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20070827

China - Environmental - Health - Politics - Air - Land - Water - Coal - Weather - Science - Industrial - History - International - South Korea - Japan - USA - California - Los Angeles - EU - Sports - Children - "As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes." ... "No country in history has emerged as a major industrial power without creating a legacy of environmental damage that can take decades and big dollops of public wealth to undo." ... "But just as the speed and scale of China’s rise as an economic power have no clear parallel in history, so its pollution problem has shattered all precedents. Environmental degradation is now so severe, with such stark domestic and international repercussions, that pollution poses not only a major long-term burden on the Chinese public but also an acute political challenge to the ruling Communist Party. And it is not clear that China can rein in its own economic juggernaut." ... "Public health is reeling. Pollution has made cancer China’s leading cause of death, the Ministry of Health says. Ambient air pollution alone is blamed for hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. Nearly 500 million people lack access to safe drinking water." ... "Chinese cities often seem wrapped in a toxic gray shroud. Only 1 percent of the country’s 560 million city dwellers breathe air considered safe by the European Union. Beijing [China's capital] is frantically searching for a magic formula, a meteorological deus ex machina, to clear its skies for the 2008 Olympics." ... "Environmental woes that might be considered catastrophic in some countries can seem commonplace in China: industrial cities where people rarely see the sun; children killed or sickened by lead poisoning or other types of local pollution; a coastline so swamped by algal red tides that large sections of the ocean no longer sustain marine life." ... "China is choking on its own success. The economy is on a historic run, posting a succession of double-digit growth rates. But the growth derives, now more than at any time in the recent past, from a staggering expansion of heavy industry and urbanization that requires colossal inputs of energy, almost all from coal, the most readily available, and dirtiest, source." ... "China’s problem has become the world’s problem. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides spewed by China’s coal-fired power plants fall as acid rain on Seoul, South Korea [capital], and Tokyo [Japan's capital]. Much of the particulate pollution over Los Angeles [California, USA] originates in China, according to the Journal of Geophysical Research." (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) -By Joseph Kahn and Jim Yardley -NYTimes

20070818

Utah - Worker - Safety - Political - Federal - Law - Coal - Industry - Disaster - Earth - Science - "Mine's dangers overlooked." ... "Although mine owner Robert Murray has taken an active role in the rescue effort, his judgment all along about the mine's safety has been questionable." ... "Crandall Canyon is a "retreat mining" operation, in which coal pillars more than a mile beneath the surface are removed to get the last remnants of coal, causing the tunnel ceiling to collapse - presumably after miners have retreated to safe ground. It is an inherently dangerous mining method. In fact, the collapse Thursday that killed the three rescuers was a "mining-induced settling of the mountain," according to University of Utah researchers." ... "There is plenty of legitimate criticism of the [Republican President Bush overseen] federal Mine Safety and Health Administration for allowing the mining to go on so long. "I'm surprised that (the mine owner) would try to take that last section," said Robert Ferriter, a mine safety expert. "I would've thought that would have triggered someone from MSHA to say, 'Wait a minute, let's take a look at this.' "" ... "Murray's assurances of the tunnel's safety, for both the mining and rescue operations, proved to be inaccurate. A controversial figure in mining, Murray has sought tax cuts for the industry and given generously to Republican congressional candidates, particularly those from mining states, through his company's political action committee." -SPTimes.com

20070817

Peru - Earthquake - Peoples - Homes - Medical - Water - "Toll nears 500 in Peru quake: More than 16,000 homes are lost in the 8.0 temblor. The mayor of coastal Pisco says, 'Our city is destroyed.'" ... "The death toll in a massive earthquake that battered Peru's Pacific coast soared toward 500 on Thursday as rescue workers struggled to reach scenes of devastation and stunned victims appealed for medical aid, water and coffins." ... "Teams dug beneath the rubble in the cities of Pisco and Ica and the nearby town of Chincha, all situated near the epicenter of the magnitude 8.0 quake south of the capital, Lima. The damage and casualties appeared to be concentrated in those three communities, which also lost power and telephone service." ... ""Our city is destroyed," Mayor Juan Mendoza of Pisco, a port city of about 130,000 people, said, sobbing in an interview with Peruvian news media. "The dead are scattered by the dozens on the streets."" ... "Mendoza estimated that 70% of the structures in his city had been leveled." (1, 2) -By Adriana León and Patrick J. McDonnell -LAtimes

