Air Quality One-Two Punch Hurts Fetuses The combined effects of air pollution and secondhand smoke can hurt fetal development, says a new study conducted in New York City by the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health. While previous studies have addressed the effects of both factors in isolation, this study marks the first attempt to study the cumulative effects of their interaction. Babies exposed to high levels of both experienced a 7 percent reduction in birth weight and a 3 percent reduction in head circumference. "The effects we see, reduced fetal growth and lower birth weight, have been linked to …

Judge Rules Government Must Pay for Withheld Water In a case that could have substantial implications for enforcement of the Endangered Species Act, a federal judge ruled recently that the U.S. government must pay California irrigators some $14 million for water it withheld from them during an early 1990s drought in the state. The water was held back in order to maintain river and stream flows sufficient to protect two endangered fish species. The ruling builds on an earlier decision by the same judge that the withholding amounted to a property taking under the U.S. Constitution, which means the property …

GM Giant Monsanto Sues Canadian Farmer Speaking of genetic drift: The Canadian Supreme Court began hearing arguments on Tuesday in a case that has become a cause celebre for both opponents and fans of agricultural biotechnology. Agro-giant Monsanto Co. sued Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser when its patented biotech canola was found growing in his fields in 1997; the company requires a per-acre licensing fee for use of its herbicide-resistant seeds. Schmeiser claims that the canola seeds drifted onto his land from neighboring farms without his knowledge. The lawsuit has come to represent the hopes and fears of small farmers around …

New Controls Needed on Wildlife Trade to Prevent Disease, Scientists Say Leading wildlife and conservation experts from 10 nations say that stronger controls on global wildlife trade are needed to stem the spread of deadly diseases from exotic animals to humans. "Most wild-caught animals found in pet shops and food markets have never been tested for diseases and parasites that can harm humans and other animals," said Mary Pearl, head of the New York-based Wildlife Trust. The scientists, who made their announcement from Bangalore, India, said that unscrupulous trading also could wipe out wild populations of endangered species such as …

Oil Pipeline Through Georgian Republic Runs Into Trouble A $3 billion, 1,000-mile pipeline -- slated to be pumping oil from the newly opened Caspian oilfields through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey to the world market by April 2005 -- has run into a whole mess of trouble. Environmentalists and many local groups are incensed that the pipeline, being built by BP, is set to run through the Borzhomi mountain gorge, a pristine and landslide-prone area that is the source of Borzhomi mineral water (Georgia's third-largest export) and many of the region's tourism dollars. Farmers are incensed that the land-development grants distributed …

Despite European Objections, GM Agriculture Marches On Worldwide use of genetically modified crops grew by 15 percent last year, according to a report by the industry-backed International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications. In 1996, the year GM crops were made commercially available, 4.3 million acres were used for biotech cultivated crops. By 2003, that number had risen to 167.2 million acres -- some 18 percent of all cultivated land. Despite stiff resistance across much of Europe and from several international environmental and scientific groups, the ISAAA predicts that GM will continue to grow at a fast clip. In …

Arctic Natives, Minding Own Business, Suffer From Our Pollutants Toxic industrial chemicals, carried north by wind, ocean, and river currents, are polluting the traditional diet of native Arctic peoples in Greenland and Arctic Canada. The pollutants, including PCBs and up to 200 other hazardous compounds, are first consumed by zooplankton, then travel up the food chain to the ocean-dwelling mammals -- whales, seals, and walruses -- hunted by Arctic natives according to centuries-old traditions. At this point, concentrations of chemicals and pesticides in the bodies of Greenland's Inuit are so high that their tissues can be classified as hazardous waste. …

Climate Scientists Predict More Hot Summers for Europe Thanks to global warming, summer heat waves like the one that killed close to 20,000 people in Europe in 2003 could recur up to once every two years by the end of the century. So claims a study conducted by a group of scientists from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and published in the latest online issue of Nature. Based on computer models of climatological change, the study predicts not a steady rise but rather increased variability and unpredictability in temperatures (which will make it difficult for farmers to compensate …

Demand Rises for Organic and Natural Beef What's bad news for most ranchers may be great news for growers and purveyors of organic and natural-fed beef. In the wake of the discovery of mad cow disease in the U.S., folks who still like to chomp on a nice, juicy steak are increasingly seeking out beef that's been raised the old-fashioned way. To earn the organic label, cattle must be fed a strict vegetarian diet of pesticide-free hay and grain, which means the animals have no opportunity to consume the tainted slaughterhouse leftovers that are believed to lead to bovine spongiform …

GM Crops Linked to Rise in Herbicide and Pesticide Use Pesticide and herbicide use on genetically modified (GM) crops in the U.S. has risen markedly over the past eight years, surpassing the concentration of agrochemicals sprayed on conventional crops, according to an analysis of U.S. government data. This research appears to blow a hole in one of the primary arguments in favor of GM crops -- that they benefit the environment because they require fewer chemical inputs. Charles Benbrook, head of the Northwest Science and Environment Policy Center and author of the report, found that GM crops were sprayed with …