19th Century Bomb
Found in Whale
BBC News
Scientists have retrieved a weapon
fragment from a whale that suggests it may have swum its first
strokes not long after the American Civil War.
The fragment is part of a time delay
bomb that was introduced in 1879 and manufactured until 1885.
Scientists say it is rare to find a
whale over 100 years old but believe some may reach 200...
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rest of the story.
U.S. House Passes Bill
Affirming Global Warming Exists
by
Richard Cowen, ENN
WASHINGTON -- The House of
Representatives Wednesday, aiming to put an end to the debate over
whether global warming is actually occurring, passed legislation
recognizing the "reality" of climate change and providing money to
work on the problem.
By a vote of 272-155, the House
approved an environmental funding bill for the fiscal year starting
Oct. 1 that would increase federal investments in basic research on
climate change and establish a new commission to review scientific
questions that need to be addressed.
The White House has threatened a veto
of the $27.6 billion bill because its overall spending would exceed
President Bush's request by about $2 billion. The Senate has not yet
debated the bill...
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Panama Canal Expansion
Spurs Environmental Debate
by
Lorne Matalon,
National Geographic News
Engineers have begun working on an
ambitious but controversial plan to add a third shipping lane to the
Panama Canal.
The planners claim that the
5.25-billion-U.S.-dollar expansion, which will add two new
three-chamber locks at either end of the canal, will have little
impact on the surrounding environment. But local residents, mindful
of the thousands forcibly evacuated during the original canal's
construction, remain wary of such promises.
The project commenced with
reforestation of a buffer zone that hugs either side of the 51-mile
(82-kilometer) waterway. (See a
picture gallery of the Panama Canal...)
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for the rest of the story.
Help Save Wyoming's
Wildlife From an Invasion of Gas Rigs
The Bush administration wants to drill
more than 7,800 new gas wells in Wyoming's Upper Green River Valley,
an irreplaceable winter range for 100,000 mule deer, pronghorn,
moose and elk.
NRDC activists sent thousands of
messages earlier this year protesting a separate proposal to expand
gas drilling in this spectacular region. Now, the Bush
administration is pushing a long-term management plan for the Upper
Green River Valley that would almost triple the number of oil and
gas wells currently in place, and we must respond with an even
bigger outcry.
and tell the Bureau of Land Management
to develop a management plan for the Upper Green River Valley that
safeguards the region's extraordinary wildlife and other natural
values.
Nestled between the Wind River, Gros
Ventre and Wyoming ranges, the 1.2 million-acre Upper Green River
Valley is the largest expanse of publicly owned winter wildlife
habitat in Greater Yellowstone.
Each year, pronghorn travel up to 160
miles between Grand Teton National Park and Wyoming's Red Desert to
forage on the region's sagebrush steppes and valley bottoms laced
with willow and cottonwoods.
Expanding drilling in this area would
scar the landscape with roads, pipelines and transmission lines,
harm crucial wildlife habitat, and could pollute the fisheries of
the Green and New Fork rivers.
Go to
http://www.savebiogems.org/yellowstone/takeaction
and tell the Bush administration to
protect the outstanding wild ranges of the Upper Green River Valley
from gas drilling.
Thank you for speaking out to protect
our western wildlife habitats.
Sincerely,
Frances Beinecke
President
Natural Resources Defense Council |