20070707

Global - Climate - Earth - Music - Politics - Australia - United States - Japan - China - South Africa - Brazil - Germany - "Live Earth Series Starts in Sydney." ... "The Live Earth global [music] concert series kicked off Saturday with an aboriginal group dancing and singing a traditional welcome at the first venue in Sydney [Australia]." ... "Tribal leaders with white-painted bodies and shaking eucalyptus fronds were the first of more than 150 performers at the eight concert, 24-hour series to raise awareness about climate change." ... "The performance was immediately followed by a video greeting from former [Democratic] Vice President Al Gore, whose campaign to force global warming onto the international political agenda inspired the event." ... "The biggest names will appear at Live Earth concerts in London [UK] and the United States, with more modest lineups of mostly local and regional acts in Australia, Japan, China, South Africa, Brazil and Germany." -AP via -Guardian.co.uk

http://LiveEarth.org

20070611

2008 Election - Religious - Earth - Science - Politics - "Majority of Republicans Doubt Theory of Evolution: More Americans accept theory of creationism than evolution." ... "The majority of Republicans in the United States do not believe the theory of evolution is true and do not believe that humans evolved over millions of years from less advanced forms of life. This suggests that when three Republican presidential candidates at a May debate stated they did not believe in evolution, they were generally in sync with the bulk of the rank-and-file Republicans whose nomination they are seeking to obtain." ... "Independents and Democrats are more likely than Republicans to believe in the theory of evolution. But even among non-Republicans there appears to be a significant minority who doubt that evolution adequately explains where humans came from." ... "The data from several recent Gallup studies suggest that Americans' religious behavior is highly correlated with beliefs about evolution." ... "Although many scientists accept evolution as the best theoretical explanation for diversity in forms of life on Earth, the issue of its validity has risen again as an important issue in the current 2008 presidential campaign. Two recent Republican debates have included questions to the candidates about evolution. Three candidates -- Sam Brownback, Mike Huckabee, and Tom Tancredo -- indicated in response to a question during the May 3 debate that they did not believe in the theory of evolution, although they have attempted to clarify their positions in the weeks since." -By Frank Newport -GallupPoll.com

20070422

Earth_Day - Environmental - Science - Consumer - US - Iraq - Terrorism - Fuel - Earth - Climate - Ocean - "Seeing the Green in Earth Day: Businesses big and small are learning that not only does environmental friendliness feel good, it can turn a profit, too." ... "[Andrea] Wilson is the Prius-driving, tree-hugging, vegan owner of Green Earth Office Supply, a purveyor of such items as clipboards and three-ring binders fashioned from defective circuit boards, cafeteria utensils made of biodegradable vegetable-based plastics, and, of course, 100 percent recycled paper goods. As fuel costs soar, environmentalists like Wilson say, America's consumer culture will downshift and clean energy sources will be developed." ... "Already, Wilson can see the great awakening in her sales. Thirteen mostly lean years after the former corporate accountant launched Green Earth from her home in the Santa Cruz Mountains, sales are soaring -up 250 percent last quarter compared with the first quarter of 2006, and on pace to bust the $1 million-a-year mark for the first time." ... "The sentiment surrounding this year's Earth Day is palpably different, say "green" entrepreneurs like Wilson and others working to bridge the cross-purposes of profits and environmental protection. Concern over man-made causes of climate change, pollution and the degradation of oceans are driving factors, they say, while terrorism and the Iraq war grimly underscore the pitfalls of an economy based on fossil fuels." ... "No longer just a feel-good niche or a marketing angle, the clean-and-green movement now includes corporate leaders targeting environment-minded consumers and renewable energy sources." ... "But [Eco Design Resources, store manager Scott] Farmer and Wilson say consumers should be wary of companies and products that indulge in "greenwashing." The phrase, a play on whitewashing, refers to environmental claims rooted more in salesmanship than science. Many companies and many products, they say, make exaggerated claims about their ecological virtues." -By Scott Duke -MercuryNews

