Is America recycling e-waste properly, or do the electronic muck actually end up in other countries' backyards? An article in The News Times reveals the darker, grittier side of e-waste recycling. Read on to find out more.

Aside from posing grave threats to the environment (such as the plummeting of the world's bird population), rapid climate change will also be a factor in aggravating international security issues, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, as well as the Center for a New American Security.

The report compiled by climate and security specialists predicts that the havoc wrought upon by fast-changing climate will spark international issues, such as the ever-decreasing supply of water in the Middle East and the resulting competition, or the destruction storms in Asia that will force inhabitants to fight over land.


Read more about this grave issue in the full article!

One of the most well-known global extinctions, made famous by numerous sci-fi novels and movies, would probably be the dying out of the dinosaurs more or less 65 million years ago.

Today, evidence suggests that the trend of another impending mass extinction is slowly becoming a reality. This is based from the fossil records examined by the universities of York and Leeds.

The matching data sets of marine and terrestrial against climate temperature suggests that global biodiversity is relatively low during warm "greenhouse" phases and more extinctions occur during those periods, while the reverse is true in cooler "ice house" phases.

The research was published by University of York student Gareth Jenkins and University of Leeds Professor Tim Benton in the latest issue of Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Both researchers are noted population ecologists in their field. Dr. Mayhew had this to say about the results of their research:

Our results provide the first clear evidence that global climate may explain substantial variation in the fossil record in a simple and consistent manner. If our results hold for current warming - the magnitude of which is comparable with the long-term fluctuations in Earth climate - they suggest that extinctions will increase.

The current trend of global temperatures in the coming centuries suggest that such a possibility isn't as off as it seems.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced that the ozone layer's hole has shrunk a little bit from what it was a year ago, but the news isn't quite as good as we'd like to think - it was determined that there was only a fractional recovery from its record high depletion state.

From the high of 11.5 million square miles, the size of the ozone layers hole is down to 9.7 million square miles. That's still larger than North America, and the hole looms over the South Pole and some parts over the southern hemisphere. This leaves life and ice sheets unprotected from the sun's ultraviolet rays.

The hole in the Earth's ozone layer was first discovered in 1985 and it was discovered shortly afterwards that mad-made gas products such as chlorine and bromine were the causes of depletion. Ozone regenerates by itself but the rapid rate by which humans pollute the air give it no time to recover.

"There's no way we could say we're seeing real improvement, but it's smaller because of the weather situation," says NASA atmospheric scientist Paul Newman.

Newman adds that at this rate, the atmosphere could be back to normal by the year 2070, but that's only if humans are to continue cutting down on activities which are destructive to the ozone layer. He says that ozone-depleting gases stay in the air for as long as 100 years, making the fight a very tough one.

The ozone layer is the planet's natural shield against harmful solar radiation which can cause skin diseases among other adverse effects. It is feared that the depletion of the ozone layer can become a synergy to the world's climate change crisis.

Data gleaned from satellite Metop revealed that the ozone hole over Antarctica was twice as big as Europe at its worst. This observation was made in late September. Scientists who analyzed data from the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment 2 (GOME-2) on board Metop said that some unusual meteorological conditions this year caused the extensive thinning of the ozone layer.

Europe's Metop is one of three identical weather and climate observer spacecrafts that will be flying in a polar orbit over the next few years to gather data. This is a joint project between Eumetsat and the ESA">European Space Agency (ESA).

Metop's newest observation - though significant and alarming - pales in comparison to last year's recorded size of the Arctic ozone hole. Last year's hole was said to have been twice the size of North America. Even with the Montreal Protocol which places an international ban on substances responsible for ozone depletion, scientists still find ozone thinning over different regions such as the South Atlantic, South America, and Australia. Because of these recent findings, almost 200 governments have agreed to speed up the timetable on phasing out chemicals that have negative effects on the ozone layer.

The upper Great Lakes are losing water at an alarming rate, about 2.5 billion gallons a day to be exact, because of a flimsy dredging project by the Army Corps Engineering department says a group of Canadian homeowners.

The Georgian Bay Association poured US$ 200,000 to have a study conducted in order to find out why Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are losing water at a rate that has resulted in three feet of decline in total water levels since the Army project in 1962. They got engineering firm Baird & Associates to do the job and some answers were presented.
 
The Baird results affirmed the suspicions of the homeowners that it was indeed the dredging operations that caused the water loss. What actually happened was that water from the two lakes tended to seep into the St. Clair River and eroded the soil in its path. As a result, the river widened and deepened over the years and held more water from the lakes.

After glowing into St. Clair River, the water traveled over the Niagara falls, then followed a route straight into the Atlantic Ocean. Most hydrologists say that the water lost over the past 45 years is irreplaceable, but something can be done to stop further damage.

"We're losing water out of the St. Clair River that is equivalent to the amount diverted through Chicago," argues conservationist John Jackson of Great Lakes United. "It's like a whole new diversion out of the Great Lakes."

