Pollution may be cause of mystery croc illness

"Hardened, fatty deposits" are showing up in the tails of dead crocs along the Olifants River in South Africa's Kruger National Park, reports New Scientist. Researchers believe the condition makes it too difficult for the animals to swim, so they drown. Eating rancid fish may lead to the mysterious affliction, but it could be "exposure to pollutants." According to New Scientist, "the Olifants is the most polluted of all the [Kruger National Park's] rivers."

Global Warming Plagues Ocean's Precious Coral

As atmospheric CO2 levels skyrocket, ocean water is warmer (by almost two degrees) and more acidic (30 percent more), and that's killing coral, reports the Nightly News.

According to the report, "One third of corals face extinction by 2050."

So what? Twenty-five percent of ocean species rely on coral for their survival. And one billion people rely on fish as their "primary source of protein."

Check out the video…

Cheney Ordered Climate Testimony Papers Slashed

Let's say you're second in command of the world's most powerful country -- or any country -- and you're given information that greenhouse gas is endangering the health of your citizens. What do you do? Here are some options:

A) Take action to cut greenhouse gasses

B) Ignore the info

C) Have the info manipulated so it doesn't say greenhouse gasses are deadly

Most well-adjusted, normal human beings would select A. But if you're the second most powerful person in the world, and your name is Dick Cheney, you pick C.

Pound360 would like to enact a new law. Anyone that voted for Bush/Cheney must pay double taxes over the next five years. The extra taxes would go towards discounting the taxes of everyone else in the country cleaning up the environment. Anyone that voted for Bush/Cheney twice should pay double taxes for 10 years.

Back to this business of manipulating climate testimony. Former EPA official Jason K. Burnett recently revealed Cheney's office "was deeply involved" in cutting half of Center for Disease Control and Prevention testimony last fall demonstrating climate change is harmful to people's health, reports ABC News.

According to the CDC, "manmade pollution is warming the Earth" and will both increase the spread of disease and cause injuries from severe weather.

Burnett (a "lifelong Democrat") was told by Cheney's Office to "remove from the testimony any discussion of the human health consequences of climate change."

Shasta home to last growing glaciers in U.S.

Thanks to global warming, almost every glacier in the United States is in retreat. Every glacier, that is, except for the ones on Mt. Shasta in Northern California, reports CNN.

The reason: a warming Pacific Ocean has generated more precipitation at Shasta. The increased snowfall has outpaced glacier losses from a 1.8 degree rise in temps at the mountain. But Shasta is alone. The 498 glaciers and ice fields in the nearby Sierra Nevada Mountains have been slashed by 50 percent over the last century. In fact, all U.S. glaciers have been shrinking.

How much longer can Shasta hold out? It's going to be difficult. The mountain needs an additional 20 percent bump in precipitation to keep up with the next 1.8 degree increase in temperatures.

If the glaciers hold out for another 50 to 75 years, they'll have another, more serious, issue to worry about. Shasta is almost due for an eruption. For the past 4,000 years, Shasta has erupted once every 250 to 300. The most recent eruption was 200 years ago.

Rainforest Would Take 4,000 Years to Grow Back

Even if we stopped wiping out rainforest around the world today, it would take thousands of years for it to grow back to the same level we're capable of wiping out in a matter of hours. This according to a report at New Scientist.

We at Pound360 are depressed.

In Brazil, where once a rainforest stretched for 1.2 million square kilometers along the Atlantic coast, just 100,000 square kilometers remains. If mankind backed off, here's how it would grow back. After 65 years, fruit trees (seeds dispersed by animals) would return. The predators that eat animals that eat fruit would also return. So would sun-loving trees. After 180 years, the shade-loving plants would make their way back in. But we're still not done. The native species unique to the rainforest would take almost 4,000 years to make their way back.

Of course, we think this assumes humans to not intervene, which might speed things along. Either way, Pound360 now sees rainforests as more precious than we did a few minutes ago.

(Image: Rainforest near Manaus, Brazil courtesy Phil P Harris)

Overfishing Has Put Marine Life on 'Junk Food' Diet

Pound360 wonders if our grandchildren will ask, "Where did the saying 'plenty of fish in the sea' come from?" They'll ask since fish in the ocean are destined to be as rare as Big Foot in a forest (or will those be around in a few decades?).

Studying the impact of overfishing and climate change on fish populations, researchers are finding that, as fish stocks are depleted, the surviving species must subsist on a "junk food" diet reports New Scientist. What this means is that, as humans pull out the good stuff, carnivorous fish (like tuna) and birds must find lunch further down the food chain where the menu is more bite-size and lean. While a diet like that might be good for people, it's not for fish.

At the moment, there's plenty of small, low-fat fish like sprat for big fish and birds to feast on. But still, "marine animals eating [this] junk food diet are losing weight." And that's because, "quality of prey is just as important as quantity of prey," one expert told New Scientist.

