Ganges River Dolphin Survival Threatened by Oil Exploration

Dolphin protected areas must be established if the Ganges River dolphin is to survive in the Brahmaputra river system, new research indicates. The study was prompted by the need for accurate dolphin population data after Oil India Ltd. proposed to start prospecting for oil along the bed of the Brahmaputra River using air guns and explosives.
Such prospecting "has potentially disastrous implications for Ganges River dolphins," the report concludes.Estimates have put the total population of the Ganges River dolphin, Platanista gangetica gangetica, at around 2,000. Between 240 to 300 of these inhabit the Brahmaputra River system in India, according to the survey prepared for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Sir Peter Scott Fund.

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Oil spill sparks evacuation off Australian coast

SYDNEY (Reuters) - An oil leak off Australia's western coast has sparked the evacuation of dozens of workers from a rig, the operator PTTEP Australasia said .

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Eating carbon - Greenhouse gases

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Wipro’s Green Gamble

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For Greening Aviation, Are Biofuels The Right Stuff?

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3D topographic lunar map by September

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More Accurate Weather Forecasts Coming Soon

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Asia darkens under longest solar eclipse of century

A total solar eclipse on Wednesday swept across a narrow swathe of Asia, where hundreds of millions of people watched the skies darken, though in some places thick summer clouds blocked the sun.

The longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century cut through the world's most populous nations, India and China, as it travelled half the globe. It was visible along a roughly 250 km-wide (155 miles) corridor, U.S. space agency NASA said.In India, where eclipse superstitions are rife, people snaked through the narrow lanes of the ancient Hindu holy city of Varanasi and gathered for a dip in the Ganges, an act believed to bring release from the cycle of life and death.Amid chanting of Hindu hymns, thousands of men, women and children waded into the river with folded hands and prayed to the sun as it emerged in an overcast sky."We have come here because our elders told us this is the best time to improve our afterlife," said Bhailal Sharma, a villager from central India travelling in a group of about 100.But for one 80-year-old woman the trip was fatal. Police said she died from suffocation in the crowd of hundreds of thousands that had gathered to bathe in the Ganges.The eclipse next swept through Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and over the crowded cities along China's Yangtze River, before heading to the Pacific.In Hindu-majority Nepal, the government declared Wednesday a public holiday and thousands headed for water. 

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Solar eclipse

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Are Aluminum Bottles Greener than Glass?

Aluminum as a substitute for glass bottles has been inching its way into the consumer experience in the last few years, most notably in the US in the form of beer bottles from Anheuser-Busch and Iron City Beer, a popular regional brand founded in Pittsburgh. Coca-cola has also announced plans to roll out aluminum bottles in this country, though only in limited venues.

Now Rexam, one of the world’s largest consumer packaging companies, has developed a lighter, resealable aluminum bottle that it hopes will replace glass bottles for many beverages, including wine.

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Environmental Scientists Use Fish Behavior To Monitor Water Quality

Researchers are using bluegills to detect industrial and agricultural spills in water supplies. Changes in the environment cause the fishes' behavior and breathing patterns to change. Electrodes are placed inside the tanks that contain the fish and water from a nearby water supply, and they set off an alarm if conditions inside the tank change.

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