UN Issues 17 Prospecting Licenses for Deep Sea Mining Across Three Oceans

Photo via Shutterstock As if the oceans are not struggling enough with climate change, pollution and overfishing, the United Nation’s International Seabed Authority (ISA)has issued 17 prospecting licenses for state and private companies eager to dig up the ocean floor. The ISA has published a report evaluating the impact that mining the sea bed to extract about mineral rich “nodules” amid “an unprecedented surge of interest,” according to The BBC . And they are frank to note that there will be “inevitable environmental consequences.” Read the rest of UN Issues 17 Prospecting Licenses for Deep Sea Mining Across Three Oceans Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: deep sea mining , Environment , environmental destruction , gold rush of the sea , International Seabed Authority , ISA , Lockheed Martin mining , marine destruction , News , sea bed mining , United Nations        

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UN Issues 17 Prospecting Licenses for Deep Sea Mining Across Three Oceans

Climate Change and Melting Ice are Shifting the Polar Poles

Every year since 2005, the North Pole has shifted several centimeters, and researchers have now attributed those rapid changes to climate change . While the location of the geographical poles are always in seasonal flux, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin used data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) to establish whether the melting Greenland Ice sheet and other ice losses are responsible for the accelerated yearly polar drift. Read the rest of Climate Change and Melting Ice are Shifting the Polar Poles Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: Climate Change , Environment , global warming , melting greenland ice sheet , melting polar caps , Nature , News , Shifting polar poles , university of texas        

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Climate Change and Melting Ice are Shifting the Polar Poles

Monsanto Wins $84,456 in US Supreme Court Case Against an Indiana Farmer

Farming will never be the same after the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Monsanto in a seed patenting case against an Indiana farmer that some had hoped would break the company’s monopoly on modern agriculture. Monsanto sued Vernon Bowman after he purchased their Roundup Ready Soybeans from a grain elevator to plant a late second crop, The Guardian reports . Bowman argued that the patent was exhausted since he bought the seeds from a third party, but the corporate giant said he had agreed not to save any of the harvest for replanting when he entered into a contract to purchase their seeds. Justice Elena Kagan agreed that patent exhaustion did not apply in this case and the court ordered Bowman to pay $84,456. Read the rest of Monsanto Wins $84,456 in US Supreme Court Case Against an Indiana Farmer Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: Environment , farming , genetically modified organisms , GMO , Indiana farmer , Indiana Farmer loses to Monsanto , Monsanto , News , patent exhaustion , roundup ready , Supreme Court agriculture case , US seed patenting        

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Monsanto Wins $84,456 in US Supreme Court Case Against an Indiana Farmer

Monsanto Wins $84,456 in US Supreme Court Case Against an Indiana Farmer

Farming will never be the same after the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Monsanto in a seed patenting case against an Indiana farmer that some had hoped would break the company’s monopoly on modern agriculture. Monsanto sued Vernon Bowman after he purchased their Roundup Ready Soybeans from a grain elevator to plant a late second crop, The Guardian reports . Bowman argued that the patent was exhausted since he bought the seeds from a third party, but the corporate giant said he had agreed not to save any of the harvest for replanting when he entered into a contract to purchase their seeds. Justice Elena Kagan agreed that patent exhaustion did not apply in this case and the court ordered Bowman to pay $84,456. Read the rest of Monsanto Wins $84,456 in US Supreme Court Case Against an Indiana Farmer Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: Environment , farming , genetically modified organisms , GMO , Indiana farmer , Indiana Farmer loses to Monsanto , Monsanto , News , patent exhaustion , roundup ready , Supreme Court agriculture case , US seed patenting        

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Monsanto Wins $84,456 in US Supreme Court Case Against an Indiana Farmer

Monsanto Wins $84,456 in US Supreme Court Case Against an Indiana Farmer

Farming will never be the same after the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Monsanto in a seed patenting case against an Indiana farmer that some had hoped would break the company’s monopoly on modern agriculture. Monsanto sued Vernon Bowman after he purchased their Roundup Ready Soybeans from a grain elevator to plant a late second crop, The Guardian reports . Bowman argued that the patent was exhausted since he bought the seeds from a third party, but the corporate giant said he had agreed not to save any of the harvest for replanting when he entered into a contract to purchase their seeds. Justice Elena Kagan agreed that patent exhaustion did not apply in this case and the court ordered Bowman to pay $84,456. Read the rest of Monsanto Wins $84,456 in US Supreme Court Case Against an Indiana Farmer Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: Environment , farming , genetically modified organisms , GMO , Indiana farmer , Indiana Farmer loses to Monsanto , Monsanto , News , patent exhaustion , roundup ready , Supreme Court agriculture case , US seed patenting        

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Monsanto Wins $84,456 in US Supreme Court Case Against an Indiana Farmer