20070330

Julie A MacDonald - Science - Politics - Business - Government - Land - Animal - Environmental - Law - "Report Faults Interior Appointee: Landowner Issues Trumped Animal Protections, IG Says." ... "A senior [Republican President] Bush political appointee at the Interior Department has repeatedly altered scientific field reports to minimize protections for imperiled species and disclosed confidential information to private groups seeking to affect policy decisions, the department's inspector general concluded." ... "The investigator's report on Julie A. MacDonald, deputy assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks -- which was triggered by an anonymous complaint from a Fish and Wildlife Service employee and expanded in October after a Washington Post article about MacDonald -- said she frequently sought to reshape the agency's scientific reports in an effort to ease the impact of agency decisions on private landowners." ... "The IG noted that MacDonald "admitted that her degree is in civil engineering and that she has no formal educational background in natural sciences" but repeatedly instructed Fish and Wildlife scientists to change their recommendations on identifying "critical habitats," despite her lack of expertise." -By Juliet Eilperin -WashingtonPost

20070327

James Inhofe

Al Gore

Music

Entertainment

Global

Climate

Science

Politics

Environmental

Legislation

Earth_Day

History

Okla

"Inhofe vows to put brakes on Gore’s ‘Live Earth’ concert at the Capitol." ... "Fresh from his face-to-face tussle with former [Democratic] Vice President Al Gore, [Oklahoma Republican Senator] Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla. [Republican-Oklahoma]) is vowing to stall Gore’s hotly anticipated Capitol concert to draw attention to global warming." ... "Inhofe’s belief that climate change is “the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people” is common knowledge in the capitol, and environmental groups cheered the new prospects for carbon-capping legislation when he ceded the Environment and Public Works Committee gavel this session. But Inhofe’s parliamentary powers can block indefinitely the resolution that would permit Gore to choose the capitol’s West Front for the [United States] U.S. leg of his seven-continent Live Earth concert tour — a collaboration between Gore and promoter Kevin Wall, who masterminded previous blockbuster charity concerts Live Aid and Live 8." ... "“There has never been a partisan political event at the Capitol, and this is a partisan political event,” Inhofe said yesterday." ... "Chad Griffin, an adviser to Live Earth, was taken aback by Inhofe’s objections to using the Capitol to promote environmental health. The West Front was used to inaugurate Earth Day in a 1990 event, for which Gore, a former senator, sponsored the authorizing resolution." ... "“This is a totally non-partisan event,” Griffin said[.]" -By Elana Schor -TheHill.com

20060727

Global - Climate - Science - Earth - Ecosystem - History - "Cold, Hard Facts." ... "My research colleagues and I found that from 1986 to 2000, one small, ice-free area of the Antarctic mainland had actually cooled. Our report also analyzed temperatures for the mainland in such a way as to remove the influence of the peninsula warming and found that, from 1966 to 2000, more of the continent had cooled than had warmed. Our summary statement pointed out how the cooling trend posed challenges to models of Antarctic climate and ecosystem change." ... "Newspaper and television reports focused on this part of the paper. And many news and opinion writers linked our study with another bit of polar research published that month, in Science, showing that part of Antarctica’s ice sheet had been thickening — and erroneously concluded that the earth was not warming at all. “Scientific findings run counter to theory of global warming,” said a headline on an editorial in The San Diego Union-Tribune. One conservative commentator wrote, “It’s ironic that two studies suggesting that a new Ice Age may be under way may end the global warming debate.”" ... "In a rebuttal in The Providence Journal, in Rhode Island, the lead author of the Science paper and I explained that our studies offered no evidence that the earth was cooling. But the misinterpretation had already become legend, and in the four and half years since, it has only grown." ... "In the meantime, I would like to remove my name from the list of scientists who dispute global warming. I know my coauthors would as well." -By Peter Doran ["Peter Doran is an associate professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago."] -NYTimes

