Blogging the End of the World™
By John R. Platt 25 October 2011 Sad news coming out of Vietnam today: the Javan rhinoceros subspecies (Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus), once endemic to Southeast Asia, has been confirmed as extinct, according to WWF International. There are now officially no rhinos left in Vietnam. This is the second of the three Javan rhino subspecies to […]
By Brandon Keim 26 October 2011 When searching for causes of Earth’s mass extinctions, scientists instinctively turn to geophysical calamities: erupting volcanoes, methane bursts, asteroid strikes, and other obvious dooms. But in the most massive extinction of all, when most of everything that lived died out some 250 million years ago, a more subtle form […]
October 28 (AP) BANGKOK – The main river coursing through Thailand’s capital swelled to record highs Friday, briefly flooding riverside buildings and an ornate royal complex at high tide amid fears that flood defenses could break and swamp the heart of the city. Ankle-high water from the Chao Phraya river spilled through one sandbagged entranceway […]
Caption by Michon Scott with information from Kenneth Duda, U.S. Geological Survey27 October 2011 The Chao Phraya River forms at the confluence of smaller rivers in central Thailand, and flows southward to the Gulf of Thailand. En route to the sea, the river passes through Ayutthaya. First established in the fourteenth century, Ayutthaya lies north […]
From Jiji Tsushin (10/28/2011): フランス政府系の放射線防護原子力安全研究所（ＩＲＳＮ）は２７日、東京電力福島第１原発事故後の３月２１日から７月半ばまでに海に流出した放射性セシウ ム１３７の総量は２．７１京ベクレル（１京は１兆の１万倍）で、東京電力が６月に発表した推計値の２０倍に達すると推定した調査報告書を公表した。 On October 27, the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (L’Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, IRSN) of France announced its research report in which the researchers estimated the total amount of radioactive cesium-137 leaked from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean was 27,100 terabecquerels […]
The Climate Change Vulnerability Index features subnational maps and analysis of climate change vulnerability and the adaptive capacity to combat climate change in 193 countries. It features an improved methodology analysing the exposure of populations to climate related natural hazards and sensitivity of countries in terms of population concentration, development, natural resources, agricultural dependency and […]
Yenagoa, Nigeria, October 24 (AFP) – A Nigerian environmental group on Monday claimed an oil spill from a pipeline operated by Italian firm ENI had badly polluted an area in the south of Africa’s largest oil producer. The spill which reportedly occurred on September 27 is said to have polluted the swamps of the Ikeinghenbiri […]
Contact: Elisabeth (Lisa) Lyons, elyons@cell.com 617-386-212127 October 2011 As the planet continues to warm, it appears that seaweeds may be in especially hot water. New findings reported online on October 27 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, based on herbarium records collected in Australia since the 1940s suggest that up to 25 percent of […]
By Will Ross BBC East Africa correspondent26 October 2011 A combination of a military build-up in Somalia and heavy rains are making the humanitarian relief effort in the country even harder, the UN has warned. Some four million people in Somalia need food and other assistance because of the drought and famine. Eleven days ago, […]
October 27 (AAP) – The NSW government is failing to protect koalas by allowing logging in remaining habitats, the opposition says. Environment spokesman Luke Foley accused Environment Minister Robyn Parker of breaking an election promise to protect koalas after logging went ahead at the Bermagui State Forest on the south coast. Logging also started last […]
