Some 160 villages in northern Syria were deserted of their residents in 2007 and 2008 because of a drought associated with climate change, with serious implications for peace in the region, according to a study released on Tuesday. The report drawn up by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) warns of potential armed conflict […]
By Jeremy Hance Watch any nature documentary and it’s sure to include pulse-pounding footage of large herbivores migrating across African plains, Asian steppe, or the Arctic tundra. The images have become iconic: wildebeest forging a crocodile-inhabited river, caribou breaking through snow fields, Saiga running over tall grass. Despite such images of plenty, migrations are […]
By Amanda O’Brien BIRDS are again dropping dead from the sky in a new toxic drama in Western Australia. Nearly 200 ibises, ravens, gulls, ducks and a pelican were found dead or frothing and convulsing in Perth at the weekend. The discovery comes a year after the mysterious mass death of 200 birds only a […]
The British taste for fish and chips could be driving species to the edge of extinction, according to a new survey that found the majority of people do not even try to make sustainable choices about seafood. By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent Fish stocks are down all over the world with some species such as […]
From the Human Impact Report, page 85: The approach of comparing the trends in weather-related and geophysical disasters is based on an analysis of loss-generating events in the publication Journal of Flood Risk. The article states that by “Assuming the socio-economic driving factors behind loss-generating events to be the same for all causes, the difference […]
By Doug Fraser, dfraser@capecodonline.com WOODS HOLE — Cape Cod is one of the top areas in the world for marine mammal strandings. The animals are sometimes loaded with parasites or are sick. But, despite a long history of pollution in our coastal waters, the toll pollution takes on sea creatures has been harder to establish. […]
From Calculated Risk: The graph is of the monthly Philly Fed data of the number of states with one month increasing activity. Most of the U.S. has been in recession since December 2007 based on this indicator. Almost all states showed declining activity in April. Still a widespread recession. … Philly Fed State Coincident Indexes […]
LONDON, UK, May 28, 2009 (ENS) – Populations of migratory wading birds in Europe, West Asia and Africa are declining more quickly than ever, and they need better protection of wetlands along their flyways, finds the first comprehensive overview of key sites for these small waterbirds in Europe, West-Asia and Africa. The Wetlands International’s Wader […]
American west threatened by more heatwaves than past models have predicted By Hannah Hoag Extreme temperatures are expected to become more common in the western United States by 2040 if greenhouse gases continue to rise, researchers say. Noah Diffenbaugh, a climate scientist at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and his colleagues simulated climate change […]
By Mark Hume With growing evidence that pollutants are causing fish deformities in the Athabasca River and one native village struggling to understand its elevated cancer rates, 33 communities in the Northwest Territories have called for a moratorium on oil sands developments because of fears about water quality. At a conference in Inuvik, the NWT […]
