Gustav May Hit Gulf Platforms Harder Than Katrina

Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) — Hurricane Gustav threatens to hurt U.S. oil and natural-gas production and refining more severely than hurricanes Katrina and Rita did three years ago.Gustav, downgraded to a Category 3 storm by the National Hurricane Center in Miami this morning, may strengthen to Category 4 later today and will make landfall as a [...] continue reading world news

The untold story of India’s floods

Stranded people make their way through flood waters in Bihar.REUTERS/ Krishna Murari KishanThe humanitarian needs created by the worst floods in the eastern Indian state of Bihar for 50 years are outstripping government and agencies’ ability to cope, aid workers say.A week ago, the Kosi river in neighbouring Nepal burst its banks and forged [...] continue reading world news

Hurricane Gustav Near Cuba With 230 kph Winds

Men pull boat out of water as Hurricane Gustav approaches in Havana, 30 Aug 2008U.S. forecasters say Hurricane Gustav’s winds have strengthened to nearly 230 kilometers per hour as the deadly storm closes in on western Cuba.The U.S. National Hurricane Center has upgraded Gustav to a category 4 hurricane on the scale that measures a [...] continue reading world news

Hurricane Gustav Near Cuba With 230 kph Winds

Men pull boat out of water as Hurricane Gustav approaches in Havana, 30 Aug 2008U.S. forecasters say Hurricane Gustav’s winds have strengthened to nearly 230 kilometers per hour as the deadly storm closes in on western Cuba.The U.S. National Hurricane Center has upgraded Gustav to a category 4 hurricane on the scale that measures a [...] continue reading world news

The untold story of India’s floods

Stranded people make their way through flood waters in Bihar.REUTERS/ Krishna Murari KishanThe humanitarian needs created by the worst floods in the eastern Indian state of Bihar for 50 years are outstripping government and agencies’ ability to cope, aid workers say.A week ago, the Kosi river in neighbouring Nepal burst its banks and forged [...] continue reading world news

Gaza: A modern concentration camp run by Israel

Related articles:- A human rights crime in Gaza by Jimmy Carter- Israeli siege leads to soaring anemia in Gaza newbornsGAZA CITY, Jul 2 (IPS) - Gaza is being forced to pump 77 tonnes of untreated or partially treated sewage out to sea daily due to the Israeli blockade of the coastal territory. The fear is [...] continue reading world news

Earth’s Core, Magnetic Field Changing Fast, Study Says

Rapid changes in the churning movement of Earth’s liquid outer core are weakening the magnetic field in some regions of the planet’s surface, a new study says.“What is so surprising is that rapid, almost sudden, changes take place in the Earth’s magnetic field,” said study co-author Nils Olsen, a geophysicist at the Danish National Space [...] continue reading world news

Why Floods Bring America To Its Knees

Related articles:- Floods may boost world food prices for years- Floods wipe out US crops- The Best Farmland in the U.S. Is Flooded; Most Americans Are Too Stupid to Panic- The Price Of Food: 2007 - 2008- The U.S. Has No Remaining Grain Reserves- Nine meals from anarchy - how Britain is facing a [...] continue reading world news

Wildlife extinction rates ’seriously underestimated’

Endangered species may become extinct 100 times faster than previously thought, scientists warned today, in a bleak re-assessment of the threat to global biodiversity.Writing in the journal Nature, leading ecologists claim that methods used to predict when species will die out are seriously flawed, and dramatically underestimate the speed at which some plants and animals [...] continue reading world news

Earth’s Core, Magnetic Field Changing Fast, Study Says

Rapid changes in the churning movement of Earth’s liquid outer core are weakening the magnetic field in some regions of the planet’s surface, a new study says.“What is so surprising is that rapid, almost sudden, changes take place in the Earth’s magnetic field,” said study co-author Nils Olsen, a geophysicist at the Danish National Space [...] continue reading world news

Rat meat in demand in Cambodia as inflation bites

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - The price of rat meat has quadrupled in Cambodia this year as inflation has put other meat beyond the reach of poor people, officials said on Wednesday.With consumer price inflation at 37 percent according to the latest central bank estimate, demand has pushed a kilogram of rat meat up to around [...] continue reading world news