20060608

Global - Industry - Climate - Disaster - Politics - Earth - Environment - Entertainment - UN - Seattle - Washington - "Does Gore overheat global warming?" ... "Al Gore's documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," continues to trigger heated discussions about global warming, as well as Mr. Gore's political ambitions, real or imagined." ... "But how close to the mark is his representation of the science tying humanity's industrial activity to changing climate aka anthropogenic global warming?" ... "In short, say several climate researchers, he basically gets it right, although one can question some aspects of the presentation." ... ""I worry that the movie is a little heavy on disaster scenarios," says David Battisti, professor of atmospheric science at the University of Washington in Seattle and director of the university's Earth Initiative. Over the course of the coming century, he says, average conditions are likely to change in ways that should prompt action now; it doesn't require extreme examples to make the point." ... "After viewing the film, he says, his impression is that nothing in it "misstated the science in a qualitative way."" ... "Indeed, his colleague Eric Stieg, also with the University of Washington, has noted that the film includes research that is only a few months old and clearly relevant to the discussion - research that won't appear in the next UN summary of climate science, slated for release early next year. The newest studies were too late to be included in the next UN summary, which is published about every six years and widely cited in public debates." -By Peter N. Spotts -CSMonitor

20060529

Indonesia - Earthquake - Homeless - Food - U.N. - "Trickle Of Aid Reaches Quake Survivors: Death Toll Tops 5,400; About 200,000 People Made Homeless In Indonesia." ... "A trickle of aid began reaching survivors of the Indonesian earthquake that killed more than 5,400 over the weekend, but desperate villagers said the meager deliveries were not enough." ... ""We have 300 families in this village and have only gotten two sacks of rice," said Lastri, 27, begging beneath the blazing sun, a 5-month-old baby in her arms. "It's not enough."" ... "More aid was on the way — a U.N. World Food Program was scheduled to arrive near the quake zone on Java island on Tuesday with high-energy biscuits and blankets, tents and generators, and U.N. trucks traveled roads lined with increasingly desperate children, women and elderly seeking handouts." -AP via -CBSNews

20060403

James Inhofe - Corporate - Government - Environmental - Science - Politics - Okla - US - Global - Planet - Climate - Air - Legislation - "Senator Inhofe's Climate Of Confrontation." ... "The Reverend Richard Cizik is an evangelical Christian and a die-hard Reaganite. So he was surprised that a closed-door meeting called late last year by conservative [Oklahoma Republican] Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla. [Republican-Oklahoma]) was all about Cizik's evil deeds. Inhofe called Cizik, government affairs chief at the National Association of Evangelicals, a liberal wolf in sheep's clothing. "I sat there with my mouth open," recalls a meeting participant." ... "Cizik's sin? He believes that climate change is a growing problem, and that Christians have a duty to protect the planet by cutting emissions of greenhouse gases. In contrast, Inhofe, the chairman of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee, has famously derided global warming as a "hoax." He has been on the offensive against those he considers heretics. That has left business in doubt about the regulatory environment." ... "Seeking Tax Records:" ... "Last year, Inhofe demanded six years of tax and membership records from two groups of state and local air-pollution control officials after they testified that his proposed clean air legislation was too weak. On [February] Feb. 7, the day before evangelicals kicked off a campaign for carbon controls, Inhofe sent a preemptive letter to senators asserting "there is, in fact, no movement in that direction" among evangelicals. Now he is requesting information on all employees and projects at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Inhofe is "using the power of government and the power of office to threaten," says Donald Kennedy, editor-in-chief of Science." - By John Carey -BusinessWeek

20051130

Pakistan - Earthquake - Disaster - Flying - "Pakistan Earthquake Aid Flights Interrupted by Winter Storms." ... "Winter storms in Pakistan's mountainous Kashmir region forced relief organizations to interrupt helicopter flights bringing aid to more than 3 million people left homeless by last month's earthquake." ... "Flights carrying supplies to villages above 1,500 meters (5,000 feet) were suspended over two days beginning on Nov. 26, the International Organization for Migration said in an e-mailed statement late yesterday from Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. More bad weather is forecast for the rest of this week, it said." -By Khalid Qayum and Paul Tighe -Bloomberg

