Image of the Day: Satellite view of flooding in La Plata, Argentina, 4 April 2013

Caption by Michon Scott9 April 2013 (NASA) – In early April 2013, severe flooding claimed more than 50 lives, and forced thousands from their homes in the Buenos Aires region, news sources said. Many of the casualties occurred in La Plata, situated about 60 kilometers (40 miles) southeast of Buenos Aires. Roughly 40 centimeters (16 […]

Argentina flood damage exceeds $500 million

7 April 2013 (Voice of Russia) – The material damage from the recent flood in La Plata, Argentina, exceeds $500 million, according to a report just released by the city authorities. 51 people died and more than 350,000 were displaced and almost one-fouth of local buildings were damaged by a long spate of torrential rains that […]

Argentina politicians jeered after flash flood ‘catastrophe’ – Flood called the largest weather-related disaster in the history of Buenos Aires province

By Michael Warren and Almudena Calatrava in Buenos Aires 4 April 2013 LA PLATA, Argentina (AP) – Argentine police and soldiers searched house to house, in creeks and culverts and even in trees for bodies on Thursday after floods killed at least 57 people in the province and city of Buenos Aires. As torrential rains […]

Record rains flood Argentina, overall death toll rises to 52 – ‘Such intense rain in so little time has left many people trapped in their cars, in the streets, in some cases electrocuted’

By Cristian Kovadloff in La Plata and Almudena Calatrava; Debora Rey and Michael Warren in Buenos Aires contributed to this story3 April 2013  LA PLATA, Argentina (AP) – At least 52 people drowned in their homes and cars, were electrocuted, or died in other accidents as flooding from days of torrential rains swamped Argentina’s low-lying […]

Ecuador auctions off three million hectares of Amazon rainforest to China oil firms

By Jonathan Kaiman26 March 2013 BEIJING (guardian.co.uk) – Ecuador plans to auction off more than three million hectares of pristine Amazonian rainforest to Chinese oil companies, angering indigenous groups and underlining the global environmental toll of China’s insatiable thirst for energy. On Monday morning a group of Ecuadorean politicians pitched bidding contracts to representatives of […]

Record 1 in 3 U.S. counties in severe decline as deaths exceed births – ‘These counties are in a pretty steep downward spiral’

By Hope Yen13 March 2013 WASHINGTON (AP) — A record number of U.S. counties — more than 1 in 3 — are now dying off, hit by an aging population and weakened local economies that are spurring young adults to seek jobs and build families elsewhere. New 2012 census estimates released Thursday highlight the population […]

Australia’s summer is hottest on record – Average temperature breaks previous summer temperature record, set in summer 1997/1998

By Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer1 March 2013 (LiveScience) – Australia’s summer of 2013 is the hottest on record so far, the country’s Bureau of Meteorology announced today (March 1). The country’s average temperature this summer has been 83.5 degrees Fahrenheit (28.6 degrees Celsius), 2 degrees F (1 degree C) above normal. That breaks the […]

Greg Palast: Vaya con Dios, Hugo Chàvez, mi Amigo

By Greg Palast5 March 2013 (GregPalast.com) – For BBC Television, Palast met several times with Hugo Chàvez, who passed away today. As a purgative for the crappola fed to Americans about Chàvez, my foundation, The Palast Investigative Fund, is offering the film, The Assassination of Hugo Chavez, as a FREE download. Based on my several […]

South Americans face deadly water battles – ‘The only thing the people want is water for families, but the mining companies want to take it. And soldiers will kill if you get in the way.’

By Michael Smith12 February 2013 (Bloomberg Markets Magazine) – People streamed into the central square in Celendin, a small city in the Peruvian Andes, the morning of July 3, 2012. They were protesting the government’s support for Newmont Mining Corp.’s plan to take control of four lakes to make way for a new gold and […]

Mercury emissions increase in developing countries

United Nations, New York, 10 January 2013 (UPI) – People in developing countries are facing increasing health and environmental risks linked to exposure to mercury, a U.N. report says. Parts of Africa, Asia and South America are at risk of increasing emissions of mercury into the environment, mostly the use of the toxic element in […]

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