Climate change, ecology, nature, environment, eco-friendly politics, non-profit projects, human rights, preservation, wildlife... all that we care about.
Oceans cover over 70% of the Earth’s surface. They contain the greatest diversity and abundance of life on this planet and absorb 80% of climate change heat. So, it’s really a wonder to learn that less than 1% of that great blue ecosystem is protected.
Conservation International is doing something about that. This awesome group has [...]
Early this morning Greenpeace activists occupied a Cairn Energy exploratory oil rig in the Arctic Ocean off of the coast of Greenland.
Four Greenpeace activists, who are also expert climbers, avoided Greenland police and the Danish navy to climb the rig and suspend themselves in tents. The activists’ behavior has caused a temporary shut down of [...]
In the wake of a summer that spawned harsh heat waves and forest fires in Europe; and catastrophic floods in China, Pakistan and elsewhere in Asia, climate debate is back in the news.
Debate about the significance or even existence of anthropogenic global warming featured prominently the headlines last winter during the UN climate conference in [...]
Projected astronomic growth in transport and wind energy development during the next 20 years threaten the already imperiled Baltic sea, according to a new report by the WWF.
The report, entitled ‘Future Trends in the Baltic Sea’ warns that almost all maritime activity is projected to expand over the next two decades, which will add enormous [...]
Although the Mediterranean sea covers only one per cent of the world’s marine areas, it contains some six per cent of its marine species. Some of the world’s most endangered species, can be found in the Mediterranean. Fish stocks are down to 20 per cent of natural levels in some areas and the Mediterranean is [...]
The Loggerhead Sea Turtle is exposed to a wide array of threats throughout its life-cycle, both when
using beach areas and while at sea.
Two freshwater dolphins were recently rescued from a Bolivian river after being trapped there for months due to low water levels.
The smallish dolphins weigh between 30 and 40 kilos (66-88 pounds) each and were among a group of nine river dolphins which have been stranded in a Rio Grande tributary for over a month. The [...]
The colossal economic growth and rapid industrialization of China get a lot of media attention these days.
The Chinese collectively emit more CO2 than any nation and have recently moved into the ‘second largest economy in the world’ spot – and you can bet they won’t settle for second place for long. The developed world sweats [...]
Poor BP. After the Deepwater Horizon mishap they have been tarred by their own brush, so to speak.
But lets face it, despite BP’s exceptionally bad safety record, it’s a bad brush all around; whether you’re a pelican in the Gulf of Mexico or a person living beside Alberta’s tar sands or in the Niger River [...]
The activists at the recent Climate Camp in Scotland have stirred up controversy and debate, at least in the little corner of the media that pays attention to climate change activism.
After a day of ‘climate action’ on Monday, during which several windows were broken at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) headquarters in Edinburgh, 12 Climate [...]
Agriculture imposes a heavy and growing burden on Europe’s water resources, threatening water shortages and damage to ecosystems. To achieve sustainable water use, farmers must be given the right price incentives, advice and assistance.
Food is intrinsically bound to human well-being. Besides the importance of good food for good health and the pleasure we derive from [...]
The Greenpeace ship Esperanza is currently protesting deep sea oil drilling in the Arctic by UK firm Cairn Energy, the first company granted permission to drill in Greenland’s icy and environmentally sensitive waters.
Cairn Energy is also one of the targets of the recent Climate Camp protests in Edinburgh, where the company is based.
Greenpeace campaigner Leila [...]
Climate change activists stepped up their game and held a rash of demonstrations in Edinburgh, Scotland today.
Members of the activist group Climate Camp have been set up outside the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) global headquarters in Edinburgh since last week in order to protest the bank’s financing of the fossil fuel industry. But today [...]
The South Asian country of Bangladesh is one of the places in the world considered most vulnerable to climate change. It is also one of the poorest nations on Earth.
In Bangladesh, reducing CO2 emissions and implementing cap and trade schemes are not the issue. Already used to catastrophic flooding compounded by intense poverty, Bangladeshis are [...]
Moscow and other parts of Russia recently experienced welcome relief in the form of cool rains after a summer dominated by deadly record temperatures and wildfires.
Turkey and Greece, however, are in the midst of their own heat wave, which is resulting in forest fires causing evacuations in both countries.
Strong winds are now buffeting Turkey and [...]
In a bit of ‘News of the Weird’ meets environmental activism, a protester glued herself to a desk in the Royal Band of Scotland’s headquarters on Friday.
