By Tim Wall4 February 2013 (Discovery News) – Don’t let the drought in the U.S. fool you, intense rainfall around the world has been causing deadly floods in the past few years. Several have died in the current flooding in Queensland, Australia. In July 2012, the heaviest rain in decades left 37 dead in Beijing, […]
By Raymond T. Pierrehumbert6 February 2013 (Slate) – Like swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano, every December some 20,000 geoscientists flock to San Francisco for the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Slate readers have already heard about a presentation with a particularly eye-catching title, but for me some of the most thought-provoking news […]
By MARY PILON5 February 2013 WILLOW, Alaska (The New York Times) – By 9:30 most mornings here in the world’s unofficial dog-sledding capital, Luan Marques has harnessed 10 Alaskan huskies to his sled and shot off into the awakening woods for a training ride, his sights set on the famous Iditarod competition next month. The […]
By Jeremy Hance4 February 2013 (mongabay.com) – Responding to an investigative report by National Geographic, the Vatican has condemned elephant poaching for ivory and pledged three steps to help in the battle to save the world’s elephants. The National Geographic article Ivory Worship by Bryan Christy, looked at how religions—specifically religious items for Christians and […]
By Peter Hannam, Carbon economy editor5 February 2013 Victoria faces days of heightened fire risk with the return of hot weather and little sign of rainfall relief for much of the state. Fire resources have been mobilised to fight five continuing fires in expectation of warmer conditions lasting until Sunday. A “severe fire danger” rating […]
1 February 2013 (mongabay.com) – The rate of tree mortality in the Amazon rainforest due to storm damage and drought is 9-17 percent higher than conventionally believed, reports a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Comparing Landsat satellite images with on-the-ground observations, researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, […]
By Jim Lynch 2 February 2013 (The Detroit News) – In the nearly 100 years researchers have catalogued the rise and fall of the Great Lakes, Michigan and Huron have never seen a month like January. The two-lake system recorded its lowest-ever level for a month, a mean of 576.02 feet above sea level. It’s […]
By Beth Walker1 February 2013 (China Dialog) – China has confirmed it will resurrect a series of controversial hydropower dams in south-west China on rivers originating on the Tibetan Plateau, causing ripples of consternation from India and other downstream neighbours. The 2011-15 energy sector blueprint, released by China’s State Council last week, confirmed plans to […]
30 January 2013 (Bloomberg News) – Beijing’s air, which has exceeded the World Health Organization’s “healthy” limit every day this year, is similar to that in an airport smoking lounge. The CHART OF THE DAY shows Beijing’s daily peak and average concentrations of PM2.5, the airborne particulate matter that raises risks for lung and heart […]
By Mereseini Marau4 February 2013 NEW DELHI (Fiji Times) – The government of Kiribati will buy about 6000 acres of land near Savusavu for its food security as the country has started feeling the effects of the rising sea level. And it will ensure that it protects whatever part of Kiribati that can be saved […]
