And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
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ATMOSPHERIC OXYGEN LEVELS FALLING
SYDNEY, Australia, July 19, 1999 (ENS) - As levels of the greenhouse gas
carbon dioxide rise, concentrations of oxygen in our air have fallen,
according to scientists at the Australian government research organisation,
CSIRO, the Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation.
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 1999
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jul99/1999L-07-19-02.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HEALING OUR WORLD: WEEKLY COMMENTARY
By Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D.
WHAT IS THE TRUE COST OF LIVING?
Environmental protection laws in the U.S., and most of the world, attempt
to control only the release of potentially toxic chemicals into the earth,
air and water. Virtually no efforts are made to control the daily contact
that people have with pollutants. As a result, most environmental toxicity
standards have created a false sense of security in the population.
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 1999
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jul99/1999L-07-19g.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: JULY 19, 1999
Wildfires Consume Alaskan Wilderness
Warming Oceans Lead to Disease Epidemics
Recycling is Important Part of U.S. Metal Supply
San Francisco Bay Dredging Will Help Restore Wetlands
Plague Found in Colorado Prairie Dogs
Fifth Wildlife Reserve Formed at Nuclear Site
Nuclear Plants Must Assess Maintenance Risks
Ad Campaign Promotes Non-Endangered Alaskan Salmon
Congressman George Brown, Environmental Advocate, Dies
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 1999
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jul99/1999L-07-19-09.html
~~~~~EXCERPTS
WILDFIRES CONSUME ALASKAN WILDERNESS
More than 600,000 acres in Alaska have caught fire in recent weeks, the
National Interagency Fire Center reports. The largest of the wildfires,
about 100,000 acres on Bureau of Land Management Land in the upper Yukon,
has been burning since mid-July. The fire, called the Kink fire, is thought
to have been started by a lightening strike. No danger to humans has been
reported, but the fire is threatening several remote cabins near the town
of Chicken. Firefighters have constructed an earthen dike around the small
town. Another of the large fires is the Marshall Creek blaze, which has
burned about 20,000 acres.<<
~~~~~~~~~~~
WARMING OCEANS LEAD TO DISEASE EPIDEMICS
A U.S. team of infectious disease and earth scientists has
found a link between
ocean warming and outbreaks of disease in East Africa. As
reported in the June
16 issue of the journal "Science," rising ocean temperatures
increase rain and
vegetation, allowing disease carrying mosquitoes to
flourish. The study suggests
health officials could predict epidemics of Rift Valley
fever up to five months in
advance by tracking rainfall and ocean conditions. The team
looked at every Rift
Valley fever virus outbreak in the Rift Valley between 1950
and May 1998 and
found correlations between rainfall and sea surface
temperature that could predict
the outbreaks.<<
~~~~~~~~
RECYCLING IS IMPORTANT PART OF METAL SUPPLY
Recycling of metals is and will remain a strong component of
a sustainable metal
supply in the United States, the U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS) says. The agency
studied U.S. market trends for eight recycled metals -
aluminum, cobalt, copper,
iron and steel, lead, nickel, tin, and tungsten. "Lead,
steel, titanium, aluminum, and
copper had the highest recycling rates. In steel,
scrap-based electric arc furnaces
have captured a major portion of steelmaking capacity -
about 45% in 1998," says
USGS scientists Michael McKinley.<<
~~~~~~~~~
SAN FRANCISCO BAY DREDGING WILL HELP RESTORE WETLANDS
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental
Protection
Agency (EPA) signed an agreement Friday that will decrease
disposal of dredged
sediment in California’s San Francisco Bay by more than 75
percent from 1990
levels. The agreement creates a 50 year management strategy
for dredged
materials that will quadruple the amount of material reused
in wetlands restoration
projects. The "Long Term Management Strategy" emphasizes
reuse of material
dredged from the Bay's shipping lanes and harbors, and
decreased disposal of
such materials in the Bay. All dredged material will be
evaluated for pollutants, and
then transported to an approved location.<<
~~~~~~~~~~
PLAGUE FOUND IN COLORADO PRAIRIE DOGS
Bubonic plague has been confirmed in fleas from an infected
prairie dog colony
near Boulder, Colorado. The disease has killed most of the
prairie dogs in the
colony, which is located about 100 yards from the popular
Flatiron Vista trail
head. Health officials are warning visitors to use
precautions to avoid flea bites,
and avoid taking pets to the area. Bubonic plague is spread
through the bite of
fleas infected with the bacteria. Prairie dogs and other
rodents such as deer mice
and rock squirrels are common carriers for the disease in
Colorado. Plague
symptoms occur about two to six days after infection, and
include fever and
chills, headache, muscle aches and nausea. The disease can
be fatal if left
untreated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FIFTH WILDLIFE RESERVE FORMED AT NUCLEAR SITE
Energy Secretary Bill Richardson dedicated a 73,000 acre
wildlife reserve at
the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory
(INEEL) on
Saturday. The INEEL Sagebrush Steppe Ecosystem Reserve
formed part of the
buffer area around the site, which stores high level nuclear
waste and spent
nuclear fuel. More than 400 species of native grasses and
wildflowers and more
than 270 animal species inhabit the reserve, which forms
about 12 percent of
INEEL’s total land. The reserve area is currently open for
grazing and limited
hunting. The Bureau of Land Management will be responsible
for the reserve,
though INEEL will retain ownership.<<
~~~~~~~~~~~
NUCLEAR PLANTS MUST ASSESS MAINTENANCE RISKS
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will require all
nuclear power plants
to assess increased risks that may arise from maintenance
work before the work
is performed the agency announced Friday. The NRC’s current
policy says the
plants "should" assess the risks and manage for them, but
does not require them
to do so. NRC became concerned about a trend in the nuclear
power industry to
take key equipment out of service for maintenance while a
plant is operating,
without a thorough risk evaluation.<<
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AD CAMPAIGN PROMOTES NON-ENDANGERED ALASKAN SALMON
The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute has launched a
$250,000 public relations
campaign to assure consumers that the salmon they buy from
Alaska are not
endangered. The Institute commissioned a study on consumer
attitudes toward
salmon, and found that many consumers confuse Alaskan salmon
with
endangered salmon runs from Oregon and Washington. No
Alaskan salmon
stocks are currently listed as threatened or endangered, or
proposed for listing.
Alaska produces 95 percent of the wild salmon in the United
States. According to
the campaign, "Alaska has only three dams in the entire
state and more than
15,000 salmon streams; and Alaska's seafood industry, much
of it operated by
owners of small boats, is the state's largest private
employer." <<
~~~~~~~~~~~
CONGRESSMAN GEORGE BROWN, ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATE,
DIES
Representative George Brown, a California Democrat and an
early advocate of
environmental issues, died July 15 at the age of 79. Brown,
the oldest U.S.
Representative, fought for the creation of the U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency in 1970. During his 18 terms in office, Brown worked
to reduce the use
of ozone destroying chemicals, championed environmental
justice issues and
introduced the nation’s first bill to ban lead in gasoline.
He advocated renewable
energy sources, including solar power. The last bill Brown
introduced before his
death was the Sequoia Protection Act to ban commercial
logging and mining in
parts of Sequoia National Forest.<<
Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
doctrine of international copyright law.
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
UPDATES: CAMP JUSTICE
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