As long as industry and infrastructure relies on oil to function, there will be spills. Cleaning up such disasters, like the recent Mayflower, Arkansas rupture, can be costly and time consuming. Even the chemicals that are used to disperse and absorb the crude can be dangerous to the environment, and researchers have long been looking for greener alternatives. A new study finds that raw, unprocessed cotton may be a cheaper and safer way to soak up oil than synthetics.

Read the rest of Raw, Unprocessed Cotton Can Be Used to Clean Up Oil Spills

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: arkansas, barley straw, ch foundation, cotton, cotton incorporated, industrial & engineering chemistry research, kapok, low micronaire, mayflower, oil spill, seshadri ramkumar, unprocessed, West Texas, wool

A huge two-mile-wide tornado touched down south of Oklahoma City Monday afternoon, devastating a community of 41,000 and killing as many as 51 people. The tornado hit wind speeds of 200mph and scored a preliminary rating of four out of five on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, and eyewitnesses report that its 20 mile journey tossed around cars, crushed homes and ripped apart buildings – including two schools. The tornado is the worst to hit the suburb of Moore since 1999, and officials from the National Weather Service warn that more could be on their way. Local organizations have already set up a range of ways to provide aid to victims of this terrible disaster – hit the jump to find out what you can do to help!

Read the rest of Two-Mile-Wide Tornado Devastates Oklahoma City Suburb – Here’s How You Can Help

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Environment, environmental destruction, how to help Oklahoma tornado victims, locate Oklahoma tornado pets, locate Oklahoma tornado victims, natural disasters, News, Oklahoma tornado destruction, Oklahoma tornado relief, photos of Oklahoma tornado

A new report released last week by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) shows that a whopping 32.4 million people were forced to flee their homes last year, and 98% of that displacement was due to climate and weather related events. While displacement occurred disproportionately in Asia and Africa, rich countries were also affected – and there were particularly high numbers in the U.S.

Read the rest of 32.4 Million People Were Displaced in 2012 Due to Climate and Weather Events

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: 2012 Special Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 32.4 million people displaced in 2012, 98% displacement caused by climate and weather events, climate change impact on natural disasters, flood disasters in India and Nigeria, global displacement, idmc, internal displacement monitoring center, IPCC, monsoon floods, natural disasters, people forced to flee their homes, rich countries affected by displacement

As if the oceans are not struggling enough with climate change, pollution and overfishing, the United Nation’s International Seabed Authority (ISA) has issued 17 prospecting licenses for state and private companies eager to dig up the ocean floor. The ISA has published a report evaluating the impact that mining the sea bed to extract about mineral rich “nodules” amid “an unprecedented surge of interest,” according to The BBC. And they are frank to note that there will be “inevitable environmental consequences.”

Read the rest of UN Issues 17 Prospecting Licenses for Deep Sea Mining Across Three Oceans

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: deep sea mining, Environment, environmental destruction, gold rush of the sea, International Seabed Authority, ISA, Lockheed Martin mining, marine destruction, News, sea bed mining, United Nations

As if worrying about rising sea levels isn’t enough, the evils of climate change are also affecting our food supply. A mix of increased temperatures, changes in rain, and bacterial and fungi outbreaks have hit American farmers hard, causing harvests to fall behind schedule or find complete ruin. With dramatic shifts in weather becoming increasingly common, a number of foods we’re used to eating could be in danger of extinction.

Read the rest of Climate Change Could Render Our Favorite Foods Extinct

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Climate Change, eco design, food extinction, food shortage, green design, ruined crops, sustainable design, world food supply

For many years, climate change has displaced millions in the developing world – and now America is seeing its first climate refugees. Over 180 native communities in Alaska are under threat as ice melt, rising seas, and erosion threatens their traditional way of life. A new report by the US Army Corps of Engineers predicts that Alaskan villages such as Newtok (located on the western coast of Alaska and 400 miles south of the Bering Strait) could be completely underwater as soon as 2017.

Read the rest of America’s First Climate Refugees are Native Alaskan Communities

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: alaska, Arctic Council, bering strait, Climate Change, climate refugees, erosion, glacial melt, global warming, newtok, ninglick river, obama administration, us army corps of engineers, water issues

The glaciers atop Mt. Everest are melting at an unprecedented rate and anthropogenic global warming is likely to blame. The news comes on the heels of reports that CO2 levels have reached their highest in human history, surpassing the 400 parts per million mark, and climate change is shifting the location of the North and South Poles. Researchers from the University of Milan say that ice coverage on top of Earth’s highest mountain has shrunk by 13 percent in the last five decades.

