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Wiring The Oceans

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A new state-of-the-art global observatory currently under construction is about to launch ocean science light years ahead

May/June 2010

By Annie Reisewitz Imagine an underwater world with flying androids whizzing thousands of feet below and robotic creatures crawling along vast stretches of ocean floor.

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Salt Killing Crops, Driving Migration In Storm-Hit Southern Bangladesh

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Written by: AlertNet correspondentBangladeshi farmers plant rice in a field at Keraniganj on January 16, 2008. Worsening soil and water salinity is killing crops and driving migration in southern Bangladesh. REUTERS/Rafiqur Rahman 

By Syful Islam DHAKA, Bangladesh (AlertNet) - Worsening sea water storm surges and overuse of irrigation have left fields, wells and ponds in parts of southern Bangladesh too salty to grow crops, leading to a growing exodus of farmers from the region.

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Almost Half Of Deaths In Kids Under 5 Occur In 5 Countries

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Two-thirds of cases due to infectious diseases, researchers report

TUESDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) -- Infectious diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and blood poisoning account for more than two-thirds of the 8.8 million annual deaths in kids under 5 years of age worldwide, a new report shows. Other leading causes of death for children include birth complications, lack of oxygen during birth and congenital defects. The authors of the report found that infectious diseases caused 5.97 million deaths among kids under age 5 in 2008.

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Greening The Grid

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Utilities and environmental groups are coming together to help modernize the transmission system. It's an arduous job that requires conciliation and patience. Together, they seek to improve the grid's capabilities to allow it to carry more green electrons as well as provide customers with the information they need to make better energy choices. With Congress now considering national renewable energy mandates and at least half the states with such laws on their books, electric companies must have a way to deliver the expected use of those renewables.

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UN Fears 'Irreversible' Damage To Natural Environment

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GENEVA — The UN warned on Monday that "massive" loss in life-sustaining natural environments was likely to deepen to the point of being irreversible after global targets to cut the decline by this year were missed. As a result of the degradation, the world is moving closer to several "tipping points" beyond which some ecosystems that play a part in natural processes such as climate or the food chain may be permanently damaged, a United Nations report said.

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Reduce, Recycle, And Replant - Data Highlights On Restoring The World's Forests

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The world's forests, which cover a third of Earth's land area, provide us with many essential services. They absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and give us oxygen, limit soil erosion, aid in flood control and aquifer recharge, and host a wealth of biodiversity. But as human populations have grown, so, too, have the demands placed on these natural systems.

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World Needs Clean Energy Revolution: UN chief

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UNITED NATIONS — Rich and poor nations need a "clean energy revolution" in order to cut greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said here Wednesday.

 

The Druzhba thermal power station in Sofia

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World Will Completely Miss 2010 Biodiversity Target

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Species classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as "threatened" increased by 2.1 percent in 2009, as 365 species were added to the organization's Red List of Threatened Species. Only 2 species were removed from the list. Since 1996, a total of 47,677 species of animals, plants, fungi, and protists (a group that includes protozoans and most algae) have been evaluated by the IUCN, and 17,291 of these are now considered threatened—a full 36 percent.

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Sanitation and Water Must No Longer Play Second Fiddle to Other Priorities

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Countries with the greatest unmet sanitation and water needs most often receive little or no aid. WASHINGTON, D.C. /CSRwire/ - Between 1997 and 2008, aid commitments for sanitation and water fell from 8% of total development aid to 5%, lower than commitments for health, education, transport, energy and agriculture, according to the latest UN-Water Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) report, launched today by UN-Water and the World Health Organization (WHO).

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