Oxfam slams U.S. response in Puerto Rico as “slow, inadequate” – “Clean water, food, fuel, electricity, and health care are in desperately short supply and quickly dwindling”

By Avery Anapol 3 October 2017 (The Hill) – Oxfam America is stepping in to help Puerto Rico, saying the Trump administration’s response has been “inadequate.”The global nonprofit’s president, Abby Maxman, said in a statement Tuesday that the group is “outraged” at the U.S. government’s slow response in Puerto Rico, where more than half of […]

Plastic film covering 12 percent of China farmland pollutes soil

5 September 2017 (Bloomberg News) – China will expand its agricultural use of environment-damaging plastic film to boost crop production even as authorities try to curb soil pollution, a government scientist said.Some 1.45 million metric tons of polyethylene are spread in razor-thin sheets across 20 million hectares (49 million acres) — an area about half […]

Pinpointing where the lights went out in Puerto Rico

By Adam Voiland 28 September 2017 (NASA) – After Hurricane Maria tore across Puerto Rico, it quickly became clear that the destruction would pose daunting challenges for first responders. Most of the electric power grid and telecommunications network was knocked offline. Flooding, downed trees, and toppled power lines made many roads impassable.In circumstances like this, […]

Video: The unsung heroes of the 2017 Mumbai flood – Thousands of migrant workers are employed by the BMC for the pre-monsoon cleanup every year. But they are made to work illegally in inhumane conditions.

By Madhura Chakraborty and Amol Lalzare 15 September 2017(Video Volunteers) – “They don’t touch us because our hands and feet are dirty. They say we stink. They yell at us, hit us, ask us to go away.” Nana Kale recounts how he is treated after working at his job: cleaning the sewers of Mumbai, before […]

No time for scepticism, “decisive climate action” needed, Ethiopia tells U.N.

22 September 2017 (United Nations) – Like many other countries, Ethiopia is dealing almost every day with the adverse impacts of climate change, its Prime Minister told the United Nations General Assembly today, urging decisive action by the international community. “Now is not the time to doubt the devastating impacts of climate change while millions […]

Sea Shepherd brings supplies to hurricane-devastated Dominica

SOUFRIERE, Dominica, 1 October 2017 (SSCS): In Dominica, every village, every person, every street, was impacted by the hurricane. The island’s government officials call the damage “unprecedented.” The once picturesque village of Soufriere, with a population of about 1400, was one of the hardest hit, as evidenced by the photos taken by Sea Shepherd on […]

Cod and haddock go north due to warming UK seas, as foreign fish arrive – “In a few decades, the temperature of our seas is likely to be roughly the same as those found in the waters around Portugal at the turn of the last century”

By Robin McKie 2 September 2017 (The Observer) – Britain must prepare itself for invasions of growing numbers of foreign sea creatures attracted by our warming waters, a new report has warned. Some newcomers could have devastating effects, others could be beneficial, say the researchers. Examples provided by the team include slipper limpets that could […]

Puerto Rico death count much higher than currently reported – “People have dug mass graves and buried their relatives, because they are in places that have not yet been reached”

By Omaya Sosa Pascual [translation by Google] 28 September 2017 (Centro de Periodismo Investigativo) – Leovigildo Cotté died in the middle of desperation for not getting the oxygen that sustained his life in the only shelter that exists in the town of Lajas which has been without electricity since the passage of Hurricane Maria a […]

Historic heat wave brings record-high temperatures to U.S. Midwest – “There has never been a heat wave of this duration and magnitude this late in the season in Chicago”

By Karma Allen 27 September 2017 (ABC News) – A rare late-September heat wave has brought record-high temperatures to parts of the Midwest, shattering records that have stood for more than 100 years.Detroit set a new daily record high on Tuesday with temperatures hitting 93 degrees — making it the hottest day of the year […]

Edits on ​EPA’s SmartWay ​Program ​website reduce emphasis ​on global warming

19 September ​​2017 (EDGI) – The ​Environmental ​Protection ​Agency ​(EPA) ​changed ​language ​on ​the ​SmartWay Program ​website, ​reducing ​mentions ​of ​carbon, ​greenhouse ​gasses, ​and ​climate change. ​Terms ​like ​“sustainability” ​and ​“emissions” ​replaced ​mentions ​of ​“carbon,” and ​emphasis ​on ​international ​SmartWay ​and ​other ​climate ​efforts ​were ​reduced. Description The ​EPA’s SmartWay ​Program ​was ​established ​in ​2004 […]

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