Climate Change Conference Copenhagen 2009

Posted on | May 24, 2009 | Comments Off

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon and Nobel prize winner Al Gore pleaded to top CEOs of companies, such as, PepsiCo, Nestle, BP, to take action against climate change.

“We have to do it this year. Not next year. This year,” Gore said. “The clock is ticking, because Mother Nature does not do bailouts.”

“Continuing to pour trillions of dollars into fossil-fuel subsidies is like investing in subprime real estate,” Ban said. “Our carbon-based infrastructure is like a toxic asset that threatens the portfolio of global goods, from public health to food security.”

EPA Orders Scotts to Stop Selling Certain Pesticides

Posted on | May 23, 2009 | Comments Off

* Twenty-Four Pesticide Products Affected
* What happened?
o Pesticides containing unapproved ingredients
o Pesticides containing false, misleading or unsubstantiated label claims
o Pesticides with improper or insufficient labeling
o Pesticides sold before EPA registration approval and containing false or misleading label claims or lacking proper safety instructions
o Unregistered pesticide products
+ EPA Analysis of Unregistered Scotts’ Products (June 10, 2008
* EPA and Scotts Agree to the recall of Pesticides (May 9, 2008)
* What should you do?
* For more information

In Spring 2008, EPA began issuing enforcement actions against The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company and its affiliates (Marysville, OH) due to problems that have been identified with some of its products. This Web page describes the status of the various products subject to EPA enforcement action.

In April and May 2008, EPA ordered The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company and its affiliates (Marysville, OH), as well as major retailers, to stop distributing and selling four pesticide products that were unregistered or improperly labeled. Scotts recalled these products from retailers, consumers, and the company’s lawn care affiliate, Scotts LawnService. On October 31, 2008, EPA issued an Amended Stop Sale Order that allows Scotts to sell one of these products (“SouthernMax” or “Scotts Bonus S Max Southern Weed & Feed and Fire Ant Killer”) provided the product is properly labeled according to EPA requirements.

As part of EPA’s investigation into Scotts pesticide products, in June, September and October 2008, and January and February 2009 EPA issued “stop sale, use or removal” orders for 19 more Scotts products that are unregistered, improperly labeled, make false or misleading claims, contain statements that EPA did not approve as part of the products’ registration, or make claims that were not supported by submissions of required scientific studies. Additional information is provided below about each product and the issues of concern.

Retailers can continue to distribute and sell their current stock of the 19 products affected by the June, September and October stop sale orders. However, certain stocks that remain in Scotts’ facilities must be relabeled or repackaged with EPA-accepted labels. EPA may amend or issue stop sale orders that would allow Scotts to resume selling and distributing some of these products from its facilities once they are properly labeled according to EPA requirements. One Scotts’ product will be returned to its manufacturer, Golden Gate Designs, for appropriate handling or modification. While EPA is allowing products already in the hands of retailers to be sold, consumers can contact Scotts at 1 (888) 270-3714 or through their web site at www.scotts.com, to obtain corrected label directions.

Before a pesticide can be sold or distributed, it must be registered with EPA to protect public health and the environment. As part of the registration process, a company must ensure the pesticide meets the claims made on its label. To ensure the safe use of pesticides, companies are also required by federal law to provide accurate information and instructions on the product label. Companies wanting to amend pesticide labels are required to seek EPA approval. Pesticide products must comply with federal regulations to maintain consistency, avoid confusion, and ensure that products can be used properly and safely.

Biggest Health Threat: Global Warming

Posted on | May 18, 2009 | Comments Off

Human induced climate change is “the biggest global health threat of the 21st century,” according to a group of experts.

“This is a bad diagnosis not just for children in different lands. It’s for our children and grandchildren,” Anthony Costello, a professor of international child health and director of the Institute for Global Health at University College London. “Even the most conservative estimates are profoundly disturbing and demand action. Climate change raises an important issue of intergenerational justice, that we are setting up a world for our children and grandchildren that may be extremely frightening and turbulent.” Mr. Costello is the lead author of a report produced jointly by The Lancet journal and University College London (UCL).

“There are no institutions at the global level who can really deal effectively with devising complex solutions to these complex problems,” said Dr. Richard Horton. “It is an urgent threat. It is a dangerous threat. It has been neglected, and requires an unprecedented response by governments and international organizations.”

“The vast majority of experts, 95 percent, maybe even 99 percent, agree that global warming is taking place,” said Kirby Donnelly, head of environmental and occupational health at Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health. “The big issue is the model: When will global warming become a problem?”

