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Archive for January 28th, 2016
Typhoid hits Harare, as water crisis fuels fears of new epidemics
Posted by Reuters: Jeffrey Gogo on January 28th, 2016
Reuters: Health officials in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, have detected several cases of typhoid fever in the past week, adding to fears that a water crisis will fuel the spread of infectious diseases.
The city's health director, Prosper Chonzi, said six cases of typhoid had been confirmed, with more expected to emerge.
"The conditions on the ground - frequent water cuts and poor sanitation - are conducive to a typhoid outbreak," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Last year, more than 40 people...
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Australia: Marine turtles’ nesting troubles attributed to continuing drought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 28th, 2016
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: A Cape York environmental organisation has discovered Queensland's continuing drought is causing problems for marine turtles attempting to nest on an island in the northern reaches of the Great Barrier Reef.
You would see turtles spending an hour, an hour and a half, trying to dig a chamber to lay their eggs in and just not making any progress because the sand was just too dry.
In nesting seasons gone by, up to 40 female hawksbill and green turtles per night could be seen building their nests...
Decades-long heatwaves may hit Europe as climate change bites
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 28th, 2016
New Scientist: Buckle up. Europe is in for a bumpy ride as climate change gathers pace. The continent could in future swing between climate extremes, including bursts of super-heatwaves that last for decades, according to an analysis of temperature data from the past 2000 years.
The study, which used tree ring data and other proxies for temperature, is the most detailed look at historical temperatures ever conducted for any continent.
"We now have a detailed picture of how summer temperatures have changed...
El Niño Rains In Calif Spur Growth Of Mushrooms Lethal To Pets
Posted by Nature World: Samantha Mathewson on January 28th, 2016
Nature World: El Niño is bringing more than just heavy rain: Toxic mushrooms are sprouting up in areas of California and they could be lethal for pets.
Dogs, for example, are particularly vulnerable because of the amount of time they spend playing outdoors or in forested areas. In fact, veterinarians in Marin County, just north of San Francisco, said they have had at least one dog a week come in for a mushroom-related illness.
"Dogs can get very sick. Sometimes it's just vomiting, but other times it can...
Lots Of Cities Have The Same Lead Pipes That Poisoned Flint
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 28th, 2016
Huffington Post: Just how many lead pipes are there in Flint, Michigan, where the water has been undrinkable because of high lead levels? Nobody knows.
"A lot of work is being done to even understand where the lead services lines fully are, so I would say any numbers you're hearing at this point are still speculation," Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) said Wednesday.
It's a problem that's much bigger than Flint: there are millions of lead pipes all across America, putting children at risk of stunted growth, brain...
Bernie Sanders is the only presidential candidate to oppose fracking
Posted by New Republic: Rebecca Leber on January 28th, 2016
New Republic: There isn’t much daylight these days between the Democratic candidates on the environment. Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, and Martin O’Malley all agree that humans are responsible for climate change and that it’s one of the world’s most pressing problems. To that end, they support clean energy tax breaks, reject drilling in the Arctic, and oppose the (now-rejected) Keystone XL pipeline.
But there’s one environmental issue where Sanders truly stands apart: He wants to ban hydraulic fracturing...
U.S. Shale Gas Production Could Sharply Decline in 2016, World Bank Says
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on January 28th, 2016
EcoWatch: In the wake of tumbling oil prices, an onslaught on coal and a year of geopolitical tumult, the World Bank has released its 2016 report on the outlook for the world’s commodity markets.
Carbon Brief looks at the five key takeaways for climate change and energy.
1. There’s All-Round Bad News for Coal
The report makes grim reading for coal industry executives. Coal prices are expected to continue their tumble downwards in 2016. Having fallen by more than 60 percent since 2011, prices are expected...
Two Canadian Pipeline Projects Face New Delays
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 28th, 2016
Reuters: Canada announced new interim rules on Wednesday for environmental reviews that will impose delays on two projects - TransCanada Corp's Energy East pipeline and Kinder Morgan Inc's expansion of its Trans Mountain Pipeline.
The Liberal government issued the rules on the grounds that public trust needed to be restored in the process for assessing big energy projects.
Proponents say that after U.S. President Barack Obama's denial of the Keystone XL pipeline, all-Canadian projects are needed so...
Severe Drought is Killing Crops and Livestock in Panama
Posted by Costa Rica Star: Maria M. Mur on January 28th, 2016
Costa Rica Star: A stretch of the Mensabe River near the village of Peñablanca was a popular swimming spot for Panamanian families just one year ago, but a devastating drought has changed the situation dramatically and transformed that waterway into a rocky path to nowhere. Like the Guarare and the Perales, which also are completely dry, the Mensabe is one of the major rivers in Los Santos, an agricultural province 300 kilometers (185 miles) west of Panama City that accounts for 80 percent of the nation’s corn production....
Leonardo DiCaprio meets pope to talk about environment
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 28th, 2016
Reuters: There have been 13 popes named Leo in the history of the Roman Catholic Church but perhaps none of them was as famous as the Leo who entered the Vatican on Thursday: Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio, who is known as Leo, was received by Pope Francis, the Vatican said, without giving details. But the one-line announcement was enough to send photographers and television crews scrambling to stake out the Vatican's gates to try to catch him coming out. Footage issued later from Vatican television...