BP loses renewed bid to halt oil spill settlement payments – ‘No credible evidence of fraud’

By Margaret Cronin Fisk28 August 2013 (Bloomberg) – BP Plc lost a renewed bid to suspend payments from the court-supervised program administering its settlement of claims tied to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. An investigation of alleged wrongdoing at the Mobile, Alabama, claims assistance center didn’t find “any credible evidence of fraud,” U.S. […]

Heat wave kills people, crops, fish, and hopes in China

By Jethro Mullen1 August 2013 Hong Kong (CNN) – Record-breaking temperatures have been searing large swaths of China, resulting in dozens of heat-related deaths and prompting authorities to issue a national alert. People are packing into swimming pools or taking refuge in caves in their attempts to escape the fierce temperatures. Local governments are resorting […]

Richard Branson and James Cameron: U.S. should support United Nations initiative to save the high seas

By Richard Branson and James CameronAugust 18, 2013 We share a deep and abiding passion for and fascination with the ocean that has led us since childhood to wander the world under the waves. We also share an increasing concern that the health of the ocean is rapidly deteriorating under the strain of human pressure […]

Record algae bloom, 11 thousand square miles in area, covers coastal waters near Qingdao

[Apologies for the tardiness; don’t know how this story got by Des last month.] By Wilfred Chan7 July 2013 (CNN) – For years, China has talked about promoting “green growth.” But this probably isn’t what they had in mind. For the seventh year in a row, monstrous quantities of green algae known as enteromorpha prolifera […]

Algae proliferation costs are ‘in the billions’ – ‘By fertilizing the planet, we end up fertilizing everything’

11 August 2013 (NPR) – Algae blooms are green or red or brown, slimy, smelly and you don’t want it coming soon to a waterfront near you. Most of us don’t give a lot of thought to algae until the furry-like monstrosity is spreading over beaches, rivers, lakes and bays, but gigantic algae blooms have […]

Algae blooms killing manatees, dolphins, and pelicans in Florida estuary – ‘We fear the fishery collapse may be forthcoming’

By MICHAEL WINES 7 August 2013 MELBOURNE, Florida (The New York Times) – The first hint that something was amiss here, in the shallow lagoons and brackish streams that buffer inland Florida from the Atlantic’s salt water, came last summer in the Banana River, just south of Kennedy Space Center. Three manatees — the languid, […]

Report: Climate change is impacting California water, forests, animals – ‘Together, these indicators paint a disturbing picture of how climate change is affecting our state and its growing threats to our future’

By Alicia Chang8 August 2013 LOS ANGELES (Washington Post) – Coastal waters off California are getting more acidic. Fall-run chinook salmon populations to the Sacramento River are on the decline. Conifer forests on the lower slopes of the Sierra Nevada have moved to higher elevations over the past half century. That’s just a snapshot of […]

Climate change pushing marine life towards the poles, says study – ‘Some species are already at the edge of their range and there’s nowhere for them to go’

By Helen Davidson    5 August 2013 (The Guardian) – Rising ocean temperatures are rearranging the biological make-up of our oceans, pushing species towards the poles by 7kms every year, as they chase the climates they can survive in, according to new research. The study, conducted by a working group of scientists from 17 different institutions, […]

Blast fishing rampant in 5 Philippine towns – ‘We cannot totally eradicate the illegal fishing activities in these areas’

By Roel Catoto 21 July 2013 SURIGAO CITY (MindaNews) – Five towns in Surigao del Norte are under tight watch by the Philippine National Police Maritime Office Caraga for alleged rampant dynamite fishing. Edgard Cuanan, regional director of PNP Maritime Caraga named the five towns as Tagana-an, Placer, Claver, Socorro and General Luna. Cuanan admitted […]

Bangladesh pollution, told in colors and smells – ‘Nobody in the country, at least at the government level, is thinking about sustainable development’

By JIM YARDLEY14 July 2013 SAVAR, Bangladesh (The New York Times) — On the worst days, the toxic stench wafting through the Genda Government Primary School is almost suffocating. Teachers struggle to concentrate, as if they were choking on air. Students often become lightheaded and dizzy. A few boys fainted in late April. Another retched […]

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