Lake Vostok: Curiosity Versus Preservation

March 18, 2010
 | by victoria
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Two miles beneath the Antarctic ice (two miles!) is a pristine, quiet place where life we have never seen could be living, dying, procreating, and evolving– untouched by human or outside world influence for perhaps 25 million years. lake_vostok_nsf_h

The place is Lake Vostok, and with the same surface area as Lake Ontario (but with three times the depth), it is one of the largest freshwater lakes on the planet.  The water temperature is believed to be 3 degrees below zero Celsius. Scientists are betting on the existance of subglacial life in the sunless and ice-encased world solely because of the heat provided from geothermal heat radiating from the earth below, much in the way sulfur vents at the ocean bottom are places of surprising biodiversity.

The paradox created over the past two decades, since the time of the lake’s discovery by a team of Russian drillers, is clear: Do we sacrifice part of our planet in order to learn about our, or another, planet?

The dominant justification for drilling into Lake …

Link Sunday

March 14, 2010
 | by victoria
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A download of our favorite stories and links from the past week. Enjoy!

National Geographic: Only one will survive

National Geographic: Only one will survive

1. From Scraps to Seedlings explores how to use eggshells, cardboard, and other household waste to grow vegetables. Hooray for reuse! And cool photos.

2. The Double-Edged Sword of Incentives for renewables, an excellent look at what is needed to really help the renewables industry grow (and what would be well-intentioned but could lead to collapse.)

3. Ok, it’s not hard news, but this video of a golden retriever in a small boat watching orcas swim mere feet away is a GreenPress editor’s favorite. Give it a shot! Some cute on a Sunday never hurt anyone.

4. Climate Change in the Classroom– just when we thought the battle about teaching evolution was all we had to face, now schools in some US states are questioning even presenting this topic.

5. Your taco– deconstructed! Hint: it’s not really local food, even if it …

The Dalai Lama on Environmental Protection

March 13, 2010
 | by Brian Kahn
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On his Facebook page (I didn’t know he had one either!), the Dalai Lama has issued a warning about environmental degradation.  The post is a bit rambling (even the Dalai Lama can be a little over the top sometimes), but it does contain some sensible advice for our next steps forward on this planet.  In it he says

Today, however, we have access to more information, and it is essential that we re-examine ethically what we have inherited, what we are responsible for, and what we will pass on to coming generations. Clearly this is a pivotal generation.

I couldn’t agree more.  We’ve seen pollution ramp up even as we gain more knowledge about its harmful effects on the environment and ourselves.  I hope you take a minute to think about the Dalai Lama’s words and think about what you can do.  Whether it be writing a blog here at GreenPress, working or volunteering with a great organization, or doing good work on your own, there are a million things we can do to make the …

New Heinz Ketchup Packets Bad for the Environment?

March 12, 2010
 | by Cynthia
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New dip of squeeze Heinz ketchup packet

New dip or squeeze Heinz ketchup packet

Few products symbolize the USA as much as Coke and Heniz Ketchup. The latter is about the make a big change. We have all, at one point or another, made use of a single serve packet of Heinz ketchup.  You know them, the white rectangular packets with little Heinz ketchup bottles printed on them. In my case, they are nearly impossible to use without spraying ketchup all over myself, but I digress. Those little ketchup packets are about to change. Heinz has redesigned their packaging to allow ketchup user the choice to either dip their fries (that will solve my ketchup spraying problem!) in ketchup or use the old fashion squeeze technique.

The new ketchup packets will contain three times as much ketchup as the old ones which could prove to be somewhat beneficial for the environment. But as Nick Aster on Triple Pundit argued:

What a great opportunity to do more! Since the

…

Earthquakes=Volcanic Eruptions?

March 10, 2010
 | by Brian Kahn
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A New Day Dawns for Volcanic Activity in Chile?

A New Day Dawns for Volcanic Activity in Chile?

You know that phrase (and great Phish song) “birds of a feather flock together?”  There’s some evidence that earthquakes and volcanism might very well be birds of a feather, which doesn’t bode well for Chile.

Most of you probably know that areas with volcanic activity also tend to have volcanic activity.  Check out Yellowstone’s swarm of earthquakes in late January and early February. and you’ll get a sense of what I’m talking about.  It makes sense: volcanoes have a reservoir of magma under the Earth that forms in part because of the scraping of rocks off of tectonic plates.  Most earthquakes happen because of jolts in tectonic plates, along their boundaries.

