Some scientists say they’ve got a new answer to a centuries-old problem with ships. The problem is called “bio-fouling.”
That’s when ships pick up unwanted marine life on their hulls, such as mollusks and barnacles. Brian Bull reports on a shocking solution:
Transcript
Some scientists say they’ve got a new answer to a centuries-old problem with
ships. The problem is called “bio-fouling.” That’s when ships pick up unwanted
marine life on their hulls, such as mollusks and barnacles. Brian Bull reports on
a shocking solution:
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison say coating boat hulls with
thousands of tiny, titanium electrodes will help stop marine organisms from
sticking onto watercraft. Initial tests show that electrodes slow build-up of
marine life by up to 50 percent. They gently zap any critters that come close to
the hull.
Scientist Dan Noguera says not only can this help curb the spread of invasive
species such as zebra mussels, but it can also help maintain a ship’s fuel
efficiency:
“If you have a surface that has a lot of bio-organisms attached, it’s going to slow
down the boat. You need to put a lot more fuel into it. So there are economic
impacts of these fouling agents.”
Besides wasting fuel, some of the hitch-hiking invasive organisms are causing
environmental damage.
Ethanol distillation plants are being built all over the corn belt. An environmental think tank predicts food prices will rise because corn is used for meat and many other food products. (Photo by Lester
Graham)
Corn prices have already gone up, in part due to higher demand for ethanol production. An environmental think tank believes that will translate to higher food prices. (Photo by Lester Graham)
As ethanol is becoming more common, the demand for corn is driving up prices for the grain. (Photo by Lester Graham)
There are new questions about how much grain it will take to supply all the ethanol plants being built around the U.S.
One group says more ethanol production will boost grain prices further. Chuck Quirmbach reports:
Transcript
There are new questions about how much grain it will take to supply all the ethanol plants being
built around the U.S. One group says more ethanol production will boost grain prices further.
Chuck Quirmbach reports:
The U.S. Ag department estimates the nearly 200 ethanol plants that are in production, being
expanded or being built will require 60 million tons of corn by the end of next year. But the
Earth Policy Institute says the actual need for corn will be more than twice that much.
Institute President Lester Brown says the surging demand for grain will drive up food prices.
“In a sense, our refrigerators are stuffed with corn that’s been converted into livestock products of
one sort or another, so what happens to corn prices will very much affect prices at the
supermarket checkout counter. ”
Brown says he’d like to see a moratorium on licensing new ethanol plants. But some farmers
contend they’ll be able to expand production to meet the additional demand for corn.
Biologists worry that ships from foreign ports will bring in an even more damaging invasive species called the ‘killer shrimp.’ (Photo by Lester
Graham)
One state has a new law in effect to stop ocean-going ships from bringing in foreign pests that can harm the environment.
Rebecca Williams reports neighboring states are watching to see what happens next:
Transcript
One state has a new law in effect to stop ocean-going ships from
bringing in foreign pests that can harm the environment. Rebecca
Williams reports neighboring states are watching to see what happens next:
States are frustrated that the federal government has not stopped pollution
from ballast water.
Michigan is the first state to require all ocean-going ships to have a
ballast water permit to dock at its ports. Shippers can only buy a permit
if they show that they won’t release invasive species into state waters.
Stephanie Showalter directs the National Sea Grant Law Center. She says
it’ll be at least a few months before it’s clear whether the Michigan law
will work.
“Most likely if Michigan’s laws are working and seem easy to implement I’d
suspect the other Great Lakes states would model their legislation very
closely to the Michigan legislation.”
California recently passed its own ballast water law, but it’s not as
restrictive as the Michigan law.
Showalter says the shipping industry could sue Michigan on the grounds that
the law restricts interstate commerce.
Apple and cherry farmers are concerned phasing out an effective pesticide will affect production and leave more pesticide residue. (Photo by Lester
Graham)
Environmentalists are worried about the health of farm workers exposed to AZM.
(Photo by Lester Graham)
The EPA has granted a six-year reprieve for fruit growers to continue to use a highly toxic pesticide. But the decision to eventually phase it out is an uneasy compromise. Environmental health advocates say the delay continues to put farm workers and their families at risk. But growers say they haven’t yet found an effective replacement. Bob Allen reports:
Transcript
The EPA has granted a six-year reprieve for fruit growers to continue to use a
highly toxic pesticide. But the decision to eventually phase it out is an uneasy
compromise. Environmental health advocates say the delay continues to put
farm workers and their families at risk. But growers say they haven’t yet found
an effective replacement. Bob Allen reports:
No one wants Gramma to find a worm when she opens a can of cherries to make
a holiday pie.
