"Banamichi, Mexico - Liseth Mendez and Judas Barrios milk two cows covered in a cloud of tiny persistent flies as the sun taints in red the surrounding mountains near a ranch less than a kilometre from the Sonora River."
Researchers are finding increasing evidence that environmental factors -- ranging from exposure to toxic chemicals to physical and mental exercise -- can have important effects on aging brains. While older people may have a surprising capacity for neurological regeneration, chemical exposures (even exposures earlier in life) have been linked to neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
"New York City children exposed in the womb to moderate levels of two plasticizers had a 72 to 78 percent higher chance of developing asthma, according to a new study published [Wednesday]."
"It's like Florida's version of The Blob. Slow moving glops of toxic algae in the northeast Gulf of Mexico are killing sea turtles, sharks and fish, and threatening the waters and beaches that fuel the region's economy."
"Three conservation groups accused Dominion Virginia Power Wednesday of illegally discharging coal ash waste into the Potomac River."
This Bay Area Tropical Forest Network event takes place at 6pm on the Stanford Campus. Speaker Luis Fernandez, a tropical ecologist at the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology and director of the Carnegie Amazon Mercury Project, will discuss the dynamics that have made artisanal gold mining both the primary driver of deforestation in the Western Amazon and the number one source of anthropogenic mercury in the world today, and describe its effects on forests, wildlife and humans.
"Editors and reporters meeting in Chicago raised concerns Wednesday about what they described as a lack of access and transparency undermining journalists' work, several blaming the current White House for setting standards for secrecy that are spreading nationwide."
"When I set out to cover the effort to save Olympic National Park’s Enchanted Valley Chalet last week, I thought the toughest part would be the 13-mile hike. Worse, I found after six hours on the trail, was a bizarre blockade on press freedom – the likes of which I’d never experienced outside a military base or murder scene. ..."
"A study published Wednesday reveals household laundry water is washing chemical flame retardant pollution into the Northwest’s biggest waterway."
"Environmentalists who have tried with little success to stop the Obama administration from leasing billions of tons of coal for mining are hailing a U.S. district court ruling in Colorado last week as a game changer. At issue in Judge R. Brooke Jackson's decision that scrapped federal approval of coal-lease expansion was the impact of coal mining and burning on global warming."
