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China
- 
Environmental
- 
Health
- 
Politics
- 
Air
- 
Land
- 
Water
- 
Coal
- 
Weather
- 
Science
- 
Industrial
- 
History
- 
International
- 
South
Korea - 
Japan
- 
USA
- 
California
- 
Los
Angeles - 
EU
- Sports
- 
Children
- "As
China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes."
... "No country in history has emerged as a major industrial power without
creating a legacy of environmental damage that can take decades and big
dollops of public wealth to undo." ... "But just as the speed and scale
of China’s rise as an economic power have no clear parallel in history,
so its pollution problem has shattered all precedents. Environmental degradation
is now so severe, with such stark domestic and international repercussions,
that pollution poses not only a major long-term burden on the Chinese public
but also an acute political challenge to the ruling Communist Party. And
it is not clear that China can rein in its own economic juggernaut." ...
"Public health is reeling. Pollution has made cancer China’s leading cause
of death, the Ministry of Health says. Ambient air pollution alone is blamed
for hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. Nearly 500 million people
lack access to safe drinking water." ... "Chinese cities often seem wrapped
in a toxic gray shroud. Only 1 percent of the country’s 560 million city
dwellers breathe air considered safe by the European Union. Beijing [China's
capital] is frantically searching for a magic formula, a meteorological
deus ex machina, to clear its skies for the 2008 Olympics." ... "Environmental
woes that might be considered catastrophic in some countries can seem commonplace
in China: industrial cities where people rarely see the sun; children killed
or sickened by lead poisoning or other types of local pollution; a coastline
so swamped by algal red tides that large sections of the ocean no longer
sustain marine life." ... "China is choking on its own success. The economy
is on a historic run, posting a succession of double-digit growth rates.
But the growth derives, now more than at any time in the recent past, from
a staggering expansion of heavy industry and urbanization that requires
colossal inputs of energy, almost all from coal, the most readily available,
and dirtiest, source." ... "China’s problem has become the world’s problem.
Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides spewed by China’s coal-fired power plants
fall as acid rain on Seoul, South Korea [capital], and Tokyo [Japan's capital].
Much of the particulate pollution over Los Angeles [California, USA] originates
in China, according to the Journal of Geophysical Research." (1, 2,
3,
4,
5,
6)
-By Joseph Kahn and Jim Yardley
-NYTimes
Utah
- 
Worker
- Safety
- Political
- 
Federal
- 
Law
- Coal
- Industry
- Disaster
- Earth
- Science
- "Mine's
dangers overlooked." ... "Although mine owner Robert
Murray has taken an active role in the rescue effort, his judgment all
along about the mine's safety has been questionable." ... "Crandall Canyon
is a "retreat mining" operation, in which coal pillars more than a mile
beneath the surface are removed to get the last remnants of coal, causing
the tunnel ceiling to collapse - presumably after miners have retreated
to safe ground. It is an inherently dangerous mining method. In fact, the
collapse Thursday that killed the three rescuers was a "mining-induced
settling of the mountain," according to University of Utah researchers."
... "There is plenty of legitimate criticism of the [Republican President
Bush overseen] federal Mine Safety and Health Administration for allowing
the mining to go on so long. "I'm surprised that (the mine owner) would
try to take that last section," said Robert Ferriter, a mine safety expert.
"I would've thought that would have triggered someone from MSHA to say,
'Wait a minute, let's take a look at this.' "" ... "Murray's assurances
of the tunnel's safety, for both the mining and rescue operations, proved
to be inaccurate. A controversial figure in mining, Murray has sought tax
cuts for the industry and given generously to Republican congressional
candidates, particularly those from mining states, through his company's
political action committee." -SPTimes.com
Peru
- Earthquake
- 
Peoples
- 
Homes
- Medical
- Water
- "Toll
nears 500 in Peru quake: More than 16,000 homes are
lost in the 8.0 temblor. The mayor of coastal Pisco says, 'Our city is
destroyed.'" ... "The death toll in a massive earthquake that battered
Peru's Pacific coast soared toward 500 on Thursday as rescue workers struggled
to reach scenes of devastation and stunned victims appealed for medical
aid, water and coffins." ... "Teams dug beneath the rubble in the cities
of Pisco and Ica and the nearby town of Chincha, all situated near the
epicenter of the magnitude 8.0 quake south of the capital, Lima. The damage
and casualties appeared to be concentrated in those three communities,
which also lost power and telephone service." ... ""Our city is destroyed,"
Mayor Juan Mendoza of Pisco, a port city of about 130,000 people, said,
sobbing in an interview with Peruvian news media. "The dead are scattered
by the dozens on the streets."" ... "Mendoza estimated that 70% of the
structures in his city had been leveled." (1, 2)
-By Adriana León and Patrick J. McDonnell
-LAtimes
Global
- Climate
- Earth
- 
Music
- Politics
- 
Australia
- United
States - Japan
- China
- 
South
Africa - 
Brazil
- 
Germany
- "Live
Earth Series Starts in Sydney." ... "The Live Earth
global [music] concert series kicked off Saturday with an aboriginal group
dancing and singing a traditional welcome at the first venue in Sydney
[Australia]." ... "Tribal leaders with white-painted bodies and shaking
eucalyptus fronds were the first of more than 150 performers at the eight
concert, 24-hour series to raise awareness about climate change." ... "The
performance was immediately followed by a video greeting from former [Democratic]
Vice President Al Gore, whose campaign to force global warming onto the
international political agenda inspired the event." ... "The biggest names
will appear at Live Earth concerts in London [UK] and the United States,
with more modest lineups of mostly local and regional acts in Australia,
Japan, China, South Africa, Brazil and Germany."
