Why growth can’t be green: New data proves you can support capitalism or the environment, but it’s hard to do both

By Jason Hickel 12 September 2018 (Foreign Policy) – Warnings about ecological breakdown have become ubiquitous. Over the past few years, major newspapers, including the Guardian and the New York Times, have carried alarming stories on soil depletion, deforestation, and the collapse of fish stocks and insect populations. These crises are being driven by global […]

“Shadow” of persistent inequality is growing, key UN human development report reveals

14 September 2018 (UN News) – While health, education, and income levels have improved overall across the globe, “wide inequalities” both among and within countries, are casting a shadow on sustained human development, a new United Nations report shows.Looking at the widening gap in real terms, a child born in Norway today – the country […]

Prehistoric vegetation helps predict future ecosystems – “If we allow climate change to go unchecked, the vegetation of this planet is going to look completely different than it does today”

By Mari N. Jensen 30 August 2018 (UA News) – As the last ice age came to an end and the planet warmed, the Earth’s vegetation changed dramatically, reports a University of Arizona-led international research team in the journal Science.The current warming from climate change may drive an equally dramatic change in vegetation within the […]

Amazon rainforest degradation in Brazil up 224 percent in July 2018

By Stefania Costa 24 August 2018(Imazon) – SAD detected an increase of 39 percent deforestation and 224 percent degradation in one year in the Amazon rainforest (August 2017 to July 2018 compared to August 2016 and July 2017).In July 2018, SAD detected 778 square kilometers of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. In this bulletin, the […]

Did environmental degradation worsen Kerala’s flood tragedy?

By Anjana Pasricha 24 August 2018 NEW DELHI (VOA News) – As India’s southern Kerala state looks at the task of rebuilding in the aftermath of devastating floods that swept away homes, inundated farmland and destroyed infrastructure, environmentalists have raised the question: Could the damage have been reduced if more attention had been paid to […]

Death toll rises to 410 in India floods – More than 1 million people flee to relief camps

CHENGANNUR, 21 August 2018 (AFP) – More than one million people have fled to relief camps in the Indian state of Kerala to escape devastating monsoon floods that have killed more than 410 people, as a huge international aid operation gathered pace.People are flocking to camps as the scale of the desolation is revealed by […]

Greenhouse gas feedback discovered in freshwater lakes – “The warming climates that promote the growth of aquatic plants have the potential to trigger a damaging feedback loop in natural ecosystems”

4 May 2018 (University of Cambridge) – Latest research finds plant debris in lake sediment affects methane emissions. The flourishing reed beds created by changing climates could threaten to double the already significant methane production of the world’s northern lakes. A new study of chemical reactions that occur when organic matter decomposes in freshwater lakes […]

Flooding kills 29 in south India – Idukki reservoir over capacity, all spillways opened on Cheruthoni Dam, downriver evacuations ordered – Monsoon rains at “peak of the last 50 years”

NEW DELHI, 10 August 2018 (AFP) – Flash floods have claimed at least 27 lives in the southern Indian state of Kerala, officials said Friday, prompting the US to advise its citizens to stay away from the tourist hot-spot. The coastal state, famed for its pristine palm-lined beaches and tea plantations, is battered by the […]

Trump blames California water policies for wildfires – Firefighters and scientists push back – “He clearly doesn’t know what he’s talking about”

By Timothy Cama 6 August 2018 (The Hill) – President Trump doubled down on his criticism of California Gov. Jerry Brown (D), saying Monday that the state’s water management policies are responsible for deadly wildfires.“Governor Jerry Brown must allow the Free Flow of the vast amounts of water coming from the North and foolishly being […]

95 percent of all lemur species face high risk of extinction, experts say – “This is, without a doubt, the highest percentage of threat for any large group of mammals and for any large group of vertebrates”

2 August 2018 (Mongabay) – Together with other leading primate conservationists, Russell Mittermeier, Chief Conservation Officer for the NGO Global Wildlife Conservation and recently announced winner of the 2018 Indianapolis Prize, is sounding the alarm about the plight of lemurs.Mittermeier, who also serves as chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) Primate Specialist Group, […]

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