California blaze explodes in size as wildfires roast West – Second firefighter dies

LOWER LAKE, California, 12 August 2015 (Associated Press) – Wildfires are charging through several states in the parched West, scorching homes and forcing people to flee. Flames are plaguing some California residents, who had to evacuate for the second time in recent weeks after blazes exploded in size. Here’s a look at wildfires burning through […]

Siberia forest fires triple in area over 24 hours – ‘Like in movies about the Apocalypse’

10 August 2015 (The Siberian Times) – Summer wildfires ignited in areas close to Lake Baikal, the vast Siberian lake, at the height of the vacation season, causing breathing problems in some areas. Campers reported their tents and cars caked in ashes from the huge fires. Some 45 people were evacuated from the Baikal shore […]

Stinking mats of seaweed piling up on Caribbean beaches – ‘This has been the worst year we’ve seen so far’

By David Mcfadden10 August 2015 KINGSTON, Jamaica (Associated Press) – The picture-perfect beaches and turquoise waters that people expect on their visits to the Caribbean are increasingly being fouled by mats of decaying seaweed that attract biting sand fleas and smell like rotten eggs. Clumps of the brownish seaweed known as sargassum have long washed […]

Will the residents of Kivalina, Alaska be the first climate change refugees in the US?

By Adam Wernick7 August 2015 (PRI) – Scientists estimate that due to climate change, the village of Kivalina, in northwestern Alaska, will be underwater by the year 2025. In 2008, the Inupiat village sued 24 of the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies for damages. In 2013, the Supreme Court refused to hear the case and […]

State of emergency declared as worst locust swarms in more than 30 years plague southern Russia – ‘There is nothing left of the corn. The locusts ate it all, from the leaves to the cobs.’

By Matthew Chance5 August 2015 Moscow (CNN) – Millions of locusts have descended on farmlands in southern Russia, devouring entire fields of crops and causing officials to declare a state of emergency in the region. A vast area of at least 800,000 hectares is currently being affected as the swarms of insects, each measuring about […]

Drought, heat wave kill 80 percent of Mongolia’s crops – ‘The people will feel what it’s like to live in a country with no reserve this fall’

By B. Khash-Erdene24 July 2015 (UB Post) – Approximately 80 percent of Mongolia’s crops have died this summer due to extreme drought across the country, according to board member of the Mongolian Plantation Union B. Erdenebat. Though the situation has reached a critical level, the Ministry of Industry and Agriculture has yet to take action, […]

World’s glaciers melting at fastest rate since record-keeping began – ‘Globally, we lose about three times the ice volume stored in the entirety of the European Alps every year’

3 August 2015 (University of Zurich) – The World Glacier Monitoring Service, domiciled at the University of Zurich, has compiled worldwide data on glacier changes for more than 120 years. Together with its National Correspondents in more than 30 countries, the international service just published a new comprehensive analysis of global glacier changes in the […]

Scientists fear toxic algae bloom spreading on Pacific coast – Stretching from southern California to Alaska, this year’s blooms thought to be the largest ever recorded

By Ryan Schuessler1 August 2015 ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Al Jazeera) – The toxic algae blooms in the Pacific Ocean stretching from southern California to Alaska — already the largest ever recorded — appear to have reached as far as the Aleutian Islands, scientists say. “The anecdotal evidence suggests we’re having a major event,” said Bruce Wright, […]

Republican presidential hopefuls reap rewards of climate denial in primary, but face risks in general election – ‘The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing noncompetitive’

By Matt Viser1 August 2015 WASHINGTON (Boston Globe) – Rick Santorum calls climate change “a beautifully concocted scheme.” Senator Ted Cruz contends that no climate change has been recorded in the last 15 years, bluntly declaring, “It hasn’t happened.” Ben Carson, a renowned neurosurgeon, has said, “We may be warming. We may be cooling.” Former […]

Massive California fire jumped 20,000 acres overnight

By Jessica Marmor Shaw2 August 2015 (MarketWatch) – A wildfire that has been raging in northern California since last Wednesday jumped 20,000 acres overnight, and has now charred 47,000 acres and is threatening 6,300 homes. Fire officials say the massive blaze, called the Rocky Fire, in the Lower Lake area north of San Francisco is […]

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