South Africa hits another new record in rhino killings – Two rhino subspecies declared extinct

By Jeremy Hance18 October 2012 (mongabay.com) – Four hundred and fifty-five rhinos have been killed by poachers in South Africa since the beginning of the year. The number surpasses the record set last year (448) and proves that national efforts to stem poaching have not yet made a dent in actual killings. The mass killing […]

President Obama won the third presidential debate, but what about climate change?

By Stephen Stromberg23 October 2012 In their last presidential debate Monday night, the two presidential candidates began with Libya and stayed in the Islamic world for almost the entire evening. They talked about “divorcing” Pakistan, arming Syrian rebels and rallying allies against Iran. In this exchange, Romney offered few serious counterproposals to Obama’s current policy, […]

Authorities confiscate 600 dead elephants’ worth of ivory in Hong Kong

By Jeremy Hance22 October 2012 (mongabay.com) – Hong Kong authorities have confiscated two massive shipments of elephant tusks, totaling 1,209 tusks, stemming from Kenya and Tanzania. Representing over 600 poached elephants, the shipments are estimated to be worth $3.4 million on the black market. African elephants are being decimated for their tusks in recent years […]

Tribes add potent voice against plan for Northwest U.S. coal terminals

By KIRK JOHNSON11 October 2012 FERNDALE, Washington – At age 94, Mary Helen Cagey, an elder of the Lummi Indian tribe, has seen a lot of yesterdays. Some are ripe for fond reminiscence, like the herring that used to run rich in the waters here in the nation’s upper-left margin, near the border with Canada. […]

China’s epic traffic nightmares

By Charles Riley7 October 2012 (CNN Money) – More people live in China than any other country, and in 2010 it surpassed the United States as the largest car market on Earth. As the popularity of automobiles grows, China’s infrastructure has struggled to keep pace. The result is – like anywhere else in the world […]

Graph of the Day: Lead Concentrations in Spinach Grown in Varanasi, India

This graph illustrates lead concentrations in spinach grown in Varanasi, India. (Singh, et al., 2010) Domestic wastewater comprises dissolved and suspended impurities from households. Untreated or insufficiently treated wastewater is typically contaminated with human excreta, which can cause traditional health risks. In recent years, domestic wastewater has been observed to contain trace quantities of pharmaceutical […]

The FAO Food Price Index up 1.4 percent in September

4 October 2012 (FAO) – The FAO Food Price Index averaged 216 points in September 2012, up 3 points (1.4 percent) from August. Following two months of stability, the Index rose slightly, mostly on strengthening dairy and meat prices and more contained increases for cereals. Prices of sugar and oils fell.  The FAO Cereal Price […]

Weapons of mass urban destruction: Automobiles in China

BY PETER CALTHORPE SEPT/OCT 2012 (Foreign Policy) – In the last five years, China has built 20,000 miles of expressways, finishing the construction of 12 national highways a whopping 13 years ahead of schedule and at a pace four times faster than the United States built its interstate highway system. Over the last decade, Shanghai […]

Melting Himalayas may magnify water scarcity

By Becky Oskin, LiveScience Contributor12 September 2012 Many politically unstable areas of South Asia are “water-stressed,” meaning the areas are facing water scarcity due to poor infrastructure or simply lacking enough water to meet demand. The potential impacts of climate change on water scarcity could further inflame political tensions, finds a new report, Himalayan Glaciers: Climate […]

Food security effects of climate change will be felt in 10 years

Contact: Esther Harward, Press Officer, University of Leeds, +44 113 343 4196, e.harward@leeds.ac.uk 12 September 12 Research released today shows that within the next 10 years large parts of Asia can expect increased risk of more severe droughts, which will impact regional and possibly even global food security. The report, led by the University of […]

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