Thirsty South Asia’s river rifts threaten ‘water wars’

By Nita Bhalla, Reuters23 Jul 2012 KANZALWAN, India-Pakistan Line of Control (AlertNet) – As the silver waters of the Kishanganga rush through this north Kashmir valley, Indian labourers are hard at work on a hydropower project that will dam the river just before it flows across one of the world’s most heavily militarised borders into […]

Wildfires caused by arson halt wildebeest migration in Kenya

22 July 2012 (Daily Nation) – A diplomatic row is simmering after Tanzanians living around the Serengeti Game Reserve allegedly set the area on fire to block the wildebeest migration. The infernos that have lasted for two weeks have delayed hundreds of wildebeest from Serengeti plains gathered on the Mara River ready to cross into […]

Yemen’s children caught in food crisis – ‘This is the worst crisis faced by Yemen in my lifetime’

By Iona Craig, Special for USA TODAY21 July 2012 MARALI, Yemen – In this village under the sweltering summer heat of Yemen’s Red Sea coastal region, six women and a small boy huddle on the floor around a plate of watery tomato sauce mixed with fish remnants. Judging by his size, the boy looks about […]

Lemurs far more endangered than previously thought

By Richard Black, Environment correspondent, BBC News13 July 2012 A new survey shows lemurs are far more threatened than previously thought. A group of specialists is in Madagascar – the only place where lemurs are found in the wild – to systematically assess the animals and decide where they sit on the Red List of […]

The Peak Oil Crisis: The Summer of 2012

By Tom Whipple    11 July 2012 One has to go back to the 1930’s to find a time when so much of civilization was in turmoil at once. The 30’s ended with World War II, tens of millions dead, and much of the industrialized world in ruins. It is not hard to argue that the […]

Climate scientists routinely face death threats, hate mail, nuisance lawsuits, and political attacks

By Tom Clynes21 June 2012 There’s no police tape across Michael Mann’s office doorway this morning. “Always a good start,” he says, juggling a cup of coffee as he slides his key into the lock. Mann, a paleoclimatologist, wears a sport coat over a turtleneck. As he takes a seat at his desk, a narrow […]

1.5 million children in imminent danger of starvation in West Africa due to climate change, conflict, and poverty

By Rohit Kachroo, NBC News in Niger, West Africa19 June 2012 One-and-a-half-million children are in imminent danger of starvation in West Africa, according to The United Nations Children’s Fund, despite recent pledges of international aid. As world leaders gathered for the Rio+20 conference on sustainable development, aid workers warned there were only four weeks left […]

Video: Japan protests restart of Oi nuclear plant

[More protest videos here. h/t Ex-SKF] By ERIC JOHNSTON, Staff writer17 June 2012 OSAKA – The decision to restart two reactors at the Oi nuclear plant has sparked international concern, with antinuclear activists and politicians in many countries sending letters of protest and holding rallies outside Japanese embassies and consulates over the past week. Politicians […]

Iraq ‘green belt’ front line in anti-desertification fight – ‘If we do nothing, the desert will envelop us’

Karbala, Iraq, 3 June 2012 (AFP) – Trees as far as the eye can see are the weapons one Iraqi province is using in the fight against desertification in a country where decades of conflict have exacted a terrible environmental toll. Karbala, 110 kilometres (70 miles) south of Baghdad, is best known as the site […]

Return of rain reignites Australia water wars between farmers and conservationists

2 June 2012 (Sydney Morning Herald) – Rivers are flowing again, but so is the friction over water rights among states and between farmers and conservationists, writes David Humphries. The last time we dropped in on the Kennedys, their cotton property Whitegates resembled a setting for The Grapes of Wrath. Dust into dust, and under […]

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