ScienceDaily: Ocean biology alters the chemical composition of sea spray in ways that influence its ability to form clouds over the ocean. That's the conclusion of a team of scientists using a new approach to study tiny atmospheric particles called aerosols that can influence climate by absorbing or reflecting sunlight and seeding clouds. By engineering breaking waves of natural ocean water under purified air in the lab, they were able to isolate and analyze aerosols from the spray and determine how life within...

CNBC: It's Earth Day 2013, and it's a good time to step back and see how we've been doing since the first one 1970. That's when 20 million people took to the streets to protest rivers on fire, DDT-poisoned birds, sewage on beaches and a devastating oil spill off the pristine Santa Barbara, Calif., coast. Soon after, many of our basic national environmental laws were passed in direct response to this massive grassroots movement. Is there another wave of this activism coming? Since those early days,...

Reuters: BP Plc's attempt to get a U.S. federal court to pin at least a sizeable amount of the blame for the Deepwater Horizon disaster on other companies may have saved it billions of dollars. After failing to settle claims from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill through negotiations, the British oil company opted in February to go to trial with plaintiffs ranging from small businesses to the U.S. government over the damages it will face. The decision rests with U.S. District Court Judge Carl Barbier, who...

Guardian: The UK's top marine scientists have denounced government ministers for reneging on plans to protect marine life by banning the most destructive fishing and dredging in the seas around the British Isles. Sealife, including fish, lobsters, oysters and seahorses, has been in rapid decline for years. A two-year, £8m consultation involving thousands of people and the government's own scientific advisers concluded that 127 marine protection zones (MPZs) were needed to halt the decline. But the environment...

Independent: Scientists and ministers were at loggerheads last night as they blamed one another for letting plans to protect Britain's marine wildlife and habitats descend into "confusion and disarray". An open letter signed by 86 scientists and academics sent to David Cameron accuses him of falling "far short" of delivering a pledge to create a network of Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs). The group claims plans to establish a network of 127 protected areas have been watered down to such a point that the zones...

Scientific American: Some questions to ponder on Earth Day: how much of an environmental problem is the growing human population? And is the problem too many people or the throwaway culture of too many things? A new paper in the journal Science attempts to assess the burdens placed on people and the planet by individuals’ decisions to have large families and/or consume a lot. A key factor in the creation of large families is young women without access to schools or family planning. So one way to address population...

ScienceDaily: A new report on the potential effects of climate change on NOAA's Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary uses existing observations and science-based expectations to identify how climate change could affect habitats, plants and animals within the sanctuary and adjacent coastal areas. It also outlines new management recommendations for the sanctuary, and sanctuary officials called it the first step toward addressing them. They also said the report issued by the sanctuary, Climate Change and the...

Indian Country: “We are not drowning. We are fighting.” With this clarion call, Indigenous Peoples from 15 Pacific Island nations and territories pulled together for a Warrior Dance Day of Action in early March to send the world a message on climate change. Island nations are some of the most severely affected by the effects of climate change as ocean levels rise and water encroaches on their already small territories. (Related: Arctic and Small Islands Fight Climate Change) These Indigenous Peoples held warrior...

Reuters: Norway took a major step towards opening up an environmentally sensitive Arctic area to oil and gas exploration when the ruling Labour Party gave the go-ahead on Sunday for an impact study. Exploration in the waters around the Lofoten islands just above the Arctic circle is becoming one of the most contentious issues for parliamentary elections in September. The picturesque area had been off limits because it is home to the world's richest cod stocks, with environmental groups and the tourism...

Greenpeace: Seven Greenpeace International activists peacefully demonstrated in a Mauritian port on Sunday against a South Korean vessel accused of unlawful fishing in West African waters, demanding the Seoul government order the ship's recall. The activists painted the word "illegal" in Korean and English on the hull of the FV Premier, owned by South Korea's largest tuna company, Dongwon Industries. Activists also held flags and banners calling the ship "criminal" in response to accusations of wrongdoing...