20051117

Global - Earth - Weather - Environment - Science- People - "A cautionary picture of water supplies as Earth warms: New studies forecast declines for rivers in the US and elsewhere." ... "Mountain snows and alpine glaciers represent key reservoirs of fresh water for some 1.6 billion people worldwide. In 50 years, however, a warming planet is likely to disrupt many of these sources, leaving millions of people scrambling for additional supplies." ... "While conservation, additional reservoirs, and repairs to leaky water mains can help blunt the effects of these changes, efforts to adapt to shrinking snowpacks and vanishing glaciers are expected to require other changes in farming techniques, industrial practices, and lifestyles." ... "That's the warning a team of US scientists is issuing after reviewing field measurements and modeling studies that deal with the impact of global warming on alpine environments. Combined with a second, independent look at stream flows in key parts of the world, the studies are helping scientists fill in a picture of future freshwater supplies as the planet warms. (Both studies appear Thursday in the journal Nature.)" -By Peter N. Spotts -CSMonitor

20051101

Pakistan - People - Earthquake - History - Homes - "Pakistan seeks more medical aid as quake toll rises." ... "Pakistan appealed for antibiotics and painkillers on Tuesday as it raised the toll from last month's devasting earthquake to 57,597 killed and nearly 79,000 injured." ... "The updated figures from Pakistan Federal Relief Commission brought the total official toll from the disaster to nearly 59,000 -- including 1,309 confirmed deaths and 6,622 injuries on on the Indian side of the devasted Kashmir region." ... "At 7.6 magnitude, the quake was the strongest to hit the South Asian region in 100 years. It destroyed huge numbers of houses and left more than three million people homeless or in need of emergency shelter with a brutal winter just weeks away." -By Robert Birsel with contributions by David Brunnstrom -Reuters via -AlertNet.org/Newsdesk
Pakistan - Earthquake - Weather - US - Military - "Worsening weather threatens more misery for Pakistan quake survivors." ... "The U.S. military promised to keep flying helicopter relief missions to help survivors of Pakistan's worst earthquake through the harsh winter, as a bleak weather forecast for Tuesday loomed over hundreds of thousands of people living without shelter." ... "With the brutal Himalayan winter approaching, the relief effort is rushing to deliver tents, food and medicine to victims of the Oct. 8 quake before villages are cut off by snow and helicopter-grounding fog." (1, 2) -By Zarar Khan -AP via -Canada.com

20051026

Pakistan - Earthquake - Disaster - UN - "Pakistan quake toll could double without swift help." ... "More people could die of hunger, cold and injuries in the wake of Pakistan's earthquake than during it unless rich countries meeting in Geneva come up with more money fast, a top U.N. aid official said on Wednesday." ... ""The disaster is looming large. We have thousands and thousands of very vulnerable people," U.N. chief aid coordinator Rashid Khalikov said hours before 65 nations were due to meet at the United Nations in Geneva to talk about how to help." ... ""This disaster may have the number of people who died after the disaster bigger than those killed by the earthquake," he said outside his tent office in the destroyed Pakistani Kashmir capital of Muzzafarabad." (1, 2) -By Robert Birsel -Reuters

20051020

UN - Pakistan - Earthquake - People - Health - "U.N.: Berlin-Type Airlift Needed in Asia." ... "The top U.N. relief coordinator warned Thursday that bold initiatives like the Berlin Airlift are needed to save as many as 3 million people left homeless by the South Asian earthquake as winter approaches in the Himalayas." ... "The World Health Organization, meanwhile, reported three quake survivors died of tetanus, reinforcing fears that disease and infected injuries could drive the 79,000 death toll far higher." ... "Jan Egeland, the U.N. relief coordinator, appealed to NATO and other potential donors to step in with an army of helicopters to fly in relief supplies and evacuate perhaps hundreds of thousands of people." -By Munir Ahmad -AP via -SFGate.com