Rat meat in demand in Cambodia as inflation bites

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - The price of rat meat has quadrupled in Cambodia this year as inflation has put other meat beyond the reach of poor people, officials said on Wednesday.With consumer price inflation at 37 percent according to the latest central bank estimate, demand has pushed a kilogram of rat meat up to around [...] continue reading world news

Hawaii: Volcano spews greater amount of lava than ever before

A volcano in Hawaii has begun to spew lava in greater quantities than witnessed ever before, experts have warned.The lava flow from Kilauea, which has been erupting on and off for 25 years, started on Nov 21 last year. But experts said that more lava is spilling from the volcano and into the ocean than [...] continue reading world news

Wildlife extinction rates ’seriously underestimated’

Endangered species may become extinct 100 times faster than previously thought, scientists warned today, in a bleak re-assessment of the threat to global biodiversity.Writing in the journal Nature, leading ecologists claim that methods used to predict when species will die out are seriously flawed, and dramatically underestimate the speed at which some plants and animals [...] continue reading world news

Syria tells UN: Israel burying nuclear waste in Golan Heights

Syria has complained to the United Nations about a series of alleged Israeli wrongdoings in the Golan Heights, including burying nuclear waste and discriminating against the region’s Druze residents.The complaint was made in a report Syria handed to a UN fact-finding committee comprised of Senegal, Sri Lanka and Malaysia’s ambassadors.The report came after Syria held [...] continue reading world news

Hawaii: Volcano spews greater amount of lava than ever before

A volcano in Hawaii has begun to spew lava in greater quantities than witnessed ever before, experts have warned.The lava flow from Kilauea, which has been erupting on and off for 25 years, started on Nov 21 last year. But experts said that more lava is spilling from the volcano and into the ocean than [...] continue reading world news

Australia faces worse, more frequent droughts: study

PERTH (Reuters) - Australia could experience more severe droughts and they could become more frequent in the future because of climate change, a government-commissioned report said on Sunday.Droughts could hit the country twice as often as now, cover an area twice as big and be more severe in key agricultural production areas, the Bureau of [...] continue reading world news

Syria tells UN: Israel burying nuclear waste in Golan Heights

Syria has complained to the United Nations about a series of alleged Israeli wrongdoings in the Golan Heights, including burying nuclear waste and discriminating against the region’s Druze residents.The complaint was made in a report Syria handed to a UN fact-finding committee comprised of Senegal, Sri Lanka and Malaysia’s ambassadors.The report came after Syria held [...] continue reading world news

Die-off of bats mystifies experts

Biologists are stumped by a plague that has killed tens of thousands, and perhaps hundreds of thousands, of bats this year in Northeastern states.The cause of “white-nose syndrome,” so named because of the white fungus that appears on bats’ noses and wings, remains a mystery. And the plague is still killing bats, alarming scientists who [...] continue reading world news

Australia faces worse, more frequent droughts: study

PERTH (Reuters) - Australia could experience more severe droughts and they could become more frequent in the future because of climate change, a government-commissioned report said on Sunday.Droughts could hit the country twice as often as now, cover an area twice as big and be more severe in key agricultural production areas, the Bureau of [...] continue reading world news

Die-off of bats mystifies experts

Biologists are stumped by a plague that has killed tens of thousands, and perhaps hundreds of thousands, of bats this year in Northeastern states.The cause of “white-nose syndrome,” so named because of the white fungus that appears on bats’ noses and wings, remains a mystery. And the plague is still killing bats, alarming scientists who [...] continue reading world news

Warning over French uranium leak

Waste containing unenriched uranium has leaked into two rivers from a nuclear plant in southern France.Officials banned people in three nearby towns from fishing, using water from wells, swimming in the rivers or using river water on their crops.The accident happened at the Tricastin nuclear site at Bollene, some 40km (25 miles) from the city [...] continue reading world news

