NOTE: While we can embed video and graphics, WordPress isn’t letting us hotlink, so rather than not post we opted for including the unlinked URLs. Our apologies. . .
UPDATE: Fixed.
We open with Golden State woes from the Los Angeles Times:
California drought most severe in 1,200 years, study says
Californians are living through the most severe three-year drought in the last 1,200 years, according to a new study published this week in an American Geophysical Union journal.
Although other three-year periods have been drier, 2012-14 stands as perhaps the worst drought in a millennium due in part to “anomalously low” precipitation and “record-high” temperatures, the study said.
“One thing is clear,” said Daniel Griffin, an assistant professor in the University of Minnesota’s department of geography. “Drought is going to continue to happen. This is the kind of thing we get to see in the future.”
Griffin has been doing research on tree rings, moisture and drought in California for a decade. He teamed with co-author Kevin J. Anchukaitis, a paleoclimatologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, to see how the state’s current precipitation levels and drought severity compared with centuries past.
More health woes in a troubled land where suspicion of physicians with needles is already high, via the New York Times:
Pakistani Children Infected With H.I.V. From Transfusions, Report Says
Pakistan’s health ministry said Friday that it was investigating a report that 10 children had been infected with H.I.V. after receiving blood transfusions.
The children have thalassemia, a disease of the blood that requires regular transfusions, and reports of the H.I.V. infections were viewed as fresh evidence of Pakistan’s crumbling national health system.
The infections were first reported by Dr. Joveria Mannan, a senior official of the Thalassemia Federation of Pakistan, at a medical conference on Nov. 29. She said the infected children had come from the capital, Islamabad, and from parts of Punjab Province.
And from the New York Times again, a prediction goes wrong:
Deadlier Flu Season Is Possible, C.D.C. Says
This year’s flu season may be deadlier than usual, and this year’s flu vaccine is a relatively poor match to a new virus that is now circulating, federal health officials warned on Thursday.
“Flu is unpredictable, but what we’ve seen thus far is concerning,” said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The C.D.C. has alerted doctors to the problem and has urged them to prescribe antiviral drugs like Tamiflu to vulnerable patients with flu symptoms without waiting for a positive flu test.
From the Yomiuri Shimbun, anxiety in Japan:h
Farms on high alert for bird flu outbreak
The nation’s poultry farms and relevant ministries are on high alert over bird flu, with farmers busy inspecting and disinfecting chicken coops.
The tension is due to a series of cases in which highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses have been detected in migratory birds. No such viruses were detected in the three previous seasons, but four cases have already been reported since November this year. A season is defined as October to May of the following year.
In some Asian nations that serve as stopovers for migratory birds, the viruses have been spreading throughout poultry plants and other facilities.
And the accompanying graphic showing where the virus has been found, and in what:
And from CBC’s The National, an alarming report that your pet’s flea collar could be dangerous to both your pet and you:
Chemicals in flea collars
Program notes:
The flea collar your pet is wearing could cause sickness in pets and humans alike.
And from the Washington Post, the politics of the dinner table:
Free trade with U.S.? Europe balks at chlorine chicken, hormone beef.
In Europe, this is a season of angst — even paranoia — over a historic bid to link the United States and the 28-nation European Union in the world’s largest free-trade deal.
Passage of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) could be a globalization milestone, creating a megamarket of 800 million consumers from Alaska to Finland, Hawaii to Greece. Import duties — many of which already are low — could be further reduced. More important, the deal could finally tackle nontariff barriers, including differing data-protection and food-safety standards that have long stood in the way of transatlantic commerce.
But even as time runs out for President Obama to sign a deal before leaving office, European and U.S. advocates have been surprised by the increasingly hostile reception on this side of the Atlantic. It is jeopardizing the chances of a deal that proponents say could create millions of new jobs by dramatically boosting U.S.-E.U. trade.
China seeks an agricultural change of course, via Reuters:
China looking to curb fertilizer, pesticide use
China, the world’s top producer of rice and wheat, is seeking to cap the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides that have helped to contaminate large swathes of its arable land and threaten its ability to keep up with domestic food demand.
More than 19 percent of soil samples taken from Chinese farmland have been found to contain excessive levels of heavy metals or chemical waste. In central Hunan province, more than three quarters of the ricefields have been contaminated, government research has shown.
China is the world’s top consumer of pesticides but almost two thirds of pesticides are wasted, contaminating both land and water, an environment official said last year.
