Bio-tech genes spread for miles

A new study shows that genes from genetically engineered grass can spread much farther than previously known, a finding that raises questions about the straying of other plants altered through biotechnology and that could hurt the efforts of two companies to win approval for the first bioengineered grass. The two companies, Monsanto and Scotts, have developed a strain of creeping bentgrass for use on golf courses that is resistant to the widely used herbicide Roundup, which is made by Monsanto.

In the new study, scientists with the EPA found that the genetically engineered bentgrass pollinated test plants of the same species as far away as they measured -- about 13 miles downwind from a test farm in Oregon.

Critics worry that the grass could spread to areas where it is not wanted or transfer its herbicide resistance to weedy relatives, creating superweeds that would be immune to the most widely used weed killer.

“The gene really is essentially going to get out,” said Norman C. Ellstrand, an expert on this subject at the University of California, Riverside. “What this study shows is it’s going to get out a lot faster and a lot further than people anticipated,” he added. (New York Times)

Oceanic noise pollution kills marine life

The world’s oceans are now so saturated with noise that whales and other marine mammals are dying, biologists say. The UK’s Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) is launching a campaign, Oceans of Noise, to tackle what it says is the increasing problem of noise pollution.

The group says key sources of undersea noise are the search for oil and gas, and the use of low-frequency military sonars. Also, there is evidence that noise is causing hearing loss in cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises), injuring them and causing them to strand themselves, and is sometimes killing them. It also believes excessive noise is seriously interfering with cetaceans’ ability to communicate with each other.

The WDCS action plan includes a proposal for an international treaty to regulate marine noise pollution, and for an independent body to undertake research. (BBC New Online)

EPA wording found to mirror industry’s

For the third time, environmental advocates have discovered passages in the Bush administration’s proposal for regulating mercury pollution from power plants that mirror almost word for word portions of memos written by a law firm representing coal-fired power plants.

The passages state that the EPA is not required to regulate other hazardous toxins emitted by power plants, such as lead and arsenic. Several attorney generals, as well as some environmental groups, have argued that the Clean Air Act compels the EPA to regulate these emissions as well as mercury.

The revelations concerning language written by Latham & Watkins could broaden an ongoing probe by the EPA’s inspector general into whether the industry had an undue influence on the agency’s proposed mercury rule, legislative critics of the proposed rule said.

“The Bush administration continues to let industry write the rules on pollution, and this is just one more example of how they abuse the public trust,” said. Sen. James M. Jeffords (I-Vt.), ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. (Washington Post)

Two-thirds of Caribbean reefs threatened

Most of the Caribbean’s famed coral reefs, which besides their natural beauty also provide crucial protection from hurricanes and contribute billions to the region’s economy, are jeopardized by pollution and overfishing, a new report warns.

Using a “threat index,” researchers from the World Resources Institute (WRI) found that about one-tenth of Caribbean coral reefs now face “very high” levels of risk, including the Eastern Caribbean, most of the Southern Caribbean, the Greater Antilles, the Florida Keys and the Yucatan peninsula.

“There are many different layers of pressure, particularly in the Caribbean, in addition to the over-arching threats of rising ocean temperatures and coral bleaching from disease,” Lauretta Burke, the lead author of the report, told IPS.

The WRI report, titled “Reefs at Risk,” was written in collaboration with more than 20 organizations operating in the region. It is the first complete assessment of the state of Caribbean reefs, and the specific mapping of problem areas will provide an important tool for local authorities in setting priorities for conservation and natural resource management, Burke said. (IPS)

E-waste as new toxic trade

Britain is throwing out more than 1million tons of electronic “e-waste” such as broken computer monitors and discarded mobile phones every year, and new government figures show that more than ever is going abroad. Last year, 23,000 tons of IT and electronic equipment was shipped out illegally, mostly to China, west Africa, Pakistan and India to be dismantled by hand for its lead and other valuable toxic contents.

The government’s pollution watchdog, the Environment Agency, says the e-waste exports are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The agency admits it has no idea how much of the waste is being deliberately dumped on poor countries by companies trying to avoid paying increasingly high disposal costs in the UK, and how much is only technically illegal because companies have filled in the forms incorrectly. (The Guardian)

Tundra thaw could accelerate climate change

Dramatic results made public Sept. 23 from a unique 20-year US experiment are raising the specter of runaway warming above the Arctic tundra that would accelerate global climate change.

The problem arises because US researchers discovered climate warming might trigger conditions where tundra decomposition will dump carbon dioxide, the leading greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere faster than it’s soaked up by accelerated plant growth.

