-
Sewage from passenger ships and ferries banned from the Baltic Sea
Ship sewage will no longer be allowed to foul the Baltic Sea. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) on Friday agreed to ban the discharge of sewage from passenger ships and ferries in the Baltic Sea. The decision comes after a three year WWF campaign to stop the dumping of waste water in the Baltic Sea.…
-
Hungary sludge reservoir may collapse, town evacuated
Hungary’s premier warned on Saturday that the wall of a damaged industrial reservoir was likely to collapse, threatening a second spill of toxic red sludge, and a nearby village was evacuated as a precaution. About one million cubic meters of the waste material leaked out of the alumina plant reservoir into several villages and waterways…
-
Ring of Fire Cause
The Pacific Ring of Fire is an area where large numbers of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in the basin of the Pacific Ocean. In a 25,000 mile horseshoe shape, it is associated with a nearly continuous series of oceanic trenches, volcanic arcs, and volcanic belts and/or plate movements. The Ring of Fire has 452…
-
Study Finds More Fresh Water Entering the Earth’s Oceans
A recent study from researchers at the University of California (UC) Irvine has found that since 1994, the overall amount of fresh water flowing into the world’s oceans has increased significantly. They found that 18 percent more fresh water has reached the oceans between 1994 and 2006, an average annual rise of 1.5 percent.
-
Swimmers Fall Ill at Games, Blame Pool
Commonwealth Games organizers launched an investigation into the water quality at the troubled event’s pool on Thursday after reports that over 50 swimmers had fallen ill. Around 40 English competitors and 12 Australians had complained of feeling unwell after competing at the S.P. Mukherjee Aquatics Complex, with team officials insisting that the problem area was…
-
Offshore Wind Can Deliver Cleaner, More Affordable Energy and More Jobs Than Offshore Oil
A report by Oceana “Wealth: Offshore Wind Can Deliver Cleaner, More Affordable Energy and More Jobs Than Offshore Oil”, a comprehensive analysis shows that focusing investments on clean energy like offshore wind would be cost effective, more beneficial to job creation, and better for the environment and ocean in a variety of ways than offshore…
-
Spill impacts in Hungary ease, Danube monitored
Pollution levels from a red sludge spill in Hungary have declined and the Danube, one of Europe’s longest rivers, has suffered no palpable damage so far, a spokesman for Hungarian disaster crews said on Friday. Tibor Dobson said fresh data showed pH levels of 8-8.2 in the Danube, which could be considered “normal,” down from…
-
Solar Power to Return to the White House
Coinciding with its push for more renewable energy development, the executive branch of the US federal government has decided to install solar panels on the White House. This is a quarter century after President Reagan took down the previous solar panels installed by his predecessor, President Carter. The Obama Administration will install new solar panels…
-
Folklore Confirmed: The Moon’s Phase Affects Rainfall
The Zuni Indians thought a red moon brought water. Seventeenth-century English farmers believed in a “dripping moon,” which supplied rain depending on whether its crescent was tilted up or down. Now scientists have found evidence for another adage: Rain follows the full and new phases of the moon.
-
Hungary red sludge spill has reached Danube
A toxic red sludge spill from an alumina plant in western Hungary had reached the Danube by midday on Thursday, a spokesman for Hungarian disaster crews was cited by national news agency MTI as saying. Tibor Dobson told MTI there were no reports of fish dying in the Raba and Mosoni-Danube rivers which were hit…