China gives green-light to new era of mega-dams – ‘I’m still shocked by the lack of transparency in the decision-making process’

By Beth Walker1 February 2013 (China Dialog) – China has confirmed it will resurrect a series of controversial hydropower dams in south-west China on rivers originating on the Tibetan Plateau, causing ripples of consternation from India and other downstream neighbours. The 2011-15 energy sector blueprint, released by China’s State Council last week, confirmed  plans to […]

Dietary shifts driving up phosphorus use – World phosphorus footprint increased 38 percent since 1960s

Contact: Chris Chipello  Organization: Media Relations OfficeOffice Phone: 514-398-4201   Mobile Phone: 514-717-4201  17 January 2013 (mcgill.ca) – Dietary changes since the early 1960s have fueled a sharp increase in the amount of mined phosphorus used to produce the food consumed by the average person over the course of a year, according to a new study […]

Pakistan: No end to humanitarian crises after three successive years of devastating floods

Islamabad/Brussels, 9 October 2012 (ICG) – Three successive years of devastating floods threatening the lives of millions, coupled with the displacement of hundreds of thousands due to military operations and militancy, gives Pakistan’s radical Islamist groups opportunities to recruit and increases the potential for conflict. “Since the democratic transition began in 2008, some progress has […]

Red Cross: Afghanistan ‘sliding towards collapse’

By Emma Graham-Harrison in Kabul, www.guardian.co.uk8 October 2012 The police and army in an increasingly violent Afghanistan will struggle to secure the country when foreign forces leave and the people face a corrupt presidential election in 2014, the Red Cross and a thinktank have warned. At stake is the limited and fragile stability that has […]

Video: Weathergirl Goes Rogue 2: Still Hot, Still Crazy

It’s still hot and that’s crazy, but important people aren’t talking about it. Your favourite weather presenter is back with more of the bad news you hate to love. More videos at Deep Rogue Ram. Weathergirl Goes Rogue 2: Still Hot, Still Crazy Technorati Tags: global warming,climate change,coal,conflict,North America,agriculture,crop failure,famine

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 […]

Graph of the Day: Union Membership in the U.S. and Canada, 1920-2009

Contact: Alan Barber (202) 293-5380 x11528 August 2012 Washington, D.C. (CEPR) – Unionization in the United States has been on the decline since the 1960s. While many reasons have been offered to explain this drop in the rate of unionization, a new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research highlights the roles that […]

Uzbekistan leader warns of water wars in Central Asia

By Joanna Lillis7 September 2012 President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan has upped his rhetoric against neighboring Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, warning that their efforts to build hydroelectric power stations on rivers upstream could spark war. Speaking during an official visit to Astana on September 7, Karimov launched a broadside against Bishkek and Dushanbe, which, he said, […]

Twenty more Nile rivers needed to feed growing world population – ‘The future political impact of water scarcity may be devastating’

By Alister Doyle; Editing by Alison Williams11 September 2012 OSLO (Reuters) – The world needs to find the equivalent of the flow of 20 Nile rivers by 2025 to grow enough food to feed a rising population and help avoid conflicts over water scarcity, a group of former leaders said on Monday. Factors such as […]

Food security worsens in Sudan – 16 million people face stressed/emergency levels in East Africa

27 July 2012 (Famine Early Warning System Network) – There are about 16 million people facing Stressed (IPC Phase 2) to Emergency (IPC Phase 4) levels of food insecurity in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, and Uganda. The main drivers of food insecurity in these countries are poor rains, conflict, high food prices, and […]

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