Flood warnings across Britain as a month's rain will fall in 24 hours

Parts of the UK were under a severe weather warning today as forecasters predicted up to a month's worth of rain could fall over 24 hours.

Communities in the north and east of England, the Midlands and much of Wales were warned by the Environment Agency to brace themselves for flooding as two bands of very heavy rain were set to cross the UK today and into tomorrow. Yorkshire, the North East, the Midlands and East Anglia will be worst-hit.

There are 87 flood warnings in total issued by the Environment Agency; 41 in Anglia, 28 in the North East, 11 in the North West, four in the Midlands, two in the South West and one in Wales.

Read more: Daily Mail

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World leaders open Rio environment summit

Leaders from around the globe gathered Wednesday to open three days of talks at the United Nations conference on sustainable development, where a sober, unambitious mood prevailed as negotiators produced what critics called a watered-down document that makes few advances on protecting the environment.

Negotiators worked for months to hammer out a document that many hoped would lay out clear goals on how nations could promote sustainable development — making economic advances without eating up the globe's resources.

Read more: Jakarta Post

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Green activists' surprising ally in their midst: Islam.

According to "Globalized Eco-Islam: A Survey", recently published by the Leiden University in the Netherlands, a number of Qu'ranic passages talk about the environment, and people find it easier to accept discourse associated with heritage.

While it's been an uphill task, there have been some successes, and even the UK's Prince Charles has acknowledged its power.

Here some passages from Quran and Hadith:

"The Earth is green and beautiful, and Allah has appointed you [humans] his stewards over it... Whoever plants a tree and diligently looks after it until it matures and bears fruit is rewarded...." (Hadith)

"Devote thyself single-mindedly to the Faith, and thus follow the nature designed by Allah, the nature according to which He has fashioned mankind. There is no altering the creation of Allah." (Qu'ran)

Read more: Business Insider

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La Nina 'may abet' flu pandemics

La Nina events may make flu pandemics more likely, research suggests.

US-based scientists found that the last four pandemics all occurred after La Nina events, which bring cool waters to the surface of the eastern Pacific.

In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), they say that flu-carrying birds may change migratory patterns during La Nina conditions.

However, many other La Nina events have not seen novel flu strains spread around the world, they caution.

Read more: BBC News Science and Environment

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New U.N. climate deal: Critics say Gains Modest

[ Yahoo News ] 12 Dec

While countries from around the globe agreed on Sunday to forge a new deal forcing all the biggest polluters for the first time to limit greenhouse gas emissions, critics say the plan is too timid to slow global warming.

Kyoto's first phase - due to expire at the end of next year but now extended until 2017 - imposed limits only on developed countries, not emerging giants like China and India. The United States never ratified it.

Many small island states and developing nations at risk of being swamped by rising sea levels and extreme weather said the deal marked the lowest common denominator possible and lacked the ambition needed to ensure their survival.

Read full story for details.

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Maldives 'Rubbish Island' is 'overwhelmed' by garbage

[ BBC Asia ] 8 Dec

The government of the Maldives has temporarily banned the depositing of rubbish from its hotels onto an island used almost entirely as a garbage dump.

Thilafushi, an artificial island 7km (four miles) from the capital, is nicknamed Rubbish Island. An emergency clearing operation has begun to remove "hills of rubbish" mostly collected from luxury hotels.

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Liquid living worms survive space

BBC Science & Environment 30 Nov

The result, published in a Royal Society journal, means worm colonies can be established on space stations without the need for researchers to tend to them.

The recent mission saw Dr Szewczyk's worms return to Earth with the space shuttle Discovery after 6 months in orbit. It was the longest time worms have survived and been recovered, he said.

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Big emission emitters are real culprits

Full Story: BBC Science and Environment

While the efforts are at hand to tell others to cap deadly emissions, it is in fact the "Tellers" that are the biggest culprits in the way of implementing emission control around the world.

Connie Hedegaard's EU is increasingly isolated among the industrialised world bloc, reports BBC

It is China, USA and the EU which tops the list of biggest CO2 emitters. As the UN climate summit opens on Monday in Durban, South Africa, concerns are that those who top the list will make their utmost to stall any policy that might cap their emission and harm their "industrial growth."

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