Nitrous Oxide: Top Ozone-Depleting Chemical of the 21st Century
Nov/090
The ozone-oxygen cycle in the Earth’s stratosphere
The destruction of the Earth’s protective ozone layer (and the growth of the “hole” in this layer over the South Pole) due to the action of human-made chemicals was the leading environmental issue of the last century (entering the public lexicon sometime in the mid 1980’s), and no doubt prompted wider concerns about “greenhouse” effects and global warming that occupy so much climate science reporting today. The main (or most publicized) culprit of this ozone loss was a chemical called chlorofluorocarbon (CFC). But now, there’s a new leader in ozone destruction: nitrous oxide (N2O, also known as “laughing gas”), and its increasing concentration in the atmosphere is no laughing matter.
More:
Nitrous Oxide: Top Ozone-Depleting Chemical of the 21st Century
Child Dies After Ingesting Pesticide Also Used to Kill Lions
Nov/090
According to reports, little Kimutai, a three-year-old child from Kenya, died hours after ingesting carbofuran, an odorless pesticide used to control insects on many crops including rice, beans, bananas, pineapple, coffee and vegetables.
But the highly toxic pesticide, sold under the name Furadan and manufactured by Farm Machinery and Chemicals Corporation (FMC), is also used by cattle herders for different reasons. Furadan is often added to carcasses in order to poison and kill lions, hyenas and other wildlife that prey on livestock.
Here is the original:
Child Dies After Ingesting Pesticide Also Used to Kill Lions
Five Key Threats To Biodiversity
Oct/090
The Nordic countries are the northernmost cultural community within the Europe.
Comprising five countries and seven territories, only one is totally outside the Arctic Circle and three quarters of the rest lie within.
It’s a land which is bleak and beautiful, fragile and harsh, and utterly magnificent.
This is why the recently published “Threats to Biodiversity in Nordic Countries”(1) is so relevant for environmentalists around the world.
Biodiversity is vital to all life. The lessons uncovered in the unique Nordic countries need to be applied on a global scale.
Read the rest here:
Five Key Threats To Biodiversity
Pesticides Used In California’s Central Valley Killing Frog Populations in Nearby Sierras
Aug/090
Scientists have determined the chemicals that make the Central Valley a rich agricultural region are responsible for frog deaths and tadpole abnormalities in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Just when it seems things can’t get much worse for our cold-blooded friends, researchers have added pesticides to the growing list of causes (such as habitat loss and chytrid fungus) for the massive worldwide decline in amphibian populations.
An article in today’s Central Valley Business Times says that zoologist Don Sparling and his team are continuing to build up a body of evidence that shows neurotoxin pesticides are making their way out of the valley’s farms and into the snow and streams where the frogs live and breed – with catastrophic consequences.
See original here:
Pesticides Used In California’s Central Valley Killing Frog Populations in Nearby Sierras
Advert
