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/ 6 September 2005
Tropical storms have doubled in destructive potential in the past 30 years because ocean surfaces have become warmer, according to a leading climate researcher. This is the first time that an increase in the size, duration and power of tropical storms has been linked to global warming.
Stocks of a small, herring-like fish that provides omega-3 essential fatty acids for supplements taken by millions of people could be endangered because of the Western world’s obsession with health foods, conservationists warn. At risk is the future of the menhaden fish, which breeds in Chesapeake Bay and lives along the United States’s eastern seaboard.
Modified genes from crops in a genetically modified (GM) crop trial have transferred into local wild plants, creating a form of herbicide-resistant “superweed”. The cross-fertilisation between GM oilseed rape and a distantly related plant, charlock, had been discounted as virtually impossible by scientists with the British government’s environment department.
Politicians, industry leaders and environment groups across the world welcomed the news on Thursday night that Russia had rejuvenated international efforts to combat climate change by ratifying the Kyoto protocol. President Vladimir Putin’s decision isolates the United States, and brings Russia closer economic and political ties with the European Union.
Eight American states and New York city have launched an unprecedented civil action against five of the United States’s largest power companies, demanding that they cut carbon dioxide emissions because of global warming. Attorneys general from California, Connecticut, Iowa, New Jersey, New York and other states filed a public nuisance lawsuit on July 21 in the federal court in Manhattan.
An estimated 25 000 people are working as slave labourers in Brazil clearing the Amazon jungle for ranchers, or producing pig iron in the forest using charcoal smelters, according to a new study. An unpublished report concludes that despite the best efforts of the government to free slaves and prosecute offenders, the level level of lawlessness in the country’s interior means that the practice continues.
Hailstones the size of tennis balls are knocking people out in Japan. Shortly afterwards it is snowing in India. But that is only the beginning. But The Day After Tomorrow, a climate change movie released in mid-May, has been winning praise from both the research establishment and the environment movement.
The World Bank’s drive to promote fossil fuel-generated power for 1,6-billion people lacking electricity will drive developing countries deeper into debt, a report by a development think tank claims on Monday. On current trends, in 2030 there will be more people relying on wood and dung for cooking and heating than there are now.
Monsanto has abandoned plans to introduce genetically modified (GM) wheat on to the world market, despite spending seven years and hundreds of millions of dollars developing the crop. Monsanto, the world’s biggest seller of GM seeds, had looked to the development and introduction of GM wheat to fulfil a dream of dominating the world’s bread market.
The European Union is to withdraw the massive subsidies it pays to tobacco growers following a bitter battle among agricultural ministers in Brussels. The decision to withdraw payments for what is the most subsidised crop in Europe reflects unease about helping tobacco farmers while EU states campaign to get people to give up smoking.