http://ecowatch.com/2014/10/28/bp-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill/

Researchers have discovered a large “bathtub ring” of oil on the bottom of the ocean due to sinking oil particles presumably from the BP oil spill 4 years ago. The study traces the fallout plume of hydrocarbons from the Macondo Well, and has estimated that around 2 million barrels of oil are trapped within the bottom ocean layers. Although BP has been fined up to $9.2 billion in settlement charges previously for the spill, a new federal case in Louisiana might demand an additional $18 billion. Despite the research, BP says that the data is “overblown.”

Hearing about the BP oil spill reminded me that although we don’t see headlines overarching each year as more research is done, the effects are still being felt… perhaps even due to a time lag. What headlines can you recall being environmentally important and seemed to never be resolved (or at least covered in the news as events progressed)?

4 Places Where Hunters Are Working to Protect Game Animals

In Washington State, North Dakota, South Carolina, and the western U.S., hunters and fishermen are working to ensure the survival of the very species they target.

While it might seem backwards, “people who seek to kill animals could take part in saving them, many hunters and fishers are committed to restoring natural habitats and maintaining America’s wild places”. Why is it that hunters are saving the animals that they hunt? Simply, because if they don’t there will be nothing  left for them to hunt. The attached video from National Geographic goes into a lot more detail about the logic of hunters as preservationists.

http://http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/10/141015-hunters-conservation-science-animals-hunting-environment/

Recently, Lockheed Martin announced breakthroughs in fusion technology. They proclaim that they will have a working prototype of a small-sized nuclear fusion reactor in 5 years. In 10 years they say this technology will be used in military operations, and in 20 it will be commercialized and satisfy civilian energy needs. Fusion reactors have been attempted to be made before, but none have succeeded for a variety of reasons (funding on the top of the list). Lockheed Martin’s reactor is different because it is a small reactor which reduces the costs significantly. They have reportedly tweaked some things about previously attempted magnetic confinement and particle recirculation. The way this works is still way over my head after reading several articles on it, but it is promising nonetheless. From this university today article, “There are a few reasons Lockheed-Martin has gone out on a limb. Consider the potential. One ton of Uranium used in Fission reactors has as much energy as 1,500 tons of coal. But fission reactors produce radioactive waste and are a finite resource without breeder reactors, themselves a nuclear proliferation risk. Fusion produces 3 to 4 times more energy per reaction than fission. Additionally, the fuel — isotopes of hydrogen — is available from sea water — which is nearly limitless — and the byproducts are far less radioactive than with fission. Fusion generators once developed could provide our energy needs for millions of years.”

http://www.universetoday.com/115411/fusion-energy-always-50-years-away-now-just-5-according-to-lockheed-martin/

In addition, Lockheed Martin is opening up their doors a little to get more minds involved in this project in which the manager has said, “We think we’ve invented something that is inherently stable.” He also said they are still early on in the scientific process, but with such enormous implications, it is hard to not pay attention to this budding project. It will be exciting to follow this story in the future, as it could change everything.

http://news.sciencemag.org/physics/2014/10/lockheed-looks-partners-its-proposed-fusion-reactor-0

This article is about the dumping of electronic waste in Ghana, Africa.  The recycling process for e-waste costs too much, so there is illegal shipping to African countries like Ghana. European countries illegally label their e-waste as “functional” or “repairable” before shipment. This dumping has caused irreparable environmental damage to this village in Ghana.  Now the villagers can not be fishers and instead sort through the electronic good to sell. These villagers are exposed to toxic fumes that cause terminal illnesses and are usually physically wounded while sorting through the e-waste. Experts predict that this illegal dumping of e-waste will only increase and cause even more damage.  They say it will double by 2020.  http://www.dailysabah.com/features/2014/10/17/ewaste-a-death-sentence

I think as Lafayette students we are all familiar with this pesky brown pest. Originating in Asian, the stinkbug (Halyomorpha halys) was introduced into the United States in the mid 1990s. We all recognize them as the annoying bugs that fly around our room and land on our books and in our clothes. But they are also incredibly problematic for fruit crops.

They have now spread to 41 states. Tracy Leskey is a research entomologist with the United States Department of Agriculture who is working to understand the threat stinkbugs pose, patterns in which they move and how they may be eliminated. The main problem is that nothing in the Unites States eats these stinkbugs. In Asia a parasitic wasp eats the stinkbugs from inside the shell but more research needs to be done to determine what kind of damage introducing the foreign wasp will create on native stinkbugs and whether it will just turn into another invasive species.

Regardless of how it is accomplished, I certainly agree that these pesky bugs should be gotten rid of…finding them everywhere in a dorm room is not very fun!

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/10/141017-stinkbugs-insects-science-animals-nation-control/

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/oct/15/colombian-farmers-sue-bp-british-court

Being called one of the largest cases in environmental legal history, over 100 Colombian farmers are suing BP (called Equion Energia there) due to the damage that the oil pipeline (Ocensa, laid in the 1990s) has caused them. They claim that they did not fully understand the contracts and that they were never fully compensated. Since this is the first time BP is being sued from overseas, it could open up a whole mess of trouble with other developing countries. The Colombian farmers want to show evidence that the pipeline caused “severe soil erosion and sedimentation of fields and water sources, reduced vegetation coverage and areas for pasture, and blocked water sources.” This case seems to overlap conceptions that we’ve talked about in class (environmental justice, capitalism, globalism, consumerism, fossil fuels); if successful, we might be seeing more claims like this to come. As of now, I suppose we have to wait… but what impact do you think a win or lose for these Colombians farmers might signify?

For those of us who live in the Northeast, an eye should be glued to the people we put in power and their stance on environmental issues. In the gubernatorial  race in Connecticut, candidate Tom Foley’s lack of a position on the causes of climate change caused a great uproar. Foley is quoted saying “It doesn’t matter, it’s happened,” Foley said of climate change during a debate Thursday night in New London. Foley has also expressed that connecticut on its own will not be able to change global warming. But I, and most of the able minded people of this world believe that change has to start somewhere, so why not here? All I have to say is, choose wisely Connecticut.

http://www.courant.com/politics/capitol-watch/hc-environmental-groups-bash-tom-foley-on-climate-change-20141017-story.html

I remembered Drew said something in class about a breakthrough in Hydrogen renewable energy. The two sources that I found below are exactly what he was talking about. The new findings may very well in the next decade put renewable energy at the forefront of the fuel industry.

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/345/6202/1326.abstract?sid=5f0a71b8-de9d-48b9-b4d0-e436349dd866

http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/9051/20140916/cheap-green-energy-possible-with-hydrogen-breakthrough.htm

What they discovered is a new more efficient way to  first get hydrogen and then use it for energy. This new method would almost entirely take fossil fuels out of the picture because electricity would not be needed anymore to generate the energy to start electrolysis which is the process of separating hydrogen from water by shocking it. Up until now electrolysis could only be initiated through energy intensive processes. Nevertheless, now they have this new super redox mediator liquid that can now complete electrolysis at a very low power level; lower than what we currently do to generate electricity. This is finding is possibly world changing because it may make hydrogen fuel cheaper than any form of fossil fuel. Price has always been the issue with renewable, but with this breakthrough that may be changing.

This video does a brilliant job of defining where the blame lies in the exploitation of our resources. There is no doubt there are more powerful forces at hand, but this a recurring theme in history.

The cunning men at the top use all sorts of tactics, whether it be fear, religion or media to get people to follow them.

People have given up what truly matters, and given into a religion of consumerism. They compensate their lack of values for STUFF. What people once owned, the stuff now owns the people.

How do we stop this system?