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Growing threat to Amazon’s crucial carbon sink
Growing threat to Amazon’s crucial carbon sink Massive new study shows that pressures on the Amazon rainforest mean it can no longer be relied on to soak up more CO2 from the atmosphere than it puts out. LONDON, 19 March, 2015 − The Amazon rainforest, for so long one of the vital “green lungs” of the planet, […]
Adjusting the Fifth to a Finite Planet, Part II
Adjusting the Fifth to a Finite Planet, Part II Editor’s Note: This is the second piece of a two-part post. You can read Part 1 here. Among the avenues by which Takings case law could be adapted to the reality of a finite planet are these three: One: Change the default by changing the definition of […]
Lessons from São Paulo’s Water Shortage
Lessons from São Paulo’s Water Shortage It’s getting harder and harder to separate nature’s role in disasters from our own, and the dire water predicament confronting São Paulo, Brazil, is no exception. But as with the ongoing drought in California, there are important lessons from São Paulo’s grim situation that can help us prepare for the […]
Is China Exporting Its Pollution?
Is China Exporting Its Pollution? China is in the midst of a historic transformation, and the surprising progress the country has made at energy efficiency has raised hopes that the world may get a grip on global greenhouse gas emissions much sooner than expected. As a result of the progress China is making in cleaning […]
How agriculture grew on us
How agriculture grew on us The Neolithic revolution was neither Neolithic, nor a revolution. — Colin Tudge Human beings of the race that calls itself Homo sapiens lived in relative equality, in small foraging bands all its existence from the time they emerged about 200,000 years ago. Then, around 30,000 years ago, during a bit more clement […]
Tomgram: Michael Klare, Is Big Oil Finally Entering a Climate Change World?
Tomgram: Michael Klare, Is Big Oil Finally Entering a Climate Change World? Welcome to the asylum! I’m talking, of course, about this country, or rather the world Big Oil spent big bucks creating.You know, the one in which the obvious — climate change — is doubted and denied, and in which the new Republican Congress is actively […]
California has about one year of water left. Will you ration now?
California has about one year of water left. Will you ration now? Given the historic low temperatures and snowfalls that pummeled the eastern U.S. this winter, it might be easy to overlook how devastating California’s winter was as well. As our “wet” season draws to a close, it is clear that the paltry rain and […]
Texas: From Shale Boom To Water Revolution
Texas: From Shale Boom To Water Revolution Texas is famous the world over for two things on a massive scale: oil and droughts. Now the slick but dry state is becoming famous for water: that precious element that both resolves the drought problem and also makes it possible to pump more oil out of the […]
On the River Nile, a Move to Avert a Conflict Over Water
On the River Nile, a Move to Avert a Conflict Over Water Ethiopia’s plans to build Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam on the Nile have sparked tensions with Egypt, which depends on the river to irrigate its arid land. But after years of tensions, an international agreement to share the Nile’s waters may be in sight. For […]
Fracking Firm IGas Refuses Further Investigation into Possible Site Contamination
Fracking Firm IGas Refuses Further Investigation into Possible Site Contamination An environmental expert has been stopped by fracking firm IGas and landowners Peel Holdings from further investigating possible chemical contamination at the company’s Barton Moss drilling plant, the Manchester Magistrates Court heard recently. Dr Aiden Foley of EGG Consultants presented a report to the court showing “dangerously high” levels of contamination near […]
In Global Food War, Monsanto Trips Over Mexican Judge
In Global Food War, Monsanto Trips Over Mexican Judge The global food wars are heating up. As I reported last September, Mexico is on the frontline of one of the most important global battles – the battle for the control and ownership of seed stocks. In 2013 a collective of 53 scientists and 22 civil rights […]
Not A Drop To Drink: The American Water Crisis [INFOGRAPHIC]
Not A Drop To Drink: The American Water Crisis [INFOGRAPHIC] Almost a year ago, we had talked about how we are potentially on the path to global Peak Water. Today’s infographic elaborates more on the problem on a national basis in the United States. Right now, the average American consumes about 100 gallons of water per […]
Greenpeace Calls on Information Commissioner to Repair ‘Transparency Travesty’ and Publish Full Fracking Report
Greenpeace Calls on Information Commissioner to Repair ‘Transparency Travesty’ and Publish Full Fracking Report Greenpeace has appealed to the UK’s transparency watchdog over the government’s repeated refusal to publish an unredacted version of its Shale Gas Rural Economy Impacts report. The environmental NGO has asked the Information Commissioner’s Office to force the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) […]
Mark Carney defends Bank of England over climate change study
Mark Carney defends Bank of England over climate change study Governor hits back at Nigel Lawson’s description of research into effects of global warming on insurance industry as ‘green claptrap’ Climate change is one of the biggest risks facing the insurance industry, the governor of the Bank of England has said after a former Conservative chancellor dismissed […]