According to regulations, inspectors have to make sure cherries coming to market
are worm free. And that puts big pressure on growers when they bring fruit out
of the orchard.
“And you know there’s a zero tolerance for worms. And if they find one worm
they can reject, not just that load, they can reject your whole crop for that
season.”
Francis Otto oversees pesticide spraying for one of the largest cherry orchards
along the west side of Michigan.
For decades those who grow cherries and apples have relied mostly on one
chemical to keep their fruit worm-free. Some call it the hammer. It knocks
down every insect in the orchard for several days. Then it degrades quickly
under sunlight and rain. It’s called azinphos methyl or AZM.
A generation ago workers were directly exposed when they mixed the chemical.
But things have improved since then.
Francis Otto fingers a safer pre-measured packet of AZM.
“It’s called a water soluble packet inside of an overwrap so I can pick this bag up
of azinphos and this plastic bag that it’s actually in dissolves in the water. And so
workers are not exposed to the actual materials.”
That kind of protection is not enough to satisfy groups that sued the EPA on
behalf of farm workers and their families.
Shelly Davis is an attorney with Farmworker Justice. She thinks AZM is just too
toxic to use at all and it ought to be phased-out right away.
“It’s so toxic that if you make the slightest error people are going to get hurt.
>From moderate senses of nausea, vomiting, weakness to convulsions or death.”
There’s no record of anyone dying from AZM. And incidents of serious
poisoning are fairly rare.
But Shelly Davis is mainly worried about effects from low-level exposure to
workers over a long time.
Studies show workers bring pesticides home on their shoes and clothing. It’s in
the dust in their houses where children play.
In Oregon, migrant workers exposed to AZM showed slower reaction times on
tests of how quickly their brains respond than those who don’t work in the
orchards.
“This is a ticking time bomb. Because when children get exposed it gets to the
effect that it can affect their intellectual functioning over time.”
But health researchers are careful to point out there’s no direct link established
between AZM exposure and learning deficits.
As a precaution, they recommend reducing children’s exposure as much as
possible.
EPA is cutting in half the amount of AZM that can be sprayed over the next six
years until it’s phased out. And workers will have to wait 14 days to re-enter a
sprayed orchard instead of 48 hours.
Mark Whalon runs the pesticide alternative lab at Michigan State University.
He’s experimenting with less toxic materials. He says they have to be sprayed
more often and much closer to harvest than AZM to be effective.
Whalon also has spent 25 years developing ways for growers to keep insects in
check other than using chemicals.
“And now we’re going to have to start over again with these new reduced
compounds because they have a whole different set of impacts that we’ve got to
learn all over again.”
Whalon says EPA doesn’t have good data on what the long-term health effects
might be from exposure to the alternative pesticides.
But Shelly Davis with Farmworker Justice says she’d prefer the unknown effects
from much less toxic materials than the sure danger of AZM.
Either way, Francis Otto at Cherry Bay Orchards says something’s got to give.
The alternative pesticides he’s tried are way more expensive but not as effective
as AZM.
Yet he’s still expected to deliver apples and cherries to the buying public free of
insect damage for the same price.
Coffee hour at Knox United Church in Ottawa, Ontario. The church no longer serves bottled water. (Photo by Karen Kelly)
The latest census found the average American drank more than 23 gallons of bottled water a year. For a lot of people, bottled water is just a part of everyday life. But members of one church are arguing it shouldn’t be. Karen Kelly talked to a minister who’s helping to spread his church’s message:
Transcript
The latest census found the average American drank more than 23 gallons of bottled water a year.
For a lot of people, bottled water is just a part of everyday life.
But members of one church are arguing it shouldn’t be.
Karen Kelly talked to a minister who’s helping to spread his church’s message.
When he was growing up, Reverend Andrew Jensen lived just two blocks from a sandy beach on a
large river. But on a lot of hot days, the beach was closed because of pollution. And when it was
open, his parents were afraid to let him swim there. He says that early experience really made
him appreciate water.
“To have all of that there, to have your parents worry you can’t really touch it too much because
you might get sick… It was really disappointing. You know, you grow up on an island and you
can’t go in the water!”
Now, Reverend Jensen preaches about water. He’s the minister at Knox United Church, a
Protestant church in Ottawa, Canada.
(Fade in sounds of sermon)
“Again and again you have shown your grace to us through water… cleansing of the earth through
the flood… the exodus of the Red Sea, flowing from the rock of the wilderness…”
It’s Baptism Sunday, and Jensen is standing in front of the congregation. He’s extending his arms
over the baptismal font. The service is about the sacredness of water, the idea that it’s a gift from
God meant for everyone. Which is why the idea of bottling and selling water really bothers
Jensen.
“Water really is something we believe is a shared resource and we have to keep on sharing it. And
the more we chop it up into little bits and try to make a profit off of it, the farther we are getting
away from that basic human connectedness and from a religious perspective, that basic sense that
this is something that God has given us that’s for all of us and not just for people.”
A few months ago, the United Church of Canada officially called on its members to avoid drinking
bottled water. The campaign is part of a growing grassroots movement among churches to tackle
some of these issues on their own – in part because the federal government is backing away from
them.
For Jensen, preaching about water means talking about the dangers of it becoming a product.
The more people buy it in bottles, he says, the less attention might be paid to the public drinking
water system.
Plus, church leaders point out that the water in the bottles is often taken right from the tap – for
free – by the companies that sell it. And of course, there’s the issue of where all those bottles go
when we’re done with them.
Not surprisingly, the bottled water industry is not too happy about this campaign.
Elizabeth Griswold is executive director of the Canadian Bottled Water Association. She says the
United Church should focus its energies elsewhere.
“We don’t understand why any church would single out an industry that uses comparatively so
little water – our members use two-tenths of one percent of all groundwater taken in Canada, and
by focusing on the bottled water industry, we are missing a chance to develop long term
sustainable solutions.”
(Clinking cups)
(Congregant: “Coffee or tea, Ma’am?”)
Back at Knox United Church, members help themselves to coffee, tea and pastries. The church no
longer hands out bottled water at events. But it’s hard to tell how much of an effect the boycott is
really having.
The people who say they still drink bottled water refuse to go on tape.
But Sophia Doole and others say the church’s action has changed their behavior.
“Motivation-wise, I think it’s respect for the environment, respect for our own bodies and what
we’re putting into it and also respect for our own church and what they believe and to do to our
best to be guided by them.”
Reverend Andrew Jensen says he’s had calls from people, saying, ‘The church is against bottled
water? What kind of stupid stand is that?'”
That’s when Jensen explains that it’s really not about bottled water. It’s about clean water for
everyone – to drink, to share, and even to swim in.
Nature is a big buffet table. One thing eats another – that eats another –
and so on. That’s a fundamental concept of ecology called the food chain.
One city is giving everyone a lesson about a dog’s place in the food chain.
And as Shawn Allee explains, it’s a lesson some would rather not hear:
Transcript
Nature is a big buffet table. One thing eats another – that eats
another – and so on. That’s a fundamental concept of ecology called
the food chain. One city is giving everyone a lesson about a dog’s place
in the food chain. And as Shawn Allee explains, it’s a lesson some would
rather not hear.
Katherine Raz takes up the leash of a slow-moving, black dog. But she’s not
walking her dog through snow. Raz is a professional dog walker.
Allee: “This is one quiet dog.”
“Oh yeah, she’s pretty mellow. Velvet. Velvet. See, she doesn’t even respond
when I call her.”
Velvet is in no hurry to walk, but Raz has got to hustle. She walks dozens of
dogs each week. And business is growing.
“Since I’ve been up here, we’ve had to hire three other people to cover all the
people who’ve called for walks.”
Some residents say all the new dogs are making a big mess. Velvet stops to
prove the point.
“I’ll use the produce bags to capture this. This is a fine specimen here. As
far as picking up the feces, I always thought it was just a cosmetic thing.”
But a sign informed her otherwise.
“I was walking a dog late at night and I was actually stopping to read the sign
because I was so bored. And it’s like, please, pick up the dog droppings because
rats use them as a primary source of food. I was like, Oh, God that’s horrible.
That just gives an image that’s not pretty.”
Indeed, Chicago’s putting dog owners on notice. The city put up that sign
Raz found. It came from the Chicago’s Department of Streets and Sanitation.
Fliers at City Hall say the same thing.
I read one of those fliers to Jose Cruz, Chicago’s rat control Czar.
“They prefer fresh food but will eat many things, such as pet food, dog
droppings, quote – a rat favorite.”
Allee: How do we know that’s the case, that dog droppings are a rat favorite?
“Because we’ve actually come across locations that we don’t see that there’s
not a huge problem with people not containing their garbage.”
The problem is that people are not picking up after their dogs.
Allee: And if I live in a neighborhood where people aren’t picking up after their dogs?
Am I in trouble for a rat problem in the future?
