ENN rounds up the most important and compelling environmental news stories of the week. In the news February 19th - 23rd: Yellowstone air, global warming and Inuit rights, a tire reef, "green" limousines, and much more.
Top Ten Articles of the Week
In the news February 19th - 23rd: Yellowstone air, global warming and Inuit rights, a tire reef, "green" limousines, and much more.
1. Study Shows Yellowstone Air Quality Improves
The air quality at two of the most popular winter spots here continues to improve, a new study finds. Levels of carbon monoxide and certain particulate at the park's west entrance at West Yellowstone, the most popular winter gate, and Old Faithful, the most popular destination, still are "well below" national ambient air-quality standards and the air quality is good, the study by the National Park Service concluded.
2. Hearing to Probe Climate Change and Inuit Rights
The Inuit of Arctic Canada and Alaska are bearing the brunt of global warming and their way of life is in peril, an international human rights body will be told next month. Inuit activists hope a hearing on Arctic climate change by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will lead to reduced emissions and will help to protect the culture of the northern native people.
3. Tire Reef Off Florida Proves a Disaster
A mile offshore from this city's high-rise condos and spring-break bars lie as many as 2 million old tires, strewn across the ocean floor -- a white-walled, steel-belted monument to good intentions gone awry. The tires were unloaded there in 1972 to create an artificial reef that could attract a rich variety of marine life, and to free up space in clogged landfills.
4. Number One Milk Company Says No to Clones
The nation's biggest milk company, Dean Foods, said Thursday it will refuse milk from cloned cows. The Food and Drug Administration gave preliminary approval to meat and milk from cloned animals and could grant final approval by the end of the year. Federal scientists say there is virtually no difference between clones and conventional cows, pigs or goats.
5. Overfishing Imperils Fish in Deep Waters
With declining catches close to shore, commercial fishing is turning to deeper waters, threatening species that live in the cold and gloom of the deep oceans, according to researchers. A panel at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science said Sunday that overfishing in deep waters is putting at risk the least sustainable of all fish stocks.
6. EU Environment Ministers Try to Agree to 20 Percent Cut in CO2 by 2020
EU environment ministers will Tuesday try to agree they should cut greenhouse gas emissions at least 20 percent by 2020, paving the way for Europe to seek deeper reductions from other industrialized nations. But the EU's 27 nations may be forced to delay a final decision until a March summit of EU leaders because Poland and Hungary threaten to veto a deal making the target mandatory, an EU diplomat said under condition of anonymity because no decision has yet been taken.
7. Chimps Using Spears to Hunt Bushbabies
Researchers have witnessed a chimpanzee skewering a lemur-like creature for supper, but it's unclear whether the spectacle was a bit of luck or an indication that chimps have a more advanced ability to hunt than was thought.
8. River Run-Off Threatens Great Barrier Reef
Satellite images of Australia's Great Barrier Reef show that sediment from river run-off is threatening the reef at a greater rate than previously realised, Australia's peak scientific body said on Wednesday. The images, taken this month by NASA and U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellites, show sediment creating a hazy cloud over the reef, blocking sunlight and hindering photosynthesis, the process that keeps coral alive.
9. Court Says Permit Violates Owl Protection
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated the Endangered Species Act when it approved a 22,000-acre logging project that affects northern spotted owl habitat in southern Oregon. In a case dating from 2001, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling that would allow logging based on an "incidental take" statement estimating how many owls might be killed.
10. Green Limo Line at Oscars Gets Longer and Sexier
From a plug-in hybrid car to the sexy electric Tesla Roadster, celebrities wanting to make a green statement on the way to the red carpet of the Oscars will have plenty of environment-friendly rides this Sunday. Global Green USA has lined up 30 cars to shuttle the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio to the star-studded ceremony in Hollywood.
Photo: Mr. Momo, the president of the local chapter of "Nature et Nous" in Agbo-Kope, Togo, organizes and mobilizes the community to help with a reforestation project in their village. The group has established a nursery to raise trees for this purpose and meets often to talk about ways they can improve the environment through agroforestry, reforestation, and getting information to other farmers in the area. Photo credit: Anna Maria Omura, Courtesy of Photoshare.
Contact Info:
