Trump appoints endangered species foe to oversee protection of America’s most imperiled wildlife – “Putting Combs in charge of the Fish and Wildlife Service is like appointing an arsonist as the town fire marshal”

WASHINGTON, 30 March 2018 (CBD) – The Trump administration has quietly named Susan Combs — an outspoken foe of endangered species and a climate change denier — as acting assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks. She now oversees the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the endangered species it protects. “Putting Combs in charge […]

Warm Arctic means colder, snowier winters in Northeastern U.S. – “This is no coincidence”

By Ken Branson 13 March 2018 (Rutgers Today) – Scientists from Rutgers University-New Brunswick and Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER) have linked the frequency of extreme winter weather in the United States to Arctic temperatures.Their research was published today in Nature Communications.“Basically, this confirms the story I’ve been telling for a couple of years now,” […]

Radar images show large swath of West Texas oil patch is heaving and sinking at alarming rates – “This region of Texas has been punctured like a pin cushion with oil wells and injection wells since the 1940s”

By Margaret Allen 20 March 2018(SMU) – Analysis indicates decades of oil production activity have destabilized localities in an area of about 4,000 square miles populated by small towns, roadways and a vast network of oil and gas pipelines and storage tanksTwo giant sinkholes near Wink, Texas, may just be the tip of the iceberg, […]

Nearly 150 beached whales die after mass stranding in Australia

By Amy B Wang 23 March 2018 (The Washington Post) – More than 150 short-finned pilot whales stranded themselves Thursday on the southwestern tip of Australia, stunning parks officials and prompting a massive rescue effort to save as many as possible. The mass beaching likely took place sometime Wednesday night to early Thursday morning, local […]

France’s bird population collapses due to pesticides – “The situation is catastrophic. Our countryside is in the process of becoming a veritable desert.”

20 March 2018 (AFP) –  Bird populations across the French countryside have fallen by a third over the last decade and a half, researchers have said. Dozens of species have seen their numbers decline, in some cases by two-thirds, the scientists said in a pair of studies – one national in scope and the other […]

Nor’easter closes schools, delays flights as record spring snow likely in U.S. Northeast

By Nicole Chavez and Judson Jones 21 March 2018 (CNN) – The fourth nor’easter in three weeks already is closing schools and canceling thousands of flights Wednesday as it may dump record springtime snow in the Northeast. A day after the official beginning of spring, the storm will bring heavy snow, strong winds, and even […]

Hundreds begin 95 km protest march against plans to mine bauxite in Ghana’s Atewa forest reserve

By Neil Nii Amatey Kanarku 19 March 2018 (Citi News) – Members of a group calling itself Concerned Citizens of Atewa Landscape are embarking on a six-day walk from Kyebi in the Eastern Region to Accra, in a bid to put pressure on government to preserve the Atewa forest reserve against any form of mining […]

50 years after the riots: Continued economic inequality for African Americans – “So little has changed since 1968”

By Lauren Victoria Burke 15 March 2018 (NNPA Newswire) – Late last year, The Washington Post wrote that African Americans were the only group that showed no economic improvement since 2000. They based their conclusions on Census data. This year, there was even more sobering news in a report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). […]

The three crises of liberal democracy

By Ganesh Sitaraman 17 March 2018 (The Guardian) – Over the past few years, I have frequently been reminded of David Foster Wallace’s commencement address at Kenyon College in 2005. Wallace began with the story of two fish swimming together, when an older fish swims by and says “Morning boys, how’s the water?” After the […]

World water problems on tap at Brazil conference – “Countermeasures to protect supplies remain very slim compared to the impacts we’re seeing”

BRASILIA, 18 March 2018 (AFP) – Brazil, the country with the world’s greatest fresh water reserves, hosts an international conference next week on growing fears over the fragility of drinking water supplies in a heating planet. Under the slogan “sharing water,” the 8th World Water Forum will bring together 15 heads of state and government, […]

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial