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Hundreds of sea lions off the coast of California have been poisoned this year amid a “highly unusual” algae bloom that has persisted in southern and central parts of the state into October.
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Progress seen on overall industry emissions, even as oil and gas emissions rise, EPA finds
By Shannon Kelleher
US power plants, the largest stationary sources of greenhouse gases in the nation, continue to show reduced emissions but the good news from that sector comes as oil and gas emissions rise, according to new regulatory data.
Deadly refinery leak adds to US toxic accident toll
By Dana Drugmand
A Texas oil refinery with a history of environmental violations was the site of a deadly hydrogen sulfide leak last week, killing two people and injuring more than two dozen others and adding to a long list of US industrial accidents US regulators say they are trying to rein in.
In Hurricane Milton’s wake, toxic “gypstacks” threaten Tampa Bay area
By Shannon Kelleher
As southwest Florida reels from the impact of Hurricane Milton this week, the first hurricane to directly hit the Tampa Bay area in a century, environmentalists are bracing for another possible impact – the contamination of local waterways from towering stacks of toxic industrial waste in the storm’s path.
Nearly 100,000 birds dead in botulism outbreak linked to climate change, water diversions
By Douglas Main
An ongoing outbreak of botulism, a bacterial illness that causes muscle paralysis, has killed more than 94,000 birds at Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Northern California, the worst such outbreak at the lake ever recorded, according to federal scientists.
Affected birds often cannot control their muscles and often suffocate in the water, said biologist and ornithologist Teresa Wicks, with Bird Alliance of Oregon, who works in the area. “It’s a very traumatic thing to see,” Wicks said.
Though local in scale, the outbreak and catastrophic die-off are tied to global problems including declining wetlands, increasing demand for limited water resources, hydrological diversions, and a warming climate.
These kinds of outbreaks can happen around the world and the phenomenon seems to be on the rise, according to Andrew Farnsworth, a scientist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology who studies bird migration.
“Given warming temperatures, droughts, then intense periods of rain followed by drying… the hallmarks of climate change are all over this,” Farnsworth said.
The pestilence is caused by a toxin produced by a specific type of bacteria (Clostridium botulinum) that thrives in the area’s warm, stagnant, low water levels. Botulism can also affect people, though no human cases have been reported in this instance. Other outbreaks have been reported around the world, but generally cause far fewer deaths. A botulism outbreak in 2020 caused by similar conditions killed an estimated 60,000 birds at Tule Lake.
The Klamath Basin, of which the refuge is a part, has been disrupted by man-made dams and irrigation canals for over a century. The developments and diversions eliminated more than 90% of the area’s wetlands.
Tule Lake is an ancient water body, whose levels swelled and ebbed, but always remained, for hundreds of thousands of years. Historically, the lake and nearby wetlands would fill with water during the winter rains. Now, the water supply comes almost entirely from irrigation canals.
“Like steroids for hurricanes” – Scientists say Helene just a warning of what is to come
By Dana Drugmand
As the full extent of the devastation unleashed by Hurricane Helene in the southeastern United States becomes clear nearly two weeks after the monstrous storm made landfall, a new scientific analysis confirms what many have already surmised – climate change worsened the hurricane’s catastrophic impacts.
PFAS levels increasing in Arctic animals, study finds
By Douglas Main
Concentrations of toxic pollutants known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are continuing to increase in Arctic animals such as polar bears despite efforts to rein in their use, according to a new study.
EPA not protecting public from neonic exposure, analysis suggests
By Shannon Kelleher
Rodent studies given to US regulators by insecticide makers close to 20 years ago revealed the chemicals could be harmful to the animals’ brain development – data worrisome for humans exposed to the popular pesticides but not properly accounted for by regulators, according to a new research report published this week.
Q&A: 20 years after coining “microplastics,” a researcher reflects on what needs to change
By Douglas Main
We now know that microplastics and nano-plastics are everywhere. They are found in the most remote parts of the deep ocean, on Mount Everest, in rainwater, in the food we eat and air we breathe. They’re showing up in animals and human organs, including the brain.
“Defend or be damned” – How a US company uses government funds to suppress pesticide opposition around the world
By Carey Gillam, Margot Gibbs and Elena DeBre
In 2017, two United Nations experts called for a treaty to strictly regulate dangerous pesticides, which they said were a “global human rights concern”, citing scientific research showing pesticides can cause cancers, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, and other health problems.
Publicly, the industry’s lead trade association dubbed the recommendations “unfounded and sensational assertions”. In private, industry advocates have gone further.
Derogatory profiles of the two UN experts, Hilal Elver and Baskut Tuncak, are hosted on an online private “social network” portal for pesticide company employees and a range of influential allies.
Members of the network can access a wide range of personal information about hundreds of individuals from around the world deemed a threat to industry interests, including US food writers Michael Pollan and Mark Bittman, the Indian environmentalist Vandana Shiva and the Nigerian activist Nnimmo Bassey. Many profiles include personal details such as the names of family members, phone numbers, home addresses and even house values.
The profiling is part of a broad campaign – that was financed partly with US taxpayers dollars – to downplay pesticide dangers, discredit opponents, and undermine international policymaking harmful to the pesticide industry, according to court records, emails and other documents obtained by the non-profit newsroom Lighthouse Reports in an investigative reporting collaboration with The New Lede, the Guardian, and other international media partners.
The efforts were spearheaded by a “reputation management” firm in Missouri called v-Fluence. The company, founded by former Monsanto executive Jay Byrne, provides self-described services that include “intelligence gathering”, “proprietary data mining” and “risk communications”.
The revelations demonstrate how industry advocates established a “private social network” to counter resistance to pesticides and genetically modified (GM) crops in Africa, Europe and other parts of the world, while also denigrating organic and other alternative farming methods. More than 30 current government officials are on the membership list of the private network, most of whom are from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Elver, who is now a university research professor and a member of a United Nations food security committee, said public money would have been better spent on scientific research into the health impacts of pesticides than on profiling people such as herself.
“Instead of understanding the scientific reality, they try and shoot the messenger. It is really hard to believe,” she said.
Author Michael Pollan’s profile portrays him as an “ardent opponent” of industrial agriculture and (GM) crops and a proponent of organic farming. His profile includes a long list of criticisms and details such as the names of his siblings, parents, son and brother-in-law.
“It’s one thing to have an industry come after you after publishing a critical article. This happens all the time in journalism,” Pollan said. “But to have your own government pay for it is outrageous. These are my tax dollars at work.”