BONNIE LIES OVER THE OCEAN: After appearing suddenly over the Bahamas Thursday and then washing across South Florida Friday, Tropical Storm Bonnie remains on what looks seems to be a collision course with the Gulf oil spill this weekend. But the National Hurricane Center and other forecasters say Bonnie is unlikely to grow very much even as it enters the Gulf of Mexico's warm waters, due to two large air masses flanking the storm and jostling it around. A high-pressure cell over the U.S. East Coast is working with an upper-level low-pressure system over the Gulf to push and pull on Bonnie, and they'll probably prevent the storm from growing into a hurricane. "The environment in the Gulf of Mexico is not favorable for any significant strengthening, and in fact ... global and hurricane dynamic models insist on weakening or even dissipating the cyclone gradually," the NHC said Friday. Still, Bonnie's projected path — which cuts through the oil spill, ultimately landing somewhere in Louisiana, Mississippi or Alabama Sunday morning — has spooked BP and government officials in charge of the cleanup efforts. The flotilla of oil skimmers, siphoning ships and relief rigs that have bustled around the spill for months have fled, an attempt to protect the people and equipment on board, according to National Incident Commander Thad Allen. That means the relief well, which is needed to permanently plug the leak, will be completed at least a week later than previously expected, further delaying closure to the long-running disaster. But there is partial closure, at least: The well's containment cap will stay closed even as its support ships head for shore, meaning no oil should escape from the well during the hiatus. And even if Bonnie passes directly over the mile-deep well, it will be too far away to have any major effects on it, a University of Texas petroleum engineer tells the AP. "Assuming all lines are disconnected from the surface," he says, "there should be no effect on the well head by a passing surface storm." (Sources: Associated Press, Miami Herald, Bloomberg News, National Hurricane Center)

 

LOSING ENERGY: Senate Democrats have pulled the plug on their efforts to pass a climate change bill, casting the issue aside indefinitely after some 18 months of fits and starts. They aren't just abandoning the comprehensive cap-and-trade bill, but even the more limited, utilities-only version that was being pushed by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn. The reason, Democrats say, is simple: Republicans remain unified in their opposition to capping greenhouse gas emissions. The bill needs 60 votes to pass, but there are only 56 Democratic senators. "It's easy to count to 60," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (pictured) said Thursday. "I could do it by the time I was in eighth grade. My point is this — we know where we are. We know we don't have the votes." Regardless of when Reid learned to count to 60, his fellow Democrats praised his pragmatism on Thursday, agreeing that the climate bill was doomed to fail, at least in this session. "He's anxious to get something done before we leave in August," says Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. "Given the time constraints, this probably is a realistic judgment on his part." In place of the climate bill, Democrats will move forward with a softer energy-only bill, eschewing carbon caps and renewable energy for more broadly popular measures related to the Gulf oil spill, Home Star energy efficiency upgrades, natural gas fuel incentives, and the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Still, climate legislation is "not dying," Kerry insisted Thursday. "If we can't do it in the next weeks, we'll do something that begins to do something responsibly in the short term," he said. "But this will stay out there, and we'll be working on it; we'll be asking you to talk to your senators and move them to understand why we have to get this done." (Sources: Politico, New York Times, Los Angeles Times)

 

PRIMATES' CLIMATES: Polar regions may be seeing the most dramatic effects of global warming so far, but tropical animals aren't expected to catch much of a break, either. African apes face an especially dire outlook, according to a new study published in the Journal of Biogeography, because of the way rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns uniquely affect their behavior. Tropical and subtropical apes will essentially "run out of time" each day as the world warms up, the researchers determined, since they'll be forced to spend more of the day resting to avoid overheating. All that resting means much of their current habitat will become unavailable to them, as will all the food and resources it contains. Using data from 20 natural populations to model changes in ape behavior and distribution, the researchers found that chimpanzees will likely lose 50 percent of their current habitats, while gorillas will lose 75 percent of theirs. And that's just from rising temperatures and shifting rainfall — it doesn't even factor in actual habitat destruction, not to mention poaching. "In reality, the effects of climate change on African apes may be much worse," says the study's lead author, "as our model does not take into account possible anthropogenic effects, such as habitat destruction by humans and the hunting of apes for bushmeat." (Source: e! Science News)

 

PET PEEVES: Thousands of dogs and cats across the Gulf Coast were left homeless after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, often abandoned accidentally or in a moment of panic. Overcrowded animal shelters raced to rescue the stray pets and track down their displaced owners, occasionally resulting in emotional reunions. A similar scenario is now once again playing out in the region, the New York Times reports, but instead of fleeing a fast-approaching hurricane, distraught pet owners are now ditching their companions in response to a slow but steady economic squeeze. "I think it's the uncertainty of the future," says Beth Brewster, director of St. Bernard Parish Animal Services. "It's more logistics than it is poverty." In June 2009, owners brought only 17 pets into that shelter, Brewster says, but last month they brought in more than 100, forcing the shelter to begin euthanizing those least likely to be re-adopted. Some owners explain that they're downsizing to a smaller apartment that doesn't accept pets, while others say they're too busy cleaning up the oil spill to take care of them. But, as Plaquemines Parish President and owner of seven dogs Billy Nungesser points out, having animals around can also ease stress during tense times. "With all the stress and frustration and worrying about getting your job back, that pet keeps you sane and can help you get through that," he says. Groups such as the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Humane Society of the United States are now offering free food and vet visits to down-and-out pet owners, hoping to reach them before they turn to animal shelters as a last resort. (Source: New York Times)

 

— Russell McLendon