Tuesday, Nov 04th
Last update08:24:43 AM GMT
Environmental Glance
The nuclear fuel in three of the reactors at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant has melted through the base of the pressure vessels and is pooling in the outer containment vessels, according to a report by the Japanese government.
The radiation will also have contaminated the soil and plant and animal life around the facility, making the task of cleaning up more difficult and expensive, as well as taking longer.
The federal government usurped power over navigable water in the early 1800's by distorting the Commerce Clause listed in the Enumerated Powers (Article1, Section 8) of the Constitution, which says:
"To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;"
The Commerce Clause has been stretched far beyond federal regulations over trade transactions and taxes; it now extends to federal authority over the means of commerce (trucks, roads, telephones, etc) and almost anything that crosses state lines (industry, fish, pollution, etc). This is an illogical abuse of the Constitution, but it fits the plan for centralized control.
Environmentalists say ships traveling through California's marine sanctuaries should be required to slow down to avoid fatal collisions with whales.
Saying the problem has increased to "unsustainable levels," a coalition of environmental groups filed a petition Monday asking the U.S. Department of Commerce to establish a 10-knot limit for large commercial vessels transiting California's four National Marine Sanctuaries in the Channel Islands, Monterey Bay, Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Already under fire over perceived threats to local water sources, the natural gas industry is facing a new challenge: earthquakes.
A small energy company halted its shale gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing program in Britain after two mild earthquakes were recorded in the vicinity, an area where such tremors are rare.
Now, the controversial drilling activity is being linked to earthquakes – first in Arkansas, where companies are developing the prolific Fayetteville play, and now at Britain’s first shale gas exploration site, near Blackpool in northwest England.
Japanese playwright Oriza Hirata, who serves as a special adviser to the Cabinet, claimed in a recent lecture given in Seoul that the dumping of low-level radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean followed a "strong request" from the United States, a person who attended the lecture said Wednesday.
Hirata's remarks, made Tuesday, that the release was not carried out based on Tokyo's independent judgment but rather on a request from Washington is likely to ignite a debate.
"This study shows that the presence of an active mobile phone disturbs bees -- and has a dramatic effect," Favre told the Daily Mail.
Favre believes this to be evidence of something other scientists have suggested: Signals from mobile phones are contributing to the decline of honeybees. Favre thinks more research could help confirm the link between cell signals and "colony collapse disorder" -- the sudden disappearance of entire colonies over winter -- which has halved the bee population, according to some estimates.
A report released Thursday by a National Research Council committee cites "the pressing need for substantial action to limit the magnitude of climate change and to prepare to adapt to its impacts."
Since the effects of greenhouse gases can take decades to come about, and then persist for hundreds or even thousands of years, waiting for impacts to occur before taking action will likely be too late for meaningful mitigation, according to the report.
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