Environmental News: December 4th-December 10th 2009

Obama Nobel Peace Prize Lecture: Climate Security Essential
OSLO, Norway, December 10, 2009 (ENS) - President Barack Obama accepted the 2009 Nobel Prize for Peace at a ceremony today at Oslo City Hall.
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Central Coast delegation floats ocean science to the Denmark climate talks
December 10, 2009
Just a few days before their trip to the international climate conference, Adina Abeles and Arlo Hemphill take a moment to acknowledge their own carbon footprints. All three of us of us had driven to the Center for Ocean Solutions’ bayside office that morning, where Abeles is the planning director and Hemphill the communications specialist.
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Snow at Highest Elevations No Longer Pure
December 10, 2009
Rachael Rettner
The pure white snow atop the Andes Mountains may not be so pure after all. Scientists have found traces of toxic pollutants called PCBs in snow samples taken from Aconcagua Mountain, the highest peak in the Americas.
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Shell's Chukchi Sea Drill Plan OK'd Despite Pending Lawsuit
December 9, 2009 (ENS)
The federal Minerals Management Service has approved a controversial plan by Shell Gulf of Mexico, Inc. to drill up to three exploratory wells in the Chukchi Sea on leases it purchased in 2008.
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Chemical BPA may harm developing fetus, Quebec study suggests

December 9, 2009
MONTREAL — A common chemical used in the plastic lining of frozen-food dinners and many other products is endangering the development of fetuses in pregnant women, a new study suggests.
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Whooping Crane shot, reward offered
December 9, 2009
A seven-year-old Whooping Crane — the only successful breeding female from the eastern migratory population — was shot and killed in western Indiana, near the town of Cayuga in central Vermillion County, officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the International Crane Foundation said today.
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Climate change played key role in B.C. sockeye stocks collapse, say scientists
December 09, 2009
ANCOUVER, B.C. - Food-poor, predator-rich ocean waters caused by climate change likely played a significant role in decimating millions of sockeye salmon in British Columbia's Fraser River ahead of what was supposed to be a bumper year, says a scientific think tank.
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U.S. Sees Robust Climate Talks, No "Reparations"
11-Dec-09
Richard Cowan
COPENHAGEN - President Barack Obama's top aides promised on Wednesday "robust" negotiations toward a global climate change deal this month, but firmly stated the United States does not owe the world "reparations" for centuries of carbon pollution.
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Warming Turns Fish into Daredevils
December 9, 2009
By Emily Sohn | Wed Dec 09, 2009 07:00 AM ET
As the world grows warmer, some fish may stop acting like themselves.
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U.N. Climate Talks To Seek Deep CO2 Cuts, Aid
Date: 08-Dec-09
Country: DENMARK
Author: Gerard Wynn and Emma Graham-Harrison
COPENHAGEN, Dec 7 - The biggest climate meeting in history, with 15,000 participants from 192 nations, begins in Copenhagen on Monday seeking to agree curbs on greenhouse gas emissions and raise billions of dollars for the poor in aid and clean technology.
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U.S. moves to curb emissions, aids U.N. climate talks
December 7, 2009
WASHINGTON/COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Washington took a step on Monday toward curbing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, aiding the first day of the biggest climate talks in history where 190 nations are seeking a deal to curb global warming.
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Study Finds Weed Killer Affects Frogs Sexually
04-Dec-09
Randall Palmer
OTTAWA - The widely used weed killer atrazine affects the sexual development of frogs, raising questions about the effects of its use in the environment, the University of Ottawa said on Thursday.
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