Petition to ask U.S. presidential candidates: ‘What is your plan to address the climate crisis?’

From the worthy U.S. organization, League of Conservation Voters: Sign our petition to ask Obama and Romney this question in the first debate! Help us put the climate crisis in the national spotlight by calling on Jim Lehrer, the moderator of the first presidential debate, to ask about global warming in the first presidential debate. Sign […]

Balkan drought highlights years of farm neglect – Serbia corn yield halved – Croatia corn ‘rare as gold’

By Daria Sito-Sucic, with additional reporting by Zoran Radosavljevic in Zagreb and Matt Robinson in Belgrade; Editing by Matt Robinson and Pravin Char20 Aug 2012 KALESIJA, Bosnia (Reuters) – As crops wilt and die in the Balkans, farmers struck down by a particularly harsh drought this year are ruing the region’s failure to upgrade irrigation […]

China declares emergency as two typhoons close in – Typhoon Tembin to dump 1 meter of rain in Taiwan mountains – Typhoon Bolaven to be strongest storm yet this season

23 August 2012 By Wang Qian (China Daily) – Two powerful typhoons are heading toward China, putting the weather-beaten nation on alert again after four storms have caused landfalls across the country since the start of August. “Typhoons Tembin and Bolaven may have a combined impact on coastal areas in the coming 10 days,” Zhang […]

Graph of the Day: Progression of Obesity and Overweight Rates in Seven OECD countries

Contact: Franco Sassi, franco.sassi@oecd.org21 February 2012 Until 1980, fewer than one in ten people were obese. Since then, rates doubled or tripled and in 19 of 34 OECD countries the majority of the population is now overweight or obese. OECD projections suggest that more than two out of three people will be overweight or obese […]

Food security worsens in Sudan – 16 million people face stressed/emergency levels in East Africa

27 July 2012 (Famine Early Warning System Network) – There are about 16 million people facing Stressed (IPC Phase 2) to Emergency (IPC Phase 4) levels of food insecurity in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, and Uganda. The main drivers of food insecurity in these countries are poor rains, conflict, high food prices, and […]

Expedition finds frequency of Siberia forest fires is increasing

By Joanne Howl15 August 2012 From Dr. Jon Ranson: […] But the common face of the forest can be summed in one word: change. Whether viewed from helicopter, boat, or on foot, huge areas of forest show the effects of fires. Some fires are recent, but most burned a couple of decades in the past. […]

Image of the Day: Satellite view of Typhoon Tembin, 20 August 2012

Caption by Michon Scott21 August 2012 After four other Typhoons—Saola, Damrey, Haikui, and Kai-tak—made landfall in eastern China in just three weeks, Typhoon Tembin appeared ready to do the same. Tembin formed as a tropical depression over the western Pacific Ocean on 19 August 2012, and strengthened to a typhoon the next day. The Moderate […]

Oceans face ‘increased extinctions and extinction risks caused by human factors’

Contact: Jenny Lappin, CoECRS, +61 417 741 638 Jan King, UQ Communications Manager, +61 (0)7 3365 1120 Professor John Pandolfi, CoECRS and UQ, +61 7 3365 3050 or (m) +61 400 982 301 Life in the world’s oceans faces far greater change and risk of large-scale extinctions than at any previous time in human history, […]

Record radiation levels found in fish near Fukushima nuclear plant

21 August 2012 (AFP) – A pair of greenlings have shown the highest level of radioactive caesium detected in fish and shellfish caught in waters off Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, its operator said Tuesday. The fishes, captured 20 kilometres (12.5 miles) off the plant on August 1, registered 25,800 becquerels of caesium per […]

Typhoon Kai-Tak kills 27 in Vietnam – Typhoon Tembin hits Philippines, heads for Taiwan and China – Typhoon Bolaven lines up

Strong wind and rain in northern Vietnam unleashed by Typhoon Kai-Tak have killed at least 17 people, damaged thousands of houses and submerged valuable crops, authorities said Monday. The typhoon, which made landfall late Friday, brought winds of about 100 kilometres (62 miles) per hour, according to the national committee on flood and storm control. […]

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