Free Republic

Human activities are cumulatively driving the health of the world's oceans down a rapid spiral, and only prompt and wholesale changes will slow or perhaps ultimately reverse the catastrophic problems they are facing. Such is the prognosis of Jeremy Jackson, a professor of oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, in a bold new assessment of the oceans and their ecological health. Publishing his study in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Jackson believes that human impacts are laying the groundwork for mass extinctions in the oceans on par...

The subject may be trivialized by some, but the effect of air pollution originating from China and Eastern Asia has dire consequences for Americans and our economy. I am located in the Central San Joaquin Valley of California. A couple weeks ago I noticed something that alerted me to a rapid change in our skies. First the night skies became the clearest they had been in many years. This week the daytime skies cleared too giving us a summertime view of the high Sierra Mountains that had been noticeably absent for over a decade. Local news had reported on this...

CHINA has not done enough to fix its pollution and indeed may have permanently damaged the environment, Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates said today. As Beijing was again cloaked in a dirty haze just hours before its Opening Ceremony, Coates said he hoped one of the legacies of the 2008 Games would be that China took greater care of its habitat. Asked if Games organisers had done enough to clean up the atmosphere, Coates said: "No. But I don't know what more thay can do. "This may well be permanent damage. "I am no world expert but to have...

BEIJING - A group of American cyclists has apologized to Beijing Olympic organizers after arriving in China’s capital wearing face masks.

Could the NBC honchos be a tad touchy about criticism of the Beijing Olympics—especially when it comes from its own talent pool? Was there a kernel of truth in Mika Brzezinski's light-hearted warning that MSNBC's Morning Joe crew would "get a call" if it persisted in its mocking of the games for whose broadcast rights the Peacock Network has over the years paid billions? When the subject of the Olympics arose during the opening segment of today's show, the panel went into an extended coughing fit, coupled with cracks about tanks in Tiananmen Square. Mika joined in the joshing for...

Olympic Games show China through a glass, darkly As the opening approaches, preparations reflect a disturbing side of the communist regime Jonathan Fenby Olympic Games news The opening of the Beijing Olympics in eight days' time will, as always planned, attest to China's spectacular material progress since Deng Xiaoping launched market-led economic reform exactly 30 years ago. The array of venues, the gleaming new buildings, the urban infrastructure installed for the Games, will also reflect the genuine pride of a nation that, while still far from rich by Western standards, has made more people better off in a shorter time...

BEIJING (AFP) - China on Thursday unveiled a string of emergency measures it was prepared to use in its battle to tame Beijing's stubborn smog ahead of the Olympics, as the city was again shrouded in haze. Chinese authorities may close more factories, further reduce the number of cars on the road in the city and neighbouring areas, and stop all construction, the ministry of environmental protection said on its website. "When there are extremely unfavourable weather conditions, there will be some emergency measures," the statement said. Beijing has already taken drastic steps to reduce pollution, amid concerns expressed from...

BEIJING (AFP) - China claimed success on Tuesday in its pre-Olympic battle against Beijing's infamous pollution, as strong winds helped clear the thick smog that has hung over the Chinese capital this month. Pollution levels had fallen by at least 20 percent since the first of a raft of short-term measures began at the beginning of July, Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau deputy director Du Shaozhong told reporters. Despite visible signs of heavy smog that had pervaded the city in recent weeks, and some branches of China's state-run press highlighting the pollution problems, Du insisted there had been 25 days of...

Less than two weeks before the Olympics, Beijing’s skies are so murky and polluted that the authorities are considering emergency measures during the Games beyond the traffic restrictions and factory shutdowns that, so far, have failed to clear the air, state media reported on Monday. For the past five days, Beijing has been a soupy cauldron of humid, gray skies. Local pollution ratings have exceeded the national standard for acceptable air since last Thursday, despite a temporary air pollution control plan that began on July 20. Under that plan, officials have used odd-even license plate restrictions — limiting motorists to...

