World’s oceans acidifying more rapidly than at any time in the past 300 million years

By Matt McGrath, Environment correspondent13 November 2013 (BBC News) – The world’s oceans are becoming acidic at an “unprecedented rate” and may be souring more rapidly than at any time in the past 300 million years. In their strongest statement yet on this issue, scientists say acidification could increase by 170% by 2100. They say […]

Learning how to die in the Anthropocene

By Roy Scranton10 November 2013 (The New York Times) – Driving into Iraq just after the 2003 invasion felt like driving into the future. We convoyed all day, all night, past Army checkpoints and burned-out tanks, till in the blue dawn Baghdad rose from the desert like a vision of hell: Flames licked the bruised […]

Train in Alabama oil spill was carrying 2.7 million gallons of crude

By Soumya Karlamangla 9 November 2013 (Los Angeles Times) – A train that derailed and exploded in rural Alabama was hauling 2.7 million gallons of crude oil, according to officials. The 90-car train was crossing a timber trestle above a wetland near Aliceville late Thursday night when approximately 25 rail cars and two locomotives derailed, […]

Fukushima residents may never go home, say Japanese officials – ‘At some point in time, someone will have to say that this region is uninhabitable’

By Justin McCurry in Tokyo 12 November 2013 (The Guardian) – Japanese officials have admitted for the first time that thousands of people evacuated from areas near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant may never be able to return home. A report by members of the governing Liberal Democratic party [LDP] and its junior coalition […]

What’s wiping out starfish on the U.S. West Coast? – ‘We’ve never seen it like this, never’

By Ben Tracy12 November 2013 SANTA CRUZ, California (CBS News) – Scientists on the West Coast are at a loss to explain what’s killing sea stars, also known as starfish. In some places, 95 percent of the starfish population has died. Marine biologist Pete Raimondi showed CBS News the tide pools along California’s Monterey Bay. […]

Engineers at Fukushima prepare to extract fuel rods – ‘When I asked them where they thought the melted reactor cores were, they shook their heads’

By Rupert Wingfield-Hayes 8 November 2013 (BBC News) – Engineers at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant are preparing to extract the first of thousands of fuel rods from the wrecked reactor-four building. This delicate task is a major step on the long road to making the site safe, reports the BBC’s Rupert Wingfield-Hayes. If you open […]

Australia is on track for its warmest ever year – ‘Wherever you sit in politics, denying the science isn’t an intelligent way to go forward’

By Oliver Milman10 November 2013 (theguardian.com) – Australia is “on track” for its warmest ever calendar year, temperatures in October 1.43C above the long-term average and more than 100 heat-related records broken in the past 12 months, according to a new report. The Climate Council study, called Off the Charts, says that the country has […]

Scientists warn of more polar bear attacks as Arctic sea ice disappears – ‘These kinds of events are going to be more frequent and more severe because of climate change’

By Lindsay Abrams11 November 2013 (Salon) – What happens when polar bears in a warming Arctic start losing their natural source of food? Increasingly, the starving bears are leaving their (melting) ice floes and making their way onto land in search of something to eat — leading to dangerous encounters with humans. In the northern […]

New climate realism at U.N. conference – ‘The fiscal reality of the United States and other developed countries is not going to allow it’

By Paul Bledsoe8 November 2013 (The Hill) – On Monday, 11 Nov 2013, representatives of 195 nations will convene in Warsaw as the United Nations climate change negotiations begin their 19th annual meeting.  Many climate experts in the U.S. have written off the UN process after years of dysfunction and limited results. But there is […]

Philippines negotiator ties massive typhoon to global warming, pledges hunger strike at Warsaw climate talks

By Jamie Henn11 November 2013 (350.org) – Diplomats, negotiators, and civil society representatives from around the world held their breath this afternoon at the United Nations Climate Talks in Warsaw, Poland, this afternoon as Yeb Sano, the lead negotiator for the Philippines, began to address the opening of the conference. More than 10,000 people are […]

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial