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Among Climate
Scientists, a Dispute Over ‘Tipping Points’
by Andrew C. Revkin, New York Times
The language was apocalyptic. Last
month, a leading climate scientist warned that Earth’s rising
temperatures were poised to set off irreversible disasters if steps
were not taken quickly to stop global warming.
“The climate is nearing tipping points,” the NASA climate scientist
James E. Hansen wrote in The Observer newspaper of London. “If we do
not change course, we’ll hand our children a situation that is out
of their control.”
The resulting calamities, Dr. Hansen and other like-minded
scientists have warned, could be widespread and overwhelming: the
loss of untold species as ocean reefs and forests are disrupted; the
transformation of the Amazon into parched savanna; a dangerous rise
in sea levels resulting from the melting of the mile-high ice sheets
in West Antarctica and Greenland; and the thawing of the Arctic
tundra, which would release torrents of the greenhouse gas methane
into the atmosphere...
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Arrest Following
Naantali Oil Spill
YLE.fi
Police have detained a ship’s captain
on suspicion of dumping oil near Naantali, south-west Finland on
Sunday evening. The large amount of oil has spread out over a wide
area of the local archipelago but the effects will not be as bad as
feared, say experts.
Initial interrogations have ascertained the light fuel oil was
discharged from the ship in Naantali harbour and in the nearby
Airisto Strait. The captain of the offending vessel has denied the
discharge of oil, police investigators in Turku say. Police have not
revealed the nationality of the vessel.
Witnesses have also been interviewed in the initial investigation
being carried out in collaboration with coast guards and other
officials...
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Fish Oils Reduce
Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Flatulent Cows
Science Daily
These last two benefits may only apply
to cows but lowering emissions is important for the environment, as
methane given off by farm animals is a major contribution to
greenhouse gas levels. Researchers from University College Dublin
reported that by including 2% fish oil in the diet of cattle, they
achieved a reduction in the amount of methane released by the
animals.
Speaking at the Society for General Microbiology meeting in
Harrogate March 30, Dr Lorraine Lillis, one of the researchers,
said, "The fish oil affects the methane-producing bacteria in the
rumen part of the cow's gut, leading to reduced emissions.
Understanding which microbial species are particularly influenced by
changes in diet and relating them to methane production could bring
about a more targeted approach to reducing methane emissions in
animals..."
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DeForestation:
Modern-Day Plague
National Geographic News
Deforestation is clearing Earth's
forests on a massive scale, often resulting in damage to the quality
of the land. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the world’s
land area, but swaths the size of Panama are lost each and every
year.
The world’s rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred years
at the current rate of deforestation.
Forests are cut down for many reasons, but most of them are related
to money or to people’s need to provide for their families.The
biggest driver of deforestation is agriculture. Farmers cut forests
to provide more room for planting crops or grazing livestock. Often
many small farmers will each clear a few acres to feed their
families by cutting down trees and burning them in a process known
as “slash and burn” agriculture...
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