An application filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office lists Gates and others as the inventors of a number of methods to control and prevent hurricanes, which involves a process of using fleets of vessels to mix warm water from the surface of the ocean with colder water from greater depths in an effort to cool the surface of the water.

The applications did not just propose dealing with hurricanes. Another proposal involved “wave induced downwelling,” which involves stirring up sediment at the bottom of the ocean in order to encourage plant and animal growth in less environmentally friendly areas.

“This may be used for developing wildlife preservation areas, wildlife recreation areas, restoring wildlife destroyed by natural or man-made causes, etc., ” according to the patent application.

Another proposal seeks to move nutrients and other material from the bottom of the ocean to the surface in an effort to aid the growth of algae to trap carbon, which could be used to combat global warming (Mark Schleifstein, New Orleans Times-Picayune, July 16). – JK

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BLM plans to auction 43,000 acres of the Little Mountain area on Aug. 4. The land is located near parcels that were contested and withdrawn in previous leases because of environmental concerns.

Industry groups contend they have extraction methods that will not damage land.

Environmental groups counter that the parcels sit within habitat for sensitive wildlife species such as mule deer, trout and sage grouse.

“Why the push for leasing in these important habitats at the expense of our wildlife heritage?” said Joshua Coursey, chairman of a local chapter of the Sweetwater County Mule Deer Foundation (Jeff Gearino, Casper [Wyo.] Star-Tribune, July 16). – PR

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“We’ve got to start doing something,” said Rodney Barreto, chairman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “Gov. [Charlie] Crist (R) wants to take action to stop the spread of this snake.”

Barreto said he expects the governor to sign off on a plan today that would be the first in a two-pronged assault on the state’s pythons, which routinely grow to lengths exceeding a Hummer. The idea has also earned the support of Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (D).

“There’s one way to do this: kill the snakes,” Nelson said in an e-mail.

The program would initially hire about 20 professional trappers to hunt the snakes within as early as a week.

Over the past decade, park biologists have monitored an alarming growth in python numbers, now estimated at more than 100,000. Despite a pet python’s strangulation of a toddler two weeks ago near Orlando, wildlife experts say the serpent’s rise is mainly a threat to large wildlife in Everglades (Curtis Morgan, Miami Herald, July 14). – PT

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For now, no one knows what the substance is — it has been sent to a lab for testing — but it is certainly not an oil product or other hazardous substance, according to Petty Officer 1st Class Terry Hasenauer of the U.S. Coast Guard.

“It’s definitely, by the smell and the makeup of it, it’s some sort of naturally occurring organic or otherwise marine organism,” he said.

A large algae bloom is one possibility, Hasenauer said.

The residents of Barrow and Wainwright who recently witnessed the blob floating past do not remember seeing anything like the mass before, said Gordon Brower, an official at the local planning department.

“If it was something we’d seen before, we’d be able to say something about it,” he said. “But we haven’t … which prompted concerns from the local hunters and whaling captains.

“It’s pitch black when it hits ice and it kind of discolors the ice and hangs off of it,” Brower said. “From the air it looks brownish with some sheen, but when you get close … [it] has hairy strands on it,” he added (Don Hunter, Anchorage Daily News, July 14). – PV

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“I envision the day that you look at a piece of apparel, you flip a tag over, and learn about how sustainable it really is,” said John Fleming, Wal-Mart’s chief merchandising officer. The tags would work similarly to nutritional labeling today, though some standardization needs to take place, he said.

Wal-Mart plans to begin the program on Thursday by asking its suppliers to answer a simple list of 15 questions that examines their water use and carbon dioxide emissions, among other issues.

With its initiative, Wal-Mart is giving itself a head start on any potential future U.S. regulations on environmental labeling. Similar requirements are already appearing in Japan and the United Kingdom.

Consumers likely won’t see the labels for several years, according to company officials. Some Wal-Mart advisers concede that the retailer’s demands may raise its suppliers’ costs and, thus, consumer prices (Miguel Bustillo, Wall Street Journal [subscription required], July 15). – PV

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