EJToday is SEJ's selection of new and outstanding stories on environmental topics in print and on the air, updated every weekday. SEJ also offers a free e-mailed digest of the day's EJToday postings, called SEJ-beat. SEJ members are subscribed automatically, but may opt out here. Non-members may subscribe here. EJToday is also available via RSS feed. Please see Editorial Guidelines for EJToday content.
UK Measles Outbreaks Flourish After Discredited Autism Research
AP, 05/21/2013"LONDON — More than a decade ago, British parents refused to give measles shots to at least a million children because of now discredited research that linked the vaccine to autism. Now, health officials are scrambling to catch up and stop a growing epidemic of the contagious disease."
Scientists Are United on Global Warming, Contrary to Public View
Reuters, 05/16/2013"Ninety-seven percent of scientists say global warming is mainly man-made but a wide public belief that experts are divided is making it harder to gain support for policies to curb climate change, an international study showed on Thursday."
"For Insurers, No Doubts on Climate Change"
NY Times, 05/15/2013"If there were one American industry that would be particularly worried about climate change it would have to be insurance, right?"
"News Analysis: The Hidden World Under Our Feet"
NY Times, 05/13/2013"HELENA, Mont. -- The world’s worrisome decline in biodiversity is well known. Some experts say we are well on our way toward the sixth great extinction and that by 2100 half of all the world’s plant and animal species may disappear. Yet one of the most important threats to biodiversity has received little attention — though it lies under our feet."
Canada Think Tank To Save Freshwater Fisheries Research Facility
Postmedia, 05/10/2013"OTTAWA — Some federal scientists working at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans may soon gain new freedom to control their research and speak in public, under a tentative deal announced Thursday to transfer management of a world-renowned freshwater research facility that opened in 1968."
Charles: 'Climate Change Sceptics Are Turning Earth Into Dying Patient'
Guardian, 05/10/2013"Prince Charles has attacked corporate lobbyists and climate change sceptics for turning the Earth into a 'dying patient', making his most outspoken criticism yet of the world's failure to tackle global warming just when the heir to the throne is assuming a growing number of the duties of what is supposed to be an apolitical monarchy."
Research Council’s Makeover Leaves Canadian Industry Setting Agenda
Toronto Globe & Mail, 05/09/2013"The National Research Council, which gave the country canola and the atomic clock, will now be taking its scientific cues from Canadian industry as part of a makeover of the country’s flagship research labs."
"When Science Goes Silent"
Maclean's, 05/07/2013"With the muzzling of scientists, Harper’s obsession with controlling the message verges on the Orwellian."
"EPA Adds Safeguards To Spotlight Conflicts on Scientific Panels"
Center for Public Integrity, 05/06/2013"The Environmental Protection Agency announced new safeguards Friday to prevent conflicts of interest or bias from tainting its science, including efforts to assess the dangers of toxic chemicals."
"Airborne Laboratory Being Used To Measure California's Snowpack"
LA Times, 05/03/2013"By taking sophisticated instrument readings of the snow depth and reflected sunlight, researchers hope to improve the accuracy of runoff forecasts."
"Obama Promises To Protect Science Research From Partisan Politics"
Huffington Post, 04/30/2013"WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama promised on Monday to ensure that scientific research is insulated from partisan politics, as government-funded projects come under attack from Republicans in Congress."
"Ontario Government Rescues Experimental Lakes Area"
ENS, 04/26/2013"TORONTO -- The Ontario Government has stepped in to save a unique freshwater research facility in the Experimental Lakes Area after the Canadian government cut off funding as of March 31."
"EPA Releases Harsh Review of Keystone XL Environmental Report"
LA Times, 04/23/2013"The Environmental Protection Agency issued a sharply critical assessment of the State Department's recent environmental impact review of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, certain to complicate efforts to win approval for the $7-billion project."
"Coal-Backed Research Takes on Mining Health Studies"
Charleston Gazette, 04/23/2013"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Scientists backed by a $15 million industry-funded research project are picking apart -- and trying to disprove -- a series of studies that found coalfield residents near mountaintop-removal mining operations face greater risks of serious illness and premature death."
Earth Day: "Moral Climate-- Beyond Science and Politics"
Salt Lake Tribune, 04/22/2013"Rob Gillies and his team gather data on Nepal’s changing climate for a research project. They log temperatures, raindrops and snow. They pump the numbers into powerful computers and read the trend lines the computers spit out. Gillies sees the numbers in human terms, too. Global warming is likely to mean less water, putting crops and livestock in peril, along with nourishment for children who already don’t get enough to eat. That leaves the climate scientist with questions instruments can’t answer. About fairness. Justice. And life and death."

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