One of the favorite targets of conservative pundits (and rightly so) is the liberal tendency to extremes. Oftentimes, a liberal will see a societal problem, and pronounce :”This needs government!” Quite often the liberal will see a real problem, too, but will either end up creating a massive, wasteful bureaucracy (say, Medicare or Social Security), or else use the problem as a excuse for a vastly disproportionate growth in governmental power (say, the IRS). As H. L. Mencken once wrote, “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.”...

According to CNN, the World Bank recently examined 20 of the most severely polluted cities in the world. Sixteen of these cities are located in China, and Linfen City, in Shanxi Province, was cited as the world's most polluted city. Apple Daily reported that factories in Linfen continuously release waste gas and sewage. The whole city smells and is covered in smoke. The trees around the factories are all withered. The polluted water is like thick oil, and the polluted rivers have caused a higher incidence of cancer among citizens living in the area. One environmental expert said, "If you...

......And they're not just worried about the athletes. They're concerned that the bad air might trigger cardiovascular problems for people in the stands. Even if the spectators survive the games, they might be at higher risk of developing a blood clot while sitting through the plane ride home. In 2007, researchers at Northwestern University solved the mystery of why greater numbers of people were dying from heart attacks and strokes within 24 hours of a spike in the level of tiny particles that spewed from diesel trucks, buses and coal-burning factories...... What researchers, including lead author Dr. Gokhan Mutlu, pulmonary...

Already, some shippers, truckers and others who don't want to make changes are choosing other ports, according to Knatz, who said port traffic could drop 10 percent to 15 percent.

Olympic Athletes Wearing Masks Could Cause China to Lose Face U.S. Committee Developed a Model in Secret; Jarrod Shoemaker Ponders the Geek Factor By CHRISTOPHER RHOADS and STEPHANIE KANG July 21, 2008; Page A1 U.S. triathlete Jarrod Shoemaker has a decision to make at the opening ceremony of the Olympics next month in Beijing: Should he strap on a mask? Chinese officials insist the notorious Beijing air will be cleaner by August, making such contraptions unnecessary. Concerned about the pollution, the U.S. Olympic Committee is distributing a high-tech mask, developed in secrecy, to its more than 600 Olympians. If athletes...

Your owner does it. And you do it too. If you deny it, I’m going to say that you are the one that supplied it. Have you figured out what I’m talking about? That’s right, I’m talking about air poopies or, what many of you know it better as, farts. “Bo, why must you bring this up in a family oriented blog?” my readers will ask. To which I must respond, “Because farts make me laugh.” (Experts said the slow digestive system of cows makes them a key producer of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that gets far less public...

According to one energy security expert, unless prosperity exists people simply will not care about climate change. Gal Luft, executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, said on July 11 that the poor have other priorities than global warming. “They [poor people] could not give a damn about climate change because they want 24 hours a day light,” said Luft who cited the example of people living in slums outside Bangalore, India. “In India alone, 600 million people are not connected even to the [power] grid,” said Luft, “When you talk to these people all you...

On the first of June, two men and a rabbit set sail from the port of Long Beach, bound for Hawaii, on a raft made of junk. Their cabin is the cockpit of a Cessna 310, white with a blue racing stripe, salvaged from the desert. It floats on a system of handmade pontoons -- 15,000 plastic bottles held together with recycled nets -- propelled by currents and wind. If it sounds dangerous and makeshift, that's the point. The pilots of Junk, as the vessel is called, want to get your attention. They are Dr. Marcus Eriksen, director of research...

Coal, steel, oil — we think of these old-economy industries, and we picture pollution. Smoggy skies, fouled rivers, toxic waste. As we make the transition to a new economy, we imagine that industrial pollution will become a thing of the past. Mobile phones, laptops, MP3 players — they conjure images of spotless semiconductor factories and the eternal summer of Silicon Valley where the digital economy was born. But the tech industry has a dirty little secret: it has toxic waste of its own. Phones and computers contain dangerous metals like lead, cadmium and mercury, which can contaminate the air and...

