With global warming, peril underlies road to Alaska as permafrost melts

By CORNELIA DEAN23 July 2012 WHITEHORSE, Yukon Territory – […] Today, as the road now known as the Alaska Highway celebrates its 70th birthday, cars and trucks flash along what Wally Hidinger calls “a very good standard two-lane highway” from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to Fairbanks, Alaska. “Our mantra is bare, dry pavement 365 days […]

U.S. drought taking heavy toll on fishing industry – ‘Unheard of’ river temperatures causing mass fish kills

By Alyce Hinton; editing by Jim Marshall27 July 2012 (Reuters) – The drought and extreme heat wreaking havoc across the U.S. farm belt is killing fish by the thousands in lakes and rivers and could pose a problem to migrating ducks and other waterfowl if it stretches into the fall, officials said. Authorities are tallying […]

Report shows U.S. drought rapidly intensifying

By Jim Suhr, with additional reporting by Nelson Lampe in Omaha, Nebraska, John Milburn in Topeka, Kansas, Jason Keyser in Chicago, and Ken Miller in Oklahoma City. ST. LOUIS (AP) – The widest drought to grip the United States in decades is getting worse with no signs of abating, a new report warned Thursday, as […]

China exports ghost cities to Africa – ‘The place is eerily quiet’

By Mamta Badkar3 July 2012 There’s been a lot written about ghost cities in China. Just outside Angola’s capital city of Luanda is Nova Cidade de Kilamba a residential development of 750 eight-story apartment buildings, a dozen schools, and more than 100 retail units, reports the BBC’s Louise Redvers. The $3.5 billion development covers 12,355 […]

Video: Meltwater from Greenland glacier wipes out key crossing

By Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent, www.guardian.co.uk25 July 2012 The gust of warm air that caused the unprecedented thaw in Greenland’s surface ice also appears to have caused unusually high runoff from a glacier, wiping out a crossing near a key research and transport hub. Scientists who fly in Kangerlussuaq, near the western edge of […]

Catalonia wildfires kill four, Croatia evacuates tourists – Most devastating fires in more than 20 years

By Iciar Reinlein, Nigel Davies, Sarah White, Daniel Alvarenga, and Igor Ilic; Writing by Alison Williams; Editing by Andrew Osborn23 July 2012 MADRID (Reuters) – Two big forest fires raging in the border area between France and northern Catalonia in Spain have killed a fourth person, the authorities said on Monday, as erratic winds hindered […]

Rising sea level threatens 130 islanders on Île de Sein

By MAÏA de la BAUME23 July 2012 ÎLE DE SEIN, France – The 130 inhabitants of this tiny island off the coast of Brittany are survivors. They and their ancestors, who trace their origins to the Celtic druids, have lived through frequent periods of hunger, a terrible flood and two cholera epidemics. During World War […]

Drought and heat wave killing shade trees across Missouri – ‘Paper-dry to the core’

By Sarah Baraba24 July 2012 The iconic 145-foot Sugarberry Tree in Kirkwood Park has weathered a lighting strike, rotor wash from a Marine helicopter and more than 150 years of unpredictable St. Louis weather, but the recent heat wave was the last straw in its battle to survive. Just as the sun was rising above […]

Thirsty South Asia’s river rifts threaten ‘water wars’

By Nita Bhalla, Reuters23 Jul 2012 KANZALWAN, India-Pakistan Line of Control (AlertNet) – As the silver waters of the Kishanganga rush through this north Kashmir valley, Indian labourers are hard at work on a hydropower project that will dam the river just before it flows across one of the world’s most heavily militarised borders into […]

Arctic sea ice continues to track at levels far below average

By Natasha Vizcarra24 July 2012 Arctic sea ice continued to track at levels far below average through the middle of July, with open water in the Kara and Barents seas reaching as far north as typically seen during September. Melt onset began earlier than normal throughout most of the Arctic. Overview of conditions As of […]

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