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Mail & Guardian
John Vida

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John Vida

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Big bucks drive oil pipe sabotage in Niger Delta

Petroleum companies in the Niger Delta seek alternatives to the destructive and costly business.

Himalayan glaciers face meltdown

A study estimates about 5 500 of these ice sheets could vanish by 2100, affecting millions of people.

Toxic brew: Open waste sites such as the Dandora rubbish dump in Nairobi

The rise of the dump monster

Almost 40% of the world’s waste ends up in huge rubbish tips, most of them found near urban populations in poor countries.

Markets are anticipating that the conflict will be contained. A wider Middle East war would hit an already fragile and fragmented economy.

Water, the latest weapon yielded by Isis

The outcome of the Iraq and Syrian conflicts may rest on who controls the region’s dwindling water supplies, say security analysts.

Greens buoyant as oil firm halts testing in DRC park

The state must reaffirm that Virunga has universal value for all humanity, says the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Rio Tinto’s Rössing mine in the Namib desert produces around 7% of the world’s uranium.

Cancers fell nuclear ore miners

Rio Tinto’s Namibian miners are said to be dying of cancers after extracting uranium ore for the British and US military in the 1970s.

In the first two months of this year

Kenya’s rhinos cannot survive in the wild

Charity Rhino Ark says rhinos in Kenya are increasingly vulnerable to organised poaching gangs and should be protected in sanctuaries.

The World Health Organisation voiced concern over the welfare of remote communities on 20 smaller islands which posed an “exceedingly complicated” aid challenge. (AFP)

Philosopher’s tears for climate fears

Global warming is the chief suspect in the case of the ever-worsening, ever-deadlier typhoons.

River could light up the continent

New hydropower projects in the DRC will benefit big users, but locals might be left off the grid.

Nations continue haggling over climate change and the burning of fossil fuels goes on.

Earth sweats as carbon levels approach threshold

The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has reached 399.72 parts per million (ppm).

A family in Pakistan waits for food to be distributed Rawalpindi on October 8.

UN warns of worldwide food crisis in 2013

World grain reserves are so dangerously low that severe weather in the US or other food-exporting countries could trigger a hunger crisis next year.

The South African agricultural sector is on solid ground for now and we shouldn’t be worried — but we should be vigilant.

Food comes before biofuel, says Oxfam

Biofuel producers have taken over land around the world that could feed nearly one billion people, says international charity Oxfam.

In November, South Africa’s vegetable prices were deflated — -2,6%.

Water scarcity ‘could force worldwide vegetarianism’

Water scientists say mankind may have to switch almost completely to a vegetarian diet over the next 40 years to avoid catastrophic shortages.

End of the line: Lonesome George was an icon of global wildlife and the last known survivor of his subspecies.

George never came out of his shell

Lonesome George inspired scientists who want to conserve the planet’s biodiversity, writes John Vidal.

Topsy turvy weather chaos storms into 2012

With unusual weather in Europe and the Americas, low Arctic ice, droughts in Africa and Latin America, 2012 picks up where 2011 left off.

New ‘whale’ war set to kick off

Captain Paul Watson is sending three ships to intercept, chase and harass the Japanese — he promises "aggressive non-violence".

Maathai: ‘My heart is in the land and women I came from’

Maathai: ‘My heart is in the land and women I came from’

Her solution, to work with the most vulnerable women to repair their own degraded environments and empower themselves, proved inspirational.

Dialogue of the deaf

Christine Lagarde’s appointment to the IMF has reopened calls for greater representivity at the United Nations.

US universities in Africa ‘land grab’

US universities in Africa ‘land grab’

Institutions including Harvard and Vanderbilt reportedly use hedge funds to buy land in deals that may force African farmers off their land.

Blueprint for green living

Blueprint for green living

Abu Dhabi shows the way forward.