Present-day technology can help with water contamination

Much like the contamination found in Lake Erie, other sediment pollutants are found all over the world.

In a publication posted by Environmental Science & Technology, the writers mention that 10% of soil lying under the United States’ surface water is contaminated. These contaminants include PCBs, pesticides, and mercury – all of which can have long-term effects on the ecosystems.

Great Lakes: Lasting effects of human activity

Another example of how human activity is affecting the environment over long-term periods.

Two industrial pollutants have been found in carp in the eastern part of Lake Erie. Reasearchers from New York institutions recorded levels of PCBs and PBDEs in all of the 18 fish sampled. An article from Science Daily mentions that both of these contaminants can disrupt the endocrine system in these fish.

This study shows that human activity does indeed have long-term effects on the environment. The article from Science Daily mentions that one of these pollutants hasn’t been produced since 1979, but is still detected in the Great Lakes.

How to get investors involved

With climate change on the rise and affecting societies and businesses across the globe, investors are quickly learning that they need to adapt to the changing views of the world.

It’s sometimes hard to find a way to teach investors exactly how important it is, for themselves, to fight climate change. WWF-Canada found a way with their recently released report.

Climate change needs a new direction

How we deal with climate change may have more impact on the environment then the change itself.

Conservation actions meant to preserve tropical rainforests from climate change may be heading in the wrong direction, as portrayed in the journal Nature in December. The world’s largest diverse ecosystems have been experiencing change for quite some time now, and an article from Science Daily talks about how humans may be making a bad situation even worse.

Freshwater is a precious resource

A British Columbian poll by the Vancouver Foundation and WWF-Canada shows that over 90% of British Columbians want protection of the environment to be a top priority in the province’s new water rules.

The poll, outlined in an article on the WWF website also shows that 2 out of 3 people feel that the current rules are not enough to protect against future sustainability threats.

These polls need to be carried out on a much larger scale. Since 94% of people in B.C. feel that nature, wildlife and animal protection is a top priority, maybe researchers should also ask the rest of Canada how they feel.

A gift to the Amur Tiger: ban on Korean Pine logging

2010 is the Year of the Tiger, and the Russian government has introduced a much needed ban on Korean Pine Logging to help preserve the Amur Tiger.

The ban on Korean Pine logging was included on the list of must-do measures in hopes to preserve the Amur Tiger, with less than 500 remaining, and it’s habitat.

Five lions poisoned by controversial pesticide

Five lions and a hyena died in Southern Kenya on April 2nd. The animals were poisoned after eating pieces of food laced with a pesticide known as Furadan.

Obviously, the first issue raised here is the fact that people are still killing these animals, neglecting the fact that it’s illegal. But rather than go on about how people whom do this are awful, brutal, animal killing people, why not get to the bottom of how this is even able to happen.

Aral Sea dried up: ‘most shocking disaster’

Once the fourth-largest lake in the world, the Aral Sea has almost completely dried up.

The lake has shrunk by nearly 90% after its feeding rivers were diverted, in a Soviet project meant to increase the production of cotton. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of the UN calls this one of the most shocking disasters on the planet.

“It is clearly one of the worst disasters, environmental disasters of the world. I was so shocked,” he said on Sunday.

Heavy snowstorms – Global Warming?

The original article was written by Willie Drye on Feb. 12, 2010 for National Geographic News.  (original)

This winter has been quite out of the ordinary for the United States’ east coast. Snowstorms have been larger than ever, reaching 3 feet in Washington, DC. Amanda Staudt and other scientists think that the snow storms are due to global warming. Staudt says that global warming causes more water to evaporate, which leads to more snowfall assuming temperatures stay below freezing. However, some scientists, including Joe Bastardi, feel that the heavy snowfalls are due to an El Niño which formed a year ago rather than global warming. An El Niño happens when Pacific waters by the northwest coast of South America become unusually warm, which disrupts the jet-stream winds and pushes the cold winds into the United States.