Welcome to Sott.net
Thu, 21 Oct 2021
The World for People who Think

Earth Changes
Map

Cow Skull

The Price of Cheap Meat: A Lake Dies in Ohio

David Kirby
Huffington Post
Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:43 UTC
View of Grand Lake, Ohio
© anglerweb.com
A warning has been issued for people to "minimize contact" and avoid ingestion of the water at this popular lake used by the public for fishing, boating, swimming, and hunting.
Grand Lake St. Marys -- Ohio's largest inland body of water and a treasured recreational area -- is dying. And if you barbecued some supermarket pork over the holiday weekend, you helped contribute to this disaster, however indirectly.

The lake's 13,000 acres of water surrounded by parkland, cabins and campgrounds, is one of the leading summertime attractions in the area, which brings in some $216 million in tourist spending each year, $160 million directly from the lake, (not to mention 2,600 jobs). Now, many visitors are shunning the place like an oil-stained Alabama beach. Swimming and waterskiing is discouraged, and even boating might be a health risk.

The main problem is phosporous and other nutrients, mostly from farms, including the 15 or so animal factory farms in the lake's watershed, and nutrients from the megatons of fertilizer applied on taxpayer-subsidized corn and soybean fields. Those products then become cheap feed that keeps the factory farms humming, Big Box prices low, and summertime barbequers happy.
      Read More...
Footprints

Gulf Dead Zone Grows as No-Fishing Area Expands

Charles Cooper
CBS News
Mon, 28 Jun 2010 17:13 UTC
gulf dead zone
© NOA
Fishery Closure Boundary as of June 28, 2010
As oil from the Deepwater Horizon explosion spreads across the Gulf of Mexico, the government has expanded the no-fishing area near Florida's panhandle.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it had decided to expand the fishing closure from its current northern boundary as a precautionary measure to make sure consumers don't eat seafood contaminated by the gulf oil spill. All told, a little more than 80,000 square miles, or 33 percent of Gulf of Mexico's federal waters, are now considered a closed area.

Because this remains an evolving situation, NOAA said that it will retest the area and reopen fisheries when they are deemed safe.
      Read More...
Igloo

Antarctic sea ice peaks at third highest in the satellite record

Anthony Watts
Watts Up With That?
Sat, 03 Jul 2010 11:01 UTC
While everyone seems to be watching the Arctic extent with intense interest, it's bipolar twin continues to make enough ice to keep the global sea ice balance near normal. These images from Cryosphere today provide the details. You won't see any mention of this in the media. Google News returns no stories about Antarctic Sea Ice Extent.
Antarctic Sea Ice
© Cryosphere
      Read More...
Life Preserver

Gulf storm sputters off Louisiana


CNN
Mon, 05 Jul 2010 08:04 UTC
Image
© unknown
Satellite pictures of the storm at 8:15 p.m. ET on Monday.
A closely watched weather system in the northern Gulf of Mexico swept ashore without becoming a tropical storm Monday evening but was expected to dump heavy rain onto southern Louisiana, according to the National Hurricane Center.

"Now that the system is over land and will move farther inland tonight, tropical cyclone development is no longer expected,

Hurricane Center forecasters reported Monday night.

The system's chances rebounded from a "near 0 percent" prospect of becoming a tropical storm earlier Monday, but forecasters said the storm's proximity to shore made it unlikely to develop further. The main threat it will pose to the region will be heavy rain, they said.
      Read More...
Fish

Tar balls hit Lake Pontchartrain shores


CNN
Mon, 05 Jul 2010 21:15 UTC
boat, tar
© N/A
Tar balls are picked up from Rigolets Pass, which connects Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain with Mississippi Sound.

Tar balls believed to be from the undersea gusher in the Gulf of Mexico have reached the shores of Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain, a foundation that monitors the watershed reported Monday.

The affected area covers a stretch of up to five miles near the city of Slidell, northeast of New Orleans, said Anne Rheams, executive director of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation. She estimated the amount of oil that has reached the lake at less than 100 barrels, with no hydrocarbon smell.

"They are about the size of a silver dollar, maybe a little bigger, kind of dispersed in long intervals. It's not as dense as it could be, so we're thankful for that," Rheams said.
      Read More...
Ambulance

BP oil disaster at 75 days

David Walsh
wsws.org
Mon, 05 Jul 2010 21:25 UTC
For 75 days now, crude oil has been gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from the wreck of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. While BP and the US government have done everything possible to downplay and obscure the amount of oil that has spilled out, estimates range as high as 150,000,000 to 200,000,000 gallons. The consequences will be incalculable.

