By JUSTIN GILLIS1 April 2013 (The New York Times) – James E. Hansen, the climate scientist who issued the clearest warning of the 20th century about the dangers of global warming, will retire from NASA this week, giving himself more freedom to pursue political and legal efforts to limit greenhouse gases. His departure, after a […]
By DAMIEN CAVE 2 April 2013 EL CARGADERO, Mexico (The New York Times) – The pretty houses in the hills here, with their bright paint and new additions, clearly display the material benefits of having millions of workers move to the United States over the past few decades. But these simple homes also reveal why […]
[Hopefully, the market will decide against further expansion of this disaster.] By Jen Alic, OilPrice.com31 March 2013 France’s Total SA (NYSE: TOT) will sell its 49% stake in its Canadian oil sands project to Suncor Energy Inc. for $500 million, netting the French oil giant a $1.65 billion loss on the beleaguered project. Total would […]
By John Mangels1 April 2013 (The Plain Dealer) – The record-shattering glut of toxic algae that fouled much of Lake Erie in 2011 wasn’t a fluke, but a sign of what’s likely ahead for the troubled lake, researchers say. A combination of weather extremes and long-standing farming practices that unwittingly aid algae growth spawned the […]
Desdemona has been following the “ghost city” story since Business Insider first collected satellite photos of new, empty cities in China in 2010. NBC News did a story on the ghosts that haunt China’s landscape in 2012. Business Insider has a new story for 2013: Scary new satellite pictures of China’s ghost cities. Now, Wade […]
By EDWARD WONG1 April 2013 BEIJING (The New York Times) – Outdoor air pollution contributed to 1.2 million premature deaths in China in 2010, nearly 40 percent of the global total, according to a new summary of data from a scientific study on leading causes of death worldwide. Figured another way, the researchers said, China’s […]
By Ian Sample, science correspondent 31 March 2013 (The Guardian) – Controversial geoengineering projects that may be used to cool the planet must be approved by world governments to reduce the danger of catastrophic accidents, British scientists said. Met Office researchers have called for global oversight of the radical schemes after studies showed they could […]
By Andrew Freedman 1 April 2013 (Climate Central) – The insurance industry had its third-most expensive year on record in 2012, with global economic losses from natural catastrophes and manmade disasters totaling $186 billion, according to a report released March 27 by the reinsurance giant Swiss Re. The total insured losses for the year was […]
By Andrew Freedman and Daniel Yawitz29 March 2013 (Climate News Network) – The extended drought continues to choke the Western half of the country, with water supply concerns rising in New Mexico and Texas as anxiety about another bone-dry summer is raised. This week, the dryness grew worse in Texas while expanding into California, Montana, […]
By Faith Karimi, CNN 31 March 2013 (CNN) – Five South African soldiers died in a helicopter crash while patrolling for rhino poachers in the sprawling Kruger National Park. All aboard the flight were killed in the crash Saturday night, according to a government spokesman. The soldiers were conducting Operation Rhino, which aims to […]