The dwindling march of the penguins is signaling that the world's oceans are in trouble, scientists now say. Penguins may be the tuxedo-clad version of a canary in the coal mine, with generally ailing populations from a combination of global warming, ocean oil pollution, depleted fisheries, and tourism and development, according to a new scientific review paper. A University of Washington biologist detailed specific problems around the world with remote penguin populations, linking their decline to the overall health of southern oceans. "Now we're seeing effects (of human caused warming and pollution) in the most faraway places in the world,"...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California on Thursday took a major step forward on its global warming fight by unveiling an ambitious plan for clean cars, renewable energy and stringent caps on big polluting industries. The plan, which aims to reduce pollutants by 10 percent from current levels by 2020 while driving investment in new energy technologies that will benefit the state's economy, is the most comprehensive yet by any U.S. state. It could serve as a blueprint not only for the rest of the United States, ... "This is of tremendous importance, not only for California," Mary Nichols, chairman of...

Some big retailers are promoting compact fluorescent light bulbs as a way to save energy. But improper disposal of the bulbs creates a hazard, because they contain small amounts of mercury. Recycling them is about to get easier. Home Depot, the nation’s second-largest retailer, will announce on Tuesday that it will take back old compact fluorescents in all 1,973 of its stores in the United States, creating the nation’s most widespread recycling program for the bulbs. “We kept hearing from the community that there was a little bit of concern about mercury in the C.F.L.’s,” said Ron Jarvis, Home Depot’s...

China has now clearly overtaken the United States as the world's leading emitter of climate-warming gases, a new study has found. The increasing emissions from China - up 8 percent in the past year - accounted for two-thirds of the growth in global greenhouse gas emissions in 2007, the study found.

Costly cleanup Comments 3 | Recommend 0 Local landowner says he shouldn't have to pay for contaminants June 7, 2008 - 3:49PM BY CHRISTINE STANLEY All Ronnie Lewis wanted to do was put up a billboard. So he bought a 50-by-100 foot piece of land north of 48th Street on the west side of Andrews Highway, a prime location to call attention to Dos Amigos, the club he used to own. That was back in 1999. He spent about $4,500. Nearly 10 years later, his little purchase has turned into a big mess. Lewis said he didn't know it at...

WASHINGTON -- While cities are hot spots for global warming, people living in them turn out to be greener than their country cousins. Each resident of the largest 100 largest metropolitans areas is responsible on average for 2.47 tons of carbon dioxide in energy consumption each year, 14 percent below the 2.87 ton U.S. average, researchers at the Brookings Institution say in a report being released Thursday. Those 100 cities still account for 56 percent of the nation's carbon dioxide pollution. But their greater use of mass transit and population density reduce the per person average. "It was a surprise...

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Bay Area Air Quality Management District's board of directors on Wednesday approved new rules to charge businesses a fee for the pollution they emit. The group's board of directors voted 15-1 on unprecedented new rules that will impose fees on factories, power plants, oil refineries and other businesses that emit carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases. The agency, which regulates air pollution in the nine-county Bay Area, will be the first in the country to charge companies fees based on their greenhouse gas emissions, experts say. The new rules will take effect July 1.

A celebrated green economy produces pollution elsewhere, ongoing power shortages, and business-crippling costs. Rancho Seco was once a nuclear plant generating over 900 megawatts of electricity; today, its solar panels produce just 4.In January 2007, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stood before the California legislature in Sacramento and delivered his fourth State of the State address since his improbable 2003 election. It was a rhetorical tour de force that would win him widespread acclaim. “California has the ideas of Athens and the power of Sparta,” said Schwarzenegger. “Not only can we lead California into the future; we can show the nation and...

Curbing a notorious form of industrial pollution may ironically harm Amazonia, one of the world's natural treasures and a key buffer against global warming, a study released Wednesday has found. Its authors see a strong link between a decrease in sulphur dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants and a rise in sea temperature in the northern Atlantic that was blamed for wreaking a devastating drought in western Amazonia in 2005. University of Exeter professor Peter Cox and colleagues created a computer model to simulate the impact of aerosols -- airborne particles that, like sulphur dioxide, are also spewed out by...