The BP spill is one of the worst ecological catastrophes in history, and yet now it barely makes the front pages of the newspapers in the US or rates prominent coverage on television news programs. There is a natural nervousness in the media and the political establishment, as the ongoing horror story indicts a huge conglomerate and the political interests in Washington that protect it.

It seems clear that the announcement June 16 that BP would create a $20 billion fund, followed the next day by Chief Executive Tony Hayward's appearance before Congress, was meant to signal the end of the officially-sponsored chastisement of the company, and the US media has responded accordingly. As Reuters commented July 1: "The British energy giant drew harsh criticism earlier in the crisis, but some of the political heat has cooled since President Barack Obama pressured the company to set up a $20 billion fund for damages and lawmakers hammered BP executives at congressional hearings."
      Read More...
Bomb

Study: Oil Spills Boost Arsenic Levels in Ocean


Common Dreams
Fri, 02 Jul 2010 17:34 UTC
Image
© AFP/Getty Images/File/Spencer Platt
Oil is seen in Bay Jimmy, Grand Isle, Louisiana, June 16, 2010
Paris - Oil spills can boost levels of arsenic in seawater by suppressing a natural filter mechanism on the sea bed, according to a study published on Friday in a specialist journal.

The research was conducted in a laboratory before the BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, but its authors say the findings highlight the worrying long-term impact from such disasters.

Scientists at Imperial College London found that sea floor sediment bonds with arsenic. The captured toxic element is then covered by subsequent layers of sediment, which helps explain why concentrations of arsenic in the ocean are low.

But, the researchers found, crude oil acts rather like a sticky blanket, clogging the sediment and preventing it from bonding to arsenic.
      Read More...
Umbrella

Saskatoon, Canada expected to seek provincial disaster assistance after deluge swamped city

David Hutton, Cassandra Kyle, Alanna Adamko & Cam Fuller
The Star Phoenix
Fri, 02 Jul 2010 17:07 UTC
Image
© Gord Waldner, The StarPhoenix
Alana Wasylenko found a quiet moment with her dog in a Hampton Village park, after the area was hit hard by Tuesday's storm
Saskatoon residents are continuing the cleanup from the torrents of water that rolled through the city early Wednesday morning, leaving hundreds of basements flooded, dozens of vehicles destroyed and a multitude of businesses mopping up in the aftermath of the worst flooding in decades.

Among the wild events: A manhole cover shot through the bottom of a moving city bus; small vehicles and garbage containers were reportedly floating down streets in Confederation Park, where flood water submerged cars; and nearly one metre of storm water rushed down streets and into businesses and offices in the city centre.

Eighty to 100 millimetres of rain fell on Saskatoon during a three-hour period, according to the city, bringing back memories of June 24, 1983. On that day, 93 mm of rain fell -- 75 mm during a 45-minute span. A woman died that day, after her car was submerged in a road underpass.
      Read More...
Ambulance

Washington Governor Requests Farm Disaster Assistance For 29 Counties Reeling From Cold and Rain


kirotv.com
Thu, 01 Jul 2010 16:44 UTC
Image
Olympia, Washington - Gov. Chris Gregoire asked U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to designate 29 counties in Washington as farm disaster areas due to weather-related losses.

The damage was the result of extreme weather conditions throughout the spring, including severe cold, high winds and excessive rains.

"Conditions this year have been difficult for our growers across Washington, from Clark County to Okanogan," Gregoire said. "Cold temperatures have harmed our tree fruit crops, while excessive rain made it difficult for bees to pollinate strawberries and other berry crops. A declaration will help our businesses absorb a difficult year and look forward."

The request includes disaster declarations for Adams, Benton, Chelan, Clark, Columbia, Cowlitz, Douglas, Franklin, Grant, Grays Harbor, Island, King, Kitsap, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lewis, Mason, Okanogan, Pacific, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Thurston, Wahkiakum, Walla Walla, Whatcom and Yakima counties.
      Read More...
Cloud Lightning

New video of flood in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon as death toll from Hurricane Alex rises


Russia Today
Mon, 05 Jul 2010 16:36 UTC
In Mexico, six people have been killed in floods from tropical storms, as a result of Hurricane Alex. The northern city of Monterrey was the worst hit as a river burst its banks, washing away cars and destroying roads. More than four thousand people were evacuated from the region. The storms had earlier torn through central America, but have now dissipated.

The incredible precipitation brought major damage to Mexico's third-largest city. Apparently the Santa Catarina river, which flows through Monterrey bisecting it, isn't usually seen for most of the year.

      Read More...
Amazon Smile
Revolt! T-shirts