Read the rest of Mt. Everest Glaciers are Rapidly Melting, and Humans are Probably to Blame

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: anthropogenically-induced climate change, Climate Change, Environment, global warming, melting glaciers, News, University of Milan, world's highest mountain

Japan has hemmed and hawed about closing its nuclear reactors after the 2011 Fukushima disaster. At first there was talk of closing down all reactors, but the motion was whittled down to affect just those that fail rigorous safety testing, and finally none at all. A panel of seismic experts just announced that one of Japan’s oldest reactors sits on a highly earthquake-prone site and should be shuttered permanently – and the government is taking the first steps towards shutting it down.

Read the rest of Japan Takes Steps to Permanently Close First Nuclear Reactor Since Fukushima Disaster

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: earthquake nuclear reactors, Fukushima disaster, fukushima japan, fukushima meltdown, fukushima nuclear power plant, fukushima reactor, Japan closing reactors, Japan ending nuclear power, japan nuclear power, Japan nuclear reactors, nuclear power concerns

Every year since 2005, the North Pole has shifted several centimeters, and researchers have now attributed those rapid changes to climate change. While the location of each pole is always in seasonal flux, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin used data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) to establish that the melting Greenland Ice sheet and other ice losses are responsible for the accelerated yearly polar drift.

Read the rest of Climate Change and Melting Ice are Shifting the Polar Poles

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Climate Change, Environment, global warming, melting greenland ice sheet, melting polar caps, Nature, News, Shifting polar poles, university of texas

We all know that sea levels across the world are steadily rising due to climate change, but just how these changes will affect us remains to be seen. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) just released a report that states melting ice could cause water levels to rise nearly 27 inches around the world by 2100.

Read the rest of UN Scientists Estimate Sea Levels Could Rise 27 Inches This Century

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Climate Change, eco design, global warming, green design, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, sustainable design

After news broke last week that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have officially passed the 400 parts per million mark, a leading economist and researcher warned that hundreds of millions of people will become climate refugees in the coming decades. The head of Grantham Institute for Climate Change, Lord Stern warned that mass migrations will occur as a result of climate change, which will exacerbate desertification and cause entire continents to experience crop failure.

Read the rest of Global Warming Will Lead to Hundreds of Millions of Climate Change Refugees

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: 400ppm carbon dioxide levels, armed conflict from climate change, Climate Change, climate refugees, crop failure, desertification, environmental news, Lord Stern Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change, melting ice caps, News, rising sea levels, rising temperatures

Google’s amazing new Timelapse may be the closest thing to a time machine that we’ve seen yet. Forget waiting for Doc to fix the time-traveling Delorean, Timelapse has the capability of showing some of the big changes seen on Earth since 1986. Although it can only go back 28 years, the feature lets us see the incredible growth of urban sprawl, or deterioration of the world’s forests, and the drift and melt of glaciers from year to year.


Read the rest of Google’s New Timelapse Shows How Much Our Planet Has Changed in Past 30 Years

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Climate Change, eco design, global change, Google Timelapse, green design, nasa, sustainable design, US Geological Society

As a college student, you would hope to attend an institution that values enlightened ideals and sound investments. However, at many universities across the country, portions of large endowments have long been used to support the fossil fuel industry. Joining over 300 schools around the US, Brown University is seeking to divest from dirty power. Receiving support from such organizations as 350.org, the Sierra Club, the Responsible Endowments Coalition, and As You Sow, the student-run campaign is asking the administration to pull its money from 15 coal and mining companies.

Read the rest of Brown University Joins Growing Movement to Divest from Fossil Fuels

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: 350.org, arch coal, As You Sow, big tobacco, brown divest coal campaign, brown university, chris bull, coal, college, duke energy, emily kirkland, hei hotels, midamerican, mining, npr, Sierra Club, South Africa, sudan, the advisory committee on corporate responsibility on investment politics, the responsible endowments coalition, university

A crater lake in northeast Siberia is giving researchers a much better idea of how the world’s polar regions may change due to the increased saturation of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Formed by a one kilometer wide meteorite about 3.6 million years ago, the un-glaciated Lake El’gygytgyn lies 100 km north of the Arctic circle and provides the only unbroken climate record depicting the last time CO2 levels were as high as they are now. At the time, temperatures were 8C higher, the north was covered in lush tundra forests, and sea levels were 40 meters higher, The Guardian reports.