Warning over French uranium leak

Waste containing unenriched uranium has leaked into two rivers from a nuclear plant in southern France.Officials banned people in three nearby towns from fishing, using water from wells, swimming in the rivers or using river water on their crops.The accident happened at the Tricastin nuclear site at Bollene, some 40km (25 miles) from the city [...] continue reading world news

California Wildfire Destroys Homes, Thousands Evacuated

BIG SUR, Calif. - Thousands of residents north of Sacramento have been told to flee after erratic winds blew embers across wildfire containment lines, the latest setback for already strained fire crews.Authorities ordered residents of 3,200 homes in Paradise to evacuate their homes Tuesday after fire destroyed 40 houses in the nearby rural community [...] continue reading world news

Earthquake Destroyed China’s Largest Military Armory, Says Source

A high-level Chinese military source secretly disclosed last week that the recent earthquake in Sichuan Province caused a chain-reaction of explosions in the Sichuan mountain areas. The explosions destroyed Chinese army’s largest armory, new weapon test bases and part of nuclear facilities including several nuclear warheads. This information is considered China’s top military secret.After the [...] continue reading world news

6,700 Tons of Radioactive Debris Shipped From Kuwait to Idaho

The shipment across the ocean, unloading at Longview, Washington State port, transport by rail, and burial in Idaho endangers not only the residents of these areas but poses a significant agricultural threat through introduction of pests, microbes, etc. foreign to our nation.Doug Rokke, Ph.D. - BLN Contributing Writer(Note: Dr. Doug Rokke is the former Director [...] continue reading world news

Drought devastates Iraq’s wheat crops

Power outages disrupt irrigationBAGHDAD - It’s been a year of drought and sand storms across Iraq - a dry spell that has devastated the country’s crucial wheat crop and created new worries about the safety of drinking water.U.S. officials warn that Iraq will need to increase wheat imports sharply this winter to make up [...] continue reading world news

China to urgently boost GM crop development

China has said it must urgently step up the development of genetically modified crops as it faces mounting challenges to feed its 1.3 billion people due to shrinking arable land and climate change.Newly-approved plans aim to cultivate high-yielding and pest-resistant genetically modified species, the State Council, or cabinet, said in a statement posted on its [...] continue reading world news

Monsanto Defeated on rBGH Animal Drug After 14 Year Battle

(NaturalNews) I recently received great news from the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) that after a long fourteen year battle between OCA, public interest and family farmer groups against Monsanto’s Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), Monsanto has announced on August 6th that they will sell off their controversial rBGH. This is very good news since rBGH [...] continue reading world news

Metropolitan Wastewater Ends Up In Urban Agriculture

Wastewater is most commonly used to produce vegetables and cereals (especially rice), according to this and other IWMI reports, raising concerns about health risks for consumers, particularly of vegetables that are consumed uncooked.As developing countries confront the first global food crisis since the 1970s as well as unprecedented water scarcity, a new 53-city survey [...] continue reading world news

Worsening Drought Threatens Australia’s “Food Bowl”

An agricultural region that produces over 40 percent of Australia’s fruit, vegetables, and grain is seriously threatened by the country’s ongoing drought, which has been developing into a crisis over the last decade. Scientists say that the two mighty rivers that irrigate the Murray-Darling Basin (an area the size of France and Germany combined) [...] continue reading world news

Australia is suffering one of its worst droughts on record

Life is hard for wheat and livestock farmers in the south, as they face a possible third year of nearly no rain. July 12, 2008 POOCHERA, AUSTRALIA — Glen Phillips kneels down, scoops up a handful of dirt and squashes it in his fist to test whether the soil in this dry patch [...] continue reading world news

The Great Biofuels Con

According to the World Bank’s top economist, Don Mitchell, biofuels had been responsible for three-quarters of the 140 per cent rise in world food prices between 2002 and 2008. It was this that last October prompted Jean Ziegler, the UN’s “special rapporteur on the right to food”, to comment that biofuels could only bring “more [...] continue reading world news

Contaminated US site faces ‘catastrophic’ nuclear leak

ONE of “the most contaminated places on Earth” will only get dirtier if the US government doesn’t get its act together - clean-up plans are already 19 years behind schedule and not due for completion until 2050.More than 210 million litres of radioactive and chemical waste are stored in 177 underground tanks at Hanford in [...] continue reading world news

