26 more elephants slaughtered with cyanide in Zimbabwe, after 14 elephants killed last week

By Farai Mutsaka14 October 2015 HARARE, Zimbabwe (Associated Press) – Rangers in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park have discovered the carcasses of 26 elephants at two locations, dead of cyanide poisoning along with 14 other elephants who were found last week, officials said Wednesday. Patrolling rangers discovered the carcasses Tuesday, according to Bhejani Trust and the […]

UNHCR head Guterres urges massive EU response to help Greece attend to refugees – ‘With the kind of weather that you have in the Balkans, we could see this turn into a tragedy at any moment’

By Tim Gaynor9 October 2015 GENEVA, 9 October 2015 (UNHCR) – UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres today appealed to the European Union to provide “massive support” to Greece to meet the needs of up to 6,000 refugees arriving each day as winter looms across Europe. He stressed that Greek authorities alone were not […]

Four rangers killed by elephant poachers in Garamba National Park, DRC – ‘This brings the number of people to eight who lost their lives defending wildlife in Garamba in 2015 alone’

By Cynthia Walley9 October 2015 (African Parks) – It is with deep regret that African Parks announces the death of  Garamba rangers Anselme Kimbesa Muhindo, Andre Gada Migifuloyo, and Djuma Adalu Uweko, and Colonel Jacques Sukamate Lusengo, the member of  the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC), who was assisting with patrols. The four men leave their […]

Estimate of migrants into Germany doubles to 1.5 million – Europe facing ‘battle of compassion versus fear, and of tolerance versus xenophobia’

5 October 2015 (BBC News) – The number of people seeking asylum in Germany this year will be as high as 1.5 million – almost double the previous estimate, German media report. The German government has not confirmed the new estimate, which comes from an internal official report cited by popular daily Bild. The report […]

Record El Niño set to cause hunger for 10 million poorest, Oxfam warns

By Oliver Milman30 September 2015 (The Guardian) – At least 10 million of the world’s poorest people are set to go hungry this year because of failing crops caused by one of the strongest El Niño climatic events on record, Oxfam has warned. The charity said several countries were already facing a “major emergency”, such […]

Graph of the Day: Phosphorus emissions of world cities

18 November 2014 (Urban Water Blueprint) – Impacts on water quality are not limited to sedimentation rates. As watersheds are exploited for agricultural purposes, and as agriculture turns intensive, the use of fertilizers increases and more fertilizers end up in the water. The two most common nutrients that cause problems are excessive phosphorus and nitrogen, […]

UNHCR: Time running out to resolve refugee emergency in Europe – ‘The crisis is growing and being pushed from one country to another without solution’

GENEVA, 18 September 2015 (UNHCR) – Following yesterday’s mayhem on the Serbian border with Croatia, which has closed some entry points, the UN refugee agency today issued a stark warning that time was running out for Europe to resolve the current refugee crisis. UNHCR blamed the continuing absence of a coherent and united response to […]

7,000 people mass at Austria border crossing – Future asylum shelter in Germany destroyed in arson attack

ATHENS, Greece, 20 September 2015 (AP) – The latest developments as European governments rush to cope with the huge number of people moving across Europe. All times local: 2:30 p.m. Police say an arson attack on a future asylum shelter for up to 400 people in Wertheim in southern Germany destroyed the building so badly […]

Dirty air sends millions to early grave: study – Without regulation, yearly deaths will increase to 6.6 million by 2050

By Noah Seelam17 September 2015 (AFP) – Outdoor air pollution from sources as varied as cooking fires in India, traffic in the United States and fertiliser use in Russia, claim some 3.3 million lives globally every year, researchers said Wednesday. The vast majority of victims — nearly 75 percent — died from strokes and heart […]

Risk analyst Aon Benfield: Drought conditions worsen around the globe – Economic losses expected to top $8 billion

4 September 2015 (Insurance Journal) – The monthly report for August from Aon Benfield’s Impact Forecasting catastrophe model development team cites the “severe drought conditions” in the western U.S. as resulting in “economic losses expected to reach at least $3.0 billion – mostly attributable to agricultural damage in California.” Several Caribbean and Central American nations […]

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