You know it’s nearing Christmas when the shelves of many a bookshop are collapsing with the weight of toilet books. Filled to brimming with myriad facts to wow (or bore) friends and family, the ever-useful toilet book provides hours, if not days, of reading material to help while away hours on the throne.

We’ve just discovered an entry of one of this year’s contenders – Uncle John’s Unsinkable Bathroom Reader – and it makes for riveting reading, even if you’re not stuck on the john.

Entitled 13 Things You Shouldn’t Know About Botulism, or rather, really should know at all costs before going near the stuff, the list highlights a few scary facts about one of the world’s most widely used beautifying toxins:

“How toxic is it? A little over a pound of botulin is enough to kill every human on Earth.”

Clostridium Botulinum

“Symptoms of botulinum poisoning can begin between six hours and two weeks after eating. They include: double vision, blurred vision, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, and muscle weakness that starts in the upper body, descends down the arms, down the torso, and then down the legs. Breathing muscles can become paralyzed, and death can occur if emergency medical treatment is not given.”

It might make you think twice before heading off to the decrinkling clinic.

Source: Neatorama

If you want to find out all the latest news on the environment, why not subscribe to our RSS feed? We’ll even throw in a free album.

Metre-wide cracks in the ground suddenly split open, as red-hot rock and ash are thrown violently into the air amid searing temperatures. It’s like a vision of how the Earth behaved in prehistoric times. Except these events have happened within the last three years in Ethiopia’s Afar region. What’s more, a matter of days ago there was more extreme volcanic activity there, with reports of the country’s biggest eruption to date – and the largest recorded lava flow in scientific history.

Aerial view of Erta Ale

Image: Filippo Jean

Satellite images show that this latest volcanic explosion spewed out lava across a huge area of 300 sq km, a record of its kind according to researchers. The eruption of molten rock also prompted a minor earthquake – though there were no reported casualties or major damage in the remote area, many of whose inhabitants are nomadic people. The same couldn’t be said in 2005, when thousands were displaced by a catastrophic eruption that darkened the skies for days, while lava flows in 2007 forced further evacuations.

Nomadic Afar people

Image: Kambiz Kamrani

The Afar region is one of the hottest and harshest environments in the world. It’s renowned for Erta Ale, the name describing both the chain of volcanoes responsible for these geological disturbances and its most active individual peak. One of only four volcanoes on the planet with a lava lake bubbling at its summit, Mount Erta Ale’s crater is the popular image of a volcano – a bottomless cauldron of lava extending down into the Earth’s mantle.

Erta Ale crater close-up

Image: Herve Sthioul

Scientists are busy studying these ruptures in the Earth’s crust at Afar, which sits along the 3000 km-long East African Rift marked by mountain ranges dropping precipitously into deep-lying basins. The magma forcing its way up from thousands of kilometres beneath the surface here is gradually splitting the African continent in two. Be prepared to see more of this part of the world’s explosive nature.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

If you want to find out all the latest news on the environment, why not subscribe to our RSS feed? We’ll even throw in a free album.

Limnic eruptions are well outside of public consciousness. Not surprising, considering their extreme rarity. In all of recorded human history we only know of two for certain. Both occurred in Africa in the 1980s; one at Lake Monoun in 1984 and then a particularly deadly one at Lake Nyos, Cameroon in 1986. The latter killed as many as 1,800 people and the lakes have yet to fully recover.

Not only are limnic eruptions among the rarest natural disasters, they are also some of the most bizarre-and terrifying. Basically, a limnic eruption is when a large body of water suddenly releases large amounts of carbon dioxide which, being heavier than air, displaces it at ground level, suffocating oxygen breathers.

Image via Dibussi
Lake Nyos before and after the eruption. Iron, forced to the surface of Lake Nyos after the eruption, oxidised, turning the lake a brown rust colour.

Another probable reason North Americans and Europeans know little about this phenomenon is that they can only occur in areas that are both tropical and prone to volcanic activity. The body of water must also be quite deep. So we can all breath easy, right? We may, if new reports turn out to be wrong.

Image: Geo Arizona

These new reports suggest that much larger bodies of water, the world’s oceans, may also be at risk.  No other bodies of water are deeper or more volcanic, and the amount of carbon dioxide they can hold is mind boggling. Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have reached almost eight times the current level on more than one occasion in Earth’s history, leading some scientists to speculate that limnic eruptions have occurred in our oceans before, and may happen again. Of course, these were tens of millions of years apart. Whether there is any immediate danger or not, the idea reaffirms two things most of us have known for years. One is that our carbon emissions could one day screw us over (now we just know another way for it to kill us all). Second, science really has a fetish for scaring us.