Another Chinese land management practice questioned, via Science:
Poisoning of small animals in China may increase flood risks
The grapefruit-sized pika (Ochotona curzoniae) can be a destructive pest. They thrive in the overgrazed grasslands of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and riddle the land with their burrows. The eroded soil can’t hold the monsoon rains, leading to floods that endanger downstream cities and farmlands across China and Southeast Asia.
In response, the Chinese government has engaged in massive pika eradication campaigns since the 1960s. But that strategy may have backfired, according to a soon-to-be-published study in AMBIO. Researchers measured the rate at which soil absorbed water on grasslands with active pika colonies and in places where pikas had been exterminated for more than 2 years.
Even after first flooding the ground to minimize the effects of recent weather, the team found that the soil near pika burrows soaked up water at least two to three times faster than similar soil from pika-free fields. That in turn decreases the chance for overground runoff and potential flooding, the scientists claim. This evidence of the positive role the pikas’ burrows play may help efforts to protect this keystone species.
EcoWatch covers toxins in the water from a sadly familiar source:
New Coal Ash Leaks Found at Duke Energy’s Buck Power Plant
Back in mid-November, two environmental groups—Waterkeeper Alliance and Yadkin Riverkeeper—spotted a gusher of orange goop below the normal waterline of the Yadkin River, pouring from the unlined coal ash impoundments at Duke Energy’s Buck Station in central North Carolina, located next to the river. Naturally they were curious to know what toxins were flowing into their waterway this time, so they had the stuff tested.
Today the two groups, along with the Southern Environmental Law Center, which is representing them in their ongoing battle over unsafe coal ash storage and pollution at the now-closed Buck Station facility, revealed that the testing showed high levels of arsenic, lead and selenium, along with barium, cadmium, manganese and chromium, all at levels exceeding safe standards for human health. It found known or suspected carcinogens like cadmium at eight times the level allowed for groundwater and surface water. It found arsenic at three times the legal limit and barium at 6,000 times the level deemed safe for human health. These chemicals are routinely found in coal ash.
“This new evidence confirms the extent and magnitude of the coal ash pollution leaking into the Yadkin River,” said John Suttles, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “The volume and level of pollution from Duke’s leaky coal ash lagoons will require more than a band-aid solution to protect the river and nearby communities.”
Worrisome news from the Subcontinent, via the New York Times:
Narendra Modi, Favoring Growth in India, Pares Back Environmental Rules
Indian industries have often complained that convoluted environmental regulations are choking off economic growth. As a candidate, Mr. Modi promised to open the floodgates, and he has been true to his word. The new government is moving with remarkable speed to clear away regulatory burdens for industry, the armed forces, mining and power projects.
More permanent changes may be coming. In a report made public last week, a high-level committee assigned to rewrite India’s environmental laws assailed the existing regulatory system, saying it has “served only the purpose of a venal administration” seeking to extract bribes.
To speed up project approvals, the committee recommended scrapping a layer of government inspections; instead, it said, India should rely on business owners to voluntarily disclose the pollution that their projects will generate and then monitor their own compliance, an approach the committee described as “the concept of utmost good faith.”
Environmentalists are worried that the new approach will go beyond cutting red tape and will do away with effective regulation altogether.
After the jump, good news for orangutans, then on to Fukushimapocalypse Now! starting with a plea to lawmakers, a government call for radioactive waste storage bids, renewable energy falls to the wayside as the push for reactor restarts heats up, and litigation challenges one plant’s restart, while China pushes ahead with a swarm of new nuclear plants. . .
And some potentially good news for an endangered Great Ape from Grist:
The last holdout among big palm oil producers joins no-deforestation pledge
The Singapore-based palm-oil business Musim Mas announced Thursday that it will make sure that the oil it purchases hasn’t been harvested in ways that cause deforestation.
Musim Mas handles about 18 percent of the world’s palm oil. It was the last of the big palm oil companies that hadn’t agreed to fight against land clearing and human rights abuses. The announcement comes one year after Wilmar International, the biggest player in the palm-oil game, agreed to take a stand on the issue. Since then, all the other major corporations have followed suit. Now 96 percent of palm oil production is covered by a no-deforestation policy.
The development of oil palm plantations has caused the loss of critical orangutan habitat and led to massive underground fires — where thousands of years of accumulated carbon, in the form of jungle peat, is released into the atmosphere. It’s been a pretty grim situation. Now, this rolling catastrophe looks like it could soon grind to a halt. The NGOs campaigning for change will be monitoring the companies closely to see if they actually follow through on their commitments.
