Environment

Renewable energy: World invests $244 billion in 2012; shift to developing countries underway

UN Environment Programme / REN21 12-Jun-2013 Installed capacity continues to grow as solar prices drop 30-40 percent New wind installations surge For only the second

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Potentially ‘catastrophic’ changes underway in Canada’s northern Mackenzie River Basin

Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy, University of California Berkeley 10-Jun-2013 Biodiversity in watershed covering roughly 20% of Canada compared to Africa’s Serengeti; Alarm raised

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Even farm animal diversity is declining as accelerating species loss threatens humanity

Chair IPBES / Science Advisor to the Prime Minister, Malaysia / Malaysian Industry‑Government Group for High Technology 27-May-2013 Founding Chair of new world biodiversity body offers

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Shifting global water systems: markers of a new geological epoch, “The Anthropocene”

Global Water System Project, Bonn 19-May-2013 Bonn Declaration issued by ‘Water in the Anthropocene’ science conference:  A majority on Earth face severe self-inflicted water handicap

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As Canada takes Arctic Council helm, experts stress north’s vulnerability to spills, emergencies

Walter & Duncan Gordon Foundation, Toronto / Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Programme 13-May-2013 International experts recommend key focus areas for next 2 years As leadership of the

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‘Water Security’: Experts propose a UN definition on which much depends

United Nations University, Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH, Hamilton, Canada) / UN-Water 22-Mar-2013, World Water Day / International Year of Water Cooperation Amid

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Deep Carbon: Quest underway to discover its quantity, movements, origins and forms in Earth

Deep Carbon Observatory, Carnegie Institution of Washington DC 4-Mar-2013 Probing the secrets of volcanoes and diamonds, sources of gas and oil, and the origins of life

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‘Amazon of the North’: Major world interests at stake in Canada’s vast Mackenzie River Basin

Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation, Toronto 3 September, 2012 Watershed covers roughly 20 percent of Canada, including oil sands; The Mackenzie may discharge more water

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Sea-surfing ‘wave glider’ robot deployed to help track white sharks in the Pacific

Block Lab, Stanford University, Monterey Bay, CA, USA 16-Aug-2012 New high-tech ocean observers debut above ‘The Blue Serengeti’; ‘Shark Net’ app lets public follow tagged animals

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E-waste: Annual gold, silver ‘deposits’ in new high-tech goods worth $21 billion; less than 15% recovered

6-Jul-2012 United Nations University ‘Urban mining’ deposits are 40 to 60 times richer than mined ore, experts tell 1st GeSI and StEP e-Waste Academy in

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Global investment in renewable energy powers to record $257B

United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi and REN21, Paris Installations up but manufacturer overcapacity drives down margins; Renewable energy sector maturation recalls early days of auto industry

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Beyond GDP: Experts preview ‘Inclusive Wealth’ index at Planet under Pressure conference

Earth System Science Partnership, Paris 28-Mar-2012 Brazil and India pay a high price for rapid economic growth, according to experts speaking at a major international

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Cities forecast to expand by area equal to France, Germany and Spain combined in less than 20 years

Earth System Science Partnership, Paris 27-Mar-2012 Unless development patterns change, by 2030 humanity’s urban footprint will occupy an additional 1.5 million square kilometres – comparable

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State of the Planet: Scientists describe humanity’s global impact as ‘The Great Acceleration’ and offer ominous outlook: An uncertain future on a much hotter world

Earth System Science Partnership, Paris 26-Mar-2012 Time is running out to minimize the risk of setting in motion irreversible and long-term climate change and other

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Create effective new global environmental agency, ministers urged

Office of the Science Advisor to the Prime Minister, Malaysia / Malaysian Industry‑Government Group for High Technology, Kuala Lumpur 21-Feb-2012 ‘Conditions right for important reform

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Study quantifies impact of unsafe water and poor sanitation on child and maternal mortality

United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, Hamilton, Canada 14-Feb-2012 The impact of unsafe water and sanitation on the death rates of children

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Eyeing resources, India, China, Brazil, Japan, other countries want a voice on Arctic Council

Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation, Toronto 15-Jan-2012 International experts to recommend key issues as Canada prepares to assume Arctic Council chair With an eye on

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Quack medicines, insect immigrants, and what eats what among secrets revealed by DNA barcodes

Consortium for the Barcode of Life, Smithsonian Institution 27-Nov-2011 Global ‘barcode blitz’ accelerates; 450 experts converge on Adelaide Nov. 28-Dec. 3 The newfound scientific power

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Environmental troubles growing in Mid-East Gulf region due to rapid coastal development

United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health,  Hamilton, Canada 16-Nov-2011 Sustainable coastal management, regional coordination and long-term, holistic viewpoint needed to protect fragile

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Major threats foreseen due to Europe’s changing marine environments

Project CLAMER (Flanders Marine Institute, (VLIZ) Oostende, Belgium, and             Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), Texel, Netherlands) 13 September 2011

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How many species on Earth? 8.7 million

Census of Marine Life, Washington DC 23 Aug 2011 Eight million, seven hundred thousand species (give or take 1.3 million). That is a new, estimated

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Ongoing global biodiversity loss unstoppable with protected areas alone: Study

United Nations University – Institute for Water, Environment and Health, Hamilton, Canada 28 Jul 11 Continued reliance on a strategy of setting aside land and

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