20051019

Pakistan - Earthquake - Disaster - "Number of dead in Pakistan over 79,000." ... "A series of fresh landslides have been triggered by two strong aftershocks from south Asia's earthquake, inflicting more damage on the already hard-hit cities of Balakot and Muzaffarabad in northern Pakistan." ... "The 5.8-magnitude aftershock struck 129 kilometres north of Islamabad, near the epicentre of the first earthquake, and was strong enough to be felt in the capital." ... "It was followed less than an hour later by another strong tremor measuring 5.6." ... "But the suffering continues and now officials, using figures from local governments and hospital sources, are projecting the number of dead from the disaster at over 79,000." -CBC.ca

20051018

Pakistan - Earthquake - Parents - People - School - Psychology - "Grim future for young quake survivors: Schoolchildren learn to cope with losing classmates." ... "Imagine being the only child in class to survive after friends and teachers were all buried beneath the rubble." ... "This is the scenario now facing young student Mohammad Waseem after his school in Muzaffarabad [Pakistani-controlled Kashmir] was destroyed by the South Asia earthquake." ... "Children were among the hardest hit by the disaster since many were in school when the magnitude 7.6 tremor struck." -By Matthew Chance -AP -CNN

20051012

Pakistan - Earthquake - Disaster - Homes- UN - Food - "Aid still failing to reach most of Pakistan's 4m earthquake survivors." ... "Humanitarian aid has reached only a small proportion of the 4m people whose homes have been destroyed or damaged by the devastating earthquake that struck Pakistan four days ago, according to a disaster assessment by UN officials." ... ""This is a huge catastrophe and the more we see the worse it's getting," said Andrew Macleod, a member of the UN's disaster assessment team, yesterday. "It's no criticism of Pakistan to say that it's only a small proportion of the affected population that has received any aid, and that there are areas that may not for some time."" ... "The UN yesterday appealed for $272m (€225m, £150m) to support its efforts for six months, of which $62.5m would be spent on shelter and non-food items and $50m on food. It said strong aftershocks had left survivors afraid to go back inside damaged houses and many preferring to sleep in fields." -By Jo Johnson and Farhan Bokhari -FT.com
Pakistan - India - Earthquake - Disaster - "Disease threat for quake zone: Top U.S. diplomat will visit Pakistan." ... "Weather is hampering relief efforts to survivors of the deadliest quake in South Asia for a century, as health experts warn the Himalayan region could become a fertile breeding ground for disease." ... "Millions of people remain homeless in the mountainous areas of northern Pakistan and India following the quake, which is estimated to have claimed more than 41,000 people." ... "As Wednesday arrived, new threats loomed for the people left without shelter following the quake; international health experts warned of potential disease threats from the devastated public sanitation systems." -With contributions by Andrew Stevens, Satinder Bindra, Matthew Chance, Ram Ramgopal, Becky Anderson, Syed Mohsin Naqvi, John Raedler, Mukhtar Ahmed, Tom Coghlan and -AP -CNN

20051011

Pakistan - India - Earthquake - Disaster - "Food arrives as toll tops 42,000." ... "The death toll from the massive South Asia earthquake soared above 42,000 as the first trickle of humanitarian aid began to flow into the region, authorities said." ... "Meanwhile, 120 metric tons of ready-to-eat food arrived Tuesday, enough to feed 240,000 people for five days, a World Food Programme spokesman told CNN." ... "Another 80 million metric tons of food aid is in the pipeline, Amjad Jamal said." ... "But he acknowledged the need was great and said appeals were being made to the international community for additional donations of food, supplies and money." ... "Even with many far-flung areas still not reached, the death toll has hit 41,000 in Pakistan alone, with another 1,239 dead in India and one reported death in Afghanistan, officials have said." -By Andrew Stevens, Satinder Bindra, Matthew Chance, Ram Ramgopal, Syed Mohsin Naqvi and John Raedler with contributions by Mukhtar Ahmed and Tom Coghlan -CNN
Pakistan - India - Earthquake - People - Military - "Quake relief fights tough terrain: The Asian temblor is being described as the worst disaster in Pakistan's history." ... "Relief workers and military officials on both sides of the border in the Himalayan region of Kashmir struggled to reach hundreds of villages cut off by the worst earthquake to hit this region in a century. Estimates of the death toll ranged Monday between 20,000 and 30,000. Relief agencies have put out a massive appeal for food, tents, and medicines for an estimated 2.5 million people who are thought to be homeless - a number similar in scope to the Indian Ocean tsunami." ... "Just as Americans voiced anger at the slow response of emergency relief agencies in the wake of hurricane Katrina, many Kashmiris in both the Indian and Pakistani portions of the divided territory decried what they called a slow emergency response." ... "The earthquake of Oct. 8 could be a crucial test of both the military-dominated government of President Pervez Musharraf, as well as renewed peace efforts between India and Pakistan, who both claim the quake-ravaged state of Kashmir." -By Scott Baldauf and Laura Winter with contributions by Anuj Chopra -CSMonitor

