Russia charges Greenpeace activists with piracy – ‘Most serious threat to Greenpeace’s peaceful environmental activism’ since its ship Rainbow Warrior was bombed and sunk by France

By Steve Gutterman, with additional reporting by Maria Tsvetkova; Writing by Steve Gutterman; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Angus MacSwan2 October 2013 MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian authorities charged Greenpeace activists from several nations with piracy on Wednesday over a protest against Arctic oil drilling at a platform owned by the state-controlled energy company Gazprom, the […]

Indigenous Malaysians block road as controversial rainforest dam begins to fill – ‘The plight of the Penan is a fundamental example of corporate greed steamrolling human rights’

25 September 2013 (borneoproject.org) – It has been a tragic week for the people affected by the Murum Dam in Sarawak. Sarawak Energy has begun the impoundment of the Murum dam, starting a process that threatens to drown over 2,750 sq. kilometers of forest and traditionally-owned land. We have also heard from our partners at […]

Record September rainfall for Moscow, emergency declared after floods in Sochi – Bears starve after flooding in Russian Far East, ‘aggressive’ bears to be shot

By Christopher C. Burt27 September 2013 (wunderground.com) – September has been the wettest such on record for Moscow and flooding has swamped Sochi, the venue for the Winter Olympics next February, complicating preparations for the event. A persistent upper level low over eastern Russia has brought record precipitation to the city of Moscow this month. […]

Heavy rains spawned by Typhoon Usagi kill 36 in Vietnam, Cambodia

HANOI, 24 September  2013 (AFP) – Heavy monsoon rains exacerbated by Typhoon Usagi have pounded parts of Vietnam and Cambodia killing at least 36 people, authorities said Tuesday, with many swept to their deaths in floods. Despite not being directly hit by Usagi — the world’s most powerful storm this year — parts of Southeast […]

Mammals vanish entirely from forest fragments after 25 years – ‘It was like ecological Armageddon. Nobody imagined we’d see such catastrophic local extinctions.’

By Jeremy Hance26 September 2013 (mongabay.com) – As tropical forests worldwide are increasingly cut into smaller and smaller fragments, mammal extinctions may not be far behind, according to a new study in Science. Tracking native smalls mammals in Chiew Larn Reservoir, Thailand for over 25 years, scientists found a stunning and rapid decline in mammal […]

Wringing China dry and blaming climate change – ‘Catastrophic urbanisation’ has caused up to 28,000 rivers to vanish since the 1990s

BEIJING, 23 September 2013 (Reuters) – For China, global warming has become something of a convenient truth. Beijing blames climate change for wreaking havoc on scarce water resources, but critics say the country’s headlong drive to build its industrial prowess and huge hydro projects are just as responsible. On the eve of a global climate […]

Climate change affects Singapore flood risk – Average rainfall has risen 21mm since 1980

By Melissa Chong 22 September 2013 SINGAPORE (CNA) – The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is slated to release the first part of its latest report on climate change on September 27. Governments around the world will be watching to see what hundreds of climate scientists have to say about the potential impacts […]

Typhoon Usagi hits southern China, killing at least 25 – ‘Usagi has devastated the eastern part of Guangdong’

23 September 2013 (CNN) – At least 25 people have died after Typhoon Usagi slammed into the coast of southern China, state media reported Monday. Bringing strong winds and heavy rain, Usagi forced the relocation of hundreds of thousands of people, the cancellation of hundreds of flights and the closing of a major shipping lane. […]

China battens down the hatches, crosses fingers as Typhoon Usagi strikes – Hong Kong officials warn residents of ‘astronomically’ high tides and storm surge

By Kenneth Rapoza 21 September 2013 (Forbes) – It’s 08:30 in southeast China. And people from Hong Kong to Shenzhen are bracing for what will likely go down as the strongest storm of 2013. Typhoon Usagi, called a “monster super storm” by the Washington Post, and the “hell storm” by the Drudge Report is already […]

Typhoon Usagi hits Taiwan, Philippines, nears Hong Kong, posing ‘severe threat’ to the city – Storm dumps 520 millimeters (20 inches) of rain along the eastern and southern coasts of Taiwan in 20-hour period

TAIPEI, Taiwan, 21 September 2013 (AP) – The most powerful typhoon of the year swept through the Luzon Strait separating the Philippines and Taiwan on Saturday, battering island communities with heavy rains and strong winds as it headed straight for Hong Kong. Typhoon Usagi weakened from a super typhoon – those with sustained winds of […]

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