Study: Tuna black market worth billions of dollars

November 9, 2010
Study: Tuna black market worth billions of dollars

WASHINGTON — The craze for sushi has fueled a black market in tuna worth billions of dollars, as governments collaborate with the industry despite fears for the species’ survival, an investigation found. A seven-month probe by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists found that fishermen have willfully violated official quotas in order to supply the lucrative tuna market, which is dominated by Japan. The investigation covered 10 nations but found particular violations in France,...

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Scientists: Caribbean coral die-off may be worst ever

October 21, 2010
Scientists: Caribbean coral die-off may be worst ever

Scientists studying Caribbean reefs say that 2010 may be the worst year ever for coral death there. Abnormally warm water since June appears to have dealt a blow to shallow and deep-sea corals that is likely to top the devastation of 2005, when 80% of corals were bleached and as many as 40% died in areas on the eastern side of the Caribbean.So Eli Kintisch reports at Science online. He explains: Bleaching occurs when...

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Rate of Groundwater Depletion Has Doubled Since 1960, Study Says

September 24, 2010

e360 digest 24 Sep 2010: Rate of Groundwater Depletion Has Doubled Since 1960, Study Says A burgeoning human population has doubled the rate at which it is pumping dry sources of groundwater in recent decades, according to a new study. Relying on a global database of groundwater use and Click to enlarge Groundwater Depletion Utrecht University Global groundwater depletion, 2000 demand, the researchers from Utrecht University calculated that the rate of withdrawal of groundwater...

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NOAA – Scientists Find 20 Years of Deep Water Warming Leading to Sea Level Rise

September 22, 2010
NOAA – Scientists Find 20 Years of Deep Water Warming Leading to Sea Level Rise

September 20, 2010 Sea-level rise has the potential to reshape the coastal environment. High resolution (Credit: NOAA) Scientists analyzing measurements taken in the deep ocean around the globe over the past two decades find a warming trend that contributes to sea level rise, especially around Antarctica. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide, cause heating of the Earth. Over the past few decades, at least 80 percent of this heat energy has...

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Monbiot.com » The Process Is Dead

September 20, 2010

It’s already clear that the climate talks in December will go nowhere – so what do we do? By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 21st September 2010. The closer it comes, the worse it looks. The best outcome anyone now expects from December’s climate summit in Mexico is that some delegates might stay awake during the meetings. When talks fail once, as they did in Copenhagen, governments lose interest. They don’t want to...

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A detailed look at climate sensitivity

September 19, 2010

September 19, 2010 The amount of warming we are going to subject our children and countless future generations to depends primarily on three factors: 1. The sensitivity of the climate to fast feedbacks like sea ice and water vapor (how much warming you get if we only double CO2 emissions to 560 ppm and there are no major “slow” feedbacks). We know the fast feedbacks are strong by themselves (see Study: Water-vapor feedback is...

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