“No, you’re not. Just because there’re lots of dogs, doesn’t mean you’re going to
have a rodent problem.”
Cruz says it all turns on whether people actually clean up. But will enough dog
owners really do that?
Katherine Raz isn’t sure.
“See, there’s a dropping someone didn’t pick up.”
Allee: How often do you see that?
“Oh, all the time.”
Maybe the owners don’t read the signs. Or…maybe they just don’t buy the
dog – feces – rat connection.
I don’t either.
So, one night I meet up with an urban ecologist. Joel Brown is with the
University of Illinois at Chicago university.
Allee: Where are we?
“Right now we’re on the grounds of the UIC greenhouse. It’s a small green patch
that’s bordered by the Kennedy, a large parking garage, and one of the science and
engineering buildings.”
But it’s enough space to let nature run its course. Brown points to a darkened
patch of weeds and trees. He swears I just missed a rabbit.
“You can hear a cottontail running right through the underbrush right here.”
There’s more to observe, though. A falcon dines on pigeons that land here.
Dogs eat the rabbits. And there’s a raccoon that snatches food from the student
parking lot.
Brown says all of these have found a niche in Chicago.
“So what you see is a very dynamic process. Nature is not an art gallery; it works
around us and works in response to us.”
But could rats really take advantage of that neighborhood’s growing dog population?
Brown says, maybe. But perhaps not in the way the city claims.
“It is more likely that a single French fry, or a dog biscuit, pet food left
outside, a
sandwich left on a park bench … all of the incidental bits of food that we leave
behind
without even thinking about it. Those are much more likely to be feeding and breeding
the rat population than dog poop.”
He says it’s a minor link, but the city makes a good point nonetheless.
“That’s the part that, to me, is exciting. The fact that they’re even thinking about
these connections, shows they’re thinking smart.”
Ultimately, signs with dire warnings can’t control dogs’ impact on the neighborhood.
Brown says the behavior that matters most comes from a peculiar animal.
That’s the one that walks on two legs, has a big brain, and can recognize its own
connections to
the natural world.
Commercial fishers and biologists are concerned
about the impact a viral disease will have on the Great Lakes fishery.
There have been some large fish kills. Live fish commerce has been
restricted to help prevent the spread of the disease.
A disease is spreading, causing large fish kills in the Great Lakes.
Biologists and fishery officials are working to prevent further spread of
the disease, but there’s a conflict between government agencies. Lester
Graham reports there’s also a cost to businesses that deal in live fish:
Transcript
A disease is spreading, causing large fish kills in the Great Lakes. Biologists and
fishery
officials are working to prevent further spread of the disease, but there’s a conflict
between government agencies. Lester Graham reports there’s also a cost to businesses
that deal in live fish:
The disease that’s killing fish is called Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia — or VHS. Jim
Diana is a fish biologist at the University of Michigan who’s been looking into what
it
does to fish…
“So, it’s a virus that the fish pick up and the virus causes really kind of a
general systemic
deterioration. Most notable, sometimes they’ll develop sores or lesions on the
outside of
the body, but they often will die without really external evidence at all.”
Basically, the fish die from internal bleeding. For several years there have been
die-offs
in the St. Lawrence River, which connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. But
researchers weren’t able to confirm the cause was VHS. Then this past summer in Lake
Saint Clair — the lake near Detroit that lies between Lake Huron and Lake Erie —
Jim
Diana says fish die-offs were confirmed to be caused by VHS.
“And since then, they’ve found it in quite a few other species, something like 20
other
species, so it’s quite widespread.”
It’s not clear how the virus got here. But… it originated in Europe. Researchers
guess
that infected fish hitchhiked in the ballast tanks of a ship… or a live fish shipment
escaped into the St. Lawrence River and it’s spread from there by ship.
Biologists say the spread of VHS is not good. It’s not expected to wipe out fish in
the
Great Lakes. But it is causing some real concern.
“We’re not talking about a couple of fish here, we’re talking about large fish
kills. And
VHS is present in those and implicated in the deaths of those fish.”
Marc Gaden is with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. Gaden says because stocking
fish is a big industry… there’s a lot of fish shipped between the U.S. and Canada and
between one state and another.
“So, in the Great Lakes basin there is a movement of fish, fish eggs and other fishery
related things like water that’s used in the fish stocking trucks, things like that.
There’s
aquaculture that occurs, fish farms in the Great Lakes basin. The Departments of
Natural Resources harvest fish eggs to use in their stocking programs and the fish
themselves are stocked. So, there’s movement of fish and fish eggs throughout the
Great
Lakes basin just as a normal part of fisheries management and commerce that occurs.”
