Environment / 5 posts found
Satellite eye on Earth: September 2017 – in pictures
Algal blooms, hurricanes and volcano fields are among the images captured by Nasa and the ESA last month A potentially harmful algal bloom covered more than 700 square miles in the western basin of Lake Erie in late September, turning the lake bright green and alarming residents and local officials. Blooms tend to thrive in Lake Erie during summer, sustained by warm water temperatures and nutrients from farm runoff. This year, the bloom had been ongoing since mid-July. Photograph: MODIS/Terra/NASA Autumnal leaves across the north-eastern United States. Conifers, which are evergreen, dominate the northern forests but patches of yellows and […]
Land grab in Amazon jungle threatens dispossession, violence and murder
President Temer is courting the mining companies and their political backers by breaking into pristine rainforest On 23 August it emerged that the president of Brazil, Michel Temer, had issued a decree abolishing the protected status of an immense area of the corruption charges and needing political allies. There are more than 30 registered political parties in Brazil, and to get anything done in Congress they form bancadas (benches or coalitions). One of the most powerful is the bancada ruralista, consisting of powerful, wealthy agribusiness interests (mostly cattle and soya) together with those who represent mining and other extractive industries. […]
Catholic church to make record divestment from fossil fuels
More than 40 Catholic institutions will make largest ever faith-based divestment, on the anniversary of the death of St Francis of Assisi More than 40 Catholic institutions are to announce the largest ever faith-based divestment from fossil fuels, on the anniversary of the death of St Francis of Assisi. The sum involved has not been disclosed but the volume of divesting groups is four times higher than a visit by the Italian prime minister, Paolo Gentiloni, to mark St Franciss feast day. Assisis mayor, Stefania Proietti a former climate mitigation professor told the Guardian: When we pay attention to the […]
10 Maps That Will Change How You View The World
Maps are one of those things you can lose yourself in for hours. Since their humble origins as scribbles in the sandthousands of millennia ago, maps have beenuseful companions during the development of human culture and society. Now,in an age of seemingly endlessinformation, maps are more abundant, advanced and fascinating than ever before. Here aresome of the most interesting maps we could find;hopefully, they willleave you looking at our little “pale blue dot” with a fresh perspective. Goode Homolosine Projection Image credit: Strebe/Wikimedia Commons The most common form of map, known as the Mercator map, is actually surprisingly inaccurate. Yep, […]
Lima’s time bomb: how mudslides threaten the world’s great ‘self-built’ city
Evangelina Chamorro became a symbol of hope after she survived being swept two miles in a mudslide but her story reveals the citys shaky foundations The extraordinary video of a Peruvian woman coated in mud emerging from a brown sea of pallets and wooden poles was viewed around the world. Evangelina Chamorro, who had been feeding her pigs when she was swept for two miles downhill in a huge mudslide, became the poster girl for resilience during the countrys worst floods in living memory. Remarkably, the 32-year-old was treated for minor injuries and left hospital just a week after the […]
