How Not to Love Nature: Shove a Coal Plant Next to Earth’s Biggest Mangrove Forest
Tigers have long provided the best defense for Bangladesh’s Sundarbans National Park, the planet’s largest mangrove forest and a UNESCO World Heritage site. These days, however, environmentalists are alarmed by a more insidious threat to the park’s future: a massive 1,320-MW coal-fired power plant that’s due to be constructed just 14 km away, in the city of Rampal.
A Quest For Resilient Reefs
All the coral reefs in the world together occupy less than one percent of the ocean seafloor, a tiny area of the global ocean. Yet 25 percent all ocean species, an estimated 9 million species, are found on coral reefs. Also, coral reefs are barriers that protect coastlines from sea-level rise and storm surges. It is estimated that coral reefs provide about $375 billion to the global economy each year.
Fukushima Leaks: Radioactive Water Overflows Tank Into The Sea
Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant has a new leak of radioactive water after workers overfilled a storage tank, its operator says. Around 430 litres (100 gallons) of water may have leaked from the tank, and could have flowed into the sea.
Native Tribes’ Traditional Knowledge Can Help US Adapt to Climate Change
New England’s Native tribes, whose sustainable ways of farming, forestry, hunting and land and water management were devastated by European colonists four centuries ago, can help modern America adapt to climate change.
Australia Has A Chance To Slow Global Warming Down, But Will It Take It?
While the world digests the IPCC’s 5th assessment of our carbon emissions and changing climate, plans abound for an unprecedented coal export boom in Australia.
Dangerous Levels of Radioactivity Found at Fracking Waste Site
Scientists have for the first time found dangerous levels of radioactivity and salinity at a shale gas waste disposal site that could contaminate drinking water.
Climate Refugee From Kiribati Faces Legal Challenge In New Zealand
A man from one of the lowest-lying nations on Earth is trying to convince New Zealand judges that he’s a refugee, suffering not from persecution, but from climate change.
The Gyre Expedition: Creating Art From a Plastic Ocean
A team of scientists, artists, and filmmakers assembled for an expedition off the coast of Alaska, exploring remote beaches to assess the impact of debris washing out of the great gyres, in the Pacific Ocean. The goal: to create art from the trash they find and raise awareness about its impact on oceans and wildlife.
Eilat’s Corals Stand Better Chance of Resilience Than Other Sites
While the frequency of coral bleaching is globally increasing, no bleaching event has been observed in the Gulf of Eilat/Aqaba, even when nominally bleaching conditions prevail.