Climate change will lead to annual coral bleaching in the near future

5 January 2017 (United Nations) – If current trends continue and the world fails to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, nearly all of the world’s coral reefs will suffer severe bleaching – the gravest threat to one of the Earth’s most important ecosystems – on annual basis, the United Nations environment agency today reported. The finding […]

Oceans poisoned by plastic –‘No matter where you go, the sea is covered in plastic’

By Patrick Winn 13 December 2016 (PRI) – Here in this fishing village, on the island of Java, the surf teems with kaleidoscopic color. Each wave is littered with garish bibs and bobs. The water is speckled with synthetic hues: Coca-Cola red, day-glo green and every other color in the crayon box. There are monochromes […]

Global warming threatens world’s coffee supply

By Jonah Engel Bromwich22 September 2016 (The New York Times) – A report examining the many ways climate change threatens coffee and coffee farmers has alarmed people who are now imagining what it would be like getting through the day without their caffeine fix. The report, released this month by the Climate Institute, a nonprofit […]

Zombie carbon emissions haunt the planet – ‘We’re losing the ability to really solve the climate crisis’

By Amrith Ramkumar28 July 2016 (Bloomberg) – Deforestation in the Amazon region dropped by 30 percent  from 2005 to 2010, sparing trees that soak up carbon dioxide. A big win in the fight against climate change, right? Maybe not big enough to save the planet, or the species on it. After trees are cut down, […]

15 fire-linked firms escape prosecution in Indonesia’s Riau – ‘The clearing of land for oil palm plantations is still ongoing to this day’

By Philip Jacobson28 July 2016 (mongabay.com) – On July 23 the local police headquarters in the Sumatran province of Riau released SP3 notices related to 15 companies that the Ministry of Environment and Forestry had listed in connection with last year’s fires. A SP3 is an official police document that confirms a case has been […]

Whale sharks, winghead sharks, Bornean orangutans, and addax antelopes slide towards extinction – ‘We are witnessing in real time the extinction of iconic and once-plentiful species’

8 July 2016 (IUCN) – New IUCN Red List assessments reveal that growing human pressures on whale sharks, winghead sharks and Bornean orangutans are putting these species at an increasing risk of extinction. Whale sharks and winghead sharks are now listed as Endangered and Bornean orangutans as Critically Endangered – only one step from going […]

2015 was the worst year on record for murders of land and environmental defenders – ‘We get threatened, vilified, and killed for standing up to the mining companies on our land and the paramilitaries that protect them’

20 June 2016 (Global Witness) – Para la versión española, clique aquí. More than three people were killed a week in 2015 defending their land, forests and rivers against destructive industries. For our new report On Dangerous Ground we documented 185 killings across 16 countries – by far the highest annual death toll on record […]

Food system shock: Global warming’s greatest threat to civilization

By Jeff Masters29 April 2016  (wunderground.com) – The greatest threat of climate change to civilization over the next 40 years is likely to be climate change-amplified extreme droughts and floods hitting multiple major global grain-producing “breadbaskets” simultaneously. A “Food System Shock” report issued in 2015 by insurance giant Lloyd’s of London outlined a plausible extreme […]

Grim forecast for paper giant’s wood supply raises deforestation fears in South Sumatra

By Jonathan Vit 22 April 2016 (mongabay.com) – Asia Pulp & Paper’s (APP) plans to operate a giant mill in South Sumatra later this year have raised some uncomfortable questions about the veracity of the conglomerate’s lauded no-deforestation commitment and the potential environmental impact on one of Indonesia’s most-fire prone provinces. The new mill, which […]

Drought takes a terrible toll on poor Filipino farmers

By Keith Bacongco8 April 2016 ARAKAN, Philippines (UCA News) – Swathes of corn stand withered on the parched rolling hills near the farming town of Arakan in the southern Philippines, while shallow cracks scar what were once fertile rice paddies. El Nino is wreaking havoc in agriculture-rich Cotabato province. Allan Salon, a member of the […]

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