(Photo courtesy NOAA)

Wait, The Ozone Hole is a Good Thing?

That hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica may be keeping the globe cool according to a couple of recent reports. This according to a recent report at Scientific American.

For decades, chemicals led by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were gouging a hole in the ozone layer above the South Pole. Ozone is important since it blocks some ultraviolet radiation.

Then in 1996 an international ban on CFCs has helped shrink the hole. But if it's sealed, computer models show wind patterns that keep Antarctica cool (the "westerlies") could be altered, and the icy continent could melt more rapidly than it already is.

Scientists also theorize the ozone layer could trap greenhouse gasses and accelerate warming at the South Pole.

Does this mean the hole in the ozone is a good thing? Pound360 thinks higher UV radiation levels are a pretty steep price to pay for a cooler planet.

Pound360 Supports Offshore Drilling If…

Gas prices are a problem. Don't believe it? According to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, 77 percent of Americans say gas prices are causing "financial hardship." That's a record number and it's up 14 points in just the last month. Also, the Department of Energy says gas consumption is down 1.3 percent compared to the same time last year and miles-driven is down for the first time since 1979.

In response, President Bush is asking congress to cut the ban on offshore drilling reports ABC. And, surprisingly, Republican presidential nominee, John McCain supports the idea (that's significant since he backed the ban in 2000 when he ran against Bush for the presidency).

And you know what, Pound360 supports the idea, too. Kind of. Bush and McCain are thinking of this as a short-term solution to high gas prices. And that's cute. But desperately short-sighted. Think bigger, guys. Think like pound360. Read on.

Look, we hate the idea of offshore drilling. But given a couple of caveats, this miserable solution could provide a fantastic answer to our energy woes.

The fact is, we're running out of oil as demand is soaring. Not surprisingly then, experts including Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller and CIBC World Markets economist Jeffrey Rubin, predict oil will reach between $200 and $250 in the next five years. That means gasoline will pass $7 per gallon and "food prices double," reports Bloomberg. That's a crisis. (Note that, above, Pound360 described our current situation as a problem.)

So what do we do? Pound360 says ditch oil and let's find a renewable energy source to run our vehicles and feed our electricity grids. How do we pay for it? That's the hard part, but offshore drilling could be the ticket.

Yes, offshore drilling ruins the scenery, puts beaches at risk for pollution, harms wildlife and so on. But again, times are desperate. Why not allow the drilling, and then sell the gas at a premium? Then take that premium and put it in a fund to fuel the search for a green transportation and electricity solution?

What idiots going to pay MORE for gas in this day and age? Pound360 staffers for starters. Especially when we know the premium is funding a way out of this mess. And totally especially if we get a free sticker we can put on our car saying "We're the idiots buying super-expensive gas to save the planet."

Not only should we sell the new offshore gas at a premium, but take all the taxes normally paid on that gas (at the pump) and throw that into the fund. Also, add a stiff tax to the oil as it's pulled out of the ground, refined and so on.

You ask why any oil company would do that. Good question. But perhaps the question should be, what oil company wouldn't want to be the one awarded the honor of (here's the tagline for this project) "drilling for a green solution?" These guys are raking in record profits (Exxon just set an annual profit record of 40.61 billion in 2007, or $1,300 per second, reported CNN), I think they can afford to loose a few billion on this project.

France Pledges $20 mil. To Protect Madagascar Biodiversity

In what's being referred to a "debt-for-nature swap", France contributed $20 million to protect Madagascar's unique biodiversity. This according to a report at ScienceDaily.

Madagascar is in the midst of raising $50 million to triple its protected lands. But that's difficult in a country where 70 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.

The isolated island-nation is home to a very unique ecosystem. Ninety-eight percent of the countries mammals, 92 percent of the reptiles and 80 percent of the plants can not be found anyplace else on Earth.

The French money comes at a critical time. A recent report, also at ScienceDaily, shows global warming is forcing reptiles to migrate to higher elevations. If the trend continues, some of these species will begin dying off around mid-century.


(Image of baobab trees, which only grown in Madagascar, by Bernard Gagnon)

China 'Cements' Lead in CO2 Emissions

For years, reports have shown China is beating the United States in total CO2 output, but the findings have been controversial. However, a recent study by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency shows Chinese CO2 emissions lead on the United States jumped from seven percent to 14 percent. "Now there is little doubt," reported the NY Times.

What's a dozen-or-so percentage points in the broader scheme of things? The increase in Chinese CO2 last year accounted for 75 percent of the total global increase. So it's pretty significant.

The bad news is that there's no end in site. According to the Times report, China's strongest growth is in industries where CO2 pollution is worst: cement, aluminum and plate glass. And as the country grows, demand for these materials, especially cement, will skyrocket.

