Blogging the End of the World™
By TIM SULLIVAN (AP)28 August 2010 SHIKARPUR, Pakistan — Thousands of farmers have crowded this once-quiet Pakistani town. They live on the hospital’s lawn, they camp on overpasses. Their fields are destroyed, covered by billions of gallons of brown soupy floodwater. But ask those farmers about their water troubles and they’ll tell you flooding is […]
By Zeina Khodr, AlJazeera English August 27, 2010 Nearly a month after Pakistan’s most catastrophic deluges swept away towns and villages across the country, hundreds of thousands of people have been stranded by fresh floods in some regions. In Sindh province – one of the worst affected areas – authorities have issued new evacuation orders […]
ScienceDaily (Aug. 27, 2010) — Fertilizer chemicals may pose a bigger hazard to the environment — specifically to creatures that live in water — than originally foreseen, according to new research from North Carolina State University toxicologists. In a study published in the Aug. 27 edition of PLoS ONE, the NC State researchers show […]
WASHINGTON, D.C.//August 26, 2010//Days before the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) kicks off a series of regional hearings across the United States on whether and how to regulate toxic coal ash waste from coal-fired power plants, a major new study identifies 39 additional coal-ash dump sites in 21 states that are contaminating drinking water or […]
By David A. Graham 24 August 2010 Chances are that by now you’ve heard about the Aug. 19, 2010, Pew poll that found that nearly one fifth of Americans (mistakenly) believe that President Obama is a Muslim. Perhaps you think that a terrifying outlier; or perhaps you’re a believer, and then you are in good […]
Corvallis, Ore. (UPI) Aug 26, 2010 – Much of the world’s electronic waste ends up in China for recycling, an activity creating significant health and environmental hazards, researchers say. Scientists from China and Oregon State University have identified toxic elements in the emissions from cottage-industry recycling workshops in southern China that use low-tech methods […]
By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Medical Writer 27 August 2010 The U.S. birth rate has dropped for the second year in a row, and experts think the wrenching recession led many people to put off having children. The 2009 birth rate also set a record: lowest in a century. Births fell 2.6 percent last year even […]
By Jin Zhu (China Daily)2010-08-27 07:34 BEIJING – The growing shortage of farmland and water resources may prevent China from achieving its ambitious grain output targets in the next decade, warned both officials and experts. Acute shortages of reserve farmland and water resources are now the main restraints for the country to ensure its food […]
BBC27 August 2010 An existing, long-term food crisis in the landlocked west African country, has now been compounded by devastating floods – which saw the River Niger rise to its highest level for more than 80 years. The UK aid agency, Oxfam, says half the population – nearly eight million people – were already facing […]
By Mark Tran and agencies, www.guardian.co.uk Friday 27 August 2010 15.58 BST Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis have fled the historic southern city of Thatta in Sindh province after the swollen Indus river broke a levee and flooded new areas. Around 175,000 people, about 70% of the city’s population, were believed to have fled their […]