-AP via -Guardian.co.uk
2008
Election - Religious
- Earth
- Science
- Politics
- "Majority
of Republicans Doubt Theory of Evolution: More Americans
accept theory of creationism than evolution." ... "The majority of Republicans
in the United States do not believe the theory of evolution is true and
do not believe that humans evolved over millions of years from less advanced
forms of life. This suggests that when three Republican presidential candidates
at a May debate stated they did not believe in evolution, they were generally
in sync with the bulk of the rank-and-file Republicans whose nomination
they are seeking to obtain." ... "Independents and Democrats are more likely
than Republicans to believe in the theory of evolution. But even among
non-Republicans there appears to be a significant minority who doubt that
evolution adequately explains where humans came from." ... "The data from
several recent Gallup studies suggest that Americans' religious behavior
is highly correlated with beliefs about evolution." ... "Although many
scientists accept evolution as the best theoretical explanation for diversity
in forms of life on Earth, the issue of its validity has risen again as
an important issue in the current 2008 presidential campaign. Two recent
Republican debates have included questions to the candidates about evolution.
Three candidates -- Sam Brownback, Mike Huckabee, and Tom Tancredo -- indicated
in response to a question during the May 3 debate that they did not believe
in the theory of evolution, although they have attempted to clarify their
positions in the weeks since." -By Frank Newport
-GallupPoll.com
Earth_Day
- Environmental
- Science
- Consumer
- US
- 
Iraq
- 
Terrorism
- Fuel
- Earth
- Climate
- Ocean
- "Seeing
the Green in Earth Day: Businesses big and small
are learning that not only does environmental friendliness feel good, it
can turn a profit, too." ... "[Andrea] Wilson is the Prius-driving, tree-hugging,
vegan owner of Green Earth Office Supply, a purveyor of such items as clipboards
and three-ring binders fashioned from defective circuit boards, cafeteria
utensils made of biodegradable vegetable-based plastics, and, of course,
100 percent recycled paper goods. As fuel costs soar, environmentalists
like Wilson say, America's consumer culture will downshift and clean energy
sources will be developed." ... "Already, Wilson can see the great awakening
in her sales. Thirteen mostly lean years after the former corporate accountant
launched Green Earth from her home in the Santa Cruz Mountains, sales are
soaring -up 250 percent last quarter compared with the first quarter of
2006, and on pace to bust the $1 million-a-year mark for the first time."
... "The sentiment surrounding this year's Earth Day is palpably different,
say "green" entrepreneurs like Wilson and others working to bridge the
cross-purposes of profits and environmental protection. Concern over man-made
causes of climate change, pollution and the degradation of oceans are driving
factors, they say, while terrorism and the Iraq war grimly underscore the
pitfalls of an economy based on fossil fuels." ... "No longer just a feel-good
niche or a marketing angle, the clean-and-green movement now includes corporate
leaders targeting environment-minded consumers and renewable energy sources."
... "But [Eco Design Resources, store manager Scott] Farmer and Wilson
say consumers should be wary of companies and products that indulge in
"greenwashing." The phrase, a play on whitewashing, refers to environmental
claims rooted more in salesmanship than science. Many companies and many
products, they say, make exaggerated claims about their ecological virtues."
-By Scott Duke -MercuryNews
Julie
A MacDonald
- Science
- Politics
- Business
- Government
- Land
- Animal
- Environmental
- Law
- "Report
Faults Interior Appointee: Landowner Issues Trumped
Animal Protections, IG Says." ... "A senior [Republican President] Bush
political appointee at the Interior Department has repeatedly altered scientific
field reports to minimize protections for imperiled species and disclosed
confidential information to private groups seeking to affect policy decisions,
the department's inspector general concluded." ... "The investigator's
report on Julie A. MacDonald, deputy assistant secretary for fish and wildlife
and parks -- which was triggered by an anonymous complaint from a Fish
and Wildlife Service employee and expanded in October after a Washington
Post article about MacDonald -- said she frequently sought to reshape the
agency's scientific reports in an effort to ease the impact of agency decisions
on private landowners." ... "The IG noted that MacDonald "admitted that
her degree is in civil engineering and that she has no formal educational
background in natural sciences" but repeatedly instructed Fish and Wildlife
scientists to change their recommendations on identifying "critical habitats,"
despite her lack of expertise." -By Juliet Eilperin
-WashingtonPost
James
Inhofe - 
Al
Gore - Music
- 
Entertainment
- Global
- Climate
- Science
- Politics
- Environmental
- Legislation
-
- Earth_Day
- History
- US
- 
Okla
Global
- Climate
- Science
- Earth
- Ecosystem
- History
- "Cold,
Hard Facts." ... "My research colleagues and I found
that from 1986 to 2000, one small, ice-free area of the Antarctic mainland
had actually cooled. Our report also analyzed temperatures for the mainland
in such a way as to remove the influence of the peninsula warming and found
that, from 1966 to 2000, more of the continent had cooled than had warmed.
Our summary statement pointed out how the cooling trend posed challenges
to models of Antarctic climate and ecosystem change." ... "Newspaper and
television reports focused on this part of the paper. And many news and
opinion writers linked our study with another bit of polar research published
that month, in Science, showing that part of Antarctica’s ice sheet had
been thickening — and erroneously concluded that the earth was not warming
at all. “Scientific findings run counter to theory of global warming,”
said a headline on an editorial in The San Diego Union-Tribune. One conservative
commentator wrote, “It’s ironic that two studies suggesting that a new
Ice Age may be under way may end the global warming debate.”" ... "In a
rebuttal in The Providence Journal, in Rhode Island, the lead author of
the Science paper and I explained that our studies offered no evidence
that the earth was cooling. But the misinterpretation had already become
legend, and in the four and half years since, it has only grown." ... "In
the meantime, I would like to remove my name from the list of scientists
who dispute global warming. I know my coauthors would as well." -By
Peter Doran ["Peter Doran is an associate professor of earth and environmental
sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago."]