The possible solution proposed for the Great Lakes problem is initially a five-year study that will confirm the earlier study funded by the homeowners. A mechanism at the bottom of the river will be installed and activated to slow the flow down. If left unchecked, hydrological and ecological consequences are expected to take place.

Have you ever wondered what the Earth would be like without the most destructive and unruly species, the humans?

Alan Weisman, author of the book "The World Without Us", presents a well thought-out scenario of how Earth would turn out after the human species have been evacuated or eradicated from the face of the Earth. Man-made structures will eventually erode by natural causes as years pass; nuclear power plants will eventually melt in radioactive liquid; and, the rest of the world will eventually recover its rich eco-diversity. Most species - like the cockroaches who many believe will take over the world someday - will supposedly fare better without us bossing them around.

Weisman claims that about 4 out of 5 people thought that the idea of human beings getting wiped off the face of the planet sounds nice. While there really are some people who would want to bring about the extinction of their own species, like the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement, it really does seem sad that there will be no one around to witness the beautiful Earth they are proposing should their plans come into fruition.

However, Weisman had a slight change of heart toward the end of the book, saying that it will be best if the human population worldwide will agree to limit their number of offspring to stabilize the population. Doing so, he says, will lower the population down to only 1.6 billion. What sounds good about this proposal is that it may very well mean larger backyards for every family.

What do you guys think? Hit the comments button below to share your thoughts.

Holster that umbrella and slather on that suntan lotion, as this year could be the second hottest year in history - at least, history that goes back as far as 150 years or so. Nevertheless, it's going to be hot, so you might as well dress lightly and have a portable air conditioner (read: fan) handy, just in case.

So what's the cause of this sudden heat wave? While it's already a knee-jerk reaction to place the blame on global warming, incidents like these aren't really definite signs of the ozone layer being depleted to nonexistence - we shouldn't forget the fact that weather in itself is quite fickle, and chaotic at best. Severe weather events such as colossal storms, ruinous floods and their ilk should not be considered absolute signs of global warming, as well.

But even with the possibility of these events not being caused by global warming, it doesn't eliminate the fact that it could have contributed to them reaching that sort of extreme state. All climate experts have also agreed on the rather disconcerting fact that these severe events will be the trend come the next few months, and while the situation may change, it's quite unlikely.

Despite this rather bleak forecast on the overall scheme of things - as far as the weather is concerned, anyway - there IS still the fact that things could turn around. A little fuel conservation goes a long way. And for those of us concerned about the safety of our families and friends, be sure to follow the basic safety guidelines in the event of any major weather disturbance, and to be constantly informed at all times. The weather channel's there for a reason, after all.

The BBC recently did a report series regarding the most dangerous places to eat in the world. One of the sites chosen and visited by the crew was Chernobyl, Ukraine - the site of the worst nuclear disaster man has ever known.

Two decades ago, the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was blown sky-high, setting fire to the building and poisoning the land and air with harmful levels of radiation. The members of the British media outfit were astounded to find out that people were not only working in the area - thousands are actually living there.

Both the BBC and the tour guides advised visitors not to eat any food served within the Alienated Zone's radius. Food, especially vegetation, was especially susceptible to radioactive contamination and can cause diseases to those who eat them. The locals, however, seem to disregard the warnings of the law and of health professionals. A lot of them continue to stay in the area and eat resources there.

The rationale of Chernobyl's citizens is simple: Divine protection has kept them alive for 20 years now, why should they stop eating their food? Others even believe that drinking vodka will wash the radiation off the body. Doctors say that these are very dangerous mindsets that will be regretted soon. There have been around 4,000 casualties since the accident occurred in the late 80's.

According to the Ukraine government, there have been around 4,000 casualties since the accident in the late 80s. Greenpeace, however, tells another tale. According to the organization, almost 300,000 people have developed radiation-related cancers and some 90,000 of them have fatal cancers.

Despite this, local government units in the surrounding locales of Chernobyl encourage everyone from citizens to tourists to eat. When the mayor was told that an average mushroom in the area carried 800 percent more radiation than the safety threshold, he simply said, "It doesn't matter."

Sometimes, nature heals better naturally. Consider Ian Malcolm from the Jurassic Park novel: he pointed out that the earth has been around much longer than we have. Certainly it has means of healing itself and adapting to times better than we do. In the case of forests destroyed by wildfires, this applies too.

A study done by an Oregon State University team found out that in the aftermath of wildfires, even the those that experienced great fires manage to sprout seedling even without the humans doing anything, within five to ten years. Natural regeneration of forests after a wildfire may take longer, but it creates a more diversified forest.

In this regard, wildfires are seen both as an agent of destruction and renewal. The Hindus understand this better with their goddess Kali, the goddess of destruction as well as rebirth. Sometimes it could be better to let forests regenerate on their own after a wildfire; they may have better coping mechanisms than we could ever provide them.

The Oregon study found hundreds of trees per acre in various types of forests, equal to or greater than the density of most older forests, even 19 years after the fire. The researchers even saw a lot of seedlings far away from the surviving trees that could still provide them. How did the seedlings ever get there? Nature must have her own ways...