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Archive for October 20th, 2015
In Canada, Surprise Win for Justin Trudeau
Posted by New York Times: Ian Austen on October 20th, 2015
New York Times: The nine-year reign of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party came to a sudden and stunning end on Monday night at the hands of Justin Trudeau, the young leader of the Liberal Party, according to projections by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and other networks. Starting with a sweep of the Atlantic provinces, the Liberals went on to capture 191 of the 338 seats in the next House of Commons. The upset victory occurred 47 years after Mr. Trudeau’s father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau,...
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Researchers project long-term effects of climate change, deforestation on Himalayan mountain basins
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 20th, 2015
ScienceDaily: As part of an multi-disciplinary study, a team of Baylor researchers found that climatic changes, an increase in agricultural land use and population growth in the Himalaya Mountain basins could have negative impacts on water availability, further stressing a region plagued by natural disasters and food insecurity. The study--"Projected hydrologic changes in monsoon-dominated Himalaya Mountain basins with changing climate and deforestation"--is published in the Journal of Hydrology. Using a sophisticated...
Fossils reveal humans were greater threat than climate change to Caribbean wildlife
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 20th, 2015
ScienceDaily: Nearly 100 fossil species pulled from a flooded cave in the Bahamas reveal a true story of persistence against all odds -- at least until the time humans stepped foot on the islands.
University of Florida researchers say the discovery, detailed in a study appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows many human activities pose a threat to the future of island biodiversity, with modern human-driven climate change not necessarily the most alarming. A new $375,000 National...
Australia: Mine operator ‘was warned’ not to burn off before starting Kakadu bushfire
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 20th, 2015
Guardian: A mining company defied warnings from the authorities and went ahead with a controlled burn in Kakadu national park, which then got out of control, the Northern Territory fire service has said.
A federal investigation is currently underway into a bushfire which burned through 200 sq km of the Kakadu national park and threatened heritage-listed and culturally significant sites.
The fire began on the Ranger project site on 1 October. The operators of the Ranger uranium mine, Energy Resources...
Trouble ahead for the Mekong Delta
Posted by BBC: Navin Singh Khadka on October 20th, 2015
BBC: Lush greenery in the lower Mekong region sprawls as far as the eye can see, an illustration of just how fertile the delta is. The endless green fields scored by the river's nine tributaries, which the Vietnamese call "Nine Dragons", explain why this area is one of the world's major food baskets. It houses the richest inland fishery and accounts for more than a fifth of the world's rice exports, although looks can be deceptive. Encroaching sea water from the south, a proliferation of hydro dams...