Residents took to the streets of a provincial capital over the weekend to protest a multibillion-dollar petrochemical plant backed by China’s leading state-run oil company, in the latest instance of popular discontent over an environmental threat in a major city.

The addition of Al or Al2O3 nanoparticles increases the probability of ignition. Adding aluminum and aluminum oxide nanoparticles to diesel can improve the fuel’s ignition properties, according to a new study published online in the journal Nano Letters. Arizona State University mechanical engineer Patrick E. Phelan and colleagues varied both particle size (15 and 50 nm) as well as the volume fraction (0%, 0.1%, and 0.5%) of aluminum (Al) and aluminum oxide (Al2O3) nanoparticles at several temperatures within the range 688 °C up to 768 °C. In a series of hot plate studies, they found that in all cases...

These are just as worthwhile even if you don't believe that human-created climate change is a big problem, or even a reality. * Reducing carbon emissions by making people poorer will never happen. Just ask people in China - now the world's No. 1 carbon emitter - how interested they are in returning to the economic conditions they suffered a few decades ago when their carbon emissions were lower. * Burning fossil fuels is a lousy idea for reasons that have nothing to do with global warming. These hydrocarbons offer important applications as fertilizers and chemical feedstocks, making it foolish...

International chemical company Rhodia is launching two sets of materials for the formulation of deNOx catalysts showing high performance and hydrothermal durability for NOx trap technologies. Rhodia presented the emissions control materials, along with new light weight materials for weight reduction, at this week’s SAE 2008 World Congress in Detroit. Both NOx Storage Catalyst (NSC) and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technologies have shown limited efficiency at low temperature (<250°C) and poor durability due to the thermal deterioration at temperatures > 750°C with steam. Rhodia’s new materials address these limitations. Materials for NOx Storage Catalyst technologies (NSC). NSC are sensitive to...

Chrysler’s new Powershift six-speed dual-clutch transmission—developed in partnership with Getrag—will make its debut this spring in international markets on the all-new 2009 Dodge Journey, the 2009 Dodge Avenger and the 2009 Chrysler Sebring, mated to a 2.0-liter turbo diesel. Chrysler says that the new transmissions will deliver a fuel economy improvement of 6%. Chrysler’s commitment to dual-clutch transmission technology is part of the Company’s powertrain offensive, announced last year. (Earlier post.) Earlier in April, Getrag and Chrysler finalized the definitive agreements for the development, production and supply of Getrag PowerShift transmissions for Chrysler in North America. Chrysler and Getrag will...

China has already overtaken the US as the world's "biggest polluter", a report to be published next month says. The research suggests the country's greenhouse gas emissions have been underestimated, and probably passed those of the US in 2006-2007. The University of California team will report their work in the Journal of Environment Economics and Management. They warn that unchecked future growth will dwarf any emissions cuts made by rich nations under the Kyoto Protocol. The team admit there is some uncertainty over the date when China may have become the biggest emitter of CO2, as their analysis is based...

For most of the past century, diesel engines have been associated with smoky, smelly trucks and buses. Now there's a surprise: A new generation of diesel-powered passenger cars is delivering punchy performance and emission levels so low they pass muster in all 50 U.S. states. Boasting good fuel efficiency, the new "clean diesels" may well overtake hybrids in the market for eco-cars. Built mostly by overseas carmakers, improved diesels already account for more than 50% of new-car sales in Europe. North America is the next target. Volkswagen (VLKAY), BMW, Mercedes-Benz (DAI), Honda (HMC), Kia, Mahindra, and others have announced nearly...

Map showing Williston Basin Province boundary (in red), Bakken-Lodgepole Total Petroleum System (TPS) (in blue), and major structural features in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota North Dakota and Montana have an estimated 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil in an area known as the Bakken Formation of the Williston Basin, according to a just-released assessment by the US Geological Survey (USGS). This latest assessment shows a 25-fold increase in the amount of oil that can be recovered compared to the agency’s 1995 estimate of 151 million barrels of oil. The assessment also identified 1.85...

