Natural disasters are a major killer -- far more major than "terrorism" or whatever we are typically told is our primary threat (deaths by car accidents and diseases by far outnumber all of those combined). Some natural disasters, like those caused by tectonic plates [1], are hard to avert except by improving response to them (e.g. better alarming, construction, and rescue teams). Others, to which humans contribute, can be avoided or at least their impact mitigated. We are ignoring warning signs [2,3] because our politicians (actually, corporations' politicians) ignore those latter risks and new forms of natural disasters are now in the making, promising to poison our water supply [4,5] in exchange for energy when far better energy sources are known to be viable [6] even if they are a bit more expensive in the short term [7]. The problem is that a PR campaign, coordinated by major polluters, has contributed to a bogus, manufactured consensus among the population (including politicians) [8,9] and groups which seek to use cleaner energy sources are being demonised or even banned/marginalised [10].
Should fossil fuel use continue on its current trajectory, the future for life on planet Earth is bleak.
Activists agree we must fight the Keystone XL pipeline in the US, but also chip away at the political power of the fossil fuel industry
The Smithsonian is reporting that scientists from Duke University have found high levels of radium, as well as chloride and bromide in
The New York Times had a report yesterday (9/18/13) on a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on methane releases associated with natural gas fracking. The study, Times reporter Michael Wines writes, "bolsters the contention by advocates of fracking–and some environmental groups as well–that shale gas is cleaner and better than coal, at least until more renewable-energy sources are developed."
Each issue of TerraJoule.us contains: a Main Essay, a Model Portfolio, a Data Brief, and a link to a Downloadable Podcast. Gregor Macdonald, Editor.
When 259 authors from 39 countries examine hundreds of scientific papers and arrive at a consensus, perhaps it’s worth listening.
But in Canada, at any rate, about 30 per cent of the population remains convinced that climate change isn’t happening – or, if it is, that it’s caused by natural events, sunspots or just about anything other than human activity, notably burning fossil fuels.
The process started when I heard on World Service radio a gentleman from the International Panel on Climate Change discussing their latest report. As you know, I tend to accept the established opinion on climate change, and rather take the view that if all our industrial activity were not affecting the atmosphere, that would be strange.
Russia is casting around for legal measures it can use against Greenpeace.
Wednesday's court appearance comes after three MPs from the far-right party are freed pending trial.
The first student-run foodbank in Britain is opening in Manchester.
Manchester Central Foodbank, which is based at the University of Manchester Roman Catholic Chaplaincy, is an initiative from the students.
It grew out of a mobile soup kitchen also operated by students, who found growing food poverty among people who had just become homeless.