This extra carbon dioxide could trigger a “positive feedback,” speeding up the rate of global warming even more, warns a study published Sept. 23 in “Nature,” the influential British research journal. If all the carbon currently stored as peat, moss and other ancient vegetation in the top yard of tundra decomposed, that would boost global atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide by roughly 25 percent, says Paul Grogan, a Queen’s University expert in northern ecosystems. (The Toronto Star)

China sets its first fuel-economy rules

Brushing aside concerns from the auto industry, the Chinese government has set fuel-economy standards on new cars, sport utility vehicles and vans for the first time, people with copies of the new rules said on Sept. 22.

The regulations represent a broad effort by Beijing to address its soaring dependence on imported oil, a dependence that has helped lift oil prices around the world as producers have struggled to keep pace with rising demand.

The rules set gas mileage requirements for cars, SUV’s and mini-vans based on their weight. The Chinese standards for the first phase are similar to the averages for most cars now in the United States, with some improvements mandated for the second phase; the Chinese standards for mini-vans and SUV’s are more stringent for the first phase and much more stringent for the second phase than what such vehicles now achieve in the US. (New York Times)

Russia takes first step in joining Kyoto treaty

Key ministries of the Russian government on Sept. 23 began the process of ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, signaling that President Vladimir Putin was preparing to put the landmark global warming treaty to a vote in parliament. It would be the first step toward allowing Russia to join the 1997 accord.

The Natural Resources Ministry approved the documents Sept. 23, but the Economic Development and Trade Ministry called for more study of the economic consequences, indicating that a fight was possible before ratification could occur. Still, environmental activists said they hoped the issue could be presented to parliament within the next several weeks.

Russia’s participation is a crucial step toward implementation of the protocol, which requires participating industrialized countries to cut their emissions of “greenhouse gases,” blamed for what many scientists think could be a precipitous change in global climate.

The protocol, which cannot take effect unless Russia signs it, aims to reduce greenhouse gases to 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. (Los Angeles Times)

Acid rain pollution increasing

Emissions of sulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain, rose 4 percent in 2003, but probably will not compromise long-term air quality goals, the government reported Sept. 22. Coal-fired power plants were the main source of the 10.6 million tons of sulfur dioxide. That total compared with 10.2 million tons in 2002 and reverted to the level from 2001.

Nonetheless, pollution from sulfur dioxide has dropped significantly over the past two decades, from 17.3 million tons in 1980 to 11.2 million tons in 2000, the year before President Bush took office. The total is within striking distance of lawmakers’ goal of cutting such emissions to 8.95 million tons by 2010 -- about half of the amount from 1980. (AP)

Antarctic glaciers melting faster

Glaciers once held up by a floating ice shelf off Antarctica are now sliding off into the sea — and they are going fast, scientists said Sept. 21. Two separate studies from climate researchers and the space agency NASA show the glaciers are flowing into Antarctica’s Weddell Sea, freed by the 2002 breakup of the Larsen B ice shelf. Writing in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the researchers said their satellite measurements suggest climate warming can lead to rapid sea level rise.

Many teams of researchers are keeping a close eye on parts of Antarctica that are steadily melting. Large ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula disintegrated in 1995 and 2002 as a result of climate warming. But these floating ice shelves did not affect sea level as they melted. Glaciers, however, are another story. They rest on land and when they slide off into the water they instantly affect sea level.

It was not clear how the loss of the Larsen B ice shelf would affect nearby glaciers. But soon after its collapse, researchers saw nearby glaciers flowing up to eight times faster than before. (Reuters)

Panic erupts in flood-ravaged city

Survivors who were left with almost nothing after Tropical Storm Jeanne devastated Gonaives, Haiti, buried unclaimed corpses in mud-clogged backyards and attacked aid trucks and even neighbors bringing them food. Hungry and thirsty survivors -- some of whom have lost entire families and everything they own -- were losing patience at the slow pace of relief.

Knee-deep mud sucked up animal carcasses and sharp pieces of torn-off zinc roofs, as well as human excrement after the sanitation system was destroyed. Limes have become a hot item in the devastated city of 250,000 because people hold them to their noses to relieve the stench.

This week’s floods were made far worse by massive deforestation that left surrounding valleys unable to hold the rain unleashed by some 30 hours of pounding by Jeanne.

Health workers feared an outbreak of waterborne diseases, “because of the bodies still in the streets, because people are drinking dirty water and scores are getting injuries from debris -- huge cuts that are getting infected,” said an aid worker. (AP)