Five tornadoes hit Queensland towns during ‘unprecedented’ rainfall – Rivers swell to record levels

By Ellen Lutton and Anne Tarasov27 January 2013 (Sydney Morning Herald) – Several areas of Queensland have been declared disaster zones after five tornadoes ripped through the Bundaberg region on Saturday afternoon. The Premier, Campbell Newman, made the declarations as Gladstone began mass evacuations in the face of unprecedented rain expected over the next 24 […]

Insecticide ‘unacceptable’ danger to bees, European Food Safety Authority finds

By Damian Carrington 16 January 2013 (The Guardian) – The world’s most widely used insecticide has for the first time been officially labelled an “unacceptable” danger to bees feeding on flowering crops. Environmental campaigners say the conclusion, by Europe’s leading food safety authority, sounds the “death knell” for the insect nerve agent. The chemical’s manufacturer, […]

Extremely high levels of radioactive cesium found in fish near Fukushima nuclear plant

By arevamirpal::laprimavera21 January 2013 The statement is not really true that the radiation level inside the harbor right at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant is no different than those outside, further away from the plant, say 10, 20 kilometer radius, as far as the contamination in fish goes. The data that TEPCO released on 18 […]

Mozambique floods hit power exports, displace 70,000 – ‘There used to be only a few crocodiles in the Limpopo River. Now there are a lot.’

25 January 2013 (SAPA-AFP) – Floods in southern Mozambique have displaced up to 70 000 people and cut power exports to energy-hungry neighbour South Africa in half, officials said yesterday. The south and centre of the country have been placed on red alert after experiencing the heaviest rainfall since devastating floods killed some 800 people […]

Religion, Chinese government drive global elephant slaughter – ‘No one has ever talked about the role of religion in driving today’s ivory trade’

By Rhett A. Butler24 January 2013 (mongabay.com) – By some estimates, more than 30,000 elephants were slaughtered across the savannas and forests of Africa and Asia for the ivory trade during 2012. The carnage represents as much as 4 percent of the world’s elephant population. Accordingly, some conservationists are warning that elephants face imminent extinction […]

Typhoon Bopha decimated coral reefs in the Philippines – ‘It is incredible to see the damages’

By Jeremy Hance24 January 2013 (mongabay.com) – When Typhoon Bopha, also known as Pablo, ran ashore on Mindanao, it was the largest tropical storm ever to hit the Philippine island. In its wake, the massive superstorm left over 1,000 people dead and 6.2 million affected, with officials saying illegal logging and mining worsened the scale […]

Singapore crane ships to extract USS Guardian from coral reef

MANILA, Philippines, 25 January 2013 (ABS-CBNnews.com) – Two crane ships from Singapore are arriving before the end of the month to extract the USS Guardian from Tubbataha Reef in Palawan, the Philippine Coast Guard said Friday. “They are waiting for two ships with heavy cranes that will be coming from Singapore and then they will […]

Billionaires secretly fund attacks on climate science – ‘Anonymous giving and unaccountable power is being exercised in the creation of the climate countermovement’

By Steve Connor24 January 2013 A secretive funding organisation in the United States that guarantees anonymity for its billionaire donors has emerged as a major operator in the climate “counter movement” to undermine the science of global warming, The Independent has learnt. The Donors Trust, along with its sister group Donors Capital Fund, based in […]

Virus wipes out millions of oysters overnight in Australia – ‘Very strong possibility’ record heat wave to blame

By Leesha McKenny, Urban Affairs Reporter25 January 2013 (Sydney Morning Herald) – When the news came through, the fourth-generation oyster farmer Rob Moxham said it made him feel sick to his stomach. Tests this week confirmed that the Pacific oyster mortality syndrome had reached the Hawkesbury’s tributary, Mullet Creek, the local industry’s nursery for juvenile […]

Sickening, lung-busting fog settles over Salt Lake City – ‘We’re in a public-health emergency for much of the winter’

By PAUL FOY24 January 2013 SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Michelle Francis keeps one eye on Utah’s air quality index and the other on her 9-year-old daughter’s chronic asthma these days. The air pollution is so awful in her Salt Lake City suburb that Francis keeps her daughter indoors on many days to prevent her […]

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial