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Leaking Oil Rig in Timor Sea Catches Fire

In this photo provided by PTTEP Australasia, the West Atlas oil rig is seen burning about 150 miles (250 kilometers) off Australia's northwest coast Monday, Nov. 2, 2009. The fire started while workers made another attempt to plug the hole that has been leaking an estimated 400 barrels of oil a day since Aug. 21. (AP Photo/PTTEP Australasia)

No one was injured in the blaze and all non-essential staff have been airlifted from the West Atlas rig, operators PTTEP said.

The fire, which started during an attempt to plug the leak, comes as environmental campaigners criticised PTTEP and the Australian government over their handling of the crisis.

An estimated 400 barrels of oil a day have escaped from the rig since Aug. 21.

Officials now plan to pour mud into the leak hoping to remove the source of fuel from the fire, which was sending huge plumes of smoke into the sky.

Posted in Environment, oceans, oil, pollution

Island Nations Frustrated at Climate Talks

Tepuka is one of the islets circling the large lagoon at Funafuti Atoll—home to the Tuvaluan capital of Fongafale. The entire island nation has less than ten square miles of total land area. (Photograph by Peter Bennetts/Getty Images)

BANGKOK, Oct 5 - Up to half a million people in the Pacific will lose their homes and their countries to rising sea levels because small island nations cannot persuade the rest of the world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions sufficiently, campaigners say.

The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) is calling for a significant reduction in global emissions so the world's temperature does not rise more than 1.5 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels.

Posted in climate change, climate refugees, oceans

Arctic Seas Turn to Acid, Putting Vital Food Chain at Risk

(Juniors Bildarchiv/Alamy)

Carbon-dioxide emissions are turning the waters of the Arctic Ocean into acid at an unprecedented rate, scientists have discovered. Research carried out in the archipelago of Svalbard has shown in many regions around the north pole seawater is likely to reach corrosive levels within 10 years. The water will then start to dissolve the shells of mussels and other shellfish and cause major disruption to the food chain. By the end of the century, the entire Arctic Ocean will be corrosively acidic.

Posted in climate change, global warming, oceans

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 27, 2009
5:04 AM

CONTACT: Basel Action Network

Colby Self, Basel Action Network (Seattle), 206.250.5652 (mobile), colby.self@gmail.com
Jim Puckett, Basel Action Network (Amsterdam): +31 6.47411813 (mobile), jpuckett@ban.org

Navy Set to Pollute Ocean With McCain's ship

Sinking of John McCain's Old Aircraft Carrier Denounced

Navy's Plan to Dump USS Forrestal Instead of Recycling It Called 'Irresponsible'

SEATTLE - July 27 - The toxic waste watchdog organization Basel Action Network (BAN) today slammed the government's plans to scuttle the former aircraft carrier FORRESTAL[1] in deep water as an "artificial reef" instead of having the ship safely recycled at one of the half-dozen active ship dismantling yards in the U.S.   The FORRESTAL is a non-nuclear supercarrier now moored in an aging pier on the Naval Station at Newport, R.I.   Due to deterioration of the facili

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Posted in oceans, pollution

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 8, 2009
11:41 AM

CONTACT: Food & Water Watch
Julie Anderson (202) 683-2500

BP Records Show One of World’s Largest Oil and Gas Platforms Lacks Documents Needed for Safe Operation and Maintenance

Food & Water Watch Urges Federal Agencies to Launch Investigation into British Petroleum’s Atlantis Before Accident Leads to Environmental Devastation

WASHINGTON - July 8 - Today Food & Water Watch, a national consumer advocacy organization, urged the U.S. Department of the Interior and Minerals Management Service (MMS) to immediately suspend production on the largest moored floating dual oil- and gas-production facility in the world pending further investigation of documents critical to the project's safe operation and maintenance.

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Food & Water Watch is a nonprofit consumer organization that works to ensure clean water and safe food. We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and by transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.
Food & Water Watch Links:
Posted in Environment, oceans, oil, pollution, water

Whaling Commission Faced With Quotas Schism

A whale and her calf are dragged on a Japanese ship after being harpooned in Antarctic waters. The organisation that regulates world whaling opened a crucial conference on Monday with leaders seeking to avoid a disastrous split over hunting the marine mammals. (AFP/Australian Customs/File)

FUNCHAL, Portugal - The organisation that regulates world whaling opened a crucial conference with leaders seeking to avoid a disastrous split over hunting the marine mammals.

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) conference on the Portuguese island of Madeira faces demands to resume the hunting of whales, protected by a moratorium dating back to 1986 with some exceptions limited by quota.

Posted in biodiversity, oceans

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 8, 2009
2:39 PM

CONTACT: Food & Water Watch

Marianne Cufone or Erin Greenfield (202) 683-2500

World Oceans Day: Setting Sail to Keep Oceans in Public Hands

Statement of Maude Barlow, Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the UN General Assembly and President of the Food & Water Watch Board of Directors

WASHINGTON - June 8 - "We have our oceans to thank for making life possible. Their waters cover nearly three quarters - more than 130 million square miles - of the planet's surface. They host a vast array of life and power climactic cycles that support and sustain everyone and everything on Earth. Indeed, one could make the case that without the oceans all life here would dry up and die out.

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Food & Water Watch is a nonprofit consumer organization that works to ensure clean water and safe food. We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and by transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.
Food & Water Watch Links:
Posted in Environment, oceans

The 'End of the Line' for the World's Oceans

More than four fifths of people support the introduction of a nature reserve in our seas to protect stocks of fish, according to a survey published today on World Oceans Day.

The poll came ahead of the launch of a film, The End Of The Line, which reveals the impacts of overfishing on the world's oceans.

Posted in conservation, oceans

Blue Desert: Who is Brave Enough to Take On the Fishing Industry?

I live a few miles from Cardigan Bay. Whenever I can get away, I take my kayak down to the beach and launch it through the waves. Often I take a hand line with me, in the hope of catching some mackerel or pollock. On the ­water, sometimes five kilometres from the coast, surrounded by gannets and shearwaters, I feel closer to nature than at any other time.

Posted in ecology, oceans

Federal Authorities Crack Down on Sea-Borne Oil Polluters

The M/V Snow Flower, a 568-foot refrigerated container ship, was outbound from Los Angeles when it began experiencing serious problems in the engine room.

Posted in Environment, Equality/Justice, oceans, pollution
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