Marine Scientists Report Massive "Dead Zones"

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www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1006-04.htm

Rising tides of untreated sewage and plastic debris are seriously threatening marine life and habitat around the globe, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) warned in a report Wednesday. The number of ocean "dead zones" has grown from 150 in 2004 to about 200 today, said Nick Nuttall, a UNEP spokesperson.

"These are becoming more common in developing countries," Nuttall told IPS from Nairobi, Kenya.

Dead zones can encompass areas of ocean 100,000 square kms in size where little can live because there is no oxygen left in the water. Nitrogen pollution, mainly from farm fertilisers and sewage, produces blooms of algae that absorb all of the oxygen in the water.

Growing global populations, mainly concentrated along coastlines, and the resulting increase in untreated sewage are endangering human health and wildlife, as well as livelihoods from fisheries to tourism, according to the "State of the Marine Environment" report.

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news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6058302.stm

Nuclear waste poses Arctic threat

A journey west along the Kola Peninsula's rugged Barents Sea coastline displays a natural beauty that belies the harsh realities lying hidden below the choppy surface.

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About halfway between Severomorsk and the Norwegian border lies Andreeva Bay, an environmental nightmare where the waters are completely devoid of life.

Leaks from the region's largest nuclear waste storage facility mean no fish will ever swim in this fjord. Onshore, both the soil and the groundwater are badly contaminated.

On this vast site, 32 tons of highly radioactive waste with a high uranium content is stored in crumbling concrete bunkers and rusting tanks and containers - about a third of the nuclear waste mountain that can be found on the Kola Peninsula.

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Growing Concern Over Estrogen-Like Compounds In US Rivers

An upsurge in the number of male fish growing female reproductive parts is sounding an alarm bell for the dangers of pollutants and estrogen-like compounds in U.S. rivers, where millions of Americans get their drinking water, environmental experts say.

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Environmental, economic, social collapse....
The only question is in what order.

www.wltribune.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=37&cat=59&id=751208&more

Record river lows could lead to well problems

Communities in most of British Columbia will be keeping a close eye on the skies for the next month.

"We're a month away from freeze-up," says Allan Chapman, the head of the River Forecast Centre in Victoria. "Some of the rivers could freeze down to the bed."

Rivers throughout the province, except for the Kootenays and the Columbia basin, are showing low to extremely low levels.

"We're having record lows all the way down the Fraser," Chapman says. "We have a long record for the both the Thompson and Fraser, and this is the lowest they've been since 1912."

Poor snow conditions last winter led to the low water levels. Chapman says the problem has a number of implications.

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10 million people at risk from pollution

More than 10 million people are at risk for lung infection, cancer and shortened life expectancy because they live in the 10 worst-polluted cities in the world, according to a report issued Wednesday.

The report published by the Blacksmith Institute, an international environmental research group, lists 10 cities in eight countries where pollution poses health risks and fosters poverty.

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Toxic plume prompts evacuation in N.C.

Emergency crews evacuated businesses near a chemical waste plant Wednesday after a chemical reaction sent a toxic plume into the air two weeks after a raging inferno at the same site forced thousands of people from their homes.

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Australian farmers commit suicide as hope evaporates

One Australian farmer commits suicide every four days, defeated by the country's worst drought in 100 years which has left them with dust-bowl paddocks and a mountain of debt, says a national mental health body.
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As drought rolls into a sixth year, stoic farmers are reduced to tears under the stress of trying to produce a crop and hold onto land sometimes farmed by the same family for generations.

"One male farmer every four days is committing suicide," Jeff Kennett, chairman of beyondblue, said on Thursday.

"My fear is that when under prolonged stress and when they see their assets totally denuded of value, that we will see an increase (in suicides)," Kennett told local radio.

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news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6218698.stm

Plastics 'poisoning world's seas'

Microscopic particles of plastic could be poisoning the oceans, according to a British team of researchers.

They report that small plastic pellets called "mermaids' tears", which are the result of industry and domestic waste, have spread across the world's seas.

The scientists had previously found the debris on UK beaches and in European waters; now they have replicated the finding on four continents.

Scientists are worried that these fragments can get into the food chain.