In a newly released study, J.D. Power is predicting that sales of hybrid and diesel-powered cars will both more than triple by 2015. Hybrids, which comprised some 2.2 percent of the total market last year, will make up seven percent of the market in 2015 with diesels moving from 3.2 percent last year to 10 percent in 2015, according to the study. Sales of diesels in the U.S., the Detroit News notes, may get a boost from upcoming diesel-powered light-duty pickups like the Toyota Tundra. Volkswagen also expects to sell diesels in larger numbers and has organized a Dieselution tour...

Huber’s catalytic fast pyrolysis process yields aromatic components for gasoline Dumesic’s integrated process delivers higher-weight alkanes suitable for use as a jet fuel. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst reported the first production of high-quality aromatic fuel additives for gasoline directly from solid biomass feedstocks by catalytic fast pyrolysis in a single catalytic reactor at short residence times. The work by Professor George Huber and graduate students Torren Carlson and Tushar Vispute is the cover article in the 7 April issue of Chemistry & Sustainability, Energy & Materials (ChemSusChem). In the same issue, Professor James Dumesic and colleagues from...

With fuel economy reminiscent of the late VW Lupo, the new VW Golf Diesel Hybrid Concept seems to address the growing schism between American and Japanese hybrids and European Diesels. Green Car Congress recently reported on the unveiling of the car at the Geneva Auto Show. VW couples a new 7-speed DSG transmission with a 1.2-liter, TDI diesel engine and an electric motor capable of operating in all electric mode. The diesel engine puts out a max of 74 hp and 132 kb-ft of torque, and its electric counterpart puts out 20 kW and 103 lb-ft of torque at...

Oil-burners have mistakenly been given a bad review by some, but evidence shows the powerplants are clean The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy recently released its list of the 12 greenest vehicles. Along with the usual hybrids, the list included a natural gas-powered Honda Civic (not sold in Canada), the Smart for two and various small cars such as the Toyota Yaris. On the surface, this list is wonderful stuff. After all, encouraging people to drive vehicles that actively cut pollution is laudable. However, the group showed its ignorance by lumping all of the newest common-rail diesel models in...

Researchers from the UN University found out which business can bring a lot of profit to an investor. It is a construction business, although it does not go about the construction of large shopping malls or grocery stores. It goes about the construction of toilets. Every dollar invested in this business can bring the staggering 900-percent profit. For example, if an entrepreneur builds a 100-dollar bathroom, he or she may have the return of $900 in a certain period of time. Experts studied statistics on the issue and conducted their own research before they came to such a surprising conclusion....

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - Gas stations on China's booming east coast were rationing diesel, pump attendants said on Tuesday, despite Beijing's insistence that its refiners will ensure supplies at unprofitable state-set prices. "The line outside our station is at least one kilometer long," said one station manager in coastal Fujian province, who declined to be named because fuel supplies are a sensitive issue. Other stations said they had sold out of the day's supply by noon and did not know if a delivery would arrive on Wednesday. Down the coast in Guangzhou province, China's manufacturing hub, diesel was rationed to 300...

BISBEE — A local man is organizing an effort to clean up trash left behind by illegal immigrants in the Huachuca Mountains on April 5. The cleanup will focus on Bear Saddle and areas west along the Crest Trail. This section of Crest Trail is part of the Arizona Trail that extends from the Mexico border to the Utah border. The event’s organizer, Steve Roark of Hereford, competes in 100-mile long-distance races and he trains in the Huachucas. “I have been running around here for about 1 1/2 years and right away I noticed there are some areas that are...