20050915

- - - "Aceh rebels begin giving up guns: Separatist rebels in the Indonesian region of Aceh have begun handing over their weapons in a crucial stage of a peace process with the government." ... "The Free Aceh Movement (Gam) fighters are due to give up a quarter of their weaponry at four undisclosed locations across the province this week." ... "In return, Indonesia will withdraw about 6,000 combat troops." ... "Aceh bore the brunt of the Indian Ocean tsunami and the disaster prompted the two sides to return to talks." ... "In the wake of the tsunami, which killed 130,000 people locally, the rebels and the government both made compromises which would have been unthinkable before."-BBC /News

20050906

- - - - - "Thousands flee from typhoon Nabi: Floods, landslides paralyze southern Japan." ... "A powerful typhoon pummelled southwestern Japan with torrential rain and high winds on Tuesday, causing floods and landslides, paralysing transport and prompting officials to tell more than 100,000 people to flee their homes." ... "The typhoon, named Nabi, meaning "butterfly" in Korean, was moving north at 30 km an hour (19 mph) but was forecast to swing east and beat a path up the Japan Sea coast, bringing rain and strong winds to western Japan and parts of South Korea before hitting the northernmost main Japanese island of Hokkaido." ... "More than 1,300 mm (51 inches) of rain had fallen in some parts of Kyushu in 24 hours, public broadcaster NHK said." -Reuters via -CNN
- - - "Typhoon death toll in China at least 95." ... "The toll from last week's Typhoon Talim has risen to at least 95 dead on the Chinese mainland, with an additional 30 people missing, the government said Monday." ... "At least 59 deaths occurred in Anhui, a poor inland province where thousands of houses were destroyed by flooding and landslides, the official Xinhua News Agency and state television reported." -AP via -MercuryNews

20050804

- - "Borehole reaches fault's active zone: San Andreas probe could reveal how to predict quakes." ... "Scientists drilling into the San Andreas fault to catch earthquakes right in the act of starting reported Wednesday they have finally penetrated the fault's active zone, a region two miles deep where clusters of tiny quakes continually rattle the earth underground." ... "The successful borehole marks a major milestone in an effort to understand how quakes originate, how they grow into violent temblors that can rupture the surface for miles, and whether scientists might learn to predict them, said William Ellsworth, chief of the Earthquake Hazards Team at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park." -David Perlman -SFGate.com

20050615

- - - "7.0 quake shakes up [California's] North Coast: Crescent City residents flee after tsunami warning." ... "A 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked the ocean floor Tuesday night about 90 miles southwest of Crescent City, sparking a short-lived tsunami warning across Northern California's coast and prompting a partial evacuation of the coastal town." ... "It had been 18 years since Crescent City had activated the municipal alarm. They have one especially for tsunamis because 11 people were killed there in 1964 when the Alaska tsunami hit. It was the only fatal tidal wave in California's history." -By Stacy Finz, Leslie Fulbright, and Jaxon Van Derbeken with contributions by Demian Bulwa -SFGate.com

20050602

- - - Homes - "Landslide destroys 17 homes: 1,000 flee California neighborhood." ... "Houses cracked, telephone poles snapped and streets buckled as a landslide sent homes sliding down a hill in Laguna Beach [California] before dawn Wednesday, leaving large homes dangling in the air." ... "The landslide destroyed 17 homes in a neighborhood of multimillion-dollar dwellings. Another 11 were damaged, authorities said." ... "Streets had buckled onto themselves, manholes had risen into the shape of volcanoes and telephone poles were toppled." ... "Geologists say the Bluebird Canyon landslide was made more likely by last winter's near-record rains that have taken months to saturate deeper into the soil and bedrock." -By Mai Tran, William Lobdell and Christine Hanley with contributions by John Spano, Daryl Strickland and Don Kelsen -LAtimes via -ChicagoTribune