-NYTimes
Global
- Industry
- Climate
- Disaster
- Politics
- Earth
- Environment
- Entertainment
- 
UN
- Seattle
- 
Washington
- "Does
Gore overheat global warming?" ... "Al Gore's documentary,
"An Inconvenient Truth," continues to trigger heated discussions about
global warming, as well as Mr. Gore's political ambitions, real or imagined."
... "But how close to the mark is his representation of the science tying
humanity's industrial activity to changing climate aka anthropogenic global
warming?" ... "In short, say several climate researchers, he basically
gets it right, although one can question some aspects of the presentation."
... ""I worry that the movie is a little heavy on disaster scenarios,"
says David Battisti, professor of atmospheric science at the University
of Washington in Seattle and director of the university's Earth Initiative.
Over the course of the coming century, he says, average conditions are
likely to change in ways that should prompt action now; it doesn't require
extreme examples to make the point." ... "After viewing the film, he says,
his impression is that nothing in it "misstated the science in a qualitative
way."" ... "Indeed, his colleague Eric Stieg, also with the University
of Washington, has noted that the film includes research that is only a
few months old and clearly relevant to the discussion - research that won't
appear in the next UN summary of climate science, slated for release early
next year. The newest studies were too late to be included in the next
UN summary, which is published about every six years and widely cited in
public debates." -By Peter N. Spotts -CSMonitor
Indonesia
- Earthquake
- Homeless
- 
Food
- U.N.
- "Trickle
Of Aid Reaches Quake Survivors: Death Toll Tops 5,400;
About 200,000 People Made Homeless In Indonesia." ... "A trickle of aid
began reaching survivors of the Indonesian earthquake that killed more
than 5,400 over the weekend, but desperate villagers said the meager deliveries
were not enough." ... ""We have 300 families in this village and have only
gotten two sacks of rice," said Lastri, 27, begging beneath the blazing
sun, a 5-month-old baby in her arms. "It's not enough."" ... "More aid
was on the way — a U.N. World Food Program was scheduled to arrive near
the quake zone on Java island on Tuesday with high-energy biscuits and
blankets, tents and generators, and U.N. trucks traveled roads lined with
increasingly desperate children, women and elderly seeking handouts."
-AP via
-CBSNews
James
Inhofe - Corporate
- Government
- Environmental
- Science
- Politics
- Okla
- US
- Global
- Planet
- Climate
- Air
- Legislation
- "Senator
Inhofe's Climate Of Confrontation." ... "The Reverend
Richard Cizik is an evangelical Christian and a die-hard Reaganite. So
he was surprised that a closed-door meeting called late last year by conservative
[Oklahoma Republican] Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla. [Republican-Oklahoma])
was all about Cizik's evil deeds. Inhofe called Cizik, government affairs
chief at the National Association of Evangelicals, a liberal wolf in sheep's
clothing. "I sat there with my mouth open," recalls a meeting participant."
... "Cizik's sin? He believes that climate change is a growing problem,
and that Christians have a duty to protect the planet by cutting emissions
of greenhouse gases. In contrast, Inhofe, the chairman of the Senate Environment
& Public Works Committee, has famously derided global warming as a
"hoax." He has been on the offensive against those he considers heretics.
That has left business in doubt about the regulatory environment." ...
"Seeking Tax Records:" ... "Last year, Inhofe demanded six years
of tax and membership records from two groups of state and local air-pollution
control officials after they testified that his proposed clean air legislation
was too weak. On [February] Feb. 7, the day before evangelicals kicked
off a campaign for carbon controls, Inhofe sent a preemptive letter to
senators asserting "there is, in fact, no movement in that direction" among
evangelicals. Now he is requesting information on all employees and projects
at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Inhofe is "using the power
of government and the power of office to threaten," says Donald Kennedy,
editor-in-chief of Science." - By John Carey
-BusinessWeek
Pakistan
- Earthquake
- Disaster
- 
Flying
- "Pakistan
Earthquake Aid Flights Interrupted by Winter Storms."
... "Winter storms in Pakistan's mountainous Kashmir region forced relief
organizations to interrupt helicopter flights bringing aid to more than
3 million people left homeless by last month's earthquake." ... "Flights
carrying supplies to villages above 1,500 meters (5,000 feet) were suspended
over two days beginning on Nov. 26, the International Organization for
Migration said in an e-mailed statement late yesterday from Pakistan's
capital, Islamabad. More bad weather is forecast for the rest of this week,
it said." -By Khalid Qayum and Paul Tighe -Bloomberg
Global
- Earth
- Weather
- Environment
- Science- People
- "A
cautionary picture of water supplies as Earth warms:
New studies forecast declines for rivers in the US and elsewhere." ...
"Mountain snows and alpine glaciers represent key reservoirs of fresh water
for some 1.6 billion people worldwide. In 50 years, however, a warming
planet is likely to disrupt many of these sources, leaving millions of
people scrambling for additional supplies." ... "While conservation, additional
reservoirs, and repairs to leaky water mains can help blunt the effects
of these changes, efforts to adapt to shrinking snowpacks and vanishing
glaciers are expected to require other changes in farming techniques, industrial
practices, and lifestyles." ... "That's the warning a team of US scientists
is issuing after reviewing field measurements and modeling studies that
deal with the impact of global warming on alpine environments. Combined
with a second, independent look at stream flows in key parts of the world,
the studies are helping scientists fill in a picture of future freshwater
supplies as the planet warms. (Both studies appear Thursday in the journal
Nature.)" -By Peter N. Spotts -CSMonitor
Pakistan
- People
- Earthquake
- History
- Homes
- "Pakistan
seeks more medical aid as quake toll rises." ...