Speaking of growth, China only emits 5.1 tons of CO2 per person, compared to 19.4 tons in the United States. If China wants its citizens to have the same lifestyle as Americans, they're simply going to have to spend money on clean energy and the greening of their dirtiest industries.

The good news is that, in 2007, Chinese CO2 emissions only grew eight percent compared to 11 percent growth the previous two years. Could it have something to do with cleaning up their act for the Olympics? Let's hope it's more than that.

The below satellite image (taken in Oct, 2002) shows pollution stretching from Beijing (near the top) to the Yellow River (see sediment plume, lower right).


(Photo courtesy US Government)

Oil Reserves May Be Significantly Underestimated

As you might expect them to, oil companies give conservative estimates on how much oil is available in their oil fields. They do this of course so they can beat expectations. The problem is, people take these estimates as gospel, and that's part of the reason oil prices have been spiraling upwards and pulling prices at the pump up with them, reports New Scientist.

According to industry estimates, we're down to about 1200 billion barrels of oil. But one expert, the former chief executive of the UK Royal Society of Chemistry (and oil industry advisor), believes there may be twice the amount that estimates suggest.

This is a good and a bad thing. It's a good thing because gas prices could come down if we come up with a better way to measure reserves. But it's a bad thing because if there's twice as much oil, that means there's twice as much CO2 for us to pump into the atmosphere.

Palm Oil: 'Worse than Crude'

Indonesia is in a race towards disaster. They're wiping out precious rainforest (and peatland) to make palm oil. It's happening so fast, a Greenpeace rep told NPR, Indonesia is experiencing "the fastest and the worst deforestation rate in the history of humankind."

Of course, biofuel demand is part of the problem, as Pound360 blogged a few months back.

The destruction of rainforests in Indonesia is so severe, it ranks the country third (behind number two China and the champion United States) as the world's biggest producers of greenhouse gas. The problem is also threatening endangered species like orangutans and Sumatran white tigers.

Check out the NPR site to stream the clip, "Worse Than Crude: The Case Against Palm Oil."

Go here to learn more about how today's biofuel mania will choke us (or bake us) to death tomorrow.

(Photo: Marco Schmidt)

'Virtual Water' Calculation Forces Re-Think of Conservation

Sorry people, water conservation is not as simple as turning off the faucet when you brush your teeth. If that's your idea of saving the planet, you're taking on a charging bull with a sling-shot.

You may save a couple gallons by shutting off the faucet when you brush, and you should. But did you know tossing a banana in the trash will cost you 27 gallons of water? An apple is 19. Dumping a cup of coffee down the drain will run the environment 37 gallons. These figures represent the water it takes to create a product, or "virtual water," according to a piece at Discover Magazine.

Understanding the cost in virtual water of products seems the best way to confront the emerging global water crisis (about 5 million people die each year due to dirty water or water shortage).

By 2030, the world needs to increase the water supply by 14 to 17 percent to meet demand. Something you can do is make sure you're using all the food you buy and the coffee you make. At a national level, countries can import water-intensive products from regions that are more water-rich. For example, "Jordan saves 60 to 90 percent of its domestic water supply by importing water-intensive products," reports Discover.

Interesting statistics: Americans use an average 656 thousand virtual gallons of water per year while the global average is 328 thousand. Also, it takes five-to-ten times more water to make a pound of meat than the same amount of wheat.

One of the worst offenders as far as virtual water: leather shoes. It takes about 4,400 gallons of water to make a pair.

China Takes Hard Stance on Plastic Bags

One of the advantages of a centralized government is decisive action when a serious problem comes up. Take plastic bags, for example. They're costly in terms of petroleum. They pile up on sidewalks and parks. They're a menace. Here in the US, the Federal government hasn't done anything Pound360 is aware of to confront the problem. Some cities, like San Francisco have banned them. But entire countries like Ireland and Bangladesh have already done so. And this week, Scientific American reports China will follow suit. What is the US waiting for?

In China, they crank through 3 billion plastic bags a day. That adds up to 37 million barrels of oil each year. Calling this a "great waste of natural resources," China will ban the manufacture of plastic bags starting in June. Also, it will be illegal for shopkeepers to give away plastic bags for free. So it's not an outright ban, but a great first step. And more than the US government is willing to do.

Sorry folks, there are some solutions the market will simply not come up with. That's the problem with capitalism. We only conserve when it saves us money. We only care about the environment as long as gas is around $4 per gallon.

Wind Power May Slash C02 Output 35% in 12 Years

According to a government study, wind could provide up to 20 percent of US power by 2030, reports Wired. This would cut CO2 output in this country by 35 percent (since it replaces coal burning and natural gas) and water consumption by 4 trillion gallons.

