Japan Earthquake Sparks Tsunami Scare
A 7.3-magnitude quake has struck off Japan’s eastern coast, triggering a small tsunami and sparking evacuations. A one-metre wave hit Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture and many people heeded calls to move to higher ground before all alerts were later lifted.
South Korea Drops Plans To Resume Whaling
South Korea has dropped plans to resume whaling in its coastal waters amid a storm of international criticism, and will instead use non-lethal methods to conduct research into the mammals.
Dispatches From Doha: “The Lack Of Urgency Is Disquieting”
It’s midway through the final week of the UN COP 18 Climate Negotiations, yet there’s an eerie calm in the sprawling conference hall. What’s happening inside the conference center stands in stark contrast to what we’re witnessing outside.
Liberia: Bans Beach Sand Mining
The Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy (LME) has announced that it would be closing all beaches throughout the country from sand mining.
Arctic Continues To break Records In 2012
The Arctic region continued to break records in 2012, among them the loss of summer sea ice, spring snow cover, and melting of the Greenland ice sheet. This was true even though air temperatures in the Arctic were unremarkable relative to the last decade, according to a new report released today.
Tell the BLM: Don’t Frack California
California still has zero regulation to protect our health and water from dangerous fracking, but that’s not stopping the Bureau of Land Management from auctioning off almost 18,000 acres of land for oil drilling and fracking next week.
Typhoon Bopha hits storm-battered southern Philippines
On Dec. 5, 2012, Bopha crossed over Palawan and entered the South China Sea after crossing over the southern Philippines’ Mindanao region, leaving death and destruction in its wake.
Gulf Oil Spill: Oil-Dispersing Chemicals Had Little Effect On Oil Surfacing
As the Deepwater Horizon incident unfolded, in an effort to prevent the oil from coming to the surface and reaching coastal and marsh ecosystems, chemical dispersants were injected at the wellhead. A new study is the first to examine the effects of the use of unprecedented quantities of dispersants, over such a prolonged period of time in the deep ocean.
Mercury Pollution In Oceans And Coastal Waters, A Study
A scientific report identifies the most important drivers of mercury pollution to different oceans and coastal waters, which can help policymakers understand the links between environmental processes, methylmercury levels in marine ecosystems, human exposure, and health effects, all of which being critical to the discussion of how local, regional and global mercury pollution affects the world’s supply of seafood.