News
December 3, 2015
UK launches first Syria air strikes. RAF Tornado jets have carried out their first air strikes against so-called Islamic State in Syria, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed. Four Tornados from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus took part in the operation soon after MPs voted to approve bombing. The strikes targeted the Omar oil fields in eastern Syria, which is under IS control, and were "successful", Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said.
November 28, 2015
In 3 steps, here is what Paris can do.
The last few weeks have seen the best and the worst in terms of climate change.
November 24, 2015
After a string of pipeline victories and over a decade of campaigning on at least three different continents, the Alberta government has finally put a limit to the tarsands. Today they announced they will cap its expansion and limit the tarsands monster to 100 megatonnes a year (equivalent to what projects already operating and those currently under construction would produce). As momentous an occasion as it is when an oil jurisdiction actually puts limits on growth, 100 million tonnes of carbon a year at a time when science is demanding bold reductions is still far too much.
November 22, 2015
Brazil dam toxic mud reaches Atlantic via Rio Doce estuary.
A wave of toxic mud travelling down the Rio Doce river in Brazil from a collapsed dam has reached the Atlantic Ocean, amid concerns it will cause severe pollution.
The waste has travelled more than 500km (310 miles) since the dam at an iron mine collapsed two weeks ago.
Samarco, the mine owner, has tried to protect plants and animals by building barriers along the banks of the river.
Workers have dredged the river mouth to help the mud flow out to sea fast.
November 15, 2015
International effort reveals Greenland ice loss. One of Greenland’s glaciers is losing five billion tonnes of ice a year to the ocean, according to researchers. While these new findings may be disturbing, they are reinforced by a concerted effort to map changes in ice sheets with different sensors from space agencies around the world. It is estimated that the entire Zachariae Isstrom glacier in northeast Greenland holds enough water to raise global sea levels by more than 46 cm.
November 11, 2015
The U.S. Senate passed Nov. 10 the final version of a commercial space bill that extends two key regulatory provisions and provides limited property rights for resources extracted from asteroids. The Senate approved by unanimous consent H.R. 2262, the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act. The bill reconciles a House bill, originally known as the Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship Act of 2015, passed in May with a Senate bill approved in August.
November 10, 2015
The problems associated with drilling oil on Lake Malawi have resurfaced with the new claims challenging Malawi that they need to revoke the licenses they gave to Surestream for them to explore the possibility of drilling oil on the lake. A report that Malawi24 has seen warns Malawi that it stands in violation of the international law in its awarding of licensee for the mining of oil in Lake Malawi. The report published on Further Africa quotes an environmental activist Godfrey Mfiti who dares the Malawi government to immediately revoke the licenses.
November 10, 2015
The British Met Office said global temperatures in January-September were 1.02 C above the 1850-1900 average, adding that the remainder of the year is expected to remain hot because of the El Nino weather phenomenon. "We've had similar natural events in the past, yet this is the first time we're set to reach the 1 degree C marker and it's clear that it is human influence driving our modern climate into uncharted territory," said Stephen Belcher, director of the Met Office Hadley Centre for climate science.
November 05, 2015
Geoethics was present, in connection with geoeducation, in the prestigious ICTP (Trieste, Italy). The International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) and the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics organized an extremely interesting and significant Conference on Future of Earth-Space Science and Education. The Conference was held in the prestigious Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP).
November 04, 2015
Scientists confirm their fears about West Antarctica - that it’s inherently unstable. It may be the biggest climate change story of the last two years. In 2014, several research groups suggested that the oceanfront glaciers in the Amundsen Sea region of West Antarctica may have reached a point of “unstoppable” retreat due to warm ocean waters melting them from below. There’s a great deal at stake — West Antarctica is estimated to contain enough ice to raise global sea levels by 3.3 meters, or well over 10 feet, were it all to melt.