Tag archives for pollution
Posted by The first group of hatchlings from endangered sea turtle eggs brought from beaches along the northern U.S. Gulf Coast was released into the Atlantic Ocean off NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 11, NASA said in this video released on YouTube. “Twenty-two Kemp’s ridley turtles were set free on a Kennedy Space Center/Canaveral…
By Jordan Schaul Daily reports and aerial footage of the direct impact of the oil spill on marine ecosystems draws anger, outrage, sadness and much hopelessness among those of us removed, but tuned into the news updates coming out of the Gulf Coast region. Certainly, much more heightened emotion is elicited among those directly affected…
By Rachel Kaufman What we know about what’s happening in the Gulf of Mexico is that the oil spill is very, very bad for wildlife, humans, and the environment. What we don’t know, many experts are saying, is exactly what that means. Susan Shaw is a marine toxicologist and the director of the Marine Environmental…
National Geographic News photo editor Chris Combs is on the Gulf Coast, looking at the impact of the oil spill on the lives of people and animals and the habitats that sustain them. By Chris Combs Grand Isle, Louisiana–The smell wasn’t much different, at first: the sea, moist and a little sweet. But as I…
By Rachel Kaufman At TedXOilSpill, a daylong event in Washington, D.C. trying to find solutions to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Oceana CEO Andrew Sharpless took the time to answer ten questions about oil and energy usually asked by “people who don’t support policies that could create something good out of this catastrophe.” (Oceana is…
By Leah Lamb Shanghai–Within a day of visiting China’s cities, you will probably wake to a sore throat from air pollution. That night when you shower, you may be surprised to see how much dirt washes off of you. After a few days, you may find yourself fantasizing about catching a glimpse of blue through…
TEDxOilSpill Expedition is a week-long project to document the current situation in the Gulf of Mexico and bring a first hand report back to the TEDxOilSpill event in Washington, D.C. on June 28. TEDxOilSpill Expedition blogs are being reblogged on Nat Geo News Watch. This is the third in the series, the first post and…
TEDxOilSpill Expedition is a week-long project to document the current situation in the Gulf of Mexico and bring a first hand report back to the TEDxOilSpill event in Washington, D.C. on June 28. TEDxOilSpill Expedition blogs are being reblogged on Nat Geo News Watch. This is the second in the series, the first post of…
TEDxOilSpill Expedition is a week-long project to document the current situation in the Gulf of Mexico and bring a first hand report back to the TEDxOilSpill event in Washington, D.C. on June 28. The expedition is working on land, air, and maybe even on boat. The team is composed of several talented photographers and videographers.…
Alibaba Group, a global e-commerce company, will begin this year to earmark 0.3 percent of annual revenues “to fund efforts designed to spur environmental awareness and conservation in China and around the world,” the company announced. The group’s conservation strategy will focus on clean water and better air. “This financial commitment is part of a comprehensive plan…
Nature photographer Florian Schulz says the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico must serve as a warning as the U.S. seeks oil in the Arctic. His stunning photographs show what’s at stake. By Florian Schulz As I type this, having just returned from a two-week photography trip to the Arctic, my fingertips tingle, possibly…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency informed BP officials late Wednesday that the company has 24 hours to choose a less toxic form of chemical dispersants to break up its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Juliet Eilperin of The Washington Post reported today. “According to government sources familiar with the decision, [BP] must apply…
By David Braun Just about everyone on the planet will be affected, one way or another, by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, oceanographer and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Sylvia Earle told a U.S. Congress panel today. Earle and other environmental experts were called to give testimony to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the U.S.…
By Daniel Grossman Quito, Ecuador–The Deepwater Horizon accident reminds us that oil drilling is dirty business. Ecuadorans know this fact. They’ve lived off, and with, oil for more than three decades. For many Ecuadorans, oil promised riches but delivered ruin. Along with great wealth, for a few, it stimulated political vice and the noxious excretions.…
By Christine Dell’Amore Chandeleur Sound, Louisiana–After about five days of reporting on the Gulf oil spill here in Louisiana, today I actually had the opportunity to see it. National Geographic magazine photographer Tyrone Turner invited me to join him on a helicopter ride over Chandeleur Sound, which is pretty much ground zero for the slow-moving…
By Anne Minard Pensacola, Florida–Last weekend, as I hurriedly packed for the drive from Boulder, Colorado to Pensacola, Florida, I imagined descending on the coast as part of a pack of well-meaning journalists and a throng of eager volunteers, inspired like me by a heartfelt impulse to do anything in the world to help save…
By Willie Drye New Orleans–When some friends and I arrived in New Orleans recently, we stopped for a late dinner at a chain restaurant just off Interstate 10. The restaurant was miles from downtown and the levees that famously failed five years ago this summer during Hurricane Katrina. We’d been wondering whether damage from the…
By John Francis A few days after the BP oil rig Deepwater Horizon exploded, caught fire and started spewing black crude into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the emails and calls expressing sympathy started to come in. Not that I own stock in BP or lost a loved one in the disaster, but…
Posted by In 2 days, 23 hours, and 33 minutes [5:12] hundreds of cities around the world will switch off the lights at precisely 8:30 p.m. local time in honor of Earth Hour. This WWF campaign started in 2007 in Sydney as a kind of public statement on climate change: “By voting with their light switches, Earth…
World Water Day came and went yesterday–and to judge from the coverage in the U.S. media it wasn’t exactly big news. Nearly a billion people–one-sixth of the world’s population–have no access to safe drinking water, 2.6 billion people lack adequate sanitation, and more than 3 million people die from water-related diseases each year, National Geographic…
Developing countries are accumulating mountains of hazardous e-waste, with serious consequences for the environment and public health unless they start preparing for safe recycling now, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) warned this week. Sales of electronic products in countries like China and India and across continents such as Africa and Latin America are set…
This post is part of a special National Geographic news series on global water issues. Intersex in smallmouth and largemouth bass is widespread in numerous river basins throughout the United States, according to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) research published online in Aquatic Toxicology. Fish with the characteristics of both male and female fish are called…
Posted by Looking for a last-minute ride downtown? Soon, there will be an app for that. German researchers have developed the OpenRide mobile ridesharing service, which allows users to search for carpooling opportunities instantly via their cell phone. Just open the app on your phone, enter your starting and finishing points and the number of people going,…
Air pollution in eastern China has reduced the amount of light rainfall over the past 50 years and decreased by 23 percent the number of days of light rain in the eastern half of the country, according to research published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres. The results suggest that bad air quality might be…
The first integrated analysis for all coastal areas of the world has ranked hotspots of human impact. The hottest hotspot is at the mouth of the Mississippi River, says Benjamin S. Halpern, lead author of the study, with the other top 10 in Asia and the Mediterranean. Nutrient runoff from farms draining into the Mississippi…
