From grist@gristmagazine.com Wed Sep 20 19:33:35 2000
Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2000 11:36:18 -0700
From: Grist Magazine
Reply-To: daily-grist-owner@egroups.com
To: daily-grist@egroups.com
Subject: DAILY GRIST, September 15, 2000
DAILY GRIST
September 15, 2000
News summaries from GRIST MAGAZINE
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>
ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO THROW A FIT ABOUT. Make sure your family
and friends are as anxious about the environment as you are. Send a
message recommending they sign up to receive DAILY GRIST --
<http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/signup/tell_pal.asp>
1.
HELP ME, I'M MELTING
In another sign that global warming is likely upon us, a study of ice
cores from deep inside a glacier suggests that the last century has
been the warmest in 1,000 years in the high Himalayan mountains, with
the last decade found to be the hottest period of all. The study,
published today in the journal Science, supports other research that
has found rapid melting of mountain ice fields in Asia, South
America, and Africa. "This is the highest climate record ever
retrieved, and it clearly shows a serious warming during the late
20th century," said lead study author Lonnie Thompson of Ohio State
University. "There is no question in my mind that the warming was,
in part, if not totally, driven by human activity."
straight to the source: London Independent, Steve Connor, 09.15.00
<http://www.independent.co.uk/news/UK/Environment/2000-09/global150900.shtml>
straight to the source: MSNBC, Associated Press, 09.14.00
<http://www.msnbc.com/news/460344.asp>
straight to the source: BBC News, 09.14.00
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_925000/925273.stm>
2.
TRY NOT TO BREATHE
Calling for the creation of an international database on air
pollution and its health effects, the World Health Organization said
this week that the people most at risk from air pollution don't live
in the industrial world but in developing countries. As many as 1
billion people around the world are exposed regularly to pollution
levels up to 100 times higher than those recommended by the WHO.
Women and children in developing countries are most vulnerable,
according to the agency, because they spend much of their time in
smoky kitchens, where fires are typically set using wood, coal, crop
wastes, or dung. The WHO says that a "a deadly combination of solid
fuel, inefficient stoves and poor ventilation triggers off a complex
mix of health-damaging pollutants." For example, the WHO says that
in India, where about 80 percent of homes use such fuels, some
500,000 children die a year from acute respiratory infections.
straight to the source: BBC News, Elizabeth Blunt, 09.15.00
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_925000/925635.stm>
3.
SLIP SLIDIN' AWAY
Some concerned New Englanders worry that the sawmill industry in the
region is expanding so quickly that it will soon outrun the wood
supply. Each sawmill company makes its own expansion plans
independently, hoping to beat out competitors, even though all the
folks in the business know they're chasing a limited resource, writes
Donella Meadows. This pattern can be seen in other areas as well,
with farms and companies trying so hard to out-compete each other
that they drain precious resources and push themselves ever closer to
going out of business. How can we get off this treadmill?
read it in Grist Magazine: Tread-milling about -- by Donella Meadows
<http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/citizen/citizen091100.stm>
4.
THE CISCO KID WAS NO FRIEND OF MINE
Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader lambasted Cisco
Systems Inc. yesterday over its plans to construct a $1.3 billion
campus on one of the last open spaces in California's Silicon Valley,
saying it would contribute to pollution, traffic congestion, and
sprawl. Nader, who owns more than $1.1 million in Cisco stock,
called on Cisco shareholders and shareholders in general to take
action against developments and other corporate plans that don't meet
their approval. Meanwhile, the Sierra Club released a report
yesterday highlighting smart-growth projects in every state and also
drawing attention to examples of bad development decisions that have
led to sprawl.
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner, Associated
Press, Brian Bergstein, 09.14.00
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2000/09/
14/politics2220EDT0260.DTL>
straight to the source: CNN.com, David George, 09.14.00
<http://www.cnn.com/2000/NATURE/09/14/sprawl.report/index.html>
straight to the report: Sierra Club, 09.14.00
<http://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/50statesurvey/>
5.
CRUISIN' FOR A BRUISIN'
Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles (D) blasted the cruise ship industry
yesterday for polluting state waters and demanded that state and
federal governments tighten "woefully inadequate" cruise ship
regulations. Preliminary tests of sewage and wastewater that were
dumped by 12 ships in Alaska waters this summer found all the ships
to be in violation of federal standards for fecal coliform bacteria
and other pollutants. Knowles and Coast Guard Capt. Ed Page said the
test results could lead to charges against cruise ship lines.
Knowles also joined enviros and a federal prosecutor yesterday to
criticize proposed federal cruise ship legislation sponsored by Sen.
Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska), saying it had serious loopholes that
would, among other things, allow the dumping of toxic chemicals like
the dry-cleaning solvent PERC.
straight to the source: Anchorage Daily News, Martha Bellisle, 09.15.00
<http://www.adn.com/nation/story/0,2360,195121,00.html>
straight to the source: Anchorage Daily News, Paula Dobbyn, 09.15.00
<http://www.adn.com/nation/story/0,2360,195119,00.html>
read it only in Grist Magazine: A week in the life of a crusader
against cruise ship pollution
<http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/week/schmidt072400.stm>
6.
DUE FOR A SHELL-ACKING
A U.S. court of appeals ruled yesterday that a lawsuit accusing Royal
Dutch/Shell of assisting in the torture and murder of Nigerian
environmental activists can be heard in the U.S., rather than in
England. The plaintiffs, including at least one resident of the
U.S., contend that the Shell division based in Nigeria took land for
oil development without adequately compensating locals and polluted
air and water in the Ogoni region of Nigeria. They also allege that
the company recruited Nigerian police and military to attack locals
and suppress opposition to its development projects. In 1995, nine
environmental activists who had protested Shell developments,
including well-known author Ken Saro-Wiwa, were hanged by the
Nigerian government.
straight to the source: Boston Globe, Associated Press, Larry
Neumeister, 09.14.00
<http://www.boston.com/dailynews/258/nation/Nigerian_human_rights_abus
es_c:.shtml>
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Also in GRIST MAGAZINE today:
See pictures of dying koalas and get very mad -- a day in the life of
Deborah Tabart, Australian Koala Foundation
<http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/week/tabart091400.stm>
Cabin fever -- development runs wild in the upper Midwest -- by Erik
Ness in our Main Dish section
<http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/maindish/ness090800.stm>
The simple bear necessities -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker
<http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/ha/ha090800.stm>
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