Environment

The Pavlof Volcano in southwest Alaska erupted Sunday afternoon sending plumes of ash 3,700 feet high and 400 miles inland across Alaska prompting the cancellation of dozens of flights. In a new release late on Monday night, the U.S. Geological Survey said that the intensity of the eruption had “declined significantly.” The Star reports: Pavlof Volcano, one of Alaska’s most active volcanoes, is 1005 kilometres southwest of Anchorage on the Alaska Peninsula, the finger of land that sticks out from mainland Alaska toward the Aleutian Islands.

The chemical Bisphenol A, or as it is more commonly known – BPA, is a plastic-based chemical used in the building and coating of many food containers. The chemical has long connected to heart disease and type 2 diabetes new research shows there is another danger to BPA exposure. TechTimes reports:  It suggests that higher concentration of the chemical in the blood may increase risk for preterm birth among pregnant women.

A huge blaze has engulfed at least two residential high-rise towers in the Swan area of the city of Ajman in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Emergency services have brought the fire “under control.” Russia Today reports: Social media users posted images and footage of the fire late Monday showing bright yellow flames engulfing a building with chunks of burning debris falling to the ground. There have been no reports of casualties so far. Local media reports that residents are being evacuated to safety.

The U.S. Geological Survey (UGCS) have warned that up to 7 million American citizens are at risk from both natural and “induced” earthquakes, caused by fracking.  UGCS published an earthquake hazard map showing the areas where Americans are most at risk. Washingtonpost.com reports: The list of places at highest risk of man-made earthquakes includes Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Arkansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Ohio and Alabama.

The Fukushima disaster was over five years ago, and may have been largely forgotten by the general public and the media (perhaps because the Japanese olympics are just four years from now), but its effects still linger. Perhaps nowhere more so than for those who took pare in the Fukushima clean up effort: as Starts and Stripes reports, sixteen U.S. ships that participated in relief efforts after Japan’s nuclear disaster five years ago remain contaminated with low levels of radiation from the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.