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An important mechanism for sucking ozone and methane out of the atmosphere has been discovered over the tropical Atlantic. The finding reveals how the two greenhouse gasses are kept in check by natural chemical reactions. The data collected in Cape Verde, off the western coast of Africa, suggests that 50% more ozone is being destroyed above the tropical Atlantic Ocean than previously thought, because of halogens released by the seawater. The process also increases the amount of methane pumped out of the lower atmosphere by up to 12% each day. It could occur in tropical oceans worldwide and could considerably...

Global warming acolytes have a favorite image, that of Al Gore's fabulist tale of 20 foot waves engulfing our coast lines. Invoking that awesome image, the L.A. Times published a story last month that is supposed to be just another global warming scare piece. Still, even the Times couldn't lie through its teeth in every instance because, while the island of Kivalina, Alaska really has been shrinking, even the Times admits its been doing so for well over 100 years. It's a bit hard to pin that all on "global warming," though, since few claim that the phenomenon has been...

GREEN scientists have been accused of overstating the dangers of climate change by researchers who found that the number of people killed each year by weather-related disasters is falling.Their report suggests that a central plank in the global warming argument – that it will result in a big increase in deaths from weather-related disasters – is undermined by the facts. It shows deaths in such disasters peaked in the 1920s and have been declining ever since.Average annual deaths from weather-related events in the period 1990-2006 – considered by scientists to be when global warming has been most intense – were...

PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- The Navy is disappointed with EarthJustice’s decision to pursue litigation against critical training activities in Hawaiian waters, the deputy commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet said. “These fleet training activities are essential to the Navy’s ability to ensure our nation’s armed forces are fully combat ready and adequately trained according to established, time-tested standards,” said Rear Adm. John M. Bird. The suit, filed May 16 by EarthJustice on behalf of five non-government organizations, asks the court to prohibit naval sonar exercises near Hawaii, saying that sonar can have a negative impact on marine mammals. But such...

They might seem an unlikely group to storm Utah's halls of power to demand action on behalf of the people. But that's exactly what Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment promised Monday, launching a campaign to cut the air pollution that is sickening Utahns and killing as many as 1,000 of them a year. Otherwise, they say, Utah's air-pollution crisis will become an air-pollution catastrophe that claims the health and the lives of people forced to breathe the bad air. Scott N. Hurst, an LDS Hospital anesthesiologist, likened air pollution's impacts to those of smoking cigarettes. "You and I can...

Heidi Cullen, a Weather Channel meteorologist who hosts the station's alarmist weekly program The Climate Code, created a media stir on January 18 by calling on the American Meteorological Society (AMS) to decertify meteorologists who disagree with her alarmist global warming views. Politically Correct Warming On her Weather Channel Web log, Cullen stated, "If a meteorologist can't speak to the fundamental science of climate change, then maybe the AMS shouldn't give them a Seal of Approval." Added Cullen, "It's like allowing a meteorologist to go on-air and say that hurricanes rotate clockwise and tsunamis are caused by the weather. It's...

While there is a general acceptance of the role of private property for social order and economic prosperity, the challenges to private property have not ended. The eminent domain issue is one threat; another comes from environmentalist groups such as the Foundation for Deep Ecology and others who see humans as a drain on the earth and nature. Some environmentalists advocate the consolidation of land to be put under federal control and promote stringent land usage restrictions that would prevent a landowner using his property fruitfully. Their argument is nothing new: individuals left to themselves will not be as effective...

There may be a new reason for Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to exercise his second veto of the year - this one on the newly passed Legacy Parkway backlash bill. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency raised its "potential concern" Friday about HB100. In a letter to the governor, the EPA Denver regional director suggested Utah may not be able to properly do its job carrying out federal environmental laws that have been delegated to the state, such as the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and Superfund cleanups. "[T]his pending legislation raises concerns about whether important parts of the...

Increased output from the Sun might be to blame for 10 to 30 percent of global warming that has been measured in the past 20 years, according to a new report. Increased emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases still play a role, the scientists say. But climate models of global warming should be corrected to better account for changes in solar activity, according to Nicola Scafetta and Bruce West of Duke University. The findings were published online this week by the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Ignore rumors; Teflon proven to be safe August 29, 2005 BY HENRY I. MILLER The uncanny ability of President Ronald Reagan to deflect public criticism won him the nickname "The Teflon President." Ironically, now it is Teflon itself that is facing the heat, as anti-chemical groups and trial attorneys have joined forces to cook up controversy over a product that has become one of America's most trusted consumer icons, and an integral part of our language, like Thermos and Kleenex. Like many product-safety scares these days, the concerns that have been voiced about Teflon are bogus. Charges by the radical...

