[posted on The Economist, August 29, 2017] But the number of deaths caused by them is falling. Houston is being battered by its worst storm in 50 years. Tropical Storm Harvey dumped almost 50 inches (1.27 metres) of rain in some areas in just over four days, with more set to come. That is a record for a tropical system in mainland America. A lack of sufficient drainage in the city of 6.5m people, which is built on thick clay soil on a...

[posted on The Guardian, August 14, 2017] Neonicotinoid drastically cuts egg-laying by queens, affecting their ability to start new colonies and increasing chances of local extinction, say scientists. A controversial pesticide can potentially wipe out common bumblebee populations by preventing the formation of new colonies, research has shown. The neonicotinoid chemical thiamethoxam dramatically reduces egg-laying by queen bumblebees,...

[posted by Bibi van der Zee on The Guardian June 26, 2017] Stiegler Gorge dam on the Selous park, a world heritage site listed as ‘in danger’, will cause irreversible damage, say conservationists. Plans to build a huge hydroelectric dam in the heart of one of Africa’s largest remaining wild areas have dismayed conservationists who fear that the plans will cause irreversible damage to the Selous game reserve in Tanzania. After many...

The European Commission wants to approve glyphosate weedkiller for another decade, despite the World Health Organisation’s cancer warnings. Together, we’ve fought for years to get Roundup’s main ingredient banned — we won’t let Monsanto win the day now! If we can convince Germany’s Chancellor, France’s President, and Italy’s Prime Minister to step up and vote against the Commission’s proposal, then glyphosate will not be...

[sent on May 28, 2017] A letter from Christopher Portier, a long-time toxicologist active in glyphosate studies, to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Based on the re-assessment of raw data from studies about potential cancer-causing herbicide on animals, Mr Portier criticizes the evaluations of the European Chemicals Agency (Echa) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). He points up that excess of tumors...

[posted by Naomi Klein on The Intercept, August 28, 2017] Now is exactly the time to talk about climate change, and all the other systemic injustices — from racial profiling to economic austerity — that turn disasters like Harvey into human catastrophes. Turn on the coverage of the Hurricane Harvey and the Houston flooding and you’ll hear lots of talk about how unprecedented this kind of rainfall is. How no one saw it coming, so no...