By Joanna Chiu10 March 2016 ULZIIT, Mongolia (Irin) – Daashka and his brother tear across the Mongolian steppe on a motorbike in a desperate search for somewhere to graze their herds. Pastureland is dwindling rapidly as the country is beset by a cycle of drought and harsh winter that is killing off livestock in droves. […]
[cf. Video: Flyover of illegal gold mining operations destroying Amazon rainforest in Peru – ‘These are giant operations. Arsenic has been found in the Titicaca Lake.’] 10 March 2016 (Survival International) – Up to 80% of a recently-contacted tribe in Peru have been poisoned with mercury, raising serious concerns for the future of the tribe. […]
By Matt Smith 10 March 2016 (VICE News) – It’s not just you — it really is hot in here. Winter is coming to a warm, wet close in the Northern Hemisphere, knocking down records on the way. Though fading, the Pacific warming phenomenon El Niño helped drive the average temperatures in the continental United […]
By Oliver Milman10 March 2016 (The Guardian) – Wildlife officials have said 13 bald eagles found dead in Maryland last month did not die from natural causes. A hunt for whomever killed the birds is under way. The bodies of the 13 eagles were found in a field in Federalsburg, Maryland on 20 February. It […]
By Bobby Magill10 March 2016 (Climate Central) – The annual growth rate of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rose more in 2015 than scientists have ever seen in a single year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday. It was the fourth year in a row that carbon dioxide concentrations grew by more than […]
By David Shukman 9 March 2016 (BBC News) – The mass slaughter of rhinos has increased for the sixth year in a row, according to grim new figures from international researchers. At least 1,338 of the iconic animals were killed for their horns in Africa last year. This is the greatest loss in a single […]
9 March 2016 (UN) – Thirty-four countries, including 27 in Africa, are currently in need of external assistance for food due to drought, flooding and civil conflicts, according to a new United Nations report released today. The figure has grown from 33 last December, after the addition of Swaziland, says the Food and Agriculture Organization […]
By Andrea Thompson8 March 2016 (Climate Central) – On the heels of a record warm autumn for the contiguous U.S., winter has also topped the temperature charts. The news, announced Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), may come as no surprise for those who experienced summer-like heat waves in Southern California or […]
By Aaron Sheldrick and Minami Funakoshi; Editing by Bill Tarrant10 March 2016 (Reuters) – The robots sent in to find highly radioactive fuel at Fukushima’s nuclear reactors have “died”; a subterranean “ice wall” around the crippled plant meant to stop groundwater from becoming contaminated has yet to be finished. And authorities still don’t how to […]
By Melissa Cronin4 March 2016 (Grist) – The death of Honduran environmental and human rights activist Berta Cáceres this week is an unspeakable tragedy — but it’s not unique. In fact, environmentalists have historically been targeted for their actions, and for speaking out about environmental injustice. Last April, a report found that in 2014, at […]