Sources 1, 2, 3

If you want to find out all the latest news on the environment, why not subscribe to our RSS feed? We’ll even throw in a free album.

A new report prepared in advance of the largest ever conference on climate change, details the findings of a two year preliminary study regarding how people react migrationally to changing climates. The conference, sponsored by the UN, will be held in Bonn, Germany and will be attended by over 600 experts and representatives of almost 80 nations. One of the areas of concern to be discussed at the conference is environmental based migration and the problems to poses.

Image: waterwin

One of the reasons this problem is being taken so seriously is the projected increase in global temperatures over the coming decades. Increased temperatures will see the displacement of up to 10% of the world’s population who live in areas vulnerable to increased sea levels and drastic, unpredictable changes in storm intensity and weather patterns – deserts could become rainforests and rainforests could become deserts.

The research presented in this report focused on three areas where the effects of environmental degradation are already occuring:

Desertification and sea-level rise in Egypt, flooding of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, and flooding and subsequent government relocation programs in Mozambique. The scientists surveyed current migrants, members of receiving populations, and people who felt pressured to migrate but had not yet done so. The surveyors found much to be concerned by.

Image: Mark Knobil

The report concluded:

“… as some environments become inhospitable to people, these people are pushed to move elsewhere where their locally specific knowledge may no longer apply to the places where they migrate. Displaced people may not always receive the support they need in places of destination. For those displaced to locations where adequate infrastructure is not available and where they are directly dependant on the environment for survival, there can be an over-exploitation of natural resources leading to a lack of potable water, soil degradation, cutting of trees and clearing of land, but also to pollution and potential epidemics. Under such circumstances, a range of maladaptive activities can drive migrants to further stress ecosystems, and may unleash a number of additional environmental catastrophes.”

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Essentially, an indeterminably large section of the world’s population has a good chance of being thrown into chaos unless we can either figure out how to stop global warming or the 600 experts and 80 countries at this conference decide on ideal routes to successfully resettle millions of vulnerable people before nature does it for them.

Sources:1,2

If you want to find out all the latest news on the environment, why not subscribe to our RSS feed? We’ll even throw in a free album.

Big, bold and beautiful, the Rafflesia arnoldii boasts the title of the largest flower in the world and can grow to massive proportions, with a flower diameter of up to one meter (three feet) and a hefty weight of up to 11 kilograms (24 lbs). It might seem like a great gift for that special someone except that it’s nicknamed the corpse flower and smells like rotting meat, so may not be quite as endearing as expected.

Image: Tamaar

Resembling the coiled tentacles of an octopus up close, the stinky flower leaves such a lasting impression that it was once described by Swedish zoologist Eric Mjöberg in 1928 as having “a penetrating smell more repulsive than any buffalo carcass in an advanced stage of decomposition.” Nice.

Image: Antoine Hubert

Technically a plant, although it has no leaves, stems or roots that the eye can see, the corpse flower relies on its strong perfume to attract insects that help with pollination. The other not so pleasant qualities of the flower are its parasitic tendencies; by living off the water and nutrients from the hapless Tetrastigma vine, the corpse flower is able to grow as large as it does.

Image: James Gagen

And whether it’s considered a beauty, beast or both, the lure of this bewitching flower is hard to resist. However, to be successful in a quest to find it, a few stars need to align. Found only in the dwindling rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo, pollination is rare and the bud death rate is high at 80-90%. The few buds that actually bloom take many months to do so, and when they do they last no more than a few days before dying. The good news is that there are great conservation efforts in place to protect the habitat of the Rafflesia species so future generations can experience the sight and smell of the largest flower on Earth.

Sources: 1, 2

If you want to find out all the latest news on the environment, why not subscribe to our RSS feed? We’ll even throw in a free album

What to do with decommissioned naval ships? Scrap them and make a quick buck? Well, at least one possible use for them is to create artificial reefs, just as the Cayman Islands intend to. The Caribbean diving haven will soon be scuttling the 2077 tonne USS Kittiwake to their shores, once ownership of the vessel is transferred from the US Maritime Association to the government.