"Pakistan appealed for antibiotics and painkillers on Tuesday as it raised
the toll from last month's devasting earthquake to 57,597 killed and nearly
79,000 injured." ... "The updated figures from Pakistan Federal Relief
Commission brought the total official toll from the disaster to nearly
59,000 -- including 1,309 confirmed deaths and 6,622 injuries on on the
Indian side of the devasted Kashmir region." ... "At 7.6 magnitude, the
quake was the strongest to hit the South Asian region in 100 years. It
destroyed huge numbers of houses and left more than three million people
homeless or in need of emergency shelter with a brutal winter just weeks
away." -By Robert Birsel with contributions by David
Brunnstrom -Reuters
via -AlertNet.org/Newsdesk
Pakistan
- Earthquake
- Weather
- US
- 
Military
- "Worsening
weather threatens more misery for Pakistan quake survivors."
... "The U.S. military promised to keep flying helicopter relief missions
to help survivors of Pakistan's worst earthquake through the harsh winter,
as a bleak weather forecast for Tuesday loomed over hundreds of thousands
of people living without shelter." ... "With the brutal Himalayan winter
approaching, the relief effort is rushing to deliver tents, food and medicine
to victims of the Oct. 8 quake before villages are cut off by snow and
helicopter-grounding fog." (1, 2)
-By Zarar Khan -AP
via -Canada.com
Pakistan
- Earthquake
- Disaster
- UN
- "Pakistan
quake toll could double without swift help." ...
"More people could die of hunger, cold and injuries in the wake of Pakistan's
earthquake than during it unless rich countries meeting in Geneva come
up with more money fast, a top U.N. aid official said on Wednesday." ...
""The disaster is looming large. We have thousands and thousands of very
vulnerable people," U.N. chief aid coordinator Rashid Khalikov said hours
before 65 nations were due to meet at the United Nations in Geneva to talk
about how to help." ... ""This disaster may have the number of people who
died after the disaster bigger than those killed by the earthquake," he
said outside his tent office in the destroyed Pakistani Kashmir capital
of Muzzafarabad." (1, 2)
-By Robert Birsel -Reuters
UN
- Pakistan
- Earthquake
- People
- Health
- "U.N.:
Berlin-Type Airlift Needed in Asia." ... "The top
U.N. relief coordinator warned Thursday that bold initiatives like the
Berlin Airlift are needed to save as many as 3 million people left homeless
by the South Asian earthquake as winter approaches in the Himalayas." ...
"The World Health Organization, meanwhile, reported three quake survivors
died of tetanus, reinforcing fears that disease and infected injuries could
drive the 79,000 death toll far higher." ... "Jan Egeland, the U.N. relief
coordinator, appealed to NATO and other potential donors to step in with
an army of helicopters to fly in relief supplies and evacuate perhaps hundreds
of thousands of people." -By Munir Ahmad
-AP via -SFGate.com
Pakistan
- Earthquake
- Disaster
- "Number
of dead in Pakistan over 79,000." ... "A series of
fresh landslides have been triggered by two strong aftershocks from south
Asia's earthquake, inflicting more damage on the already hard-hit cities
of Balakot and Muzaffarabad in northern Pakistan." ... "The 5.8-magnitude
aftershock struck 129 kilometres north of Islamabad, near the epicentre
of the first earthquake, and was strong enough to be felt in the capital."
... "It was followed less than an hour later by another strong tremor measuring
5.6." ... "But the suffering continues and now officials, using figures
from local governments and hospital sources, are projecting the number
of dead from the disaster at over 79,000."
-CBC.ca
Pakistan
- Earthquake
- Parents
- People
- 
School
- Psychology
- "Grim
future for young quake survivors: Schoolchildren
learn to cope with losing classmates." ... "Imagine being the only child
in class to survive after friends and teachers were all buried beneath
the rubble." ... "This is the scenario now facing young student Mohammad
Waseem after his school in Muzaffarabad [Pakistani-controlled Kashmir]
was destroyed by the South Asia earthquake." ... "Children were among the
hardest hit by the disaster since many were in school when the magnitude
7.6 tremor struck." -By Matthew Chance
-AP -CNN
Pakistan
- Earthquake
- Disaster
- Homes- UN
- Food
- "Aid
still failing to reach most of Pakistan's 4m earthquake survivors."
... "Humanitarian aid has reached only a small proportion of the 4m people
whose homes have been destroyed or damaged by the devastating earthquake
that struck Pakistan four days ago, according to a disaster assessment
by UN officials." ... ""This is a huge catastrophe and the more we see
the worse it's getting," said Andrew Macleod, a member of the UN's disaster
assessment team, yesterday. "It's no criticism of Pakistan to say that
it's only a small proportion of the affected population that has received
any aid, and that there are areas that may not for some time."" ... "The
UN yesterday appealed for $272m (€225m, £150m) to support its
efforts for six months, of which $62.5m would be spent on shelter and non-food
items and $50m on food. It said strong aftershocks had left survivors afraid
to go back inside damaged houses and many preferring to sleep in fields."
-By Jo Johnson and Farhan Bokhari
-FT.com
Pakistan
- 
India
- Earthquake
- Disaster
- "Disease
threat for quake zone: Top U.S. diplomat will visit
Pakistan." ... "Weather is hampering relief efforts to survivors of the
deadliest quake in South Asia for a century, as health experts warn the
Himalayan region could become a fertile breeding ground for disease." ...