The diesel-powered Mitsubishi Concept-RA sport coupe is no soot-belching school bus. Diesel-powered vehicles haven’t enjoyed the best reputation in the United States, despite the well-known benefit of impressive fuel efficiency. Consumers have long been unimpressed by other traits, such as their black clouds of exhaust soot, ear-rattling racket and, ahem, let’s call it “stately” acceleration. But an emerging generation of new diesel vehicles looks set to upend those expectations. Some high-performance models will soon exploit the fuel economy benefits of diesel power while delivering the neck-snapping acceleration associated with gas-guzzling cars. Consider the Audi R8 TDI Le Mans, a 500-horsepower...

The 2/4SIGHT engine enables automatic switching between two- and four-stroke mode. Ricardo and a consortium of automotive partners have completed an advanced prototype research program based on the 2/4SIGHT engine concept. This gasoline engine concept uses novel combustion, boosting, control and valve actuation technologies to enable automatic and seamless switching between two- and four-stroke operation, with the aim of delivering significant performance and fuel economy improvements through aggressive downsizing. Simulation results based on a 2.0-liter 2/4SIGHT engine indicate a 27% reduction in fuel consumption while maintaining comparable acceleration performance compared to a naturally aspirated 3.5-liter engine. 24sight2 The 2/4SIGHT...

ETHANOL MADNESS PART ONE: End the Great 2006 Bio-Fuels Swindle, by EIR staff The current mania for ethanol, biodiesel fuels, "flex-fuel vehicles," and the like, is creating a financial bubble, within which is a swindle, inside of which is a slippery old methane fart waiting to explode. Members of Congress taking part in the swindle, enthusiastically or not, are going to wind up very smelly when the ethanol party ends, the investment boom collapses, and motorists indignantly demand regular gasoline again. Why should we shift to biofuels for transportation — ethanol, for example? Well, first, we'll get 20% less gas...

WASHINGTON - Democratic lawmakers are questioning a Bush administration plan to eliminate requirements for farms to disclose air pollution from animal waste. Currently farms must report to federal, state and local officials when emissions of hazardous substances like ammonia and hydrogen sulfide exceed certain levels. In a little-noticed proposed rule change published in the Federal Register on Dec. 28, when Congress was on its winter recess, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed eliminating the reporting requirement. EPA argued that the requirement created an unnecessary burden for farms and that the emission release reports weren't acted on at the federal level, anyway....

Pollution Visible From East Asia To North America In New Satellite ImageIn a new NASA study, researchers taking advantage of improvements in satellite sensor capabilities offer the first measurement-based estimate of the amount of pollution from East Asian forest fires, urban exhaust, and industrial production that makes its way to western North America. (Credit: Image courtesy of NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) ScienceDaily (Mar. 18, 2008) — In a new NASA study, researchers taking advantage of improvements in satellite sensor capabilities offer the first measurement-based estimate of the amount of pollution from East Asian forest fires, urban exhaust, and industrial production...

We've boycotted Olympic games before-usually for human rights abuses. Considering what's happening in Tibet-AND-the levels of pollution in Beijing- it's time to do it again!!

Topeka — Agreements with Mexico and Canada are setting the stage for construction of a huge highway that will gobble up Kansans’ property and jeopardize U.S. security, representatives from a wide range of groups said Monday. “Through incrementalism, apathy and inattention, our national sovereignty is being sacrificed on a cross of greed, socialism and globalism,� said state Rep. Judy Morrison, R-Shawnee. Morrison has introduced House Concurrent Resolution 5033 urging Congress to withdraw from further participation in the North American Free Trade Agreement and Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America. At a hearing before the House Federal and State Affairs...

Ted Kennedy has called Nantucket Sound near his Massachusetts estate “a national treasure” — but that didn’t stop the senator from having oil dumped from his yacht into its waters. A local photographer spotted an oil slick coming from Kennedy’s yacht Mya as Kennedy and his guests left the vessel in a launch following a race that ended in Hyannis, the Cape Cod Today newspaper reported. The lensman was so shocked that he rowed his dinghy out to question the crew member left aboard the yacht. He asked the crewman, “What the hell are you doing?” The crewman said that...