Monsanto Wins $84,456 in US Supreme Court Case Against an Indiana Farmer

Farming will never be the same after the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Monsanto in a seed patenting case against an Indiana farmer that some had hoped would break the company’s monopoly on modern agriculture. Monsanto sued Vernon Bowman after he purchased their Roundup Ready Soybeans from a grain elevator to plant a late second crop, The Guardian reports . Bowman argued that the patent was exhausted since he bought the seeds from a third party, but the corporate giant said he had agreed not to save any of the harvest for replanting when he entered into a contract to purchase their seeds. Justice Elena Kagan agreed that patent exhaustion did not apply in this case and the court ordered Bowman to pay $84,456. Read the rest of Monsanto Wins $84,456 in US Supreme Court Case Against an Indiana Farmer Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: Environment , farming , genetically modified organisms , GMO , Indiana farmer , Indiana Farmer loses to Monsanto , Monsanto , News , patent exhaustion , roundup ready , Supreme Court agriculture case , US seed patenting        

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Monsanto Wins $84,456 in US Supreme Court Case Against an Indiana Farmer

Monsanto Wins $84,456 in US Supreme Court Case Against an Indiana Farmer

Farming will never be the same after the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Monsanto in a seed patenting case against an Indiana farmer that some had hoped would break the company’s monopoly on modern agriculture. Monsanto sued Vernon Bowman after he purchased their Roundup Ready Soybeans from a grain elevator to plant a late second crop, The Guardian reports . Bowman argued that the patent was exhausted since he bought the seeds from a third party, but the corporate giant said he had agreed not to save any of the harvest for replanting when he entered into a contract to purchase their seeds. Justice Elena Kagan agreed that patent exhaustion did not apply in this case and the court ordered Bowman to pay $84,456. Read the rest of Monsanto Wins $84,456 in US Supreme Court Case Against an Indiana Farmer Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: Environment , farming , genetically modified organisms , GMO , Indiana farmer , Indiana Farmer loses to Monsanto , Monsanto , News , patent exhaustion , roundup ready , Supreme Court agriculture case , US seed patenting        

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Monsanto Wins $84,456 in US Supreme Court Case Against an Indiana Farmer

Tiny New York Town Wins Landmark Case to Uphold Fracking Ban

As of 2012, 2.5 million oil and gas wells have been drilled worldwide using the  hydraulic fracturing  method, and more than 1 million of them are located in the United States. The result of this trend has been devastating to human health and the environment. With natural gas companies pouring millions of dollars into political and PR campaigns, slowing it down has been difficult. But as one tiny town in New York demonstrated, it’s not impossible. Dryden, New York, recently won a court case to prevent the fracking industry from destroying its air and water , an encouraging development for cities and states fighting similar battles. Read the rest of Tiny New York Town Wins Landmark Case to Uphold Fracking Ban Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: activism , dryden , fossil fuels , fracking , hydraulic fracturing , natural gas industry , New York. , progressive communities , rural communities , rural town , upstate New York        

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Tiny New York Town Wins Landmark Case to Uphold Fracking Ban

Maine’s Grass-Covered Cold War Bunkers Provide Refuge from Deadly Bat Disease

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) inherited 43 cold war era bunkers in 1994 when the former Loring Air Force Base in Maine shut down. Used as a storage and aerial delivery site for nuclear warheads, the base was transformed into the Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge . For years the USFWS sought a new life for the old grass-covered bunkers and finally in 2012 they decided to convert two of them into artificial caves for sick bats. White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), the worst wildlife disease outbreak in recent history , has killed up to 6.7 million bats throughout North America, compromising crucial agricultural services to the tune of $53 billion. The bunkers are expected to provide a healthy respite from contaminated caves for hibernating bats. Read the rest of Maine’s Grass-Covered Cold War Bunkers Provide Refuge from Deadly Bat Disease Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: adaptive reuse , artificial caves , bats , cold war bunkers , Environment , grass-covered bunkers , hibernacula for bats , Loring Air Force Base , News , Northern Maine Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge , US Fish and Wildlife Service , white-nose syndrome        

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Maine’s Grass-Covered Cold War Bunkers Provide Refuge from Deadly Bat Disease

Melting Arctic Seas are Turning into Giant Pools of Acid, Researchers Warn

Photo via Shutterstock Researchers warn that the cold Arctic seas are acidifying at an alarming rate as a result of rising carbon emissions . With its protective ice cap diminishing during summer months and greater swaths of surface area exposed to the air, the cold Nordic seas absorb atmospheric carbon at a faster rate than warmer waters. Acidification destabilizes ocean chemistry and endangers the fragile ecosystem. Though scientists from the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP) warn that rapid change is afoot, they are unable to predict exactly what changes will occur. Read the rest of Melting Arctic Seas are Turning into Giant Pools of Acid, Researchers Warn Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: acidification , Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP) , arctic seas , carbon emissions , Climate Change , Environment , global warming , Nature , News , nordic seas , Norwegian Institute for Water Research , ocean chemistry , pH of arctic seas , science        

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Melting Arctic Seas are Turning into Giant Pools of Acid, Researchers Warn

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