Europeans Flush 5.5 Million Tons
of Forest Fiber a Year |
To limit the wasteful use of forests, tissue manufacturers should offer more recycled toilet paper, towels and napkins to European consumers for use at home, the global conservation organization WWF says in a new report issued today. The report analyzes the practices of the five largest European tissue manufacturers which together supply about 70% of the European market for paper goods. full story |
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The Big Thaw |
The most alarming manifestations of climate change to date suggest that Greenland's ice cap is melting far more rapidly than scientists had thought, with immense consequences for civilisation and the planet. Its complete disappearance would raise the levels of the world's seas by 20 feet, spelling inundation for London and other coastal cities around the globe, along with much of low-lying countries such as Bangladesh. full story |
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Polar Bears Face Up to Warmer Future |
It is mid-November and bitterly cold. The sea wind blows through our protective coats and our fingers start to lose circulation. But ironically, what we are witnessing is climate warming in action. Temperatures in western Hudson Bay have been steadily rising 0.3 to 0.4 degrees every decade since 1950. Scientists at the Goddard Space Flight Center, who have been monitoring the sea-ice from satellite data, believe it could be retreating at a rate of up to 9% every 10 years. full story |
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Yellowstone Grizzly Bears May
Come Off Endangered List |
The greater Yellowstone population of grizzly bears has recovered and no longer needs the protection of the Endangered Species Act, Interior Secretary Gale Norton said today, announcing that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to remove the Yellowstone grizzlies from the list of threatened and endangered species. Four other grizzly populations have not yet recovered and will continue to be protected as threatened species under the Act, Norton said. full story |
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Lab Tests Find 60 Toxic Chemicals
in Canadians' Blood |
Only 11 Canadians had their blood tested for toxic chemicals in a new study by an environmental nonprofit organization, but they came from across the country and every person's blood tested positive for a wide range of chemicals. Stain repellants, flame retardants, mercury and lead, DDT, and PCBs are among the 60 contaminants detected by blood tests. full story |
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World Continues to Lose Forests,
But at a Slower Rate |
The most comprehensive assessment of the world's forests and forestry to date finds that every year about 13 million hectares (32 million acres) are lost due to deforestation. The latest report of the UN agency responsible for monitoring forest lands finds that at the same time, the rate of net forest loss is slowing down due to new planting and natural expansion of existing forests. full story |
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Fish And Bird Numbers Plummet in Warming Pacific |
A catastrophic collapse in sea and bird life numbers along America's Northwest Pacific seaboard is raising fears that global warming is beginning to irreparably damage the health of the oceans. Scientists say a dramatic rise in the ocean temperature led to unprecedented deaths of birds and fish this summer all along the coast from central California to British Columbia in Canada. full story |
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House Leadership Strips
Arctic Drilling From Budget Bill |
House Republican leaders decided late last night to drop authorization for oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from a $54 billion deficit reduction bill. The policy reversal was prompted by moderate Republican House members who told the leadership in a letter that the refuge is of greater benefit to the nation if it remains pristine than if it is opened to oil and gas exploration. full story |
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Deep-rooted Voting Irregularities
Persist, Watchdogs Say |
Officials at a precinct in Fulton County, Georgia removed 3 machines after voters said their votes registered for different candidates. In Roanoke County, Virginia, people at several precincts reported that their selection for democratic candidates registered as votes for republicans in the governor’s and state attorney general race. And in several Ohio precincts, electronic machine malfunctions forced a number of polling places to open late. full story |
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US Criticised for Use of
Phosphorous in Fallujah Raids |
A leading campaign group has demanded an urgent inquiry into a report that US troops indiscriminately used a controversial incendiary weapon during the battle for Fallujah. Photographic evidence gathered from the aftermath of the battle suggests that women and children were killed by horrific burns caused by the white phosphorus shells dropped by US forces. full story |
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US Forces 'Used Chemical Weapons'
During Assault on City of Fallujah |
Powerful new evidence emerged yesterday that the United States dropped massive quantities of white phosphorus on the Iraqi city of Fallujah during the attack on the city in November 2004, killing insurgents and civilians with the appalling burns that are the signature of this weapon. Ever since the assault, which went unreported by any Western journalists, rumors have swirled that the Americans used chemical weapons on the city. full story |
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Whaling Fleet Leaves for
Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary |
As the whaling fleet departed from Shimonoseki, Japan, today, bound for the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary with the intention of killing 1,000 whales, Greenpeace called upon the Fisheries Agency of Japan (FAJ) and the companies behind the whaling to immediately recall the fleet and cancel the cull. "Sanctuary means refuge or safe haven, yet this year nearly 1,000 whales will receive neither from the whaler's harpoon," warned John Frizell of Greenpeace. full story |
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EPA Might Relax Toxic Report Rules |
For the past 18 years, any citizen with access to a computer could discover what kind of toxic chemicals were being released in his or her community. Now, the Bush administration wants to relax reporting requirements. Under a two-pronged proposal, polluters would switch from annual reports to every other year, and industries that discharge less than 5,000 pounds of chemicals a year could fill out shorter, less-detailed forms. full story |
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US Didn't Dump Chemical Arms
off Just Its Own Shores |
The Army now admits that it secretly dumped at least 64 million pounds of chemical warfare agents, as well as more than 400,000 mustard gas-filled bombs and rockets, off the U.S., and much more than that off other countries. U.S.-made weapons of mass destruction litter the coasts of more than 11 countries including Italy, France, India, Australia, the Philippines, Japan, Denmark and Norway, according to an Army report recently released to the Daily Press. full story |
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Critical Habitat Proposed for
Rare North Pacific Right Whales |
NOAA Fisheries is proposing to protect 36,750 square miles of critical habitat in the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska for one of the world's rarest whales, the North Pacific Right Whale. But even after decades of legal and illegal whaling that nearly wiped out the species, it took a court order to get habitat protection. In the western North Pacific, the Sea of Okhotsk and adjacent areas, current abundance is unknown, but NOAA Fisheries cites estimates in the "low to mid-hundreds." full story |
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New Climate Model Highlights Arctic's Vulnerability |
If emissions of heat-trapping gases continue to accumulate in the atmosphere at the current rate, there may be many centuries of warming and a near-total loss of Arctic tundra, according to a new climate study. Over all, the world would experience profound transformations, some potentially beneficial but many disruptive, and all at a pace rarely seen in nature. full story |
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