By KELLY SLIVKA14 August 2012 The Atlantic Forest in Brazil, which runs along the country’s southeastern shore near Rio de Janeiro, has been fragmented by centuries of human habitation. While the rain forest originally spanned over half a million square miles – an area comparable to the size of South Africa – almost 90 percent […]
By Simon Lee 16 August 2012 HONG KONG (Bloomberg) – Hong Kong suspended port services and shut schools as the city issued a gale warning in preparation for the second typhoon in a month. The Hong Kong Observatory issued the No. 8 storm signal, the third-highest indicator, at 10:15 p.m. local time, according to a […]
11 August 2012 (NASA) – The fires that have been plaguing Russia for months are causing smoke to drift across the Pacific Ocean towards North America. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this true-color image on August 8, 2012 at 21:50 UTC. In this image a broad band of gray […]
By Sara Reardon 15 August 2012 As the United States’ extended heat wave and drought threaten to raise global food prices, energy production is also feeling the pressure. Across the nation, power plants are becoming overheated and shutting down or running at lower capacity; drilling operations struggle to get the water they need, and crops […]
By Chris Wickham; Editing by Mark Heinrich10 August 2012 LONDON (Reuters) – The world is depleting underground water reserves faster than they can be replenished due to over-exploitation, according to scientists in Canada and the Netherlands. The researchers, from McGill University in Montreal and Utrecht University in the Netherlands, combined groundwater usage data from around […]
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy By Thanh Truong, NBC News14 August 2012 WARREN COUNTY, Missouri – There’s a desperate search for water under way throughout Missouri where 95 percent of the state is enduring extreme levels of drought. In the rural area of Truxton, farmer Rusty Lee estimates […]
15 August 2012 (AFP) – A tropical storm slammed into the Philippines on Wednesday, dumping heavy rains and causing renewed flooding and landslides in a nation hit by weeks of destructive monsoon weather. Tropical Storm Kai-tak made landfall over the northeast of the main island of Luzon before dawn, packing powerful winds and dumping up […]
14 August 2012 (NBC News) – Wildfires raged in several Western states on Tuesday, destroying dozens of homes and threatening hundreds more. In Idaho, one firefighter was killed by a falling tree. A fire in central Washington grew rapidly overnight and destroyed more than 60 homes, spurring the state’s governor to declare an emergency in […]
Rome, 9 August 2012 (FAO) – The FAO Food Price Index climbed 6 percent in July 2012 after three months of decline. The Index, which measures the monthly change in the international prices of a basket of food commodities, averaged 213 points, up 12 points from June. That was still well below the peak of […]
By Mark Strassmann13 August 2012 DULAC, Louisiana – Shrimping season opened Monday off Louisiana and fishermen can’t get over what they’re now finding in their nets. Some say the coastline is under invasion. The giant invaders are valuable, but may be destroying the Gulf ecosystem. From Texas to North Carolina, fishermen have been catching giant […]
