writes in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Many painters, tree-huggers by claim, will flush chemicals down the drain, and ignore the carbon footprint of their synthetic pigments. They just "...

Out of Land, Monaco Eyes Ocean

Tiny, rich principality wants landmark on stilts, but environmental concerns loom

(Newser) - Monaco, flush with cash from tourism and its status as a tax haven, is trying to acquire the one thing it lacks: space. Its square mile of space is full (it's the world's second-most-densely populated country), moving Prince Albert II to decide to build an artificial offshore district—on stilts,...

National Park, Meet Coal Smog
 National Park, Meet Coal Smog 
Apr 23, 2008 4:03 PM CDT

National Park, Meet Coal Smog

Over own experts' objections, EPA moves to allow power plants closer to rec areas

(Newser) - The Environmental Protection Agency is set to change its rules to allow the construction of coal power plants in previously off-limits areas near national parks, the Christian Science Monitor reports. A draft revision to the Clean Air Act would soften standards of pollution in “Class 1” areas (ie, national...

Climate Killing Medical Hopes
 Climate Killing Medical Hopes 
Apr 23, 2008 1:53 PM CDT

Climate Killing Medical Hopes

UN conference highlights the dangers of fading biodiversity

(Newser) - The loss of biodiversity on Earth will seriously hamper efforts to cure human disease, AFP reports. Researchers at the UN-backed Business for the Environment conference highlighted undiscovered cures for pain, infections and even cancer that risk being lost forever if humans fail to reverse the widespread extinction of thousands of...

4 Months to Go: Is China Ready for Spotlight?

Country is proud to host Games but worries abound

(Newser) - The last-minute drama brewing in the runup to this summer's Olympic Games is of a more global and more personal nature than the infrastructure issues of Olympics past—and Chinese leaders are bristling under the scrutiny, the Chicago Tribune reports. But pride in the country's hosting gig remains strong, even...

EPA's New Rules Allow Wetlands Trade-Offs

Developers can destroy if they create others elsewhere; environmentalists dismayed

(Newser) - The Environmental Protection Agency today issued new wetlands-protection rules with a focus on “mitigation banking”— creating marshes elsewhere in compensation for those destroyed by development, the AP reports. The EPA argues that mitigation banking ensures the most overall wetlands protection because wetlands are often irrevocably damaged by construction,...

Feds Indict Pilot in SF Oil Spill
Feds Indict
Pilot in SF
Oil Spill
Mar 17, 2008 6:17 PM CDT

Feds Indict Pilot in SF Oil Spill

Attorney vows to battle misdemeanors, calling them premature

(Newser) - The pilot of a ship that dumped 53,000 gallons of oil in San Francisco Bay last year was indicted today, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. John Cota faces two federal misdemeanor charges, for releasing a pollutant and killing migratory birds; at least 2,000 birds died in the spill....

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