MetaFilter posts tagged with pollution

Mobile phones, medals, a doll's legs, an entire army... is there anything a gull won't swallow?

jonesor — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:26:24 -0800

Overambitious eating: Tetrapod Zoology brings us a series of articles on overambitious gluttony by animals. seagull vs phone, small army, doll parts, a perentie trying for a spiky echidna, heron vs. lamprey, roadrunner vs. horned lizard, snake vs. centipede, and real lizard vs. plasic lizard. The issue of seabirds eating just about anything was touched upon graphically in Chris Jordan's depressing photographs of albatrosses from Midway Atol previously. The problem with plastic bags previously featured periphally on MeFi.

Picturing Climate Change

netbros — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:54:23 -0800

Ahead of the global climate talks, nine photographers from the photo agency NOOR photographed climate stories from around the world. Their goal: to document some of the causes and consequences, from deforestation to changing sea levels, as well as the people whose lives and jobs are part of that carbon culture. Warming threatens lifestyle of Russian herders | Refugees flee drought, war in East Africa | Greenland’s shrinking ice hurts natives Rising ocean levels threaten Maldives Boon from Canadian oil sands comes with price Amazon rain forest cut for cattle Beetles kill in Canada's warming forest Coal dependence darkens Poland's skies Burning coal deposits pollute lives in India

We'll just fart in your general direction

vivelame — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 03:11:14 -0800

25 years on, the industrial disaster at Bhopal's Union Carbide insecticide plant is still poisoning, maiming and killing people [YT]. The ground water is still saturated with insecticides and other poisons released during the day-to-day operations of Union Carbide's plant or abandoned here when the plant was closed. Children are born with birth defects from teratogenic chemicals in the water. Union Carbide, now Dow Chemicals, settled out of court with the indian government for $470M (insurance plus interests) after a five years long legal battle but is still in court for the normal business practice of dumping hazardous chemicals in an open pit near the factory.

China and Pollution

movicont — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:56:21 -0800

Lu Guang, a freelance photographer, took disturbing photos of the effects of pollution in China. Birth defects and other problems affect heavily polluted villages, leading some to be called "cancer villages". Industrial polluters are often protected by a lack of transparency. Zhang Jingjing, one of the few environmental lawyers in China, has difficulty encouraging pollution victims to exercise their rights. Hu Jingtao has promised to "curb the rise in CO2 emissions", but whether or not any actual change has been enacted is yet to be seen.

Baby birds eat our plastic.

typewriter — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:14:36 -0800

The nesting babies are fed bellies-full of plastic by their parents, who soar out over the vast polluted ocean collecting what looks to them like food to bring back to their young. (warning: photos of dead birds)

Living in Hell

WPW — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:22:13 -0800

Infernal Landscapes. The work of Lu Guang, who has been given this year's $30,000 W Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography. It's inescapably reminiscent of the work of Edward Burtynsky.

IT'S ALL (natural gas) PIPES!

Sys Rq — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:43:45 -0800

Does your tap water taste funny? Have you tried lighting it on fire? (previously)

Toxic Waters

homunculus — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:58:17 -0800

Toxic Waters: A series about the worsening pollution in American waters and regulators' response.

Arresting photographs of pollution.

erikvan — Fri, 22 May 2009 07:36:05 -0800

Swimming in sewage.

Cotton Kills

CheeseDigestsAll — Thu, 21 May 2009 10:30:28 -0800

NASA recently released a series of photographs documenting the loss of the Aral Sea over the past ten years. The Aral Sea could be the poster child for human damage to the ecosystem. In a mere four decades, it has gone from a surface area of 68000 km^2 to less that a quarter of that, with a 10x drop in water volume. As its Wikipedia article points out, this is the equivalent of completely draining two of the five Great Lakes. Much of the water has been lost to making Uzbekistan the fifth largest producer and second largest exporter of cotton, a notoriously water-hungry crop. Other disasters inflicted on the sea include destruction of the fishing economy, loss of wildlife, industrial waste, pesticide and fertilizer pollution, enormous dust storms, and a bioweapons lab. In the last few years, the water level in the north has risen slightly due to a rescue effort, but it is only a partial success in a plan with a limited scope.

The Sound of Broken Promises

Glibpaxman — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 15:18:32 -0800

The Seattle P-I is known for its in depth, epic, investigative reports. As the print edition closes down this week here is a look at one report that made the PI great: The Health of the Puget Sound. The Story of "Granny" and her Orca whale pod; Disappearance of Marine Life from the Puget Sound; Chemicals and Toxics; Businesses Find Flouting Laws is Cost Effective; Stormwater: Number One Pollution Source; Threat of Oil Spill Looms Large; What It May Take to Save Region; Residents Might Not Be Willing to Make Necessary Sacrifices.

