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Archive for August 29th, 2011
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...
Posted in 
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....
ALERT UPDATE! Tell President Obama Tar Sands Pipeline Approval Will Alienate Green Base, Warrant Return of His Nobel Peace Prize
Posted by Water Conservation Blog on August 29th, 2011
By ClimateArk, a project of Ecological Internet
TAKE ACTION HERE NOW!
The struggle over the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline [search] which would run over 1,500 miles from Alberta, Canada to Texas, extending the reach of Canada's filthy and addictive tar sands trade far into the United States is shaping up to be an epic political battle. When Alberta, Canada's tar sands are fully developed, along with its vast proposed pipeline network, the planet will be pushed into abrupt and runaway climate change. Ongoing environmental protest in Washington DC to stop the tar sands pipeline was decimated this past Friday by Obama's State Department approval of the pipeline. On tar sands and fracking in particular, President Obama has abandoned his green base, meaning after an early retirement he will have time to earn that Nobel Prize. Barring Obamas final rejection of tar sands pipelines, a decision that is his to make, it should be returned immediately.
Picture of the day: activists rally at White House against tar sands pipeline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 29th, 2011
Mongabay: A two week long civil action is taking place in front of the White House in an attempt to convince the Obama Administration to turn down the Keystone Pipeline XL, which would bring oil from Alberta's tar sands to the US market. Protestors are opposed to the pipeline for a number of reasons, including potential oil spills. However, the main reason is that the tar sands carry a bigger carbon burden than conventional oil, exacerbating the global climate crisis. Many environmentalists have come to see...
Irene floods northeast, Manhattan spared the worst
Posted by Reuters: Edith Honan and Clare Baldwin on August 29th, 2011
Reuters: Hurricane Irene swept through Manhattan on Sunday but reserved the worst of its fury for towns and suburbs up and down the northeastern United States where driving rain and flood tides inundated homes and cut power to millions.
On its march up the East Coast over the weekend, the storm killed at least 20 people, left some 5 million homes and businesses without electricity, caused widespread flooding and downed thousands of trees. Suburban New Jersey and rural Vermont were hit particularly hard....