So the chance that the virus can be spread by all those fish moving around is
significant.
The federal government thought it was such a risk that it banned all fish shipments.
The
states quickly appealed that. They said it was overkill. They persuaded the feds
that they
were doing enough testing that the chances that VHS would be spread were slim.
So, the feds backed off a bit. But restrictions are still causing some problems. For
example… live fish that are not going to be put back into the lakes… live fish that
are
headed for dinner plates at restaurants still have to be tested. And VHS poses no
risk to
human health.
Ted Batterson is the director of the North Central Regional Aquaculture Center at
Michigan State University. He says he knows one fish farmer whose business is
supplying rainbow trout to restaurants.
“Well, now to be able to do that, he has to have the certification that these are
VHS-free.
It takes him currently, with the laboratory he’s been sending these to, up to 90
days to
get the certification that these are disease free. Well, that is not timely because
these
people who want fish at the other end need them in essence like yesterday, not 90 days
down the road.”
Another business hit by the restrictions on moving live fish is the bait industry.
If the
bait industry has to test –for example—one out of every 50 fish… and the test costs
about
50-dollars… no one will be able to afford to sell bait fish.
The states and the feds are still trying to figure out how to prevent the spread of
VHS…
without hurting the businesses that rely on live fish shipments any more than
necessary.
But… some businesses are already feeling the squeeze.
For the Environment Report, this is Lester Graham.
More than a thousand breeds of farm animals are at risk of going extinct.
That’s according to a new report from the United Nations. Rebecca Williams
reports the UN says globalization is the main reason for the extinctions:
Transcript
More than a thousand breeds of farm animals are at risk of going
extinct. That’s according to a new report from the United Nations.
Rebecca Williams reports the UN says globalization is the main
reason for the extinctions:
Some livestock breeds aren’t being raised as much anymore. That’s
because most farmers only want the breeds that can produce a lot of
meat in a short period of time. Fewer breeds means a smaller genetic
pool. So the whole population of livestock isn’t as robust.
Irene Hoffman is with the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
She says a larger gene pool protects livestock from things such as new
diseases.
Hoffman says consumers have a large role in keeping breeds alive.
“The first strategy is always to keep animals in production to keep
them economically competitive.”
But it can be hard for consumers to find these rare breeds. It takes
extra effort.
The report says in just the past 15 years, 190 livestock breeds have
gone extinct.
The annual season of major U.S. auto shows is underway. And this year, the
hot trend isn’t about horsepower or towing capacity. It’s about saving you
gas at the pump. But as Dustin Dwyer reports, the rhetoric is still ahead
of the reality:
Transcript
The annual season of major U.S. auto shows is underway. And this year, the hot trend
isn’t about horsepower or towing capacity. It’s about saving you gas at the pump.
But, as
Dustin Dwyer reports, the rhetoric is still ahead of the reality:
At the Los Angeles Auto Show, some promises were made by auto companies about
building cleaner, more fuel-efficient cars.
The problem is that, so far, the big gains have only been in a few specialized
vehicles, not
across the board.
David Friedman of the Union of Concerned Scientists says auto companies are making
some progress on cleaner technology. But he says the real test is whether they can
improve efficiency across all types of vehicles.
“Right now if you’re a mother of three and you need to have all those three kids in
car
seats, you probably need a minivan. A compact car won’t work for you. And yet, if you
walk into the showroom today, your choice for a minivan is what 20, 21, maybe 23 miles
per gallon? That’s no real choice.”
The next chance for the automakers to unveil new gas conscious vehicles comes later
this
month at the Detroit Auto Show.
A new study finds that the air you breathe could be teeming with more than
1,800 types of bacteria. Rebecca Williams reports the research might help
protect against bioterrorist attacks:
Transcript
A new study finds that the air you breathe could be teeming with
more than 1,800 types of bacteria. Rebecca Williams reports the
research might help protect against bioterrorist attacks:
This is the first time researchers have used DNA sequencing to study
bacteria in the air. They wanted to find out what’s normal and what’s
harmful.
Federal officials are hoping to improve on the way they test the air for
potential bioterrorism agents.
Gary Andersen is the lead author of the study… published in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He says the
current monitoring system tests the air above most major U.S. cities
for specific pathogens. He says the new research will make that
system better.
“To see not just whether or not these specific handful of pathogens
were present but what actually was the microbial composition in the
air and that also may give some clue to as whether things are normal
or suspicious circumstances.”
Andersen says the research will make it clearer whether or not people
are actually in danger.