Turkey: Drought Cuts Food Production in Half

“Production has been halved to 300 kilos (661 pounds) per 1,000 square meters (250 acres), even in well-irrigated parts of the region, as rainfall declined to one-fortieth of normal levels, Referans daily said on Wednesday, citing farmers and farming associations.”The government has selected 35 of its 81 provinces as eligible for financial assistance, Erdogan said. [...] continue reading world news

Beans may be off the menu due to fewer bumblebees

Richard Lees inspects his crop of broad beans which are not showing any signs of developing pods. A LACK of bees may be blamed for the failure of bean crops in Selkirk gardens, writes Sally Gillespie. Although gardener Richard Lees of The Loan has not yet given up on his broad beans, he says the [...] continue reading world news

Drought threatens drinking water for a million Australians

SYDNEY (AFP) - Up to a million people in Australia could face a shortage of drinking water if the country’s drought continues, a report on the state of the nation’s largest river system revealed Sunday.The report said the situation was critical in the Murray-Darling system, which provides water to Australia’s “food bowl”, a vast [...] continue reading world news

Top 25 Things Vanishing From America: No.1 The Family Farm

Here you will find all Top 25 Things Vanishing From America.This series explores aspects of America that may soon be just a memory — some to be missed, some gladly left behind. From the least impactful to the most, here are 25 bits of vanishing America.1. The Family FarmMy mother grew up on her family’s [...] continue reading world news

Haiti: Mud cakes become staple diet as cost of food soars beyond a family’s reach

With little cash and import prices rocketing half the population faces starvationIn Cité Soleil, one of Port-au-Prince’s worst slums, making the clay-based food is a major income earner. Mud cakes are the only inflation-proof food available to Haiti’s poor. Photograph: David LeveneAt first sight the business resembles a thriving pottery. In a dusty courtyard women [...] continue reading world news

Cloned Beef Has Already Entered U.S. Food Supply, Even Before FDA Nod

(NaturalNews) The major cattle cloning companies in the United States have admitted that they have not bothered to try and keep meat from the offspring of clones out of the U.S. food supply, in spite of a request by the FDA several years ago.“This is a fairy tale that this technology is not being used [...] continue reading world news

Rising food prices pushing east Africa to disaster

More than 14 million people in the east Africa region require urgent food aid due to drought and spiralling cereal and fuel prices, aid agencies say.In an emergency appeal launched today, Oxfam warns that millions of people in Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Djibouti and Kenya are fast being pushed “towards severe hunger and destitution”. Earlier this [...] continue reading world news

Children have lost touch with nature

Children are just imitating their parents and society.“Not all who wander are lost” (J. R. R. Tolkien), but those who have lost contact with nature are truly lost.________________________________________________________________________________Children have lost touch with the natural world and are unable to identify common animals and plants, according to a survey.Half of youngsters aged nine to 11 were [...] continue reading world news

Berkeley Scientists: Mass Extinction of Species

Scientists: Humans To BlameDevastating declines of amphibian species around the world are a sign of a biodiversity disaster larger than just the deaths of frogs and salamanders, University of California, Berkeley scientists said Tuesday.Researchers said substantial die-offs of amphibians and other plant and animal species add up to a new mass extinction facing the planet, [...] continue reading world news

Prince Charles warns GM crops risk causing the biggest-ever environmental disaster

Listen: The Prince of Wales speaks outThe mass development of genetically modified crops risks causing the world’s worst environmental disaster, The Prince of Wales has warned.In his most outspoken intervention on the issue of GM food, the Prince said that multi-national companies were conducting an experiment with nature which had gone “seriously wrong”.The Prince, [...] continue reading world news

Coastal Water Study: ‘Dead Zones’ Multiplying Fast

A global map of “dead zones”—where coastal waters contain too little oxygen to sustain life—shows (as black dots) a concentration in the Northern Hemisphere, where human activity has had the most effect.As of August 2008, there were more than 400 known “dead zones,” scientists said, up from just over 300 in the 1990s. Image courtesy [...] continue reading world news