Environmental Glance
When it comes to the hazards of global warming, it may turn out that lizards in burrows are the canaries in the coal mine.In a study to be published Friday in the journal Science, an international team of biologists reports that in more than one-tenth of the places in Mexico where lizards flourished in 1975 the reptiles now cannot be found. The researchers predict that by 2080 about 40 percent of local lizard populations worldwide will have died off, and 20 percent of lizard species will be extinct.
The device meant to stop oil leaking from a Gulf of Mexico well after last month's rig explosion was faulty, US Congressional investigators have said. The blowout preventer (BOP), a set of huge valves, had a hydraulic leak and a failed battery, they said after studying documents from BP and others.
The UN warned on Monday that "massive" loss in life-sustaining natural environments was likely to deepen to the point of being irreversible after global targets to cut the decline by this year were missed.
In a letter published in the journal Science, more than 250 members of the US National Academy of Sciences, including 11 Nobel Prize laureates, condemned the increase in "political assaults" on scientists who argue greenhouse gas emissions are warming the planet.
The decision on whether to use chemical dispersants deep below the sea's surface to break up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill boils down to two central questions:
Over 170 businesses from around the country sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Reid and his Senate colleagues today calling on the Senate to continue working to enact comprehensive climate and energy legislation this year. The letter was brought together by the We Can Lead coalition, a project of the Clean Economy Network (CEN) and Ceres.
The global financial crisis will condemn about 53 million more people to extreme poverty and contribute to 1.2 million child deaths in the next five years, according to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
