Ecosystems

Global Rise Reported in 2013 Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Sat, 2014-09-20 18:00 — Norea

A mask guarded against Shanghai haze last year. China’s economy was a factor in below-average global emissions growth. Credit Eugene Hoshiko/Associated Press By JUSTIN GILLIS - SEPT 21, 2014 - nytimes.com

Global emissions of greenhouse gases jumped 2.3 percent in 2013 to record levels, scientists reported Sunday, in the latest indication that the world remains far off track in its efforts to control global warming.

The emissions growth last year was a bit slower than the average growth rate of 2.5 percent over the past decade, and much of the dip was caused by an economic slowdown in China, which is the world’s single largest source of emissions. It may take an additional year or two to know if China has turned a corner toward slower emissions growth, or if the runaway pace of recent years will resume.

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Fracking Waste Disposal Fuels Opposition in U.S. and Abroad

Tue, 2014-09-09 09:43 — Norea

In England, the government approved the injection of a million and a half gallons of potentially radioactive water under the North Moors National Park. Photo credit: Spinwatch Anastasia Pantsios | August 14, 2014 11:50 am

Spinwatch’s Andy Rowell reports:

The commercial success of the Ebberston Moor field depends on Third Energy being allowed to re-inject the potentially radioactive water that is produced with the gas back into what is known as the Sherwood Sandstone formation, which overlies the limestone where the gas will be extracted from. The sandstone lies 1400 metres below the ground. Notes of a meeting between Third Energy and the regulator involved, the Environment Agency, disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), reveals that “the success of the Ebberston Moor Field is dependent on the disposal of [produced] water to the Sherman Sandstone.”

http://ecowatch.com/2014/08/14/fracking-waste-disposal-opposition/2/

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Ebola Also Devastates Wild Ape Population

Thu, 2014-08-14 22:45 — Norea

Steve Baragona - August 13, 2014 9:03 AM

One day in 1996, boys from a village in northern Gabon brought home a chimpanzee they found dead in the forest. The villagers butchered it for food.

That act set off an Ebola outbreak that killed 21 people, according to the World Health Organization.

Years later, on a reporting trip in Gabon, author David Quammen met two men from the village who were there during the outbreak.

At the time Ebola was ravaging their village and their families, they noticed something strange. In the forest nearby, 13 gorillas lay dead.

http://www.voanews.com/content/ebola-also-devastates-wild-ape-population/2411749.html

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Understanding the Connections Between Coastal Waters and Ocean Ecosystem Services and Human Health

Sun, 2014-06-15 18:35 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Cheryl Stroud

nap.edu - Institute of Medicine. Understanding the Connections Between Coastal Waters and Ocean Ecosystem Services and Human Health: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2014.

Authors

Rose Marie Martinez and Erin Rusch, Rapporteurs; Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine; Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice (BPH); Institute of Medicine (IOM)

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Emily Penn - Pangaea Exploration - Apple - Apps We Can't Live Without

Thu, 2014-06-12 18:19 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Emily Penn - Pangaea Exploration - featured in the latest Apple commercial - (in the link below - starting at 1:11)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBSU9KaCYP4&feature=youtu.be&t=1m11s

About Us - Pangaea Exploration

Mission

We believe that the depth, complexity and sheer inertia of the threats to our oceans is significant. Practical solutions and the resources to implement them do still exist. The central challenge is our collective will to act, to care. We also believe that our ultimate success depends on a future generation of inspired conservationists.

We have a two part mission

1. To actively strengthen the health of marine life through Exploration, Conservation and Education work.

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Big Facts: Climate Impacts on People

Thu, 2014-03-27 20:22 — Kathy Gilbeaux

ccafs.cgiar.org - by Simon Bager - March 26, 2014

Millions of people around the world already struggle to achieve food security and climate change is set to make those challenges even harder. It is perhaps humanity’s most pressing challenge, as we seek to nourish more than nine billion people by 2050.

(CLICK HERE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND INFOGRAPHICS)

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Video - Dr. Michael D. McDonald | Public-Private Partnerships in Aid - USAID

Mon, 2014-02-17 16:53 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Click on the video above, or CLICK HERE to view Dr. McDonald's suggestion - at the 40:30 mark.

wilsoncenter.org - February 14, 2014

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SCUBA divers call for a ban on shark finning in a 30-second public service announcement

Wed, 2013-10-16 11:07 — admin

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Tons of poisoned fish clog river in China's Hubei province

Mon, 2013-09-16 13:44 — gl

Dead fish being cleared from the Fuhe River. Stringer/AFP/Gettyimages

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Harvesting the Biosphere: What We Have Taken From Nature - Book Review by Bill Gates

Thu, 2013-08-01 12:45 — Kathy Gilbeaux

thegatesnotes.com

BOOK REVIEW

How Much of This Do We Use Up Every Year?

Written by: BILL GATES

. . . I mean everything that can be consumed on
Earth: plants, animals, all of it. And by "we" of
course I mean people.

It's such a big question that many people wouldn't even know where to start.

But if you care about understanding the impact that humans are having on the Earth, and what that means for our future, it's a crucial question. Vaclav Smil sets out to answer it in his book Harvesting the Biosphere: What We Have Taken From Nature.

(READ COMPLETE BOOK REVIEW)

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