Planet Hazard produces Google Maps with major polluters. This allows you to look up your own location if you are in the US, by county, state, etc., and to access the data in various ways.

Learn about the unknown hazards around you – the toxins you may be breathing. PlanetHazard uses information from the EPA to map over 86,000 companies throughout the United States that emit hazardous air pollutants.

This topic is being discussed elsewhere, so I thought I’d post something on it:

Back to the future: Prairie grasses emerge as rich energy sourceMixtures of grasses make best source of biofuel By Deane MorrisonDec. 8, 2006With shrinking glaciers and other signs of global warming upon us, the search is on for alternative fuels to stem the release of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.This week a new contender burst on the scene: diverse mixtures of native prairie grasses. A University team led by David Tilman, Regents Professor of Ecology, found that these grasses yield more net energy than either ethanol from corn or “biodiesel” fuel from soybeans. Grass-based fuel can even lead to a net decrease in atmospheric carbon dioxide, whereas ethanol and biodiesel increase it.The study is based on 10 years of work at the University’s Cedar Creek Natural History Area. Written by Tilman, postdoctoral researcher Jason Hill and research associate Clarence Lehman, it is the cover story in the Dec. 8 issue of the journal Science.[source]

Or so it is said:

From Birdlife International:Thousands of birds die in Black Sea oil spill

Thousands of birds and fish have been killed as oil spills from a stricken tanker in the northern Black Sea. At least 30,000 birds have died, and thousands more are covered in oil and face death in the coming days. The main species reported to be affected are Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo, Common Coot Fulica atra, Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus and Black-necked Grebe Podiceps nigricollis. So far, 50km of Russian coastline is affected by the oil spills.Dr Clairie Papazoglou, Head of BirdLife’s European Division comments: “BirdLife International is very concerned as this incident is an ecological disaster in an important area for wildlife.”Two Important Bird Areas (IBAs), nearby, the Kiziltash Bay and the Tamanski and Dinskiy Bays, are under threat. Both are designated primarily for migrating and wintering birds. Up to 50,000 migratory waterfowl and other birds are known to use the sites during migration. Among these are Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus, listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla.On Saturday night November 10th, a heavy storm brought severe damage to vessels stuck in the Kerch Strait between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. One vessel broke in two, leaking at least 2,000 tonnes of oil in the Black Sea. At least three more vessels that sank carried potentially hazardous sulphur. Twelve ships in total were reported to have been affected by the storms, killing at least six sailors.Due to the weather circumstances which are still difficult at the moment, information about the current situation in the area is sparse. BirdLife’s network representatives are therefore relying on local sources to receive updates.Weather services have announced more storms for tonight which make it impossible to undertake large-scale rescue operations at sea or to start cleaning oil-covered birds.[source]

Clean-up continues after California oil spill

The recovery effort continues in the US, after a cargo tanker collided with California’s Bay Bridge and released approximately 58,000 gallons of hazardous bunker fuel into the waters of the bay.Now in the second week since the disaster (on 7 November), conservationists from Audubon (BirdLife in the US), are among those monitoring the impact, in many cases transporting birds to local recovery centres.The dramatic events have received intense media coverage in the US – with California’s Governor Schwarzenegger reportedly “sad and angry”.”While the environmental impacts of the spill have reached across the entire ecosystem, the story of the disaster has largely been written through images of dead or suffering birds.” report Audubon California on the events.Since the spill occurred Audubon staff and volunteers have worked to monitor the sanctuary’s waters and beaches for oil, more recently turning their attention to the oiled birds, cases of which have become increasingly evident.As of Wednesday 22 November 2007, the latest figures from Audubon -collating the results of a number of different organisations assisting with recovery efforts- report that 1,052 birds are “in care” with 1,514 birds found dead in the field.”These numbers are particularly frightening because Richardson Bay is only one small part of the larger bay ecosystem, and it has so far escaped the massive oil slicks that have hit other regions”, said Gary Langham, director of bird conservation for Audubon California, who estimates that by the time the numbers are tallied for the entire bay, thousands more will have died. Many of these birds, he notes, are already under threat from habitat loss and other dangers.Particularly hard hit has been Surf Scoter Melanitta perspicillata, a diving sea duck vulnerable due to its habit of spending long periods on the oil-slicked surface before diving. Some 78 percent of Surf Scoters in the Pacific Flyway are reported to winter in San Francisco Bay.[source]

Disturbing news regarding the San Fran Bay oil spill from the New York Times: Continue reading Look Who’s Not Talking Now →

The deadliest cyclone ever is said to have been the 1970 Bhola cyclone in Bangladesh. Perhaps a half million people died in that storm. That would be more than the number who died in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.The Bhola Cyclone was a category 3 storm. Cyclone Sidr, now bearing down on the Bangladesh coast, is probably a Category 5 storm, possibly a strong Category 5. The population of Bangladesh has approximately doubled since 1970. This could potentially add up to a potentially very serious disaster. However, the latest word from Chris Mooney is that the storm is doing most of its damage to a mangrove swamp area.Keep in mind also that this area is the home of the rare Bengal tiger.There is this on CNN.The current sattelite view: Continue reading Sidr (updated) →

Hopefully not, but the prospects of a major disaster in the Indian Ocean Basin are looming, and it is strangely underreported. Not a mention on CNN, for instance.Chris Mooney is telling us that it is Time to Panic. He and I may not entirely agree on every detail of framing, but there is no way to argue with the man on this one.A Category 4 hurricane/cyclone is about to plow into what might be the most vulnerable place on the earth, the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean Basin, I think it is going to hit Calcutta or environs late tomorrow.Information is available here on Chris’s site, and he has links elsewhere.

It is pretty remarkable that there are only eight species of bears to begin with. But, if things go really badly, we could end up with only two.Here’s a press release from IUCN: Continue reading Six out of the world’s eight species of bears are threatened with extinction →

Five ships have sunk, so far, in the vicinity of the Kerch Strait, linking the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, in an incredible storm. One of the ships was a Russian tanker carrying 1,300 tons of fuel oil. Claims are being made that this is one of the worst environmental disasters ever. One of the things that lends significance to this disaster, regardless of how bad the environmental effects are, is the large number of ships that have sunk or have been rescued, and the dozens of sailors that appear to have died. The catch is that this is a result of one of those extreme storms that we seem to be having more and more of all the time. There are those who will always say “well, you can never attribute a single bad storm to global warming… ” Fine. But on the whole, if climate conditions have changed as a result of global warming to intensify storms and/or increase their frequency, then we can not afford to refuse to acknowledge the connection. We simply have to find a way to appreciate the connection if it is there. Denying the link every time there is a big storm is not any longer acceptable.Anyway, this oil spill (plus the other oil spill going on in California) made me wonder if all the talk the Oil Industry used to spout (prior to Exxon Valdez, that is) about how tankers were going to become increasingly safe and that we really had nothing to worry about, meant that things were actually improving in the world of oil spills. So, I got some data and I have some numbers and pretty pictures for you. Continue reading When the Effects of Global Warming run Smack Into the Cause of Global Warming →