sierraclub.org - sierra magazine - july/august 2010 - up to speed
Up to Speed: Two Months, One Page
It's not just the Pacific Ocean that has a massive gyre of floating plastic waste. The Atlantic has one too. And the Indian Ocean.
Researchers glimpse an endangered right whale giving birth off Florida's northeastern coast-within miles of the U.S. Navy's planned undersea warfare training range.
Off the coast of Argentina, 308 right whales have been found dead, most of them calves younger than three months. No one knows the cause.
With the support of the United States, the International Whaling Commission introduces a plan that would authorize continued but limited whaling by Japan, Norway, and Iceland for 10 years.
Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano produces carbon emissions at the same rate as a small European country but prevents millions of tons of emissions by grounding 100,000 airline flights.
Out of the 163 countries ranked in Yale University's Environmental Performance Index, the United States slides to 63, from 39 last year. Top scorer: Iceland.
The EPA finalizes new fuel-economy rules, requiring a 42 percent improvement in car gas mileage, to 35.5 mpg, by 2016.
Despite a gross operating profit of $52 billion in 2009, ExxonMobil paid no U.S. income tax, reports Forbes. This item has been corrected.
Kuwaiti scientists predict that worldwide "peak oil" production will be reached in 2014.
Photos and illustrations, left column, from top: iStockphoto/esseffe, iStockphoto/scottdunlap; right column, from top: iStockphoto/Adventure_Photo, iStockphoto/AlasdairJames, courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox