A rash of rhino horn thefts, "as many as 30 so far this year, have been reported in museums, galleries, antiques dealerships, auction houses and homes across Europe as criminals try to feed a growing demand in China and other Asian countries, where medicine made from ground rhino horns is believed to act as an aphrodisiac and to cure cancer and other diseases."
"Yet another panel of scientists has found no evidence that a popular vaccine causes autism. But despite the scientists' best efforts, their report is unlikely to have any impact on the frustrating debate about the safety of these crucial medicines.
"LONDON—The illegal trade in counterfeit pesticides has grown into a multimillion-euro industry in Europe, putting consumers' lives and farmers' livelihoods at risk as unregulated and often toxic chemicals enter the food chain.
"Top military brass, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the UN Secretary General have all warned that climate change will create conflicts in the future. But environmental shifts are already causing wars, argues a team of experts in a new paper in Nature published this month."
"Like thousands of other people, Miwa Kamoshita's life was turned upside down when the March 11 tsunami struck the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, leading her and her family to voluntarily evacuate their home in Iwaki, some 40 km south of the crippled power station."
"Department of Energy officials have spent weeks trying to knock down reports that they have been interested in building a nuclear waste repository in Mongolia.
Now, the Obama administration is going a step further, disclosing that what DOE hopes to do is 'lease' uranium from other countries, then return the spent fuel to the originating country.
"Video footage of Tatsuhiko Kodama's impassioned speech before a Diet committee in July went viral online recently, showing the medical expert's shocking revelation that the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant spewed some 30 times more radioactive materials than the fallout from the Hiroshima atomic bombing."
Jun Hongo reports for the Japan Times August 24, 2011.
Most of humanity today lives an a metropolis. Is all climate local? Cities are the locus of many of the world's unique environmental, social, and economic problems. But they are also demonstrating a unique talent for applying smarter technology and policy to create a better future.
"It would be natural to imagine that the fall of Tripoli would mean a significant decrease in the cost of oil and the pain that the average consumer feels at the pump. After all, in February, when unrest in Libya commenced, oil prices hit a two-year high. Libya is only the 15th biggest oil exporter in the world, but the oil it exports is of a particularly desirable type.
"STOCKHOLM — Population growth and water stress are driving Earth to a food and environmental crunch that only better farming techniques and smarter use of the ecosystem will avert, a UN report issued on Monday said."