China's Olympic Pollution Control

homunculus — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:37:44 -0800

New Satellite Data Reveal Impact of Olympic Pollution Controls. [Via James Fallows]

Coal Ash Spill

homunculus — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 21:00:33 -0800

Environmental disaster in Tennessee. On Monday, 5.4 million cubic yards (over 1 billion gallons; the Exxon Valdez oil spill was about 11 million gallons) of toxic coal ash sludge broke through an earthen retaining wall of a holding pond at TVA’s Kingston power plant, damaging 12 homes and covering over 400 acres up to six feet deep.

The City Concealed

hermitosis — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:28:36 -0800

The City Concealed A video tour of New York's infamously toxic Newtown Creek, with historical illustrations. The creek is the site of a 17 million gallon underground oil-spill (50% larger than Exxon-Valdez) which remains to be cleaned up, resulting in a Supreme Court battle between residents and oil companies. (Previously on MeFi.)

Manchester says no to congestion charging

13twelve — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 06:21:10 -0800

Not that this is a surprise, but the planned congestion charging/public transport scheme in Manchester has been rejected. Perhaps those in favor of the charging should have spent less on their web sites; like the no-campaign people did. You know, with more primary colours and exclamation marks. Instead, they should have spent their money on shark costumes. Apologies non Northern West English people - this is an issue much talked about in the North West here, and though its no surprise, it is still a shame.

The Subversion of the EPA

homunculus — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:00:32 -0800

Smoke and Mirrors: The Subversion of the EPA. "This four-part series details how the Bush administration weakened the EPA. It installed a pliant agency chief, Stephen L. Johnson. Under him, the EPA created pro-industry regulations later thrown out by the courts. It promoted a flawed voluntary program to fight climate change. It bypassed air pollution recommendations from its own scientists to satisfy the White House." [Via Reality Base]

Chicago Daily News Photos 1902-1933

winna — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 16:26:48 -0800

Man walks on water from the archives of the Chicago Daily News. During the Progressive Era conservation and environmental concerns became increasingly important thanks to pictures like the one above. It's important to note that in many ways conservation in this context meant conservation for use, not protection from development. A good example of the debate over this definition of conservation was the still-ongoing controversy over the Hetch Hetchy Valley reservoir. The Hetch Hetchy Valley struggle was John Muir's last battle for conservation in the way we now understand it. (previously) The provision of the 1910 Picket Act which confirmed the right of government to sell or utilize public lands based on the determined utility of that land was a key factor in the Teapot Dome scandal. And incidentally, Bubbly Creek, the photo in the first link, is still contaminated.

I drink it up. Everyday. I drink the blood of lamb from Bandy's tract.

KokuRyu — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:49:57 -0800

Oil sands will pollute Great Lakes The environmental impacts of Alberta's oil sands will not be restricted to Western Canada, researchers say, but will extend thousands of kilometres away to the Great Lakes, threatening water and air quality around the world's largest body of fresh water. *****Report: How the Oil Sands Got to the Great Lakes Basin***** (pdf) Policy makers around the lakes, in both Canada and the U.S., are largely unaware that the tar sands will lead to massive industrial development in their region, and consequently have no strategy to minimize the environmental impacts. In (its) new (POWI) report (NOTE: see the pdf link above), the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies says the massive refinery expansions needed to process tar sands crude, and the new pipeline networks (Keystone, Alberta Clipper)for transporting the fuel, amount to a “pollution delivery system” connecting Alberta to the Great Lakes region of Canada and the U.S. ...As many as 17 major refinery expansions around the lakes are being considered for turning the tar-like Alberta bitumen into gasoline and other petroleum products. While not all will be undertaken, enough of them will be to have a regional environmental impact. There has been one major dispute in the U.S. over a tar sands-related refinery expansion, at a British Petroleum facility at Whiting, Ind. The company proposed a $3-billion refinery modernization that would raise discharges of two pollutants by about 35 per cent and 54 per cent respectively. But it backed down and pledged not to increase the pollutants after a public outcry.

