Graph of the Day: Expansion and Impact of World Fishing Fleets, 1950 and 2006

The expansion and impact of world fishing fleets in a) 1950 and b) 2006. The maps show the geographical expansion of world fishing fleets from 1950 to 2006 (the latest available data). Since 1950, the area fished by global fishing fleets has increased ten-fold. By 2006 100 million km2, around 1/3 of the ocean surface, […]

German power grids increasingly strained by solar and wind generation

By Paul-Frederik Bach30 May 2012 With a steep growth of power generation from photovoltaic (PV) and wind power and with 8 GW base load capacity suddenly taken out of service the situation in Germany has developed into a nightmare for system operators. The peak demand in Germany is about 80 GW. The variations of wind […]

Wildfire shatters record for largest in New Mexico history

By Dalina Castellanos30 May 2012 The Whitewater-Baldy Complex fire in New Mexico hasn’t just broken the record for the largest blaze in state history, it’s shattered it. An infrared reading about midnight Tuesday measured the fire at 170,272 acres, leaving last year’s 156,593-acre Las Conchas fire in the dust. That acreage roughly translates to 269 […]

Soft-shell lobsters arrive early Maine – ‘Never happened in the historical memory of the lobster industry’

By Mario Moretto15 May 2012 SCARBOROUGH – The early arrival of soft-shell lobsters along the southern Maine coast has industry insiders scratching their heads about what the unusual spring landings mean for the rest of the season. At Pine Point, third-generation Scarborough lobsterman Dennis Violette, pulled two big crates full of lobster from his early […]

Web of marine life disintegrating under human onslaught

NEW YORK, New York, 22 May 2012 (ENS) – Oceans cover about 72 percent of Earth’s surface area and there are an estimated 250,000 marine species. “Yet, despite its importance, marine biodiversity has not fared well at human hands,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today in his message to mark the International Day for Biological […]

Growing pains: Scenes from the North Dakota drilling boom

By Keith Schneider21 May 2012 To understand the magnitude of the current oil and gas boom in North Dakota, you need only stand alongside U.S. Route 85 anywhere just north or south of Williston at night. The area’s 200 drilling rigs are lit up like carnival rides: towers of floodlights make up a luminous vertical […]

Kenya’s bid to become the first African nation to set up a climate authority

By Clar Ni Chonghaile, www.guardian.co.uk25 May 2012 NAIROBI – Even as drought persists in parts of Kenya’s arid north, intense rains are claiming lives in other parts of the country – flooding slums in the capital Nairobi, sweeping away hikers in the Rift Valley, and destroying crops. Many Kenyans shake their heads in dismay at […]

Radioactive bluefin tuna crossed the Pacific from Japan to U.S.

By ALICIA CHANG, AP Science Writer28 May 2012 Across the vast Pacific, the mighty bluefin tuna carried radioactive contamination that leaked from Japan’s crippled nuclear plant to the shores of the United States 6,000 miles away – the first time a huge migrating fish has been shown to carry radioactivity such a distance. “We were […]

Spent fuel rods drive growing fear over Fukushima nuclear plant

By HIROKO TABUCHI and MATTHEW L. WALD26 May 2012 TOKYO – What passes for normal at the Fukushima Daiichi plant today would have caused shudders among even the most sanguine of experts before an earthquake and tsunami set off the world’s second most serious nuclear crisis after Chernobyl. Fourteen months after the accident, a pool […]

Graph of the Day: Most Endangered U.S. Rivers, 2012

1. Potomac RiverPollution and Clean Water Act rollbacks have national implications. 2. Green RiverWater withdrawals could threaten a water-strapped region. 3. Chattahoochee RiverNew dams and reservoirs threaten to dry up the river flow. 4. Missouri RiverOutdated flood management putting public safety at risk. 5. Hoback RiverNatural gas development putting clean water, world-class fishing and wildlife […]

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