"Millions of people remain homeless in the mountainous areas of northern
Pakistan and India following the quake, which is estimated to have claimed
more than 41,000 people." ... "As Wednesday arrived, new threats loomed
for the people left without shelter following the quake; international
health experts warned of potential disease threats from the devastated
public sanitation systems." -With contributions by
Andrew Stevens, Satinder Bindra, Matthew Chance, Ram Ramgopal, Becky Anderson,
Syed Mohsin Naqvi, John Raedler, Mukhtar Ahmed, Tom Coghlan and
-AP -CNN
Pakistan
- India
- Earthquake
- Disaster
- "Food
arrives as toll tops 42,000." ... "The death toll
from the massive South Asia earthquake soared above 42,000 as the first
trickle of humanitarian aid began to flow into the region, authorities
said." ... "Meanwhile, 120 metric tons of ready-to-eat food arrived Tuesday,
enough to feed 240,000 people for five days, a World Food Programme spokesman
told CNN." ... "Another 80 million metric tons of food aid is in the pipeline,
Amjad Jamal said." ... "But he acknowledged the need was great and said
appeals were being made to the international community for additional donations
of food, supplies and money." ... "Even with many far-flung areas still
not reached, the death toll has hit 41,000 in Pakistan alone, with another
1,239 dead in India and one reported death in Afghanistan, officials have
said." -By Andrew Stevens, Satinder Bindra, Matthew
Chance, Ram Ramgopal, Syed Mohsin Naqvi and John Raedler with contributions
by Mukhtar Ahmed and Tom Coghlan -CNN
Pakistan
- India
- Earthquake
- People
- Military
- "Quake
relief fights tough terrain: The Asian temblor is
being described as the worst disaster in Pakistan's history." ... "Relief
workers and military officials on both sides of the border in the Himalayan
region of Kashmir struggled to reach hundreds of villages cut off by the
worst earthquake to hit this region in a century. Estimates of the death
toll ranged Monday between 20,000 and 30,000. Relief agencies have put
out a massive appeal for food, tents, and medicines for an estimated 2.5
million people who are thought to be homeless - a number similar in scope
to the Indian Ocean tsunami." ... "Just as Americans voiced anger at the
slow response of emergency relief agencies in the wake of hurricane Katrina,
many Kashmiris in both the Indian and Pakistani portions of the divided
territory decried what they called a slow emergency response." ... "The
earthquake of Oct. 8 could be a crucial test of both the military-dominated
government of President Pervez Musharraf, as well as renewed peace efforts
between India and Pakistan, who both claim the quake-ravaged state of Kashmir."
-By Scott Baldauf and Laura Winter with contributions
by Anuj Chopra -CSMonitor
-
-
- "Aceh
rebels begin giving up guns: Separatist rebels in
the Indonesian region of Aceh have begun handing over their weapons in
a crucial stage of a peace process with the government." ... "The Free
Aceh Movement (Gam) fighters are due to give up a quarter of their weaponry
at four undisclosed locations across the province this week." ... "In return,
Indonesia will withdraw about 6,000 combat troops." ... "Aceh bore the
brunt of the Indian Ocean tsunami and the disaster prompted the two sides
to return to talks." ... "In the wake of the tsunami, which killed 130,000
people locally, the rebels and the government both made compromises which
would have been unthinkable before."-BBC
/News
-
-
-
-
- "Thousands
flee from typhoon Nabi: Floods, landslides paralyze
southern Japan." ... "A powerful typhoon pummelled southwestern Japan with
torrential rain and high winds on Tuesday, causing floods and landslides,
paralysing transport and prompting officials to tell more than 100,000
people to flee their homes." ... "The typhoon, named Nabi, meaning "butterfly"
in Korean, was moving north at 30 km an hour (19 mph) but was forecast
to swing east and beat a path up the Japan Sea coast, bringing rain and
strong winds to western Japan and parts of South Korea before hitting the
northernmost main Japanese island of Hokkaido." ... "More than 1,300 mm
(51 inches) of rain had fallen in some parts of Kyushu in 24 hours, public
broadcaster NHK said." -Reuters
via -CNN
-
-
- "Typhoon
death toll in China at least 95." ... "The toll from
last week's Typhoon Talim has risen to at least 95 dead on the Chinese
mainland, with an additional 30 people missing, the government said Monday."
... "At least 59 deaths occurred in Anhui, a poor inland province where
thousands of houses were destroyed by flooding and landslides, the official
Xinhua News Agency and state television reported."
-AP via -MercuryNews
-
- "Borehole
reaches fault's active zone: San Andreas probe could
reveal how to predict quakes." ... "Scientists drilling into the San Andreas
fault to catch earthquakes right in the act of starting reported Wednesday
they have finally penetrated the fault's active zone, a region two miles
deep where clusters of tiny quakes continually rattle the earth underground."
... "The successful borehole marks a major milestone in an effort to understand
how quakes originate, how they grow into violent temblors that can rupture
the surface for miles, and whether scientists might learn to predict them,
said William Ellsworth, chief of the Earthquake Hazards Team at the U.S.
Geological Survey in Menlo Park." -David Perlman
-SFGate.com
-
-
- "7.0
quake shakes up [California's] North Coast: Crescent
City residents flee after tsunami warning." ... "A 7.0 magnitude earthquake
rocked the ocean floor Tuesday night about 90 miles southwest of Crescent
City, sparking a short-lived tsunami warning across Northern California's
coast and prompting a partial evacuation of the coastal town." ... "It
had been 18 years since Crescent City had activated the municipal alarm.
They have one especially for tsunamis because 11 people were killed there
in 1964 when the Alaska tsunami hit. It was the only fatal tidal wave in
California's history." -By Stacy Finz, Leslie Fulbright,
and Jaxon Van Derbeken with contributions by Demian Bulwa
-SFGate.com
-
-
- Homes
- "Landslide
destroys 17 homes: 1,000 flee California neighborhood."
... "Houses cracked, telephone poles snapped and streets buckled as a landslide
sent homes sliding down a hill in Laguna Beach [California] before dawn
Wednesday, leaving large homes dangling in the air." ... "The landslide
destroyed 17 homes in a neighborhood of multimillion-dollar dwellings.
