Earth’s greatest mass extinction caused by coal: study

By Leanne YohemasJanuary 24, 2011 About 250 million years about 95 per cent of life was wiped out in the sea and 70 per cent on land. Researchers at the University of Calgary believe they have discovered evidence to support massive volcanic eruptions burnt significant volumes of coal, producing ash clouds that had broad impact […]

Climate change: Driving straight into catastrophe

By Julio GodoyJan 24, 2011 PARIS (IPS) – Despite repeated warnings by environmental and climate experts that reduction of fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions is fundamental to forestalling global warming, disaster appears imminent. According to the latest statistics, unprecedented climate change has Earth hurtling down a path of catastrophic proportions. The Paris-based International […]

UK fish threatened by global warming to be moved north

By Matt Chorley, Political CorrespondentSunday, 23 January 2011 Fish from the Lake District will be moved to cooler waters in Scotland under radical plans – which will be unveiled this week – aimed at coping with climate change. The first seven of more than 100 reports by government agencies and utility companies will set out […]

Graph of the Day: Greenland Ice Melt Area, 1979–2010

The figure shows the standardized melting index anomaly for the period 1979 – 2010. In simple words, each bar tells us by how many standard deviations melting in a particular year was above the average. For example, a value of ~2 for 2010 means that melting was above the average by two times the ‘variability’ […]

Forest accords not saving trees: report

NEW YORK, 24 Jan 2011 (AFP) – International accords on saving vulnerable forests are having little impact because they do not attack the core causes such as growing demand for biofuels and food crops, a new report said. With Africa and South American alone losing 7.4 million hectares (18.3 million acres) of forest a year, […]

Australia floods have ‘enormous’ economic impact: Treasurer Wayne Swan

By Nichola Saminather; editors: Paul Tighe, Suresh SeshadriJanuary 23, 2011, 8:03 AM EST an. 24 (Bloomberg) — Australia faces an “enormous” economic impact from the worst floods in Queensland state in almost 40 years, with coal exports likely to be one of the “biggest casualties,” Treasurer Wayne Swan said. “Queensland’s rapid development has meant that […]

South Africa flood deaths rise to 70

22 January 2011 (BBC) — The death toll from South Africa’s floods has continued to rise, follows weeks of heavy rains that began in December. Seventy people have died and more than 8,000 families have been forced to leave their homes. Five other countries in the region, from Mozambique to Namibia, are on alert for […]

From fire to flood for Australia farmers

By Mark RalstonSunday 23 January 2011 HORSHAM (AFP) — Marshall Rodda weathered Australia’s decade-long drought, but as he recovers from record-breaking floods the seasoned farmer can’t help thinking that when it rains, it pours. Before the rains began in April, Rodda was among the thousands of Australian farmers struggling to make ends meet in the […]

Video: Sri Lanka floods destroy crops – 80 per cent of rice crop washed away

Al Jazeera EnglishJanuary 22, 2011 The people of Sri Lanka are trying to cope with the effects of the worst floods that have hit the country in more than 50 years. And it is not only homes that have been damaged. More than 80 per cent of fields in the main rice-growing area have been […]

Brazil flood deaths top 800 with 400 still missing – The worst natural disaster Brazil has ever experienced

Officials in Brazil say more than 800 people are now known to have died in floods and landslides in the south-east of the country this month. More than 400 people are still missing after torrential rain caused whole hillsides to collapse. The Brazilian government has said it will set up an early warning system to […]

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