New report exposes nine of the dirtiest U.S. fisheries – ‘Hundreds of thousands of dolphins, whales, sharks, sea birds, sea turtles, and fish needlessly die each year as a result of indiscriminate fishing gear’

Contact: Dustin Cranor, dcranor@oceana.org, 954-348-1314, 954-348-1314 (cell); Amelia Vorpahl, avorpahl@oceana.org, 202-467-1968, 202-476-0632 (cell) Washington, D.C., 20 March 2014 (Oceana) – Today, Oceana released a new report exposing nine of the dirtiest fisheries in the United States. These nine fisheries combined throw away almost half of what they catch and are responsible for more than 50 […]

New index reveals that recent UK floods could signal climate change – ‘To experience four of the six most severe episodes in the last 30 years is disconcerting’

21 March 2014 (PhysOrg) – A new investigation of long-term weather records suggests that recent flooding in the south of England could signal the onset of climate change. The research, from UWE Bristol, Loughborough University and the University of East Anglia has produced a new index of flooding trends called the Fluvial Flood Indices. This […]

Mountain birds climb with increasing temperatures – ‘We call it an escalator to extinction, as the birds are going up until they run out of room’

By ANNA JOHNSON5 March 2014 (Cornell Daily Sun) – Recent research has found that as tropical temperatures climb as a result of climate change, mountain-dwelling tropical birds are doing the same. While climate change is not a new concept, the study conducted in Papua New Guinea aimed to examine the virtually unexplored question of climate […]

This year’s World Water Day focuses on water and energy, but energy companies seem complacent about water risks

By Dave Tickner    21 March 2014 (Guardian Professional) – All hydro, no power? Yesterday afternoon I made a list. I’d like to share it with you: Alon, Solar Alliance, Eskom, GDF Suez, Iberdrola, Ranhill Berhad, Sasol. Can you guess what it’s about? If not, don’t fret. All will be revealed. I made the list while […]

Bitterness over Exxon Valdez oil spill lingers, 25 years on – ‘When the court case was finally adjudicated, the people got pennies on the dollar they really deserved’

By Gregor Waschinski 9 hours ago Washington (AFP) – On a cold March night 25 years ago, the supertanker Exxon Valdez struck a reef off the coast of Alaska, spilling 11 million gallons of crude oil into the sea. Images of oil-soaked birds and fouled beaches horrified the United States, leading to tighter regulation and […]

Massachusetts houses wrecked repeatedly by sea rebuilt with taxes – ‘We always knew it was unsustainable there’

By Beth Daley9 March 2014 SCITUATE (Boston Globe) – Over and over again, the Atlantic has taken aim at 48 Oceanside Drive. Almost four decades ago, it slammed the seafront house clear off its foundation. Thirteen years later, ocean water poured through the roof during a nor’easter. So often has the sea catapulted grapefruit-sized rocks […]

Image of the Day: Satellite view of slash-and-burn forest fires in Southeast Asia

By Holli Riebeek18 March 2014 (NASA) – Fire and smoke dominate the landscape in this image of Southeast Asia taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite on 18 March 2014. Marked in red, the fires burn largely in the subtropical forests common in northern Indochina. Most fires in this region […]

It’s been exactly 29 years since Earth had a colder-than-average month

By Andrew Freedman20 March 2014 (Mashable) – It’s been exactly 29 years — or 348 consecutive months — since the last cooler-than-average month on this planet, according to new data released on Wednesday morning. The data, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), reflects the warming trend seen around the world during the past […]

A remarkably accurate global warming prediction, made in 1972

By Dana Nuccitelli    19 March 2014 (Guardian) – John Stanley (J.S.) Sawyer was a British meteorologist born in 1916. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1962, and was also a Fellow of the Meteorological Society and the organization’s president from 1963 to 1965. A paper [pdf] authored by Sawyer and published […]

Forests around Chernobyl aren’t decaying properly – ‘It’s striking, given that in the forests where I live, a fallen tree is mostly sawdust after a decade of lying on the ground’

By  Rachel Nuwer  14 March 2014 (Smithsonian Magazine) – Nearly 30 years have passed since the Chernobyl plant exploded and caused an unprecedented nuclear disaster. The effects of that catastrophe, however, are still felt today. Although no people live in the extensive exclusion zones around the epicenter, animals and plants still show signs of radiation […]

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