environmental | Common News Update

Aug102020 by adminNo Comments

Mauritius oil spill: Locals scramble to contain environmental damage

Science

Media playback is unsupported on your device Volunteers in Mauritius are scrambling to create cordons to keep leaking oil from a ship away from the island. The MV Wakashio, believed to have been carrying 4,000 tonnes of fuel oil, ran aground on a coral reef off the Indian Ocean island on 25 July. Locals are making absorbent barriers of straw stuffed into fabric sacks in an attempt to contain and absorb the oil. Mauritius is home to world-renowned coral reefs, and tourism is a crucial part of its economy. Images posted online by local media show volunteers collecting straw from fields and filling sacks to make barriers. Others have been making their own tubes with tights and hair to a...

Jun42020 by adminNo Comments

U.S. ranks 24th in newly released 2020 Environmental Performance Index

Science

June 4 (UPI) -- The United States isn't doing a very good job of protecting the environment, according to researchers at Yale and Columbia universities. The U.S. ranks 24th in the 2020 Environmental Performance Index, released Thursday. The relatively poor ranking, putting the United States behind most of Europe, reflects the nation's growing environmental and sustainability problems -- including the rolling back of EPA rules and relaxed enforcement for air and water protections by the Trump administration -- experts say. Advertisement Scientists at Yale and Columbia ranked 180 countries on 32 key indicators across 11 categories related to environmental health and ecosystem vitality. The latest index, produced every two years, was compiled using a data-driven and empirical approach, accor...

May132020 by adminNo Comments

Officials at Tyndall AFB complete environmental assessment for rebuild effort

Business

May 12 (UPI) -- Officials at Florida's Tyndall Air Force Base have completed a Programmatic Environmental Assessment and are ready to purge the last of the facilities damaged by Hurricane Michael in 2018. According to the Air Force, the PEA is one of two major National Environmental Policy Act actions required before reconstruction can begin at the installation. "The approval of this Environmental Assessment, or EA, is great news for Tyndall AFB because we can now move forward with the multibillion-dollar rebuild of the 'Installation of the Future,'" said Col. Travis Leighton, Tyndall PMO director. "This includes completing the demolition required to clear sites in time for the construction of new facilities." Tyndall can now obligate funds to start the 28 rebuild projects evaluated unde...

Dec302019 by adminNo Comments

Study links environmental pollution exposure to reduced fetal size

Health

Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Pregnant women may be unknowingly placing their unborn children at risk through exposure to a certain type of pollutants, a study published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics has found. Research led by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and based on ultrasound scans suggests pregnant women exposed to higher levels of persistent organic pollutants, or POPs, had slightly smaller fetuses than women who weren't exposed to the chemicals. The results indicate that the chemicals, which are no longer produced in the United States but remain in the environment, may have lasting health effects even at reduced levels. "The differences we found in fetal growth measures may be more sensitive indicators, compared to birth size, of the potential effects of these compounds," co-...

Oct262019 by adminNo Comments

Cardinal group pushes for married priests, female deacons and environmental activism

World

Oct. 26 (UPI) -- The Catholic Church could allow married priests while also ordaining women as deacons on a regional basis, based on recommendations from a gathering of cardinal bishops from the Amazon region of South America. The nine-nation area has a shortage of priests that needs to be addressed. After listening to the cardinals' concerns, Pope Francis said he would assemble a commission to consider both issues. "I am going to take up the challenge that ... you have put forward, that women be heard," Francis said. The cardinals said Jesus entrusted women in the ministry, setting an example for the church today. The Oct. 6-27 meeting in Vatican City also focused on serious threats facing the Amazon Basin, including the outbreak of wildfires in the rain forest this year. They want to ...