The continued impacts and actions revolving around the BP oil spill continued to command the majority of headlines this week with BP becoming cautiously optimistic after finally capping the leak that has spilled tens of millions of gallons of oil over the last 4 1/2 months since its Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. However, the damage from one of the worst environmental disasters in history will be ongoing for years, with this week finding the oil reaching Louisiana’s largest seabird nesting area.
Meanwhile the Obama administration continued pursuing a controversial offshore drilling moratorium for the second time, this time focused more on the technologies being used rather than the depth of the drilling which had been the focal point of the initial moratorium attempt that was rejected by the federal courts. Concurrently, Democrat members of the U.S. Senate began ramping up efforts to bring a stripped down energy bill to the floor by the end of the month, expecting a difficult battle for passage.
A few other notable environmental headlines from this week…..
- Near-Term Emissions Decisions and Long-Term Climate Impacts – National Research Council (Jul 16, 2010)
- Global Warming Slows Coral Growth in Red Sea – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (Jul 15, 2010)
- Sea level could rise more than half a metre – WalesOnline (Jul 15, 2010)
- Threat to marine life from warming UK seas – Scotsman (Jul 15, 2010)
- Large mammals vanishing from African national parks – Christian Science Monitor (Jul 15, 2010)
- Illegal logging in decline – Nature (Jul 15, 2010)
- Malaysia seizes endangered reptiles – AFP (Jul 15, 2010)
- China seizes eight tonnes of endangered pangolins – AFP (Jul 15, 2010)
- Researchers Witness Overnight Breakup, Retreat of Greenland Glacier – NASA (Jul 9, 2010)
Fresh Air. The Scent of Pine. 
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