EPA - EnviroMapper StoreFront
EnviroMapper StoreFront was featured in Science on Oct. 20, 2006. Visually tracks emissions and sources of pollutants on a map. Compliments of the EPA.
This blog gathers news or other related items on ecology or the environment, with particular attention paid to environmental health and free resources such as governmental databases or reports available to all.
EnviroMapper StoreFront was featured in Science on Oct. 20, 2006. Visually tracks emissions and sources of pollutants on a map. Compliments of the EPA.
From Science Magazine's NETWATCH: "Whether you're looking for a nugget of information or a compelling diagram for your next lecture, burrow into this cache of graphics gathered from the United Nations Environment Programme's publications and Web sites. The 750 maps, graphs, and other illustrations include everything from trends in nitrogen concentrations in the Baltic Sea to projected habitat loss for African great apes over the next 3 decades." Themes include water, waste, pollution, climate change, biodiversity, environment and poverty
I thought this Adaptive Path post did a decent job of capturing the issues surrounding TimesSelect, op-eds, restricted access to content on news sites, as well as editorial "manipulation" in the context of "blogging":
"I believe now that it’s possible to evaluate the maturity of an organization’s online strategy by the overall “awareness” its actions betray; a truly mature communications strategy conveys awareness that the greater value lies in contributing to, rather than attempting to own or manipulate the conversations it engenders."
In defence of news sites, NYT is NOT a blog, and washingtonpost.com is not really the Washington Post. As I was able to register on the washingtonpost.com site, I got a glimpse of their social software at work: they link directly to what bloggers are saying about their articles. What concerned me is that I could access neither GM's or anyone else's response to Friedman nor AEI's piece in Factiva. Who's going to archive that stuff other than the publisher? How are database vendors such as Factiva going to deal with that kind of content?
It does kind of cut the discussion short when you can't find out what all the fuss is about without forking over dough, or without registering. But these problems aren't new, and newpsapers as well as news sites are going to try to make their money, because that's what they do. But TimesSelect might want to take a look at washingtonpost.com's use of web 2.0. [Source: Adaptive Path]
Canada wrests oil from sands, but at what cost? explores the environmental effects of getting oil out of sand, and includes passages like "Syncrude thinks problems with a flue gas desulfurizer -- the very unit designed to cut sulfur dioxide emissions -- were behind residents' complaints regarding a smell described as a mixture of cat urine and bodily odor." Also includes a description of the companies' (PR?) efforts to restore ecosystems after making a mess, including the loud popping sounds made by cannons to scare away waterfowl from contaminated ponds. Idyllic, really. [Source: Reuters]
Well, apparently it's Canadian Environment Week, which is kind of funny given the Conservatives' stance on Kyoto goals and their preference for voluntary targets. At least Jean Charest has said he plans to go it alone (this makes me quite proud of my home province, Quebec). Anyway, Clean Air Day is June 7th and Canadians are encouraged to unhinge themselves from their cars and trucks for the occasion. By the way, anyone who's under the illusion that Canadians are good citizens of the environment is sadly mistaken.
This site includes access to Drug Advisories for Health Professionals/Consumers, Canadian Adverse Reaction Newsletter, Consumer Products, Drug and Medical Device Recall Listings, and Food & Nutrition. Also included is a link to report adverse reactions. The really nice thing about this page is the RSS feature, which allows you to get advisories and warnings via your feed reader or aggregator (for example, Bloglines, a popular reader in librarian circles). I was able to subscribe to the News feed quite easily, but the Advisories and Warnings feed seemed to contain a syntax error, which I've reported.
In an effort to create an authoritative source of information to counter forces such as Wikipedia (which does have some inherent risks of inaccuracy), experts are being asked to apply to contribute as authors and topic editors to the Encyclopedia of Earth. Call to action by the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE). [Source: Science Magazine]
An editorial in the Electronic Green Journal about why Americans should be writing to their Representative ( find yours) to save the EPA Library, which serves EPA researchers as well as the public at large. Sad to see this happening, especially when the First Lady was a librarian. This doesn't make a difference because a) no one listens to her b) she doesn't know what's going on, c) she's waiting for the Rapture or d) who cares? she's the First Lady. Or am I missing something? Maybe it could be a lot worse? That's always a good way to rationalize things. Or maybe politics is the wrong place for politics.