Recent Posts
4 people have been reported dead and around 50 injured due to an earthquake that struck northern Italy in the early hours of the morning.
The quake struck just 4am, just 35km (22mi) north of Bologna, at the relatively shallow depth of about 10km below the surface.
Several historical sites were damaged, including churches and a medieval castle.
From BBC News:
It was felt across a large swathe of northern Italy, including the cities of Bologna, Ferrara, Verona and Mantua and as far away...
Ready for some doom and gloom, alarmist and generally pessimistic news that will either make you want to not care at all (the current favorite option) or join the Dark Mountain Project?
Talking about the environment and pretending to be eco-friendly by wearing a ‘Kiss me, I’m Green’ button has apparently not saved the Earth from going to Hell in a proverbial hand basket. Ready for some shocking, but (honestly) to be expected, figures from the new ‘Living Planet’ report compiled...
Fishermen in Germany are blaming swimmers for peeing in a lake near Hamburg, resulting in the deaths of some 500 fish.
The fishermen contend that the large amount of phosphates contained in urine have caused large amounts of algae to grow, suffocating many fish.
Though there may be a scientific basis to the fishermen’s anti-bathers claims, Hamburg’s Urban Development and Environment Authority (BSU) contends that it’s ice skaters who are at fault.
From The Local:
The ice-skaters make a noise that wakes the fish...
A couple of months ago California’s only wild wolf went back to Oregon, leaving the Golden State effectively wolfless.
But now he’s back in Cali and the paparazzi have caught him on film.
Actually, OR7's – or as he is sometimes referred to, Journey's – photo was snapped by an employee of the California Department of Fish and Game
From the Los Angeles Times:
For the last couple of months he has wandered back and forth across the state border, most recently spending time...
A lot of people have heard about the importance of switching out Thomas Edison’s old incandescent light bulbs for energy saving bulbs such as LED or CFL. The same goes for replacing your old fossil fuel based car with one that runs on electricity. Energy efficiency and energy conservation is becoming increasingly important and people are starting to realize that everyone can contribute. In this article we are taking a closer look at something that takes up a few hours...
Species: Greater adjutant (Leptoptilos dubius)
Status: Endangered (EN)
Interesting fact: The greater adjutant is named after an adjutant (military officer) because of its stately manner and habit of standing motionless for long periods of time.
With its naked pink head, very thick yellow bill and low-hanging neck pouch, the greater adjutant is a rather eye-catching stork. Colonies of greater adjutants can be seen gathering in India and Cambodia at the start of the dry season in October. Large nests are constructed on tall...
Join Brazilian environmental and human rights organizations, along with the WWF and Greenpeace to stop Brazil’s new ‘forest code’.
Sign this petition to urge Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to veto the proposed law that would open up new areas to deforestation and provide amnesty to landowners who have previously cleared forestland illegally.
This new law could result in the destruction of an area of Amazon rainforest equivalent to the size of France and the UK put together.
Patrick Cunningham of the Indigenous People's...
Gold rushes in developing countries mean riches for a few and crumbs, death and ecocide for the poor and the environment.
But never mind all that, there’s money to be made. Gold in Peru is booming. According to Australia’s 9MSN, Gold is now Peru’s number one export, with countries like Switzerland, Canada and the US as major buyers.
The article also briefly mentions the conflicts and environmental damage caused by Peru’s goldmines without going into any detail.
Here are some details:
Gold mining is...
By Michael D. Lemonick
It’s just two weeks since a paper in Nature flagged an ominous thinning of ice shelves along parts of the Antarctic coast lying due south of the Pacific Ocean. The ice appears to be melting from below, as changing ocean currents are bringing relatively warm water to bathe the shelves’ undersides — and as the ice shelves lose mass, they also lose their ability to slow land-based ice in its slide toward the sea.
Now there’s something new...
The chairman of the UK’s environment agency, Lord Smith, has voiced public support for the controversial natural gas and petroleum technique known as hydraulic fracturing or ‘fracking’ with the argument that it will provide a secure and domestic source of energy.
Fracking was linked to minor earthquakes when shale gas extraction was tried in the area around Blackpool, England. There are also concerns about groundwater contamination, methane leaks and the industrialization of the countryside, as has been experienced in large parts...
On Sunday 12 people were killed and 129 injured in a fire at a chemical plant in eastern Thailand, reports Pakistan’s Daily Times.
Just over two years ago I posted about Thailand’s Map Ta Phut industrial port in Rayong province and the environmental pollution the Thai petrochemical hub has wrought on the local population.
This latest deadly incident at Map Ta Phut caused hundreds of residents to evacuate the area, though loud rains prevented many people from hearing the calls to leave....
The northern coast of Peru has seen the deaths of huge numbers of pelicans and dolphins in the last few weeks, prompting government warnings to stay away from certain beaches.
The Peruvian government’s health alert follows discoveries of some 1,200 dead birds (mostly pelicans) and over 800 dead dolphins. What is causing the deaths of these animals is unknown.
One possibility is that warming ocean temperatures have forced anchovies into other waters where the young birds can’t find them, meaning that the...
White-tailed Eagle is one of the largest birds of prey in the world. It weighs up to 6 kilograms, with a 2.5 metre wingspan.
"During the period 1800-1970, White-tailed Eagles in most of Europe, underwent dramatic declines, and became extinct in many regions of Western, central, and Southern Europe. While Norway, Germany, Poland, and Iceland harboured the largest surviving populations, pockets of reproducing pairs remained in several other countries" - according to Wikipedia.
The White-Tailed Eagle (Polish: Bielik, plural Bieliki) is considered...
Species: Coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae)
Status: Critically Endangered (CR)
Interesting Fact: The coelacanth is a member of an ancient lineage that has been around for over 360 million years. It may be the closest living relative to the first creature to walk on land!
The enigmatic coelacanth was believed to have gone extinct with the dinosaurs until its remarkable rediscovery in 1938. Fossils have been found all over the world except for Antarctica. Living coelacanths have been found in deep submarine caverns, reefs and...
Around the globe people have been marveling at the appearance of a perigree moon, also known as a supermoon.
The supermoon phenomenon occurs when a full Moon coincides with the closest distance the Moon comes to the Earth during its orbit. During this phenomenon the Moon can appear 14% larger and 30% brighter than normal.
Saturday night photographers around the world captured striking images of the supermoon, many with the moon behind iconic backdrops, such as the Christ the Redeemer statue in...