It won't be free. The Department of Energy study projects costs at $6 per person to build new wind turbines and the infrastructure needed to make this work.

The problem with wind is its inconsistency. According to Wired, "four gigawatts of wind power isn't the same as four gigawatts of coal because the wind isn't always blowing, reducing average watt ouput."

A New Crisis Looms, This One's Pretty Dirty

You're probably sick of hearing about all the crises plaguing the earth right now. There's an energy crisis, pollution crisis, food crisis and so on. Well, there's a new one to check out. This one's pretty dirty. In fact, it's dirt itself. Dirt crisis? Seriously.

The food crisis. You know about that. It's pretty bad. Here it is, 2008, (almost) forty years after man landed on the moon, eighty years after the invention (er, mass-marketing) of sliced bread and 120 years since the light bulb was invented and people are still rioting, dying in fights over food. Part of the problem is the soil we grow crops in, reports MSNBC.

It seems the high-yield super-crops science has given us are so powerful they're sucking soil dry of all their nutrients. It's bad enough that in parts of Africa crop yields are being slashed from a potential of 9,000 pounds per acre to an actual harvest of just 500 pounds. According to a World Resources Institute study, about 20 percent of the world's cropland is affected by soil degradation. It's bad enough that, according to the study, "poor quality has cut [crop] production by about one-sixth."

Fertilizing fields is one answer. But we at Pound360 wonder how sustainable that is.

Pine Beetle Joins Humans in Warming the Globe

Human beings aren't the only species working towards a hotter planet, the recent pine beetle infestation that's devastating North American forests are a big contributor as well. This according to a report at the Independent UK.

Trees absorb carbon from the atmosphere and store it, simply put, as wood. But when something comes along and kills trees (in this case, pine beetles), that carbon is released back into the atmosphere as the trees decompose, or worse, as they burn in forest fires.

Humans aren't off the hook. Blame milder winters, driven by manmade climate change, for the severity of our pine beetle problem here. Milder winters mean bigger pine beetle populations.

This is what scientist mean when they talk about the snowball-effect in global warming. Once the first domino tips, they keep falling, and falling.

According to the Telegraph article, 7.5 percent of Canada's carbon emissions are caused by the pine beetle disaster. Over the next 12 years, this problem will send 990 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Speaking of snowball-effect, the Independent added that, as oceans warm, they are less capable of absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere. Oceans absorb about a quarter of the CO2 we humans crank out each year.

Energy Crunch: Algae May be the Answer

On a recent edition of Australia's Science Show, they looked at how researchers are working on a cost-effective way to squeeze hydrogen out of algae. In massive quantities, this process can power entire cities.

Here's how it works.

Typically when plants convert sunlight into energy, they release oxygen. Basically, they use the sun's radiation to split water (H2O or hydrogen dioxide) into its elemental pieces hydrogen and oxygen. Normally, plants combines the hydrogen with CO2 (a greenhouse gas) to create the energy they need to survive.

Now, if you deplete algae of sulfur, they modify this process so instead of combining hydrogen with CO2, they combine oxygen with CO2 to get the energy they need. In that case, Hydrogen is the byproduct.

This is a win-win since the algae pulls CO2 out of the atmosphere and it also creates a renewable energy source.

Algae can be cultivated in "square box-type bio-reactors" anyplace they fit (for example, on non-arable land so it doesn’t interfere with the food supply). These bio-reactors are big, up to a square kilometer each. And it would take 33 of them to power the city of Queensland (population 4.2 million) for a year.

Here's the problem.

Currently the conversion efficiency of the algae-hydrogen process is just 1 percent (in other words, one percent of the sun's energy gets converted into hydrogen). If this is going to be a commercially viable process, the efficiency level needs to reach 7 percent.

Low Levels of Ocean Oxygen Threatens Marine Life

As the globe warms, so do the oceans. Unfortunately, warmer water holds less oxygen. That's bad for marine life. According to a New Scientist report, the drop in ocean oxygen "could massively deplete marine life and fish stocks."

The alarm was triggered this week following a German study that showed oxygen depletion was affecting deep ocean waters. Their findings were based on data stretching back to the 1960s.

It's tough to be a fish these days. As if oxygen depletion weren't bad enough. People are doing a pretty good job of wiping them out. Last November, the Washington Post reported on an international study that predicted if our current fishing practices continue, "the world will run out of seafood by 2048."

Study Shows Thunderstorm Activity Highest at Mid-Week

It sounds like an old wives' tale, but it's true: rain and thunderstorms are "bigger, more intense, and more frequent in the middle of the week than on weekends."

The answer? Pollution of course. According to Environmental Protection Agency numbers, "particulate emissions peak in the middle of the workweek." More particles in the air mean more stuff for moisture to coalesce upon, thus more rain.