David Gutierrez | A mass of plastic debris twice the size of Texas is still growing in the Pacific Ocean, fueled primarily by plastic trash generated on the land. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch consists of 3.5 million tons of trash, 80 percent of it plastic, floating in a rarely-traveled portion of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and San Francisco. "With the ...

BBC News | A tropical cyclone has killed at least 351 people in Burma and damaged thousands of buildings, according to state television. Parts of the Irrawaddy region were hit particularly badly, with three out of four buildings reportedly blown down in one district. Burma has declared Irrawaddy and four other regions, including the main city Rangoon, to be disaster ...

By Andrew Ward and Daniel Dombey | George W. Bush on Thursday stepped up pressure on the European Union and other governments to lift restrictions on genetically modified crops to help ease the crisis in global food supplies. The US president said modified crops offered a ­partial solution to the food crisis gripping some parts of the world because of their high yields and ...

By Mark Hertsgaard - The Nation | It used to be that only environmentalists and paranoids warned about running out of oil. Not anymore. As climate change did over the past few years, peak oil seems poised to become the next big idea commanding the attention of governments, businesses and citizens the world over. The arrival of $119-a-barrel crude and $4-a-gallon gasoline this ...

By Stephen Lendman - RINF | In May 2005, FBI Deputy Assistant Director for Counterterrorism John Lewis told a Senate panel that ecoterrorism is "one of today's most serious domestic terrorism threats." Then the FBI's James Jarboe estimated that two organizations (the Earth Liberation Front - ELF and Animal Liberation Front - ALF) committed over 600 criminal acts since 1996, causing ...

By David Adam | The US air force will this week call for the world's top scientists to come together in a 21st-century Apollo-style programme to develop greener fuels and tackle global warming. It wants universities, governments, companies and environmental groups to collaborate on a multibillion-dollar effort to work out greenhouse gas emissions of existing and future fuels. William Anderson, ...

By John Vidal | The worldwide effort by supermarkets and industry to replace conventional oil-based plastic with eco-friendly "bioplastics" made from plants is causing environmental problems and consumer confusion, according to a Guardian study. The substitutes can increase emissions of greenhouse gases on landfill sites, some need high temperatures to decompose and others cannot be recycled in Britain. Many of the bioplastics ...

By Mike Adams | It was one of the dumbest "green" ideas ever proposed: Convert millions of acres of cropland into fields for growing ethanol from corn, then burn fossil fuels to harvest the ethanol, expending more energy to extract the fuel than you get from the fuel itself! Meanwhile, sit back and proclaim you've achieved a monumental green victory (President Bush, anyone?) ...

By Heather Clancy | At the high-tech industry conference where I spent most of my day holed up in meetings on Monday, there was nary a mention of Earth Day. Surprised? I was, but that’s naive little ole me. Then again, I spent the day with VARs and integrators, companies that rarely exercise the marketing might of their vendor partners. When I ...

By Geoffrey Lean Major new study shows that modified soya produces 10 per cent less food than its conventional equivalent. Genetic modification actually cuts the productivity of crops, an authoritative new study shows, undermining repeated claims that a switch to the controversial technology is needed to solve the growing world food crisis. The study – carried out over the past three ...

Is there an alternative to petroleum? Here's one possibility: Bio-diesel. The raw material - used cooking grease - is currently being wasted. BioLiberty.Net, a group of Gulf War veterans, is developing a production system that converts grease to a fuel. One of the uses of the fuel is to help clear the lots of poor, elderly and handicapped land owners in New Orleans who are unable to clear them themselves and are ...

WELLINGTON (Xinhua) -- New Zealand and Fiji on Saturday became the first countries to take part in Earth Hour, an event aimed at reducing emissions that contribute to climate change.    A total of 24 cities around the world are officially involved, although people from 370 different towns and cities have registered to be a part of the event.     New Zealand's third largest city of Christchurch and Fiji's capital of Suva kicked off ...

Evening Standard condemned by press watchdog for coverage of the Camp for Climate Action's Heathrow protest. Claim of fabrication upheld. In a much awaited ruling the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) issued a stinging rebuke against the Evening Standard today. The usually mild- mannered PCC slammed the Standard's coverage of last summer's Camp for Climate Action at ...

Environmentalists are calling Alistair Darling's first Budget as Chancellor a 'green smokescreen', accusing him of giving with one hand, but taking away with the other. While Mr Darling announced plans for 'green' taxes on gas-guzzling cars, he removed the 20p per litre discount on the use of environmentally-friendly biofuels. He presented several measures aimed at tackling climate change, but critics believe he could have done more, and that many of the green-orientated ...

Trace amounts of pharmaceutical drugs are lurking in Louisville's drinking water, including one used to treat people with bipolar disorder and alcohol withdrawal, and another prescribed to combat seizures. Swimming with them in the city's water supply is a favorite pick-me-up: caffeine. The findings are part of a nationwide investigation into pharmaceutical drugs in drinking water ...