I’m haunted by the scene described in today’s Reuters article about an explosion at an oil pipeline in Diwaniya, Iraq. It seems that a pool of oil had formed around leaks in a disused pipeline and local people had waded into the pool to siphon off petrol when suddenly the oil exploded into flames. At … Read More
Blog Post
A Year on From Katrina…
A year after Katrina wrecked New Orleans, President Bush is touring the still devastated area. As his administration continues to receive a storm of abuse over its handling of the aftermath, a different storm is raging within the world’s scientific community. Are hurricanes becoming more vicious or more frequent?
Corrosion Crisis Spreads as Shell Criticised
The corrosion crisis within the oil industry continues to spread. Now Shell has been criticised by the shareholder action group, the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR) over its corroded gas pipes in Ireland.
South American Cities At Risk As Glaciers Melt
New research has found that Andean glaciers are melting so fast that some are expected to disappear within 15-25 years, denying major cities water supplies and putting populations and food supplies at risk in Colombia, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina and Bolivia. Some glaciers in Colombia are now less than 20% of the mass recorded … Read More
Oil Subsidies and the Excessive Savings of Poor Countries.
Why hasn’t the rising market price of oil plunged the world into a global recession? I’m not going to pretend I know the answer but a few otherwise unrelated articles I read today got me thinking about whether or not there is more to worry about than we might think. First, everybody seems to be … Read More
Oil Industry “Hushing up” Corrosion Crisis
The oil industry is “hushing up” the extent to which corrosion is eating into pipelines and hitting production, according to an influential oil industry consultant who is also the head of the UK Royal Society of Chemistry. Richard Pike, who spent 25 years working for BP before becoming a consultant, argues that some of the … Read More
BC Coast Under Threat from Oil and Gas Development
Once again the threat of oil and gas development looms over British Colombia’s wild and beautiful Pacific coast. For over thirty years there have been both provincial and federal moratoria in place to protect the coast from oil and gas development. But now the BC government is intensively lobbying the federal government to lift their … Read More
Climate Change Causes Spring to Arrive Early
A Europe-wide study has provided “conclusive proof” that climate change is responsible for spring arriving earlier each year. Scientists from 17 countries have reviewed 125,000 reports involving 561 species. They have concluded that spring is beginning six to eight days earlier than 30 years ago.
Sweden Attacks Baltic Gas Pipeline
Sweden’s Prime Minister, Goran Persson, has attacked an ambitious project to build a 750-mile gas pipeline beneath the Baltic Sea as a potential ecological disaster. Despite his comments the £3.4bn pipeline project –called the North European Gas Pipeline or NEPG – is going ahead.
From Wales to Oz by Bus, Boat and Train
In just over a week’s time Barbara Haddrill will set off on a journey to attend her best friend’s wedding as a bridesmaid. But she is not going to fly the 10,000 miles from her home in Wales to Brisbane in Australia. She is going to go by bus, train and boat. After spending two … Read More