Read the rest of Siberian Crater Lake Reveals How 400PPM Carbon Levels Affect the Arctic

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Climate Change, climate change research, environmental news, global warming, Lake El'gygytgyn, meteorite crater, NE Siberia crater lake, rising temperatures

Though they cover 30 percent of Earth’s total land area, we know remarkably little about how much biomass and carbon are contained in the planet’s forests. A new satellite will be launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in an attempt to expand this area of knowledge, and learn more about the viability of current and future conservation tactics. The satellite, named Biomass, will use advanced sensors to map and monitor every tree-covered portion of the planet, “weighing” their biomass and hidden carbon. ESA scientists hope new data collected by the satellites will help researchers understand better the role trees play in the cycling of carbon on Earth and, by extension, the influence this has on the planet’s climate.

Read the rest of Europe’s New Biomass Satellite Will Map Earth’s Forests And Calculate Carbon Stores

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: biomass, carbon storage, Climate Change, conservation, european space agency, global warming, Satellite, Trees

This past winter was a harsh one – particularly for bees and beekeepers across the United States. A recent survey by the Bee Informed Partnership and the Apiary Inspectors of America has shown that one in every three honey bee colonies collapsed this past winter. The staggering 31.1 percent loss is twice the percentage that beekeepers say is “acceptable” to maintain their business.

Read the rest of One in Three Honeybees Died Last Winter in the US

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Apiary Inspectors of America, bee deaths, bee Informed Partnership, bee populations, colony collapse disorder, eco design, green design, honey bee population, sustainable design

Researchers warn that the cold Arctic seas are undergoing a process of rapid acidification as a result of rising carbon emissions. With its protective ice cap diminishing during summer months and greater swaths of surface area exposed to the air, the cold Nordic seas absorb atmospheric carbon at a faster rate than warmer waters. Acidification destabilizes ocean chemistry and endangers the fragile ecosystem. Though scientists from the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP) warn that rapid change is afoot, they are unable to predict exactly what changes will occur.

Read the rest of Melting Arctic Seas are Turning into Giant Pools of Acid, Researchers Warn

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: acidification, Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP), arctic seas, carbon emissions, Climate Change, Environment, global warming, Nature, News, nordic seas, Norwegian Institute for Water Research, ocean chemistry, pH of arctic seas, science

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) warned the Australian government on Saturday that it may downgrade the World Heritage status of the Great Barrier Reef as early as next year. UNESCO is assessing 43 federal and local government projects that could cause further destruction to the reef, and has cautioned that the site may be reclassified as a “World Heritage Site in Danger,” unless “urgent and decisive action” is taken to preserve the surrounding environment.

Read the rest of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to Be Downgraded From World Heritage Site

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: australia, environmental destruction, Great Barrier Reef, reef rescue, UNESCO, United Nations, water pollution, water runoff, world heritage site, world heritage status

When the gales blow across the Windy City, residents may have more to worry about than mussed hair. According to a new study led by Keri Hornbuckle from the University of Iowa, chemicals found in a myriad of personal care products are polluting Chicago’s air. Known as cyclic siloxanes, these compounds have been found to be toxic in aquatic life as well as posing a possible threat to other organisms. The airborne chemicals in downtown Chicago were recorded at levels ten times higher than in West Branch Iowa, and four times higher than in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. No studies have been completed yet to determine whether or not breathing the substances is harmful to humans, but their concentrations might be cause for concern.

Read the rest of Chemicals from Personal Care Products Are Polluting Chicago’s Air

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: air pollution, California, canada, Cedar Rapids, chicago, cyclic siloxanes, d4, d5, England, Food Chain, great lakes, keri hornbuckle, norway, personal care products, toxic, university of iowa, US EPA, water issues, west branch

The African Rhinoceros evolved over millions of years, and despite living on earth for eons, it has not been able to survive the greed of human beings. Conservationists have announced that the last 15 of the animals were killed by poachers last month in Mozambique’s section of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. Slaughtered for their horns, which fetch higher prices than gold on the Asian market for their supposed cancer-curing and aphrodisiac properties, rhinos in neighboring areas are also in peril. To add to the tragedy, authorities believe that the poachers were aided by the park rangers sworn to protect them.

Read the rest of Poachers Completely Wipe Out African Rhinos in Mozambique

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Africa, african rhinoceros, black market, Conservationist, game ranger, great limpopo transfrontier park, horn, international fund for animal welfare, kelvin alie, kruger, mozambique, poacher, South Africa, Telegraph, wildlife trade, Zimbabwe