The report based predicts a 4-degree rise in temperature over the coming century. There are many health concerns over such a rise, including: vector-borne diseases, dengue fever and malaria. Also, heat waves will liekly kill more people than the 70,000 people killed Europe in 2003.

Another consideration — crop yields will decline and starvation will rise. Gastroenteritis and malnutrition will increase due to water shortages.

“Extreme climactic events such as flash flooding due to changing rainfall patterns and melting ice sheets will hinder the world’s sewage systems, leading to diarrhea and other problems,” said Dr. Hugh Montgomery, director of UCL’s Institute for Human Health and Performance. “Severe cyclones and hurricanes will also take more lives.”

“We have a moral dilemma: How do we protect the health of the poorest people in the world and allow them to develop,” Maslin said.

“There are so many public health issues associated with global warming that certainly, once it becomes a significant problem, it will be the most significant public health problem at that point in time,” said Donnelly.

“This is a problem that affects the entire planet, and the longer it takes ‘us,’ the people on this planet, to take action, the more difficult it will be to resolve the problem,” Donnelly continued. “We urgently need to take at least minimal action to try to reduce emissions and move toward taking more significant action to reduce global warming.”

Solar Storm Season Predicted

Posted on | May 13, 2009 | Comments Off

NOAA: Mild Solar Storm Season Predicted

Although its peak is still four years away, a new active period of Earth-threatening solar storms will be the weakest since 1928, predicts an international panel of experts led by NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center and funded by NASA. Despite the prediction, Earth is still vulnerable to a severe solar storm.

Solar storms are eruptions of energy and matter that escape from the sun and may head toward Earth, where even a weak storm can damage satellites and power grids, disrupting communications, the electric power supply and GPS. A single strong blast of “solar wind” can threaten national security, transportation, financial services and other essential functions.

The panel predicts the upcoming Solar Cycle 24 will peak in May 2013 with 90 sunspots per day on average. If the prediction proves true, Solar Cycle 24 will be the weakest cycle since number 16, which peaked at 78 daily sunspots in 1928, and ninth weakest since the 1750s, when numbered cycles began.

The most common measure of a solar cycle’s intensity is the number of sunspots—Earth-sized blotches on the sun marking areas of heightened magnetic activity. The more sunspots there are, the more likely it is that solar storms will occur, but a major storm can occur at any time.

“As with hurricanes, whether a cycle is active or weak refers to the number of storms, but everyone needs to remember it only takes one powerful storm to cause huge problems,” said NOAA scientist Doug Biesecker, who chairs the panel. “The strongest solar storm on record occurred in 1859 during another below-average cycle.”

The 1859 storm shorted out telegraph wires, causing fires in North America and Europe, sent readings of Earth’s magnetic field soaring, and produced northern lights so bright that people read newspapers by their light.

A recent report by the National Academy of Sciences found that if a storm that severe occurred today, it could cause $1-2 trillion in damages the first year and require four to 10 years for recovery, compared to $80-125 billion that resulted from Hurricane Katrina.

The panel also predicted that the lowest sunspot number between cycles — or solar minimum — occurred in December 2008, marking the end of Cycle 23 and the start of Cycle 24. If the December prediction holds up, at 12 years and seven months Solar Cycle 23 will be the longest since 1823 and the third longest since 1755. Solar cycles span 11 years on average, from minimum to minimum.

An unusually long, deep lull in sunspots led the panel to revise its 2007 prediction that the next cycle of solar storms would start in March 2008 and peak in late 2011 or mid-2012. The persistence of a quiet sun also led the panel to a consensus that the next cycle will be “moderately weak.”

NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) is the nation’s first alert of solar activity and its effects on Earth. The Center’s space weather experts issue outlooks for the next 11-year solar cycle and warn of storms occurring on the Sun that could impact Earth. SWPC is also the world warning agency for the International Space Environment Service, a consortium of 12 member nations.

As the world economy becomes more reliant on satellite-based communications and interlinked power grids, interest in solar activity has grown dramatically. In 2008 alone, SWPC acquired 1,700 new subscription customers for warnings, alerts, reports, and other products. Among the new customers are emergency managers, airlines, state transportation departments, oil companies, and nuclear power stations. SWPC’s customers reside in 150 countries.

“Our customer growth reflects today’s reality that all sectors of society are highly dependent on advanced, space-based technologies,” said SWPC director Tom Bogdan. “Today every hiccup from the sun aimed at Earth has potential consequences.”

NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.