Associated Press: The state of Florida filed a lawsuit Saturday against the oil company BP and the cement contractor Halliburton over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, becoming the fourth state to seek damages for the 2010 disaster. The suit, among other things, faults BP for not changing the batteries on the rig’s blowout preventer. It also accuses Halliburton of installing faulty cement barriers. The complaint by the Florida attorney general, Pam Bondi, was filed in United States District Court in Panama City....

BBC: A deep sea mission of genuine exploration Legacy of Britain's great flood Can UK science navigate around the Valley of Death Is graphene really a wonder-material? As the days lengthen with the approach of spring, the northernmost reaches of Scandinavia are about to witness the annual migration of huge herds of reindeer. After spending the winter inland in Finnmark, Europe's last great wilderness, the animals are moved to pastures near the coast for the summer. The reindeer play a central...

Independent: A Europe-wide ban on the trade of seal fur and products is expected to be overturned this week, in a move that will reignite one of the world's most contentious wildlife issues. The actor Jude Law has written a letter calling for the ban to be upheld, which he says would be "in line with the wishes of compassionate people all around the world". He sent the letter to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on behalf of the animal rights group Peta a week before the WTO's final hearing on the issue in...

New York Times: The central Arctic Ocean has been covered in ice for eons, but under the influence of global warming, nearly half of it is now open water for part of the year. Commercial fishing has not yet begun there, but the urge to begin fishing is almost overwhelming. The waters of the central Arctic, an area the size of the Mediterranean, hold the last untouched fishing stocks on this planet. At present, they also lie beyond the boundaries of settled international law — more than a million square miles outside...

Summit Voice: Managers of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary say they`ll use a new report to try and prepare the resources they steward for the coming impacts of climate change, including increases in sea level; extreme weather events such as winds, waves, and storms; and coastal erosion from those events. The report also says the region may experience an increase in ocean acidity, rising water temperature, as well as more extreme weather patterns, including Pacific Northwest regional rainfall increases...

Star-Ledger: Monday will probably be the most important Earth Day for people in New Jersey since the first one. As we celebrate the 43rd Earth Day, people will be cleaning up parks and areas of the state that have been devastated by Hurricane Sandy. They will be replanting dunes, fixing beaches and parks and helping neighbors. We will see the impact of climate disruption all around us. It is not just what we do on Earth Day that counts; it is what we do every day dealing with climate change. We will move...

Associated Press: Mississippi has become the third state to sue BP over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. State Attorney General Jim Hood said on Friday that the state had filed suits in federal and state court. Mr. Hood said he wanted to settle, but he said BP refused to negotiate. A spokeswoman for BP did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Louisiana and Alabama sued BP earlier and are participating in a federal trial in New Orleans to determine the liability of BP and its contractors. Mississippi...

ScienceDaily: Wild fire residue is washed out of the soil and transported to the sea by rivers. Wild fires turn millions of hectares of vegetation into charcoal each year. An international team of researchers led by Thorsten Dittgar from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen and Rudolf Jaffé from Florida International University's Southeast Environmental Research Center in Miami has now shown that this charcoal does not remain in the soil, as previously thought. Instead, it is transported...

Environment News Service: Desalination plants are typically built in dry places. But along New York`s Hudson River a different story is unfolding. A desalination plant has been proposed by United Water New York, a private company, to address the rapid growth of water demand in the expanding New York City suburb of Rockland County. If built, the Haverstraw Water Supply Project on the Hudson River`s Haverstraw Bay would mark New York State's first foray into desalination, the process of removing salt and particulates...

Climate Desk: Earlier this month, when a burst pipe spilled thousands of gallons of heavy oil into an Arkansas suburb, the message from the White House went something like: "Everybody chill, the EPA has it under control." But reporters on the scene found the cleanup orchestrated by the same company, ExxonMobil, that allowed the spill, and heard only crickets when they asked the EPA about its involvement. Turns out, on some of the nation`s most pressing environmental health issues, the EPA`s transparency record...