Another 11 were damaged, authorities said." ... "Streets had buckled onto
themselves, manholes had risen into the shape of volcanoes and telephone
poles were toppled." ... "Geologists say the Bluebird Canyon landslide
was made more likely by last winter's near-record rains that have taken
months to saturate deeper into the soil and bedrock." -By
Mai Tran, William Lobdell and Christine Hanley with contributions by John
Spano, Daryl Strickland and Don Kelsen
-LAtimes via
-ChicagoTribune
Kansas
- Tennessee
-
-
- Religion
-
- "Evolution
on trial in Kansas." ... "Evolution is going on trial
in Kansas." ... "Eighty years after a famed courtroom battle in Tennessee
pitted religious beliefs about the origins of life against the theories
of British scientist Charles Darwin, Kansas is holding its own hearings
on what school children should be taught about how life on Earth began."
... "The Kansas Board of Education has scheduled six days of courtroom-style
hearings to begin Thursday in Topeka [Kansas]. More than two dozen witnesses
will give testimony and be subject to cross-examination, with the majority
expected to argue against teaching evolution."
-Reuters via -CNN
-
-
- 
- -
"Experts:
New Data Show Global Warming." ... "Climate scientists
armed with new data from deep in the ocean and far into space have found
that Earth is absorbing much more heat than it is giving off, a conclusion
they say validates projections of global warming." ... "Lead scientist
James Hansen, a prominent NASA climatologist, described the findings on
the planet's out-of-balance energy exchange as a "smoking gun" that should
dispel doubts about forecasts of climate change. A European climate expert
called it a valuable contribution to climate research." ... "Hansen's team,
reporting Thursday in the journal Science, said they also determined that
global temperatures will rise 1 degree Fahrenheit this century even if
greenhouse gases are capped tomorrow." -By Charles
J. Hanley -WashingtonPost
Earth_Day
-
- Earth_Day
- "On
Earth Day, environmentalists debate future of movement."
... "As the world marks the 35th anniversary of Earth Day on Friday, environmentalists
are debating the future of a movement that seems to be losing the battle
for public opinion." ... "President Bush's re-election, the failure to
slow global warming and the fact that large numbers of Americans seem to
dismiss them as tree-hugging extremists has green leaders looking for new
approaches." ... "Some think it's a message problem — that environmental
groups simply need to improve their communication with the voting public.
Others are calling for more fundamental changes in how the groups operate."
-By Terence Chea -AP
via -SFGate.com
-
-
-
- Earth_Day
- "Earth Day:
The environmental movement's midlife crisis." ... "As Earth Day turns 35
Friday, the environmental movement is in the throes of a midlife identity
crisis. In despair over the Republican victories in the November election
and riven by internal tensions, activists are certain of neither their
strategies nor their audience. What are environmentalism's major growing
pains, and how can its troops avoid committing movement suicide?" ... "The
first Earth Day in 1970 didn't necessarily constitute the "birth of the
modern environmental movement," as Earth Day Network, an awareness-promoting
group, likes
to claim. When the inaugural event took place, many key laws, like
the National Environmental
Policy Act, had already been passed. Still, the national teach-in that
took place on April 22, 1970, drew 20 million Americans into the parks
and streets. The action that day helped kick off a decade in which Congress
established the Environmental Protection Agency and, along with the states,
passed wide-ranging environmental and public-health legislation." -By
Paul Sabin -Slate
- 
-
- Earth_Day
- "Earth
Day challenge: e-waste: Activists target electronic
devices." ... "When Earth Day dawned in 1970, environmentalists predicted
emerging technologies would help reduce reliance on coal, oil, insecticides,
and other pollutants. But 35 years later, a big part of the problem appears
to be technology itself." ... "Tons of computers, monitors, television
sets, and other electronic gizmos that contain hazardous chemicals, or
''e-waste," may be poisoning people and ground water. Activists say" -AP
via -Boston/Globe
Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Animals
- Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment
- "Human
damage to Earth worsening fast-report." ... "Humans
are damaging the planet at an unprecedented rate and raising risks of abrupt
collapses in nature that could spur disease, deforestation or "dead zones"
in the seas, an international report said on Wednesday." ... "The study,
by 1,360 experts in 95 nations, said a rising human population had polluted
or over-exploited two thirds of the ecological systems on which life depends,
ranging from clean air to fresh water, in the past 50 years." ... "Ten
to 30 percent of mammal, bird and amphibian species were already threatened
with extinction, according to the assessment, the biggest review of the
planet's life support systems." -By Alister Doyle
-Reuters
via -AlertNet.org
/Newsdesk
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Food
- Animals
- Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment
- "U.N.
Study: Earth's Health Deteriorating: U.N. Study Warns
Growing Populations, Economic Activity Have Strained the Earth's Ecosystems."
... "Unless nations adopt more eco-friendly policies, increased human demands
for food, clean water and fuels could speed the disappearance of forests,
fish and fresh water reserves and lead to more frequent disease outbreaks
over the next 50 years, it warned." (1, 2)
-By Catherine McAloon with contributions by Kenji
Hall -AP via
-ABCNEWS.com
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Food
- Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment
- "Study
highlights global decline." ... "The most comprehensive
survey ever into the state of the planet concludes that human activities
threaten the Earth's ability to sustain future generations." ... "The report
says the way society obtains its resources has caused irreversible changes
that are degrading the natural processes that support life on Earth." ...
"This will compromise efforts to address hunger, poverty and improve healthcare."