And on to Fukushimapocalypse Now! starting with a plea to lawmakers from the Mainichi:
Party leaders urged to go see Fukushima’s harsh realities for themselves
When Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) leader Banri Kaieda made their first campaign speeches for the upcoming general election in the Fukushima Prefecture cities of Soma and Iwaki, respectively, on Dec. 2, I was in Soma to listen to Abe’s speech. Abe then headed north to Miyagi to make another speech, by way of Route 6. I drove down the same route the opposite way, to the south to see the current situation of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Alongside Route 6 connecting Soma and Iwaki are the vast areas stricken by the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant crisis. Abe, who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), said in his campaign speech in Soma, “Without Fukushima’s reconstruction, there will be no recovery for Japan.” Kaieda reportedly told the audience, “When it comes to recovery, there should be no distinction between the ruling and opposition parties.” If they are talking about Fukushima’s recovery as politicians, why don’t they go and see the realities of the disaster areas for themselves? This is why I decided to travel down the route to the south.
Fortunately, Route 6 was opened to traffic in September — for the first time in 3 1/2 years since the onset of the nuclear catastrophe.
From NHK WORLD, a government call for radioactive waste storage bids:
Govt. to invite bids for Fukushima waste storage
Japan’s Environment Ministry will open bidding for the construction of storage facilities in Fukushima Prefecture for waste produced from decontamination work. However, land for the project has not yet been secured.
The ministry plans to construct intermediate storage facilities in Futaba and Okuma Towns. The damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant operated by TEPCO is located nearby.
The ministry hopes to start transporting contaminated soil and other waste in January of next year. But negotiations with landowners over acquiring their property have made little progress.
Ministry officials say they will select companies to build temporary storage sites, where workers can place waste before moving it to intermediate facilities for up to 30 years.
Renewable energy falls to the wayside as the push for reactor restarts heats up, via the Mainichi:
Japan eyes returning to nuclear power, enthusiasm about renewable energy stymied
Three years and nine months after the outbreak of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan is considering turning to nuclear power once again in a policy shift from abandoning nuclear generation and promoting renewable energy.
On Aomori Prefecture’s Shimokita Peninsula dotted with nuclear facilities, Electric Power Development Co. (J-Power), the nation’s largest electric power wholesaler, is proceeding with building the Oma Nuclear Power Plant with an output capacity of 1.38 million kilowatts with a view to beginning operations in fiscal 2021. Mitsuo Omi, 83, chairman of a local construction company, says that when the power plant will go on line has been the talk of the town.
Construction began in May 2008 but was suspended in the aftermath of the disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant triggered by the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. Some 1,700 workers were reduced to about 350. J-Power announced Nov. 13 that it is applying to the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) as early as the end of this year for safety screening of the Oma plant under construction. Omi pins hopes on a resumption of the Oma plant construction, saying he and other construction companies will receive orders and guest houses and supermarkets will benefit.
NHK WORLD covers the litigious:
Injunction filed to block Fukui reactors restart
Residents have filed for a court injunction to block the restart of 4 nuclear reactors in Fukui Prefecture, central Japan. A group of 9 people from Fukui and other prefectures made the filing with the Fukui District Court on Friday.
The injunction applies to Kansai Electric Power Company’s number 3 and 4 reactors at the Takahama plant, and number 3 and 4 reactors at the Ohi plant.
Japan’s nuclear regulator is now conducting safety screenings to determine whether to allow a restart of the 4 reactors. The authority is expected to release draft reports by the end of this year that say 2 reactors at the Takahama plant have passed safety checks.
While China pushes ahead with a swarm of new nuclear plants, from Xinhua:
China forges ahead with nuclear development
China’s central authorities have signed off a major nuclear power development scheme despite the lingering shadow cast by Japan’s Fukushima disaster.
On Thursday, the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planner, announced plans to develop offshore nuclear power projects, with spokesman Li Pumin ensuring that all projects will comply with the highest international security standards.
In addition, efforts to draft related administrative rules for nuclear power development have been heightened, according to head of the National Energy Administration’s nuclear power department Liu Baohua.
There are currently 27 nuclear power plants under construction in China, placing it top in the world in that category. However, nuclear power facilities provide less than 2 percent of the country’s power supply, far below the world average of 15 percent.
