Blogging the End of the World™
HA NOI — The preliminary results from Ha Noi’s 2009 census, reported that over two million Hanoians are using drilled well water, while a series of surveys have stated that many of the drilled wells in the city are contaminated with arsenic. Nguyen Minh Ngoc, 27, was constantly annoyed with her relatives’ advice to use […]
By John Platt Twenty years after the international ban on ivory trade took effect, poachers are still slaughtering more than 100 elephants a day, according to a report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). The ban on ivory trade, established by the U.N.’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna […]
From Treehugger: New analysis of the bushmeat trade in central Africa by TRAFFIC shows that the scale of trade has been severely underestimated and is actually increasing as forest cover declines. By studying statistical data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the wildlife trade monitoring organization found that in some places the amount of […]
By Staff Writers, Majuro (AFP) Oct 19, 2009 Pacific islands in danger of being obliterated by rising sea levels should seek aid for relocation at a crunch UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, a Fiji-based scientist said. “By 2100, I don’t see how many islands will be habitable,” professor Patrick Nunn, a climate change […]
African elephants could be extinct within 15 years because of the illegal ivory trade, conservation experts have warned. By Amy Willis The population – currently 600,000 – is diminishing by 38,000 each year. These figures, calculated using the annual number of illegal tusk seizures, significantly exceed elephant birth rates meaning the species could face extinction […]
Pure doom goodness from Club Orlov: By Keith Farnish and Dmitry Orlov In September 2009 the latest global temperature rise projections released by the Hadley Centre, part of the British Meteorological Office indicated an average rise of 4 degrees Celsius (that’s a balmy 7.2°F) by 2055 given a business as usual scenario. Some places will […]
By Shanta Barley The world’s coral reefs “earn” $172 billion every year, but they’re on the brink of collapse, economist says The world’s coral reefs save us $172 billion every year, but they’re on the brink of collapse (PDF) because of political inertia, an ecological economist has told the global Diversitas biodiversity conference in Cape […]
From Treehugger: Last week it was house flies at the Mount Everest base camp, now it’s mosquitoes and malaria in the highlands around Mount Kenya that are in the spotlight, in this video clip from the UN Environment Programme. It’s a short clip, but puts a human face on the sort of changes already being […]
Dhaka (AFP) Oct 18, 2009 – When a cyclone destroyed her home two years ago, Shahana Begum joined the swelling ranks of Bangladeshi “climate refugees” who, experts say, could one day overwhelm the capital Dhaka. When a cyclone destroyed her home two years ago, Shahana Begum joined the swelling ranks of Bangladeshi “climate refugees” who, […]
The trees, which were already under duress, are being killed by insects that thrive as the climate changes. Scientists call it Sudden Aspen Decline. By Nicholas Riccardi, October 18, 2009 Reporting from Paonia, Colo. – From the hillsides of extinct volcanoes in Arizona to the jagged peaks of Idaho, aspen trees are falling by the […]
