Europe’s restrictive measures draw UN concern as refugee and migrant influx continues – Number of children fleeing to Europe escalating

12 February 2016 (UN) – With the number of refugees and migrants arriving in Europe showing no signs of easing in 2016, the United Nations refugee agency today reiterated its concern over increasing restrictive measures on the part of European Member States, stressing that greater support mechanisms must be urgently implemented to protect the fundamental […]

The climate-change refugee crisis is only just beginning – ‘I’m dead if I stay, so it doesn’t matter if I die on the way’

By Peter Schwartzstein31 January 2016 (Quartz) – The Amhara Plateau is no one’s idea of a gloomy landscape. Rich fields blossom as far as the eye can see; bountiful rivers zigzag through the region’s rolling hills. It isn’t hard to see why local Orthodox Christians believe the Ark of the Covenant was floated down the […]

Scientists: ‘Doomsday Clock’ reflects grave threat to world – ‘Unless we change the way we think, humanity remains in serious danger’

By Sudhin Thanawala26 January 2016 STANFORD, California (AP) – Rising tension between Russia and the U.S., North Korea’s recent nuclear test and a lack of aggressive steps to address climate change are putting the world under grave threat, scientists behind a “Doomsday Clock” that measures the likelihood of a global cataclysm said Tuesday. The Bulletin […]

Will the Fourth Industrial Revolution improve the state of the world? World Economic Forum meeting ends

By Judith Magyar22 January 2016 (SAP Community Network) – Emerging technologies such as 3D printing and genetic engineering offer a lot of promise, but can also be double-edged swords. They can help make our lives easier, safer and healthier, but there is also potential to build weapons or dangerously modify organisms. Developments like these raise […]

Chairman of World Economic Forum warns refugee crisis could be precursor to something much bigger – ‘Imagine 1 billion inhabitants, imagine they all move north’

[cf. More displaced people and refugees now than at any other time in recorded history – ‘The global north must be prepared that the entire global south is on the move’] By Joe Weisenthal18 January 2016 (Bloomberg News) – As the crash in commodities prices spreads economic woe across the developing world, Europe could face […]

Global warming: 4C temperature rise will have dire effect on world hunger, UN warns – ‘This map paints a stark picture of how climate disasters drive hunger’

By John Vidal1 December 2015 (The Guardian) – El Niños, climate change, and increasing conflict linked to prolonged droughts and extreme weather are leaving the world unable to cope with the food needs of millions of people, the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned. The UN agency, which last year appealed for $8.5bn from governments […]

I stand with Linda Sue Beck: The armed attack on science at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

By Travis Longcore, Ph.D9 January 2016 (Medium) – Linda Sue Beck. It is at her desk that Ammon Bundy, leader of the group of armed anti-government religious fanatics occupying Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, has set up shop. As a federal biologist, like my father was for decades, she works to steward the resources that are […]

Mongabay: Top 15 environmental stories of 2015

By Mike Gaworecki30 December 2015 (mongabay.com) – As 2015 comes to a close, Mongabay is looking back at the year that was. This year saw President Obama reject the Keystone pipeline as historic droughts and a vicious wildfire season wracked the western US and Canada. The world committed to climate action in Paris as Southeast […]

Another environmental activist is killed in Peru over his opposition to a major dam project

By Ruxandra Guidi30th December 2015 (mongabay.com) – The year is ending on a grim note in Peru: yet another environmental leader that vocally opposed a dam project has been murdered in his home in the town of Yagen, in the country’s Cajamarca region. Hitler Ananías Rojas Gonzales, 34, was shot five times the morning of […]

Refugee arrivals in Europe top one million in 2015 – Highest migration flow since World War II

GREECE, 22 December 2015 (IOM) – IOM confirmed yesterday (21 December 2015) that over a million irregular migrants and refugees arrived in Europe in 2015, mostly from Syria, Africa, and South Asia. Through the weekend, IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix – Flow Monitoring System counted 999,745 irregular arrivals across the Mediterranean, including migrants journeying by both […]

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