Climate change to affect liveability of remote Australia

3 June 2013 (PhysOrg) – People living in remote Australia are likely to be more severely affected by climate change than other sectors of the national population. A new study, released today, by the CRC for Remote Economic Development (CRC-REP) and Ninti One warns that communities and outlying settlements on Cape York, in Central Australia […]

Blight sweeping Central America coffee plantations puts thousands out of work – Climate change causing rust fungus to spread to higher elevations that once were too cool and dry

By Tim Johnson3 June 2013 SAN PEDRO YEPOCAPA, Guatemala (McClatchy) –  Across Central America, even as rains arrive, many coffee plantations contain only spindly, nearly defoliated bushes, the result of a blight known as coffee leaf rust whose devastation, so far, has yet to affect the prices of premium highland coffee that baristas serve around […]

Guadeloupe and Martinique threatened as pesticide contaminates food chain – ‘There is no hope of improvement … It will go on for generations’

By Martine Valo    6 May 2013 (The Guardian) – On 15 April 2013 more than 100 fishermen demonstrated in the streets of Fort de France, the main town on Martinique, in the French West Indies. In January they barricaded the port until the government in Paris allocated €2m ($2.6m) in aid, which they are still […]

Scientists discover high mercury levels in Peruvian Amazon residents, gold-mining to blame

By Lacey Avery 28 May 2013 (mongabay.com) – The Madre de Dios region in Peru is recognized for its lush Amazon rainforests, meandering rivers and rich wildlife. But the region is also known for its artisanal gold mining, which employs the use of a harmful neurotoxin. Mercury is burned to extract the pure gold from […]

Marine who dumped carcinogenic chemical trichloroethylene felt illness was payback – ‘We used to go through 55 gallons in less than a month’

By Allen G. Breed, with additional contributions by Martha Waggoner in Raleigh, N.C. 18 May 2013 CAMP LEJEUNE, North Carolina (AP) – Ron Poirier couldn’t escape the feeling that his cancer was somehow a punishment. As a young Marine electronics technician at Camp Lejeune in the mid-1970s, the Massachusetts man figured he’d dumped hundreds of […]

New temperature norms under climate change will increase heat-related deaths in metropolitan areas – Heatwave deaths in New York city could rise by up to 22 percent

By Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent 19 May 2013 (The Guardian) – New York city could experience up to 22% more deaths from extreme summertime heat in the coming decade under global warming, according to a study of the impact of climate trends. The higher deaths will be partially offset by a reduction in deaths […]

Rising temperatures increase health risks – Study finds hot days yield more respiratory ills for elderly

By Timothy B. Wheeler10 May 2013 (The Baltimore Sun) – Summer is almost here, and with it likely some blistering hot days. A recent study suggests the elderly should beware when the temperature spikes, because they face an increased risk of winding up in the emergency room short of breath on those days. And that’s […]

What BP doesn’t want you to know about the 2010 Gulf oil spill – ‘These are the same symptoms experienced by soldiers who returned from the Persian Gulf War with Gulf War syndrome’

By Mark Hertsgaard22 April 2013 4:45 AM EDT (Newsweek) – “It’s as safe as Dawn dishwashing liquid.” That’s what Jamie Griffin says the BP man told her about the smelly, rainbow-streaked gunk coating the floor of the “floating hotel” where Griffin was feeding hundreds of cleanup workers during the BP oil disaster in the Gulf […]

Graph of the Day: Mortality and temperature during the 2009 Melbourne heatwave

(Climate Commission) – Very hot days and heatwaves have a significant impact on human health, infrastructure, agriculture and natural ecosystems. Research at the Natural Hazards Research Centre (NRHC) has shown that heatwaves are the most significant natural hazard in Australia in terms of loss of life. There have been 4287 fatalities directly attributable to heatwaves […]

Dead dolphins and shrimp with no eyes found after BP clean-up – Chemicals used to disperse Gulf of Mexico spill blamed for marine deaths and human illness

By Emily Dugan14 April 2013 (Independent) – Hundreds of beached dolphin carcasses, shrimp with no eyes, contaminated fish, ancient corals caked in oil and some seriously unwell people are among the legacies that scientists are still uncovering in the wake of BP’s Deepwater Horizon spill. This week it will be three years since the first […]

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