25 February 2014 (mongabay.com) – With more than 140 cities implementing water rationing, analysts warning of collapsing soy and coffee exports, and reservoirs and rivers running precipitously low, talk about the World Cup in some parts of Brazil has been sidelined by concerns about an epic drought affecting the country’s agricultural heartland. With its rise […]
1 February 2014 (World Bulletin) – Even by Brazilian standards – man, it’s hot. January was the hottest month on record in parts of Brazil including its biggest city, São Paulo. The heat, plus a severe drought, has kindled fears of water shortages, crop damage and higher electricity bills that could drag down the economy […]
LIMA, Peru, 3 February 2014 (AP) – More than 400 dead dolphins were found last month on the Pacific Ocean beaches of northern Peru where twice that amount were encountered in 2012, officials said Monday. Authorities never established the cause of the deaths in 2012. They are doing autopsies on the latest dolphins found during […]
10 January 2014 (Science) – Worldwide population estimates of large-carnivore species. Error bars represent the low and high range of the estimates when available. Population estimates were not available for all species. Species ranges vary widely, and range sizes can have a strong influence on species population levels (table S1). Sources: Gray wolf (90), all […]
By Matt McGrath29 January 2014 (BBC News) – Penguin chicks in Argentina are dying as a direct consequence of climate change, according to new research. Drenching rainstorms and extreme heat are killing the young birds in significant numbers. The study, conducted over 27 years, looked at climate impacts on the world’s biggest colony of Magellanic […]
By Michael Hiltzik20 January 2014 (Los Angeles Times) – Aaron Carroll today offers a graphic depiction of the toll of the anti-vaccination movement. (H/t: Kevin Drum.) It comes from a Council on Foreign Relations interactive map of “vaccine-preventable outbreaks” worldwide 2008-2014. A couple of manifestations stand out. One is the prevalence of measles in Europe […]
By Katie Rucke23 January 2014 (MintPress News) – The nonprofit organization Amazon Watch on Monday released a satirical video to draw attention to the threats Chevron has made to environmentalists, journalists, scientists and locals who have asked for the company to be held accountable for its destructive actions, and the company’s attempts to criminalize environmental […]
By Matt McGrath, Environment correspondent9 January 2014 (BBC News) – Three quarters of the world’s big carnivores – including lions, wolves and bears – are in decline, says a new study. A majority now occupy less than half their former ranges according to data published in the journal, Science. The loss of this habitat and […]
By Holli Riebeek8 January 2014 (NASA) – A deadly heatwave left its signature on the land in Argentina. This image is a compilation of land surface temperatures observed by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite between December 19 -26, 2013, compared to average temperatures for the same period in 2000-2012. Nearly […]
4 January 2013 (MercoPress) – Argentina sanctions power companies for repeated outages that affected millions Federal Planning Minister Julio De Vido said the government of President Cristina Fernandez will not give in to “companies’ pressure’ that seek to reach a tariff hike. “The system failed where there was no investment,” the minister affirmed accusing Edenor […]