Another Problem with Biofuels? It's called the dead zone. Agricultural fertilizer byproducts like nitrogen are running off farms and into the Mississippi River, which then spills out into the Gulf of Mexico. Those chemicals help feed crops on land, but as they build up in the still, warm waters of the Gulf, they in turn feed excess growth of algae. When algae dies and decomposes, the process sucks much of the oxygen out of the water. A sea without oxygen is little different from the surface of the moon — nothing can live there. Fish and other sea life flee, or suffocate. That's the Gulf's dead zone, and last year it reached 7,915 sq. mi (20,500 sq. km) — nearly the size of the New Jersey. Worse, the dead zone is getting bigger, with last year's bloom the third largest in history.
The Google guide to global causes
Ethics In Disaster Planning - Deciding What Is Fair Most of us don't want to think about the terrible choices a disaster or pandemic will force upon all of us. The questions such scenarios present are enormous in scope. How to answer those questions is the focus of the new issue of Practical Bioethics, the quarterly publication of the Center for Practical Bioethics.
Could Global Warming Cause War? Report Warns That Conflicts Over Water And Food Could Intensify As Climate Changes. For years, the debate over global warming has focused on the three big "E's": environment, energy, and economic impact. This week it officially entered the realm of national security threats and avoiding wars as well.
Australia's epic drought: The situation is grim Australia has warned that it will have to switch off the water supply to the continent's food bowl unless heavy rains break an epic drought - heralding what could be the first climate change-driven disaster to strike a developed nation.
Natural Hazards - Earth scientists around the world use NASA satellite imagery to better understand the causes and effects of natural hazards. The goal in sharing these images is to help people visualize where and when natural hazards occur, and to help mitigate their effects.
New Orleans' Rebuilt Levees "Riddled With Flaws" Almost a year ago the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers declared that it had restored New Orleans' levees and floodwalls to pre-Hurricane Katrina strength. But the system is actually riddled with flaws, and a storm even weaker than Katrina could breach the levees if it hit this year, say leading experts who have investigated the system.
