This is the most important news you’ll read this week. Forget about whatever happened in this weekend’s elections in Greece, Egypts or France. Economies may crash but can recover with time. It’s not the case with the environment. To Nature : ” the global ecosystem as a whole can react in the same way and …
This is historical : carbon dioxide concentration has reached in several places over the arctic a concentration of 400 parts per million. This doesn’t seem to be much, but pre-industrial levels were of 280 ppm. As you might remember, the safe level is considered by the scientific community to be at 350 ppm. CO2 concentration …
We have seen in 2010 with the catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico that offshore oil exploitation could lead to dramatic pollutions. Now, we are learning the hard way that offshore natural gas exploitation can be foolhardy. As The Guardian noted : ” Oil giant Total has confirmed that a major gas leak on one …
Offshore natural gas exploitation isn’t safe either Read More »
I had written about this very topic last month. To the New York Times green blog : ” A new scientific paper suggests that the ocean is acidifying at a rate that is many times faster than at any time in the past 300 million years. “ ” The change is occurring so rapidly that it raises …
Ocean acidification at its highest in million years Read More »
If climate change, rising sea levels and the threats to global peace and food production weren’t enough to you, here is another reason to fight carbon dioxide : ocean acidification. To Mongabay : ” Emissions of carbon over the last two centuries have raised the acidity of the oceans to the highest levels in 21,000 …
Another reason to fight CO2 : ocean acidification Read More »
Here is something we never heard about before. To the Associated Press : ” Environmentalists estimate at least 1 percent of Russia’s annual oil production, or 5 million tons, is spilled every year. That is equivalent to one Deepwater Horizon-scale leak about every two months. Crumbling infrastructure and a harsh climate combine to spell disaster …
I noted last year that Amazon deforestation was at its lowest. Well it decreased again. To Grist : ” a study on deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon found that the number of square kilometers disappearing each year has hit a record low. “ However, these good news might be only temporary. Originally Grist was mentioning …
Amazon deforestation at its lowest. Can this last ? Read More »
Yes, you read that right : twelve (12!) billion trees have been planted within the UNEP Billion Tree Campaign. The landmark was reached in November in Kenya. (Was it an homage to Wangari Maathai ?) To the official website : ” China is the leading participating country, having planted a total of 2.8 billion trees under …
To the WWF : “ It’s possible to reduce deforestation to near zero by 2020, but delaying action to save forests by even a decade means double the area of forests lost by 2030 “ ” The report finds that reducing deforestation to near zero would also bring global emissions from forest destruction close to …
Stopping deforestation by 2020 is nearly possible Read More »
To the Guardian : ” Nationwide, cancer rates have surged since the 1990s to become the nation’s biggest killer. In 2007, the disease was responsible for one in five deaths, up 80% since the start of economic reforms 30 years earlier. ” While the government insists it is cleaning up pollution far faster than other …