... "The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment was drawn up by 1,300 researchers
from 95 nations over a period of four years." ... "It reports that humans
have changed most ecosystems beyond recognition in a dramatically short
space of time." ... "The way society has sourced its food, fresh water,
timber, fibre and fuel over the past 50 years has seriously degraded the
environment, the assessment (MA) concludes." -By Jonathan
Amos -BBC
/News
-
-
-
- Animals
- Food
- Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment
- "World
ecosystems in danger, UN warns." ... "The world's
sources of fish and fresh water are so rundown that they can no longer
sustain current or future demands, according to a first international report
card on the world's environment published today." -By
Lydia Adetunji -FT.com
-
-
-
-
- Animals
- Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment
- "Report
on Global Ecosystems Calls for Radical Changes: Earth's
Sustainability Is Not Guaranteed Unless Action Is Taken to Protect Resources,
Experts Say." ... "Many of the world's ecosystems are in danger and might
not support future generations unless radical measures are implemented
to protect and revive them, according to the most comprehensive analysis
ever conducted of how the world's oceans, dry lands, forests and species
interact and depend on one another." ... "The new report collates research
from many specific locales to create the first global snapshot of ecosystems.
More than 1,300 authors from 95 countries participated in the Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment, whose results are being made public today by the
United Nations and by several private and public organizations." -By
Shankar Vedantam-WashingtonPost
- "Quake
kills at least 300 on Indonesian island: Vice president
says up to 2,000 could be dead." ... "A major earthquake struck off the
west coast of Indonesia late Monday, killing hundreds, but fears of another
tsunami like those that devastated the region in late December have faded."
... "On Indonesia's Nias Island at least 300 people died and hundreds more
were reported injured or trapped, said government spokesman Agus Mendrova."
... "But international news agencies are reporting that between 1,000 and
2,000 people may have been killed on Nias Island."
-CNN
-
- "Lethal
quake rattles tsunami zone: A massive earthquake
off the coast of Indonesia has killed hundreds of people and triggered
tsunami alerts around the Indian Ocean." ... "The 8.7 magnitude quake struck
just before midnight, destroying buildings on the Sumatra island of Nias."
... "Thousands of people fled their homes in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand,
India and Sri Lanka - areas still recovering from the deadly tsunami in
December." ... "But three hours after the quake, tsunami alerts were scaled
down." -BBC
/News
- "Powerful
earthquake hits off coast of southern Japan." ...
"A powerful magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck off the coast of southern Japan
on Sunday, killing one person and injuring at least 381 others, damaging
buildings and jolting residents with a series of strong aftershocks." ...
"The temblor, which hit west of Kyushu Island at 10:53 a.m. local time,
was centered at an unusually shallow depth of 5.5 miles below the ocean
floor, the Japanese Meteorological Agency said."
-AP via -USATODAY
-
- Water
- "How
to prepare a planet for global warming: Convinced
the phenomenon is inevitable, some scientists now focus on coping with
it." ... "One group, led by Gerald Meehl at NCAR [National Center for Atmospheric
Research], used two state-of-the-art climate models to explore what could
happen if the world had held atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases
steady since 2000." ... "The results: Even if the world had slammed on
the brakes five years ago, global average temperatures would rise by about
1 degree Fahrenheit by the end of the 21st century. Sea levels would rise
by another 4 inches over 20th-century increases, just from expansion of
the warming water. Rising sea-levels would continue well beyond 2100, even
without adding water from melting glaciers and ice sheets. The rise highlights
the oceans' enormous capacity to absorb heat and its slow reaction to changes
in atmospheric conditions." -By Peter N. Spotts -CSMonitor
-
-Water
- "Climate
Models Reveal Inevitability of Global Warming." ...
"How to best curb greenhouse gas emissions is a hotly debated topic. But
new research suggests that putting the brakes on greenhouse gas levels
is not enough to slow down climate change because the ocean responds so
slowly to perturbations. The study results, published today in the journal
Science,
indicate that even if greenhouse gas levels had stabilized five years ago,
global temperatures would still increase by about half a degree by the
end of the century and sea level would rise some 11 centimeters." -By
Sarah Graham -ScientificAmerican
- 
-
-
- "How
Did Humans First Alter Global Climate? A bold new
hypothesis suggests that our ancestors' farming practices kicked off global
warming thousands of years before we started burning coal and driving cars."
... "New evidence suggests that concentrations of CO2 started rising about
8,000 years ago, even though natural trends indicate they should have been
dropping. Some 3,000 years later the same thing happened to methane, another
heat-trapping gas. The consequences of these surprising rises have been
profound. Without them, current temperatures in northern parts of North
America and Europe would be cooler by three to four degrees Celsius--enough
to make agriculture difficult. In addition, an incipient ice age--marked
by the appearance of small ice caps--would probably have begun several
thousand years ago in parts of northeastern Canada. Instead the earth's
climate has remained relatively warm and stable in recent millennia." -By
William F. Ruddiman -March
2005 -Ed. -ScientificAmerican
- "St.
Helens lava dome intact, despite eruption." ... "No
lava emerged during the 10 minute venting of ash and steam, and compared
to the spectacular May 18, 1980 eruption, Tuesday's event was "small potatoes
compared to 1980," said hydrologist John Major of the U.S. Geological
Survey on Wednesday morning." ... "Monitoring equipment noted an increase
in the number of quakes two or three hours before the blast at 5:25 p.m.
[Tuesday], but scientists didn't think that was unusual because they had
seen the same kinds of readings in recent months." ... "A 2.0 magnitude
quake registered on the east side of the 8,364-foot volcano, said Bill
Steele, coordinator of the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network in Seattle."
... "Geologists have said there is little chance of anything like the massive
explosion that removed the top 1,243 feet of the mountain in 1980." -By
Abe Estimada -kgw.com
- "Up
to 400 killed in Iran earthquake." ... "A strong
earthquake has hit southeast Iran, killing almost 400 people, injuring
hundreds and destroying villages, a local official has told Reuters." ...