Image: Tierra Maya

The 251ft Kittiwake has been anchored for years amongst the ‘ghost fleet’ of decommissioned vessels at Fort Eustis, Virginia. Built in 1945, the ship made numerous voyages between the United States’ east coast, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean in support of submarines and to conduct rescue missions for the US Navy. The vessel should attract large schools of fish to the deserted cabins and halls; much like the Russian destroyer sunk in 1996 by the Cayman Islands and now decorated in sponges and coral, whilst attracting a lot of divers.

photographer unknown

It may seem odd to be sinking boats intentionally, but it’s not a new idea. In Florida, there is a shipwreck heritage trail, with notable wreck sites from Key Largo to Key West. While some were sunk unintentionally, others have intentionally given themselves to the sea. The result is a wreck trail believed to be home to some 55 varieties of delicate corals and nearly 500 species of fish – recycling and reuse at its very best.

Source 1, 2

If you want to find out all the latest news on the environment, why not subscribe to our RSS feed? We’ll even throw in a free album.

If you’re thinking ‘Jurassic Park’ already, you aren’t alone. Luckily though, bringing back an extinct species of tortoise in the Galapagos wouldn’t involve DNA cloning or an ill-conceived theme park. All it would need is a little controlled cross-breeding. That’s what researchers at Yale University say could bring back the ‘Geochelone elephantopus,’ which vanished from the Galapagos over a century ago due to whaling operations in the area.

Image: tim ellis

Recently, they discovered that several existing tortoise species from the islands carry genes very similar to the former lineage. Scientists are now theorizing that the long-dead species could be revived by cross-breeding individuals containing the genes. The main drawback to this process though is that it would take three or four generations to recreate the Geochelone elephantopus, and tortoises typically take around 25 years to produce another new one. It may take well over a century before this extinct species can be brought back to life.

Source: BBC News

If you want to find out all the latest news on the environment, why not subscribe to our RSS feed? We’ll even throw in a free album.

Imagine taking the subway (or underground, as it’s known in London) to work to arrive in an office converted from a subway car perched upon huge Victorian arches with views rivaling those of top executives.

Image: megapiksel

The Village Underground project in the Shoreditch area of London is where this can happen for lucky artists who acquire studio space within the recycled cars. The subway cars are being placed on top of a old viaducts located on reclaimed land. The space will also include a 4,000 square-foot warehouse that will be used as a performance, art and cultural center.

Image: squirmelia

The seats have been pulled out to provide adequate workspace and the interiors are getting a complete makeover using sustainable materials. Energy will be provided by carbon neutral resources, such as solar power, and there will be an environmentally-friendly roof-top garden. Not only that but green-fingered artists who grow vegetables on site may even get a free lunch - not something you hear everyday in old London Town.

For more info on The Village Underground, check out their site.

If you want to find out all the latest news on the environment, why not subscribe to our RSS feed? We’ll even throw in a free album.

Written by new contributor Chris Bowler

In the race to produce the best alternative to fossil fuels, there could soon be a new contender – sunflowers. Although already used to produce oil and biodiesel, some scientists believe these tall, colorful flowers can be used to produce ethanol as well.

The silverleaf and Algodones dune varieties are both being looked at due to their size – each can grow to be as tall as 21 feet, producing a significant amount of biomass that could be converted to ethanol. But, both varieties are wild so it will take some time for domestication to occur. University of Georgia scientists are studying the genes of each to measure the feasibility of affordable production.

So while it’s not yet guaranteed that sunflowers can be a viable alternative, it’s another step in the right direction.

Source 1, 2

If you want to find out all the latest news on the environment, why not subscribe to our RSS feed? We’ll even throw in a free album.

Scattered over 860 acres of Hueco Tanks State Historic Site near El Paso, Texas, are about 2000 rock paintings thought to have been created about 800 years ago.

smedge

Rust, cream and white figures dance on the rock faces, depicting life of man and beast from centuries ago. To get a glimpse of the figures visitors to the site have to crawl, wriggle and squeeze their way into narrow crevices where the original artists had the foresight to record their musings in a space protected from the elements. Little did they know that, not only did their artwork last longer than they would have ever imagined, but that it provides a wonderful story of how people once lived in that area.

Jim McCulloch

Check out the clarity of color still visible in the paintings, it’s hard to believe they weren’t painted last week or that someone didn’t just nip in before the hoards of visitors arrived on site for the day.

Source 1, 2

If you want to find out all the latest news on the environment, why not subscribe to our RSS feed? We’ll even throw in a free album.