Hundreds of activists have been holding a Climate Camp outside of RBS headquarters, near Edinburgh Scotland in protest of the bank’s loans to fossil fuel companies, thereby facilitating climate [...]
The headline in The Ecologist, ‘Human response to climate change is making matters worse’, is a bit of a f*&#(^@ downer.
Upon reading the actual article, it doesn’t get that much better.
A recent study has researched the impacts of human response to climate change on biodiversity. The study, recently published in the journal Conservation Letters, attempts to [...]
The mismanagement of irrigation, compounded by drought and a drop in commodity prices, has spelled disaster for Australia’s most important agricultural region.
The waters of the Darling River and the massive Murray irrigate a region that produces almost half of Australia’s fresh produce. But the worst drought in over 100 years has plunged the Murray-Darling Basin [...]
In advance of a major UN meeting for the Convention on Biological Diversity, the organization’s secretary-general, Ahmed Djoghlaf, recently warned of the threats posed against the natural world – and life itself – by population growth, urbanization, agriculture and climate change.
Despite these increasing threats and an ongoing mass extinction in the natural world, which is [...]
Two months of extreme heat in Russia will end after today according to Russian meteorologists, with rains expected in nearly all regions of European Russia.
The two-month long heat wave and resulting drought have caused thousands of deaths, severe pollution, thousands of wild fires and the loss of a third of the country’s wheat crop.
From a [...]
A new study explores the relationship between tropical storms and the color of the ocean.
Areas of ocean with more chlorophyll-rich phytoplankton have a green tint. Chlorophyll prevents sunlight from penetrating deep into the ocean meaning surface temperatures remain higher. Warmer surface temperatures mean more tropical storms, such as cyclones or hurricanes.
From an AFP report:
Cold water [...]
About three weeks ago, Pakistan was hit by a natural catastrophe whose magnitude dwarfs the devastating 2005 earthquake in the country’s northern areas. In fact the number of people affected by these floods is estimated to be more than the number of people impacted by both the tsunami and the Haiti earthquake.
Floods are a part [...]
The ‘greenest government ever’ is at it again.
The UK’s coalition government headed by Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy PM Nick Clegg has been cutting a lot of green programs and departments in the name of efficiency and belt-tightening.
Now they are shelving one of their own environmental plans to regulate coal and gas power plants, [...]
The massive 160 square mile (414 sq km) ice island that broke off from Greenland’s Petermann glacier earlier this month is ‘certainly a manifestation of warming’ according to Dr. Richard Bates of the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.
Andrews, a geophysicist, is part of a British-led expedition in Greenland, which is measuring glaciers including the Petermann.
From [...]
Pakistan, China, Australia, Afghanistan, India, Colombia, Central Europe and the US state of Iowa have all recently experienced destructive, though greatly varied, levels of flooding.
According to the prime minister of Pakistan, some 20 million people have already been affected by the floods there, while the UN puts the number at 14 million. The first case [...]
From Australia to China to Pakistan to Russia and central Europe, this summer has so far been characterized by extreme weather events such as torrential rains, flooding, drought and wildfires.
In the following video report by ITN News, climate scientist Thomas R. Karl explains how the current extreme weather events across the globe are linked and [...]
While individual events like heat waves, cold snaps, floods and droughts cannot be attributed to man made climate change on an individual basis, scientists at the World Meteorological Association (WMO) say global warming exacerbates the intensity of recent extreme weather.
The floods in China, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the heat wave and resultant wild fires in Russia [...]
During a trip last month from the Portuguese capital of Lisbon to its second largest city Porto, in the north of the country, I noticed a lot of wind turbines dotting the landscape. I’m not the only one either.
The New York Times published a piece yesterday on Portugal’s green makeover. Wind, hydro, solar and wave [...]
On Saturday heavy rains fell on Gansu province in northern China, resulting in landslides which buried at least three villages.
The death toll from the mudslides has now reached 702, according to Chinese officials, with more than 1,000 people still missing.
China has been experiencing its most severe flooding in a decade – and more rain is [...]
Britain’s energy secretary Chris Huhne has lifted the ban on local authorities selling back surplus electricity into the national power grid.
The plan is to encourage local councils to generate their own renewable energy by installing solar panels and wind turbines on council owned property, including both homes and public buildings. Any extra electricity can be [...]