WASHINGTON - Sen. Orrin Hatch is seeking to thwart further litigation over the Legacy Highway by pushing Congress to accept as final environmental studies on the planned 14-mile, four-lane highway between North Salt Lake and Farmington. Backed by other Utah Republicans in Washington, the attempted end run around the courts comes amid settlement negotiations between officials at the Utah Department of Transportation and environmental groups pressing for a different highway route or transit alternatives to spare Great Salt Lake wetlands. Hatch plans to insert into the transportation bill, which is nearing its final vote, language that would halt any court...

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - A two-week conference on the Antarctic, focusing on environmental, climate change and tourism issues, has opened with representatives of 50 governments, researchers and experts, the Swedish hosts said. The conference, which runs to June 17, comes amid fresh warnings from scientists about the effect of climate change on Antarctica, the fifth largest continent in the world, which contains more than 90 percent of the world's ice. Sweden hopes that the meeting will result in a special protocol on responsibility and insurance in the case of major accidents in the Antarctic, such as oil spills. "It seems that...

Unless you're among the bean-sprout-sized minority of Americans who describe themselves as "vegans" (vegetarians who also won't touch milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, or even a dollop of honey), you may have been alarmed by the publicity surrounding an article appearing last month in the journal Pediatrics. The anti-milk piece -- written by activists from the PETA-affiliated Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) -- concluded that feeding milk to children is unnecessary, and that there are better ways (kale, tofu, turnip greens, or spinach, for instance) for kids to get the calcium they need. In reaching this result, PCRM relied on...

Tax on greenhouse gases looms   swissinfo   February 15, 2005 9:40 PM   A CO2 tax on fossil fuels would lead to a major increase of prices at the petrol pump (Keystone Archive) As the Kyoto Protocol comes into force, Switzerland is still not sure how to reach its targets for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.   The government is considering different options to encourage or coerce citizens and the economy into cutting carbon-dioxide pollution.   RELATED ITEMS   Summit fails to progress on climate change Tax on CO2 emissions moves step closer Kyoto - how it works     The...

WASHINGTON - Of all the names that have been hurled at the Northern Snakehead - intruder, predator, Frankenfish - Alan Gardner would like to add one more to the list: victim. Gardner, a Republican county commissioner from Utah, wants the snakehead off the most-wanted list and on the endangered species list. With local officials from 12 other Western states, he has petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to save the snakehead. ''There are not very many of them,'' he said. ''And they're trying to get rid of those they have.'' It's true that the snakehead, infamous for its voracious...

[State of Fear, by Michael Crichton. 603 pages. Published December 7, 2004, by HarperCollins Publishers. Hardcover, $27.95. Available at www.Amazon.com.] Michael Crichton, the author of The Andromeda Strain, Rising Sun, Jurassic Park and other block-buster thrillers, has penned a novel that could profoundly change the national and even international debate over global warming. It's long overdue. Crichton's State of Fear, with a reported first print run of 1.7 million copies, is an action thriller that doubles as a scientific primer on global warming and other environmental topics. Crichton's protagonists -- a scientist, a lawyer, a philanthropist and two remarkably athletic...

Trio of storm systems could have devastating impact on U.S.By SETH BORENSTEINKnight Ridder Newspapers WASHINGTON - Moisture-laden storms from the north, west and south are likely to converge on much of America over the next several days in what could be a once-in-a-generation onslaught, meteorologists forecast Tuesday.If the gloomy computer models at the U.S. Climate Prediction Center are right, we'll see this terrible trio: The "Pineapple Express," a series of warm wet storms heading east from Hawaii, drenching Southern California and the far Southwest, which already are beset with heavy rain and snow. It could cause flooding, avalanches and mudslides....

DALLAS -- Global warming is hot! -- pun fully intended. Within the space of a year, a blockbuster action movie and now a sure-to-be best-selling novel have both focused on the perils and political intrigues surrounding the question of whether, or to what extent, humans are causing the planet to overheat with all manner of apocalyptic results. Though the Fox Studio disaster flick "The Day After Tomorrow" was panned by scientists who pointed out its portrayal of climate science was wildly inaccurate, it won praise from environmentalists and some politicos for "focusing attention on the important topic of human-caused global...

PARIS (AFP) - Human activities, notably the building of coastal resorts and the destruction of natural protection, contributed to the enormous loss of life from killer tidal waves that hit the shores of the Indian Ocean after an earthquake, an environmental expert said. Jeff McNeely, chief scientist of the Swiss-based World Conservation Union (IUCN), who lived for several years in Indonesia and Thailand, two of the countries hit by Sunday's disaster, said it was "nothing new for nature" in a geologically active region. "What has made this a disaster is that people have started to occupy part of the landscape...

Humane Society of the United States to challenge hunting via courts U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance — Dec. 3, 2004 The nation's largest anti-hunting group has launched a new legal department to challenge sportsmen in the courts. An Animal Protection Litigation section was created in the wake of the recent merger of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the Fund for Animals. Attorney Jonathan Lovvorn was selected to head the department. The organization intends to add four litigating attorneys by the end of the year. "The animal rights movement sees the courts as the easiest way to realize its...