Knowing that there’s this relationship is one thing.  Being able to predict volcanic eruptions from it is another.  However, scientists have noted that within the timeframe of a year following a significant earthquake, volcanic eruptions are much more likely within a 500 kilometer radius. …

Climate Change in the Classroom

March 10, 2010
 | by Cynthia
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When I was in high school, climate change was still a relatively new concept. I had heard of the term climate change, or global warming as it was more commonly known back then, but I didn’t really have any idea what it meant. It wasn’t until my first year of university, in a physical geography class, that I first learned what climate change was and the mechanisms that drove it.  Now that climate change is better understood and more widely accepted, despite recent backlash, the question of teaching climate change in schools across the US has become hotly debated.

Teaching climate change to students

Teaching climate change to students

Deniers of climate change aren’t necessarily saying that climate change should not be in the curriculum, but they are stating that both dissenting views on climate change should be taught in school. Perhaps not surprisingly, many of the deniers are among those who petition for both evolution and creationism to be part of curriculum. There is clearly a link between …

Alaska tourism boycott?

March 9, 2010
 | by victoria
1 Comment

Animal rights groups are calling for a tourism boycott of Alaska after a decision made this week by the Alaska Board of Game to eliminate a “buffer zone” around Denali National Park that would open the area for wolf trapping and hunting.

Worth more alive

Worth more alive

This decision came at the shock and dismay of many, given that it contradicts the recommendation by the superintendent of Denali to not only keep– but to expand– a buffer zone set up to protect the species.

Denali’s wolf population is at it’s lowest point in 23 years, with only about 70 wolves remaining in the  six million acre park.

In adopting the proposal, the board also decided to put a moratorium on any changes for six years.

Alaska politicians, including ex-Gov. Sarah Palin, have sponsored aerial wolf hunts on state-owned lands, with the goal of increasing populations of moose and caribou for sport and subsistence hunters.

Conservation and tourism groups have called this decision “a slap in the face”, citing that thousands of tourists travel …

Link Sunday

March 7, 2010
 | by victoria
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A download of our favorite stories and links from the past week…

1. AB32, California’s landmark 2006 Clean Air Act, faces repeal challenge now backed by big oil– from Texas

2. Compost pile mushroom farming, made to look easy enough and with tasty results

3. Think your lawn is safe? Common pesticide shown to chemically castrate frogs. What’s it doing to you, your water, or your pets?

4. From-the-thick-of-it blogging from this past week’s International Whaling Commission meeting, from American Cetacean Society

5. Venezuelan town once buried by water from dam suddenly reappears due to water crisis

6. Ever wonder what it’s like to live a life less plastic? Check out these blogs for inspiration and tips.

Ship kills 70-ft blue whale

March 7, 2010
 | by victoria
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Controversy and a huge clean-up task occurred yesterday at Fort Bragg, California, in Mendocino County,  when a 70 foot blue whale washed ashore, dead from having been struck by a ship doing research for the Marine Life Protection Act.

Tragedy in Mendocino

Tragedy in Mendocino

The MLPA is an important effort between the federally-funded agency NOAA and conservation nonprofits to map out areas of the ocean to be reserved for special protection. Clearly (though what a horrible way to learn), this area near Fort Bragg is a hub for the threatened blue whale– and deserves protection, despite the tragic irony.

A video is here, with close-ups showing how fatal the damage to the blue whale, incidentally the largest species to likely have ever existed, was clearly inflicted by ship propellers.

NOAA had issued the ship to conduct surveys not several hours before the fatal collision.

And before you think that it’s just science vessels that are the cause of marine mammal demise, bear in mind that large cargo ships are often deadly …

AB32 repeal update: Texas oil companies throw money behind overturning clean air

March 5, 2010
 | by victoria
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A few weeks ago I posted about the attempts large polluters and several politicians are taking to repeal California’s landmark AB32 anti-air pollution act by disguising their repeal as a “California Jobs Act”.

Not in our best interests

Not in our best interests

This is a pretty big deal. If AB32 is repealed (or suspended until the CA jobless rate hits a rate it only has once or twice in 30 years, so basically, a permanent suspension) then the state’s largest industries will have free reign to spew whatever they want in whatever quantities out of their factory smokestacks.

California voters already said that they think that air quality control and jobs can coexist. My article a few weeks ago cited numerous sources who assure us that the fix to California’s economy isn’t to pollute more.

In case you have lingering delusion that this “California Jobs Act” is a pure-hearted attempt not backed by large polluters who will probably take their money out of the state, check out this headline and story …

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