ENN rounds up the most important and compelling environmental news stories of the week. In the news August 7th - 11th: A pipeline leak, hunting endangered species, FEMA trailer problems, crumbling Alps, and much more.
Top Ten Articles of the Week
In the news August 7th - 11th: A pipeline leak, hunting endangered species, FEMA trailer problems, crumbling Alps, and much more.
1. BP Shutting Eight Percent of U.S. Oil Output Due to Spill
Oil producer BP Plc began shutting down on Sunday the biggest oilfield in the United States, Alaska's Prudhoe Bay, after discovering a small pipeline leak, cutting output by 400,000 barrels daily and sending oil prices up nearly 2 percent. Related story: BP Alaska Woes Could Hurt ANWR Drilling, Greens Say
2. China to Let Tourists Hunt Endangered Species
China is to auction licences to foreigners to hunt wild animals, including endangered species, a newspaper said on Wednesday. The government would auction licences based on types and numbers of wild animals, ranging from about $200 for a wolf to as much as $40,000 for a yak. Related story: China Delays Animal Hunt Licence Auction
3. Charity, NAACP Want Independent Testing of FEMA Trailers
International charity Oxfam America and the Mississippi NAACP on Wednesday called for an independent contractor to test FEMA trailers for elevated formaldehyde emissions.
4. Balloons Work with Satellite to Gauge Bad Air Days
The weather outside was frightful: hot, humid and layered with a haze of pollution so thick it seemed it could be cut with a machete -- a perfect day to use balloons and a satellite to monitor some bad air.
5. Tourists Flock as Warming Alps Crumble
Glaciers in the Alps may have lost up to a tenth of their volume in the hot 2003 summer alone, researchers at Zurich university have said, and the ice now only occupies between half and a third of its volume in 1850.
6. Manure, Buses Seen Helping Curb Global Warming
Manure and buses are among promising areas for investment under a U.N. project in the Third World aimed at combating global warming, a senior U.N. official said on Monday.
7. Brazil Police Arrest 46 in Major Crackdown on Illegal Amazon Logging
Police arrested 46 people, including 16 agents of the federal environmental protection agency, for allegedly operating illegal logging operations in the Amazon rainforest and in southern Brazil, the environment ministry said Wednesday.
8. EPA Gives Green Light to One Group of Pesticides, Bans Another
After a decade-long review, the Environmental Protection Agency has decided to allow continued use of 31 popular but controversial agricultural pesticides, concluding cumulative exposure does not pose a health risk.
9. GM to Show Off Fuel Cell-Powered Car
General Motors Corp. has achieved a milestone in its quest to bring a hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle to market, announcing that it now has a drivable version of its Sequel concept car.
10. Florida Manatee Takes Rare New York Tour
Marine preservationists said a manatee had swam up the Hudson River past Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood and then 100 miles upstate. It was the first confirmed sighting of the mammal in New York in 10 years.
Photo: The southern elephant seal is the largest seal in the world. Males will reach 14.5 feet and females will reach 11 feet in length. Credit: Glenn E. Grant/National Science Foundation/U.S. Antarctic Program.
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