Photo via the New Republic It's a widely held notion that politicians have long been in the pocket of Big Oil. And there's good reason for that perception: oil companies' huge campaign donations, vast lobbying power, and close ties to politicians have ensured that their taxes remain low , that hidden subsidies are around to provide extra funding, and that they receive preferential treatment in US energy policy. But there could be a new, ... View original post here: The Next Big Oil: Big Smart Grid?
So there really isn't anything that deep to this image. It's just a (more or less) life-sized blue whale eye. And on the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society site you can educate yourself/be mesmerized/ waste some time for a while staring at it while the entire life-sized animal scrolls across your browser window. Believe me, it's way cooler than you might think:... Read more from the original source: Ever See a Blue Whale Life-Sized on Your Computer? Now You Can
published September 23, 2009 and has No Comments
Floods caused heavy damage in the Istanbul region. Photo via Today's Zaman . The devastating, tragic floods in Istanbul and northwestern Turkey earlier this month--which killed at least 41 people and did $70 to 80 million in damage--offered yet another reminder of the danger such incidents pose to the country. Floods are the second most destructive type of natural ...
Read more...published September 16, 2009 and has No Comments
Photos via Wired ; Credit Jill Heinerth / IntoThePlanet.com Cave diving is scary business. There's an endless list of things that can go wrong and a diver puts their life at risk every time they slip on their air mask. However, exploring underwater caves is important to understanding and discovering rarely seen ecosystems and slices of prehistoric worlds. Thanks ...
Read more...published August 30, 2009 and has No Comments
Photo: GregPC via Flickr Are you thinking of taking your family rafting near the Ozarks this Labor Day? Well, you’d better leave your Tupperware at home. A poorly written Missouri law has mistakenly banned polypropylene from most of the state’s waterways. Lawmakers in the Show-Me-State meant to outlaw the polystyrene containers that have been polluting their rivers but wound ...
Read more...published August 25, 2009 and has No Comments
photo: Dan Huntington via flickr The environmental problems with large-scale hydropower are well documented, with small-scale hydro often seen as a more benign way to exploit the power of rivers for electricity. However, as the Wall Street Journal points out, when you start putting hundreds of small-scale hydropower projects together the impact builds, and wo... Read the full story ...
Read more...published August 8, 2009 and has No Comments
A boat trip on the Euphrates River in Turkey brings you closer to ancient civilizations -- and to modern environmental conflicts. From historic rivers to the world's largest desalination plant, from a futuristic city to a 100-year-old tree-planting project, some fascinating environmentally-themed sights await the intrepid traveler in a region not exactly known for eco-tourism : the Middle East.... ...
Read more...published August 1, 2009 and has No Comments
The aftermath of flooding in Giresun, Turkey. Photo via Today's Zaman . Devastating floods in the eastern Black Sea region of Turkey have inundated hundreds of homes and businesses, blocked roads, cut utility services, caused millions of Turkish Liras in damage, and led the coastal town of Giresun to be declared a disaster zone. As residents pick up the ...
Read more...published July 22, 2009 and has No Comments
Stranded boats on the dried-up Aral Sea. Photo by giladr via Flickr. The Aral Sea, Central Asia's most (in)famous body of water, has become a global symbol of environmental mismanagement. But at least one government in the region doesn't seem to have learned much from that eco-catastrophe: Last week, President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov of Turkmenistan broke ground on the creation ...
Read more...published July 20, 2009 and has No Comments
1894 engraving of Ganges River dolphin: Wikipedia The Irrawaddy dolphin may be doing better than previously thought, but another of South Asia's dolphins isn't doing so well at all. Mongabay points out that a new report by the IUCN says that the Ganges River dolphin , whose range also includes the Brahmaputra River, faces multiple threats and may face ...
Read more...published June 25, 2009 and has No Comments
Photo via Randy Son of Robert @ flickr There's a lot to know about the world's water crisis --as you can tell from the month of posts we've been doing on just this one topic. But if you're new to the discussion, catch up in one weekend with these five documentaries. From in-depth background on the political, social, and ...
Read more...published June 16, 2009 and has No Comments
For people living along the Mekong, the river supplies them with about 80% of their protein intake. Photo: Fredrik Thommesen via flickr. A few short weeks ago it came out the China had plans in the works to place 20 hydroelectric dams on the upper reaches of the Yangtze . It also has dam plans in the headwaters of ...
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Excerpt from: Today on Planet 100: Planet 100's Top 10 Most Outrageous Stories (Video)
Photo via Wired You may have heard of Simon Singh long before his name rose to the top of the list of those championing sound science: He'd written two bestselling books, Fermat's Enigma and the Big Bang . Despite ...
