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Archive for August, 2011
United Kingdom: The flow of history
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 29th, 2011
Telegraph: One hundred years ago, the River Wandle in south London, a tributary of the Thames, was reputedly the most polluted waterway in the world. On its banks were situated William Morris's dye factories and the water was not so much fouled, as poisoned. Today, the Wandle, in common with many rivers around the country, has recovered to the point where brown trout can be fished from what is now once again a swift flowing chalk stream. It features on a list published today of the country's most improved waterways,...
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Tar Sands Pipeline Passes Key Hurdle as Protests Continue
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 29th, 2011
Yale Environment 360: A controversial 1,711-mile pipeline that would link Canada’s tar sands to refineries in Texas and the Gulf Coast has passed a critical hurdle, even as environmental advocates continue to demonstrate outside theWhite House in opposition to the project. While the project must still must pass several key steps, State Department officials said Friday that the owners of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, TransCanada, had agreed to take steps to minimize the risks of spill, and many expect the Obama administration...
President Obama, Look Out Your Window!
Posted by Huffington Post: Michael Kieschnick on August 29th, 2011
Huffington Post: I run a mobile telephone company, and expect to be arrested in Washington today just outside your window representing my customers' view on global warming. Seriously! Your administration is soon to make a pivotal climate change decision on the Keystone pipeline bringing tar sands oil from Canada, and the few available hints indicate that you are going to get it disastrously wrong. To help you and your advisors focus on this choice, I am going to join with many others and hold a big sign in front...
Shooting the messenger
Posted by Miami Herald: Andrew Dessler on August 29th, 2011
Miami Herald: Texas Gov. Rick Perry stirred up controversy on the campaign trail recently when he dismissed the problem of climate change and accused scientists of basically making up the problem. As a born-and-bred Texan, it's especially disturbing to hear this now, when our state is getting absolutely hammered by heat and drought. I've got to wonder how any resident of Texas - and particularly the governor who not so long ago was asking us to pray for rain - can be so cavalier about climate change. As a climate...
Mass extinctions linked to climate change are already underway
Posted by Environmental Health News: None Given on August 29th, 2011
Environmental Health News: Maclean, IMD and RJ Wilson, 2011. Recent ecological responses to climate change support predictions of high extinction risk. Proceedings of the National Association of Sciences http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1017352108.
New evidence confirms what scientists have long suspected: that climate change is already having major effects on many of the world's species.
Researchers report for the first time that the documented species responses -- migration to a higher or cooler climate or changes in...
Australia: Mental illness linked to climate change: report
Posted by Radio Australia: None Given on August 29th, 2011
Radio Australia: A new report draws a direct link between inaction on climate change and long-term social and mental health problems.
The study by Australia's Climate Institute, titled "A Climate of Suffering", points to increased depression, anxiety, substance abuse, suicide and self harm in the wake of recent natural disasters in Australia.
The report also warns that catastrophic weather events are creating anxiety and insecurity for children.
HICKIE: In a lot of acute situations and crises, communities...
Australia: Climate change hits mental health
Posted by Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Michael Condon on August 29th, 2011
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: A study out today has found that climate change is impacting negatively on mental health in the bush.
The report found that, during the recent drought, serious mental health episodes like self-harm and suicide increased by 8 per cent.
John Connor, CEO of the Climate Institute, says the bulk of scientists believe we'll see more extreme weather events.
"It's a risk management issue, dealing with the consequences and trying to avoid the worst impacts of climate change," he said.
"The evidence...
Overall impact of climate change would be negative: Swaminathan
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 29th, 2011
Times of India: Climate change will adversely affect the impact of pests, diseases and weeds. In addition the quality of grains and nutrient-use ability may be seriously affected. While some crops may benefit from the increase in carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere, overall impact will be negative. The views were expressed by father of India's green revolution Prof MS Swaminathan on Sunday. Swaminathan was inaugurating the symposium on climate change and geo-hydrology at Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleobotany...
An Amazonian battle
Posted by Financial Times: Joe Leahy on August 29th, 2011
Financial Times: You cannot miss the spot where the two Amazon activists were murdered. Three months ago, José Claudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife, Maria, were on their motorbike, trying to navigate a dilapidated bridge on a remote track outside the town of Nova Ipixuna in Brazil’s Pará state, when gunmen opened fire on them from the rainforest. A bullet went through Maria’s hand as she held her husband’s waist. The killers cut off one of Claudio’s ears as proof of their handiwork. Today, a plaque marking the...
Hurricane Politics
Posted by Daily Beast: Bill McKibben on August 29th, 2011
Daily Beast: As Hurricane Irene bore down on the East Coast, I was standing outside the White House with hundreds of others protesting. For seven days we staged daily sit-ins and were hauled away to the police station. I spent two nights at Central Cell Block in D.C. (which is precisely as much fun as it sounds) for the crime of standing on the sidewalk protesting the Keystone Pipeline, which will connect the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf of Mexico--and in the process spew carbon into the atmosphere....