ETHANOL: Producers' financial health going 'from bad to worse' By Allison WinterOctober 24, 2008; Greenwire, E&E Publishing http://www.eenews.net/gw/ U.S. ethanol companies are struggling financially, with their stock prices nosediving, cash reserves dwindling and bad bets on pricey corn contracts coming due as fuel prices decline. "When you look at it from a firm-specific standpoint then [...]
Coastal Dead Zones May Benefit Some Species, Scientist FindsOctober 14, 2008; Science Dailyhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081014134025.htmCoastal dead zones, an increasing concern to ecologists, the fishing industry and the public, may not be as devoid of life after all. A Brown scientist has found that dead zones do indeed support marine life, and that at least one commercially valuable [...]
Beneficial effects of Ike on dead zone dwindling By Amy WoldOctober 8, 2008; 2theadvocate.comhttp://www.2theadvocate.com/news/30608169.html?index=1&c=ySometimes, hurricanes can do good. Hurricanes that roll through the Gulf of Mexico can raise oxygen levels in the “dead zone,” even if only temporarily helping the oxygen-starved areas.But as soon as the waters calm down, the oxygen levels go down, said [...]
Human culture creating water's dead zones By Jack Mahoney10/01/2008; Kennebec Journal; Maine It is estimated that 70 percent of the earth's surface is covered by water. Algae grow in both fresh and salt water. They are basic to the food chain of living organisms. They release vast amounts of oxygen through photosynthesis, which is necessary [...]
Hurricane Ike further damages Texas' fragile coastal ecosystem By Randy Lee LoftisSeptember 17, 2008; The Dallas Morning Newshttp://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/greenliving/stories/091708dntexikeeco.19d2dc7.html Hurricane Ike caused massive damage to Texas' coastal ecosystem that could take a generation to heal. It was a violent dose of nature to a coast already hammered by decades of pollution, population growth and habitat loss. [...]
Tainted waters By Rona CobellSeptember 28,2008; Baltimoresun.comhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.rivers28sep28,0,1300510.story Despite a generation of efforts to clean up the Chesapeake, development and farming along Maryland's rivers still foul the bay BENEDICT - First of two partsWalter Boynton knows all there is to know about the Patuxent River - how to find its guts and marshes, where it shifts [...]
Ocean "dead zones" spread, fish more at risk: study By Alister Doyle, Environment CorrespondentSeptember 29, 2008; Reuters UKhttp://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKTRE48S8FS20080929 OSLO (Reuters) - The number of polluted "dead zones" in the world's oceans is rising fast and coastal fish stocks are more vulnerable to collapse than previously feared, scientists said on Monday. The spread of "dead zones" [...]
Critics ask why state failed to warn about toxic algae By Perry BeemanSeptember 26, 2008; DesMoinesRegister.comhttp://search.desmoinesregister.com/sp?skin=100&aff=1117&keywords=Critics%20ask%20why%20state%20failed%20to%20warn%20about%20toxic%20algae An outbreak of toxic blue-green algae that threatened the health of Black Hawk Lake swimmers and Des Moines' drinking water 150 miles downstream drew little action from state environmental investigators, critics charged this week.The algae, or cyanobacteria, can cause [...]
World's oceans could become "soupy swill" By Elaine O'ConnorSeptember 13, 2008; The Province, Vancouver, BC http://www.canada.com/theprovince/story.html?id=4afe0ae4-f3aa-430e-93b3-3d07594802b3B.C. not immune to algae bloom outbreaks Saltspring Island resident Sally Cole got home from a sailing trip in August looking forward to a hot shower. But when she turned on her taps, all she got was slime. "It was [...]
Dead zone now smaller after Gustav By Justin FritscherSeptember 12, 2008; Jackson Gannet.com Hurricane Gustav decreased the size the dead zone, an area of oxygen-depleted water off the Louisiana coast that lacks marine life, a scientist said Friday. But it’s unclear by how much.When a large storm moves through a dead zone, it re-aerates the [...]