South Asia
Mt. Everest disaster and global climate shift
Sherpas who guide tourists up Mount Everest go on strike following the deadly avalanche—as destabilization of the Himalayan glaciers portends more such disasters.
Tag: climate destabilization
Southern Cone
Chile: was Valparaíso fire a ‘natural disaster’?
Decades of uncontrolled urban growth in an area naturally prone to forest fires left Valparaíso's working-class neighborhoods vulnerable to devastation.
Mexico
Mexico: bidding set to start on energy sector
As expected, Mexico's "energy reform" will provide a big opening for multinationals, along with more fracking, more deep-sea drilling, and more carbon dioxide.
Watching the Shadows
Obama’s fifth year: a World War 4 Report scorecard
World War 4 Report offers its annual annotated assessment of Obama's moves in dismantling, continuing or escalating the apparatus of the Global War on Terrorism.
Planet Watch
Polar Vortex: Yes, it’s global warming!
Climate-change denialists are gloating at the "Polar Vortex"—failing to understand that it was unleashed by destabilization of the Jet Stream due to loss of arctic ice cover.
Africa
Disease, hunger fears after Somalia cyclone
Two weeks after a devastating cyclone struck Somalia’s autonomous enclave of Puntland, nomadic pastoralists are especially at risk, with much of their livestock wiped out.
East Asia
Fukushima: the greatest danger comes now…
As nuclear boosters tout a dubious WHO study finding minimal excess cancer risks from the Fukushima disaster, TEPCO's new phase in the clean-up holds even greater peril.
Greater Middle East
Did climate change spark Syria crisis?
A jet stream blockage related to climate change caused the Russian wheat crop to fail in 2010, halting exports to Syria and the Arab world, and fueling unrest and revolt.
Mexico
Mexico: ‘energy reform’ promises privatization —and fracking
US companies are enthusiastic about Peña Nieto’s plan to let them share in the profits from Mexico’s energy sector. Mexicans are getting ready to fight against the giveaway.
South Asia
Uttarakhand disaster portends ‘Himalayan tsunamis’
The devastating floods in India's Uttarakhand state are being called a "Himalayan tsunami"—and a grim omen for millions living downstream from the world's highest range.
Mexico
Chiapas cancels carbon deal with California
The government of Chiapas cancelled a controversial forest protection plan that critics said failed to address root causes of deforestation and endangered indigenous peoples.
Watching the Shadows
Obama preparing martial law?
Changes to a regulation in the US Code titled “Defense Support of Civilian Law Enforcement” allow military commanders to “quell large-scale, unexpected civil disturbances.”