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Archive for March 6th, 2015
China erases ‘inconvenient truth’ film on pollution
Posted by Telegraph: Tom Phillips on March 6th, 2015
Telegraph: Chinese censors brought the curtains down on a viral documentary about the country’s pollution crisis on Friday after it was watched by more than 200 million people and sparked widespread criticism of the government.
Under the Dome, a film by celebrity journalist Chai Jing about the human cost of China’s smog-choked skies, was released on the internet last Saturday and proved an instant hit.
Environmentalists compared the documentary, which initially appeared to have Beijing’s backing, to Al...
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UN calls for investment in disaster resilience as costs reach $300bn per year
Posted by Blue and Green: Charlotte Malone on March 6th, 2015
Blue and Green: The UN is calling on countries to increase investment in risk reduction strategies after it revealed in a report that the cost of disasters worldwide has reached an average of $250 billion (£164) to $300 billion (£197bn) every year.
The Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction has been published ahead of a conference on disaster reduction taking place in Sendai, Japan, between the 14 and 18 March.
The UN argues that climate change is already increasing the risk of disasters, from...
India: Ecologically disastrous dams may get the go-ahead
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 6th, 2015
Guardian: In mid-February, the ministry of environment and forests virtually approved six hydropower dams. This is the latest in an 18-month-long debate on the ecological impact of dams in Uttarakhand.
In June 2013, floods severely damaged parts of the state. About 6,000 people died, and tens of thousands of pilgrims were stranded. The disaster destroyed six villages, buried dozens of others in silt, and wrecked highways.
Within days of the disaster, environmentalists and villagers alleged dams aggravated...
Chinese city shuts factories as environmental law bites
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 6th, 2015
Reuters: An industrial city in eastern China has closed several factories, including many steel and nickel pig iron producers, in an apparent sign the government is stepping up enforcement of a new environmental law in the face of growing public discontent over pollution.
Premier Li Keqiang told the annual session of the National People's Congress, or parliament, on Thursday his government would do everything it could to fight pollution.
China's vast and energy-intensive steel sector is at the heart...
NSW government suggests entire village be relocated Rio Tinto coalmine
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 6th, 2015
Guardian: The relocation of the entire village of Bulga due to the expansion of a nearby coalmine should be given “serious consideration”, according to a New South Wales government review.
The NSW Planning Assessment Commission, an independent statutory body, recommended on Thursday that Rio Tinto’s controversial Mount Thorley-Warkworth mine extension should go ahead.
The PAC’s report, however, found that the expansion would have a “range of adverse impacts” upon the nearby village of Bulga, home to...
How climate change contributed to Syria’s civil war
Posted by MPR: None Given on March 6th, 2015
MPR: A new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Science draws a connection between climate change and the civil war in Syria.
A devastating drought in the region from 2007 to 2010 forced a mass migration to the cities. That dramatic social change fomented a rebel movement and government backlash that has killed more than 200,000 people since 2011, according to the United Nations.
The Pentagon has listed climate change as a national security thread since 2010. Last...