Environmental Glance
You can’t see the old Chingola copper mine, with its smelter and refinery, from the village of Shimulala. It’s miles away, beyond 300ft-high hills of waste tailings, the leach plant, the main pollution control dam and the 1,600ft-deep open pit that is one of Africa’s largest holes.
But you can smell and taste the pollution from the biggest copper mine in Africa. If you pump a glass of water from the borehole outside the little church in Shimulala, you will see it is bright yellow, smells of sulphur and tastes vile.
‘I drank the water and ate the fish. We all did. The acid has damaged me permanently’
Wildfires prompt Brown to declare state of emergency in California
Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for all of California in the wake of at least 18 wildfires that killed one firefighter and drove hundreds of people from their homes.
California's record drought, now in its fourth year, has "turned much of the state into a tinderbox," he said.
The emergency declaration, which included the activation of the California National Guard, will speed up help for thousands of firefighters, Brown said Friday.
Pair of earthquakes rattle parts of northern Oklahoma
A pair of earthquakes has rattled parts of northern Oklahoma previously shaken by a swarm of earthquakes.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the temblors were recorded Friday in Logan County, the first at 5:38 a.m. about 14 miles northeast of Crescent, located about 35 miles north of Oklahoma City. The magnitude 2.6 quake occurred at a depth of less than two miles
TVNL Comment: This is after two stronger earthquakes earlier last week, and dozens all year. Keep on fracking, Oklahoma. This is the payoff.
13 Climbers Suspended From Bridge Blocking Shell Oil Vessel From Heading to Arctic
Thirteen Greenpeace climbers remain suspended below the St. John’s Bridge, blocking the Shell Oil vessel‘s route out of Portland, Oregon, for more than 24 hours. The climbers spent much of yesterday, Tweeting, livestreaming and speaking with journalists, while hanging from the bridge, to urge President Obama to use his last chance to stop Shell’s Arctic oil drilling plans.
“The sun is now setting on an incredible day of speaking truth to power and effective direct action,” Greenpeace activist Georgia Hirsty said yesterday, one of the climbers rappelled from the bridge.
On four continents, historic droughts wreak havoc
California's historic drought appears to be matched by severe dry spells on three other continents. Brazil, North Korea and South Africa are bearing the brunt of much lower-than-average precipitation, wreaking havoc on millions of peoples' lives and livelihoods.
While the causes vary from country to country, the chance of more intense droughts in the future as a result of man-made climate change is only increasing as regional extremes of precipitation — both more and less — remain likely, according to the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Fracking Linked to Heart Conditions and Neurological Illness
People who live in fracking zones appear to suffer a higher rate of heart conditions and neurological illnesses, according to new research.
Although the U.S. study was unable to determine a specific reason, it suggests there may be a link between drilling and ill health, scientists said.
Residents in high-density areas of fracking made 27 per cent more hospital visits for treatment for heart conditions than those from locations where no fracking took place, according to a new study of drilling in Pennsylvania between 2007 and 2011.
California communities mount protests against fracking, oil drilling
More than 100 children, parents and community organizers in fluorescent yellowish-green shirts and orange shoe covers marched through a South Los Angeles neighborhood earlier this week chanting, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, this drilling site has got to go!”
The canaries-in-a-coal-mine color-scheme of the protesters was intentional. There was even a giant cage in front of an oil drilling site on West Jefferson Boulevard that neighborhood children, most of them African American or Latino, crammed into, holding up signs asking to “Set these canaries free.”
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