By Steve Rintoul, CSIRO | Staff, SPX via Terra Daily. Australian and US scientists have found a 60% reduction in the amount of Antarctic Bottom Water off the coast of Antarctica since 1970. This is worrying because the sinking of dense water around Antarctica is part of a global pattern of ocean currents that strongly influences climate.
Continue reading →Interview of Angus Wright with Robert Jensen, Common Dreams | By Chris Edgar and Burl Carraway, Texas Forest Service. Half a billion trees scattered across Texas USA have died from the unrelenting 2011 drought. Angus Wright comments: “I don’t see enough people having sufficient awareness, understanding, and determination to bring about the major changes we need.”
Continue reading →By Staff, with reporting by Milagros Salazar (Lima), Emilio Godoy (Mexico City) and Alice Marcondes (São Paulo), Tierramerica. Environmental innovation projects to obtain clean gold, fuel, and water demonstrate the capacity of Latin American researchers to develop virtuous circles.
Continue reading →By Fabíola Ortiz, IPS. Brazilian mining giant Vale was named the Worst Company in the World by the Public Eye Awards in January 2012. A multinational report accuses the company of 15 worker deaths between 2010 and 2012, and massive emissions of greenhouse gases and particulate matter into the atmosphere. (English | Spanish)
Continue reading →PRESS RELEASE, UT Austin Institute for Geophysics. A study of nearly 40 years of satellite imagery has revealed that the floating ice shelves of a critical portion of West Antarctica are steadily losing their grip on adjacent bay walls, amplifying an already accelerating loss of ice to the sea.
Continue reading →By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. An article by Paul Durak and colleagues in the Journal Science represents yet more confirmation that the effects of global warming are stronger than anticipated from scientific models. An intensification of water evaporation and precipitation over the Earth implies severe consequences for living things, including famines, floods, droughts, and general climate instability.
Continue reading →By Robert Sanders, UC Berkeley Press Release | CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research | Haiti Chery. Scientists from the U.S., Australia and New Zealand have discovered that a steep rise in atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O) since the mid-1970’s is due to the increased use of industrial fertilizers. Nitrous oxide damages the UV-protective ozone layer in the stratosphere and contributes to climate change as a potent greenhouse gas that causes global warming.
Continue reading →By Ben Block, Worldwatch Institute | Andrew Kalinchuk, Green Home Authority | You Tube | Haiti Chery. Grassroots campaigns, often inspired by the expanding movement to buy locally produced food, are leading United States municipalities to allow limited numbers of hens within city limits.
Continue reading →By Andrew Nikiforuk, The Tyee. Hydraulic fracturing was identified by the U.S. as an earthquake trigger as early as 1990, and scientists have long known that injection of fluid where the Earth’s crust lies closest to faults and fractures can cause earthquakes.
Continue reading →Interview of Jane Goodall with Bret Love, Green Global Travel | Trailer for “Jane’s Journey,” YouTube. Jane Goodall retired from her studies as a primatologist 20 years ago and has since worked as a full-time activist. Her Institute’s TACARE microlending program promotes environmentally sustainable projects. Her Roots and Shoots program motivates children.
Continue reading →By Ellen Cantarow, Tom Dispatch. “This is what my kids are made of. They are made of water. They are made of the food that is grown in the county that I live in. And they are made of air…. And when you poison these things, you poison us.” – Sandra Steingraber
Continue reading →By Jay Kimball, 8020 Vision. Producing a barrel of oil consumes more and more energy. As we approach an EROI of 1:1 (in other words, consuming 1 barrel of oil to produce 1 barrel of oil) it’s game over.
Continue reading →By Lynn Herrmann, Digital Journal. According to a study by scientists at Cornell University, compared to conventional oil, gas, or coal, the shale gas from hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has a greater impact on climate change because of a bigger greenhouse effect due to release of high levels of methane.
Continue reading →Staff, British Columbia Women’s Institute Josh Fox, You Tube. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is looking increasingly like a technology that will have to be left alone, not only because it pollutes the atmosphere and water, but also because the high-pressure injection of waste water from this process is thought to allow ancient faults to slip, leading to earthquakes.
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