YT comment: Sounds like Ween. Ha ha.

jessamyn — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:02:05 -0800

Public television viewers from the seventies may remember being hectored and freaked out by anti-pollution animations. Three of the more catchy and memorable Willie Wimple cartoons (don't kill trees, don't litter, don't pollute the water, lyrics) that scared us away from a lifetime of casual littering were actually directed by Academy Award winning animator Abe Levitow -- also co-director of The Phantom Tollbooth (intro, time song) and director of Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol (full movie, songs: we're despicable, all alone in the world) -- as one of his final projects.

Buy yourself a tonne of CO2 emissions

lucia__is__dada — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 04:08:22 -0800

sandbag.org.uk is a not-for-profit website that allows members to buy up surplus "permits to pollute" that form the currency of the European Union's emissions trading scheme (or EU ETSs). Members can then "retire" them so that they cannot continue to be traded between the industrial polluters - cement, steel and car manufacturers etc - forced by EU regulation to operate within the system. "I suppose it's a bit like burning money in front of someone so they can't spend it on something bad," says the founder, Bryony Worthington, to the Guardian. Their site also has a map where you can see the locations of the UK's biggest carbon emitters and their annual allowances. A tonne of carbon is priced at about €25 or £20 or $35.

Nitrogen: when good elements go bad

KokuRyu — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:31:49 -0800

China's Olympic beaches, choked by a plague of green algae. Sez David Suzuki: This is not an unusual occurrence, but it is a symptom of an underlying problem with potential repercussions far more serious than hampering Olympic events. The blooms -- along with a host of other problems -- are caused by excessive amounts of nitrogen from sources such as road and industrial run-off, untreated sewage, and, most of all, fossil-fuel combustion and agricultural fertilizers. Excess use of nitrogen is contributing to 400 oceanic dead zones around the globe, double the number found by the United Nations two years ago... Farmers in Iowa and across the Midwest use tons of nitrogen and phosphorous to make their cornfields more productive, which allows the farmers to take advantage of high corn prices resulting from growing demand from ethanol factories and developing countries. Rain always causes some fertilizer to run off farmland, but this summer's historic flooding caused even more runoff into rivers that flow into the Mississippi. A review of ocean data records indicates that the low-oxygen events (the so-called 'dead zones') off the Pacific Northwest coast since 2002 are unprecedented and may be linked to the stronger, persistent winds expected to occur with global warming. Oxygen-deprived water rose up from the deep ocean two years ago, cutting a deadly swath along the Pacific Northwest coast, say scientists, who watched in awe as fish fled and crabs and worms died en masse creating a rotting carpet on the sea floor. China's algae problems may be part of the so-called "rise of slime", where rising ocean temperatures and changing chemistry are causing explosions of primitive life, like algae and jellyfish. The Chosun Ilbo reports that, in August, “southern and western beaches in Korea may appear to be nearly half water and half jellyfish.” The New York Times notes pollution... reduces oxygen levels and visibility in coastal waters. While other fish die in or avoid waters with low oxygen levels, many jellyfish can thrive in them. And while most fish have to see to catch their food, jellyfish, which filter food passively from the water, can dine in total darkness. Jellyfish, relatives of the sea anemone and coral that for the most part are relatively harmless, in fact are the cockroaches of the open waters, the ultimate maritime survivors who thrive in damaged environments, and that is what they are doing.

$4 gas, not that bad

dov3 — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:46:12 -0800

According to TIME, there are at least 10 things good about high gas prices. Such as four-day work weeks, less pollution, and fewer traffic deaths.

Rachel Carson

homunculus — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 23:20:21 -0800

Rehabilitating Carson: "Why do some people continue to hold Rachel Carson responsible for millions of malaria deaths?" A reply: Contra John Quiggin and Tim Lambert, DDT is usually the most cost-effective anti-malaria treatment, and remains scandalously underused More on the debate, including links to the authors' replies to Bate: Big Tobacco and the war on science

New China?

clearly — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:51:09 -0800

The Olympic Boom is shaping a new Beijing. These fancy new venues and skyscrapers are being built largely by migrant workers facing a harsh reality. The non-stop construction has also threatened to make these "green games" brown. The city may be smoggy and mistreated migrant workery now, but don't you worry, a series of measures will be taken to curb the pollution for the events.

Maps revolutionize study of carbon dioxide emissions

desjardins — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:03:40 -0800

New maps show US fossil fuel emissions aren't where we thought they were. The Vulcan Project collects more accurate data at a higher resolution than previous studies. Explanatory video. via Other visualizations of CO2 emissions include NASA forecasts and plots, CARMA, which monitors power plant emissions, and the European Space Agency, which uses high resolution spectrometer data (video download). This Australian PSA offers an entirely different kind of visualization.