Melting Arctic ice could poison ecosystem, experts say

[cf. Polar bears ill from accumulated environmental toxins] By John Size, CTV News 18 March 2012 Arctic sea ice that’s been melting at a dramatic rate in the last few decades is releasing a chemical soup that could poison the food chain with mercury and other dangerous chemicals, a new study suggests. The NASA-led research […]

Urban air pollution to become top cause of environment-related deaths by 2050: OECD

By Tom Arup 17 March 2012 URBAN air pollution will become the top cause of environment-related deaths globally by mid-century unless action is taken, one of the world’s peak economic groups says. In a study of the global environmental outlook to 2050, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warns there may be 3.6 […]

Tropics continue to assault Australia with storms

By Evan Duffey, Meteorologist17 March 2012 Tropical Cyclone Lua (17S) made landfall today near Port Hedland in Western Australia, bringing torrential rain and damaging winds. And while Lua is now dissipating, another tropical system is developing, and already bringing impacts to land. Lua brought hurricane-force winds and torrential rains to the coast. Luckily the cyclone […]

U.S. suffers extreme weather – March sees over 1700 daily high temperature records broken

By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer17 March 2012 WASHINGTON — America’s weather is stuck on extreme. Nearly 11 feet of snow has fallen on Anchorage, Alaska, this winter. That’s almost a record, and it’s forcing the city to haul away at least 250,000 tons of snow. Yet not much snow has dropped on the Lower […]

Graph of the Day: Radioactive Seawater Impact from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant, March 2012

We use a Lagrangian particles dispersal method to track where free floating material (fish larvae, algae, phytoplankton, zooplankton…) present in the sea water near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station plant could have gone since the earthquake on March 11th. THIS IS NOT A REPRESENTATION OF THE RADIOACTIVE PLUME CONCENTRATION. Since we do not […]

Poachers slaughter hundreds of elephants in Africa wildlife park, killing half of the population – ‘A long, agonising death’

By Daily Mail Reporter16 March 2012 These heartbreaking photos show the extent of an elephant slaughter in the troubled nation of Cameroon. At least half the elephant population in Bouba N’Djida reserve have been slaughtered because the west African nation sent too few security forces to tackle poachers, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) […]

Fertilisers behind increase in atmospheric nitrous oxide

By Darren Osborne, ABC16 March 2012 The increasing amount of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere over the last 65 years is due to nitrogen-based fertilisers, according to a new study. An international team of scientists, led by University of California-Berkeley researcher Dr Sunyoung Park, made the finding after studying air collected at the Cape Grim […]

Australia climate is warming at an alarming rate

SYDNEY, 14 March 2012 (AFP) – Australia’s climate is warming at an alarming rate and is set to become drier despite recent record floods, scientists said Wednesday in a report that warns of increased drought and fiercer storms. The country has seen annual average daily temperatures rise by 0.9 degrees Celsius since 1911, with each […]

Water pollution rises from farms, costing billions

By Tara Patel13 March 2012 Water pollution from agriculture is costing billions of dollars a year in developed countries and is expected to increase in China and India as farmers race to increase food production, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said. “Pollution from farm pesticides and fertilizers is often diffuse, making it hard […]

Canada grey seal hunt a bust

15 March 2012 (CBC News) – An extremely small number of grey seals were killed during the annual hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence this year. Sealers said no animals were killed on Hay Island, off Cape Breton, during a hunt that has harvested more than 1,000 animals in past years, and about eight […]

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