20050502

Kansas - Tennessee - - - Religion - - "Evolution on trial in Kansas." ... "Evolution is going on trial in Kansas." ... "Eighty years after a famed courtroom battle in Tennessee pitted religious beliefs about the origins of life against the theories of British scientist Charles Darwin, Kansas is holding its own hearings on what school children should be taught about how life on Earth began." ... "The Kansas Board of Education has scheduled six days of courtroom-style hearings to begin Thursday in Topeka [Kansas]. More than two dozen witnesses will give testimony and be subject to cross-examination, with the majority expected to argue against teaching evolution." -Reuters via -CNN

20050428

- - - - - "Experts: New Data Show Global Warming." ... "Climate scientists armed with new data from deep in the ocean and far into space have found that Earth is absorbing much more heat than it is giving off, a conclusion they say validates projections of global warming." ... "Lead scientist James Hansen, a prominent NASA climatologist, described the findings on the planet's out-of-balance energy exchange as a "smoking gun" that should dispel doubts about forecasts of climate change. A European climate expert called it a valuable contribution to climate research." ... "Hansen's team, reporting Thursday in the journal Science, said they also determined that global temperatures will rise 1 degree Fahrenheit this century even if greenhouse gases are capped tomorrow." -By Charles J. Hanley -WashingtonPost

20050422

Earth_Day

- - Earth_Day - "On Earth Day, environmentalists debate future of movement." ... "As the world marks the 35th anniversary of Earth Day on Friday, environmentalists are debating the future of a movement that seems to be losing the battle for public opinion." ... "President Bush's re-election, the failure to slow global warming and the fact that large numbers of Americans seem to dismiss them as tree-hugging extremists has green leaders looking for new approaches." ... "Some think it's a message problem — that environmental groups simply need to improve their communication with the voting public. Others are calling for more fundamental changes in how the groups operate." -By Terence Chea -AP via -SFGate.com

20050421

- - - - Earth_Day - "Earth Day: The environmental movement's midlife crisis." ... "As Earth Day turns 35 Friday, the environmental movement is in the throes of a midlife identity crisis. In despair over the Republican victories in the November election and riven by internal tensions, activists are certain of neither their strategies nor their audience. What are environmentalism's major growing pains, and how can its troops avoid committing movement suicide?" ... "The first Earth Day in 1970 didn't necessarily constitute the "birth of the modern environmental movement," as Earth Day Network, an awareness-promoting group, likes to claim. When the inaugural event took place, many key laws, like the National Environmental Policy Act, had already been passed. Still, the national teach-in that took place on April 22, 1970, drew 20 million Americans into the parks and streets. The action that day helped kick off a decade in which Congress established the Environmental Protection Agency and, along with the states, passed wide-ranging environmental and public-health legislation." -By Paul Sabin -Slate
- - - Earth_Day - "Earth Day challenge: e-waste: Activists target electronic devices." ... "When Earth Day dawned in 1970, environmentalists predicted emerging technologies would help reduce reliance on coal, oil, insecticides, and other pollutants. But 35 years later, a big part of the problem appears to be technology itself." ... "Tons of computers, monitors, television sets, and other electronic gizmos that contain hazardous chemicals, or ''e-waste," may be poisoning people and ground water. Activists say" -AP via -Boston/Globe

20050330

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

- - - - - - - - Animals - Millennium Ecosystem Assessment - "Human damage to Earth worsening fast-report." ... "Humans are damaging the planet at an unprecedented rate and raising risks of abrupt collapses in nature that could spur disease, deforestation or "dead zones" in the seas, an international report said on Wednesday." ... "The study, by 1,360 experts in 95 nations, said a rising human population had polluted or over-exploited two thirds of the ecological systems on which life depends, ranging from clean air to fresh water, in the