"Tuesday's quake, which measured 6.4 on the Richter scale, was centred
on the town of Zarand in Kerman province, about 700 km (440 miles) southeast
of Tehran." -Reuters
via -FT.com
- "Powerful
quake pounds central Iran; at least 175 killed."
... "A powerful earthquake shook central Iran on Tuesday, destroying villages,
cutting power to the area, killing at least 175 people and injuring more
than 330, state-run television reported." -AP
via -USATODAY
Richard
Pombo
- Government
- Animal
- Land
- Law
- Politics
- California
- "Profile:
Rep. Richard Pombo." ... "Congressman [Richard Pombo,
California Republican] finds fault with federal environmental rules." ...
"He chairs the House Resources Committee, which drafts many of the nation's
most important environmental laws and oversees 700 million acres of public
land. The budgets of the Forest Service, the National Park Service and
other land management agencies must be vetted by his panel. In Washington,
he's as powerful a player on environmental issues as the Interior Secretary
or the Environmental Protection Agency administrator." ... "Last week,
his committee began the first of several hearings on proposed changes to
the Endangered Species Act. For the last 12 years, Pombo has been on a
mission to rewrite the law, which he argues saves few species and tramples
on the rights of farmers, ranchers and other landowners." ... "Pombo's
selection as Resources Committee chairman last year frightened the nation's
largest environmental groups, which have long clashed with the congressman.
Now those groups are gearing up to challenge Pombo and block his effort
to rewrite the Endangered Species Act." ... ""He doesn't believe in the
Endangered Species Act," said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra
Club. "He doesn't believe we should protect our wildlife heritage."" -By
Zachary Coile -SFGate.com
-
-
- "Pushing
the limits of 'public use'." ... "Rene Corie installs
drapes in Florida mansions. Her husband, David, builds the mansions' gates."
... "Eight years ago, the working-class couple finally found some waterfront
real estate they could afford: a two-bedroom house for $70,000 in Riviera
Beach, a poor town near the wealthy enclaves of Palm Beach and Jupiter."
... "But Riviera Beach now wants to bulldoze the Cories' home and 2,200
others to make way for one of the nation's grandest redevelopment plans:
a collection of high-rise condos, bigger homes and upscale shops. The city
plans to use eminent domain — its power to confiscate private property
for projects that benefit the public — to take the homes of 5,100 people
if the residents do not agree to move." -By Dennis
Cauchon -USATODAY
- "Iran
quake relief effort shifts focus to plight of survivors."
... "Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, and President Mohammad
Khatami yesterday visited Bam, the south-eastern city devastated by an
earthquake on Friday." ... "A spokesman for the provincial government said
that more than 21,000 bodies had been recovered and that "many, many more
people" were still buried." ... "President Khatami said the tragedy was
so deep that relief aid could not hope to meet "the demands of the victims"."
-By Mohsen Asgari and Gareth Smyth
-FT.com
- "Iran
asks 'Why are our earthquakes so deadly?'" ... "Poor
design, primitive materials and widely ignored building codes were prime
causes of the high death rate in the Bam earthquake, Iranian officials
and foreign experts said on Tuesday." ... "In stark contrast to a tremor
of similar strength last week in California that killed just two people,
the toll in Friday's Iranian quake could reach about 50,000." ... "Iran's
building codes have been tightened after quakes in recent decades killed
tens of thousands. But officials and independent scientists say enforcement
is woefully inadequate." -By Erik Kirschbaum
-Reuters via -AlertNet.org/Newsdesk
- "Iran
quake toll may hit 50,000." ... "The death toll in
Iran's earthquake could jump to 50,000, officials say, as relief workers
plead for more aid for survivors of one of the deadliest natural disasters
of modern times." ... ""If we consider that, on average, five people lived
in each house we can say the death toll will reach 50,000," a senior Interior
Ministry official said on Tuesday, sharply raising the projected tally
from the nearly 30,000 already buried." ... "Aid agencies say around 100,000
people are homeless and are appealing for warm clothing and blankets."
-By Edmund Blair and Parisa Hafezi
-Reuters via -Reuters.co.uk
-
- 
- "Satellite
knocked out by solar flare; more disruptions expected."
... "Another spectacular eruption on the surface of the Sun sent charged
particles hurling toward Earth today, and scientists said the cloud could
significantly disrupt communications on Earth and may even hamper firefighting
efforts in California." ... "The explosion of gas and charged particles
into space from the corona, the outermost layer of the sun's atmosphere,
isn't harmful to people. But it can knock out satellite communications,
which some emergency crews are relying on in battling California's wildfires."
-By Joseph B. Verrengia
-AP via -StarTribune.com
- "Turkey
Quake Kills 100, Traps Students: Powerful Earthquake
in Turkey Kills 100, Traps Scores of Students Under Collapsed School."
... "Rescuers dug frantically in the rubble of a middle-school dormitory
Thursday, hunting for more than 100 children believed trapped after a powerful
earthquake rumbled through southeastern Turkey. At least 100 people were
killed and 1,000 injured, officials said." ... "The magnitude-6.4 quake
struck at 3:27 a.m. and was centered just outside Bingol, 430 miles east
of Ankara, the Kandilli seismology center in Istanbul said."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
- "Magnitude-5.4
quake shakes wide swath of Southern California."
... "A sharp magnitude-5.4 earthquake shook a wide swath of Southern California
today and was felt from downtown Los Angeles east to Riverside and south
to San Diego, but there were no immediate reports of injury or structural
damage." ... "The quake struck at 4:19 a.m. and was centered about 3 miles
north of Big Bear City, a mountain resort town about 90 miles east of downtown
Los Angeles, according to the Southern California Seismic Network."
-AP via -MercuryNews-BayArea
