The Planet Just Had Its Hottest October On Record
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) reports that last October was the hottest October in more than 120 years of record-keeping — by far. This follows the hottest September, August, June, and March-May in JMA’s records! Projections by NOAA make clear 2014 is increasingly likely to be hottest year on record.
Gorillas of Congo’s Virunga is in trouble
One of Africa’s oldest national parks and its gorillas from a number of threats, including the advances of Soco International, an oil and gas exploration and production company. Areas like Virunga were established as World Heritage Sites because they are sites of great scientific and natural value not only to the nations in which they are situated but to the whole world. The 7,770-square-kilometre Virunga has more species of birds and mammals than any other African national park. Oil giant Soco is a British company.
Your clothes are polluting the ocean
After studying microplastics from shorelines at 18 sites across the globe, ecologist Mark Browne found that 85% of the synthetic materials accumulating there were microfibers that matched the kinds of materials found in synthetic clothing, which might mean that our wardrobes and washing machines are two of the biggest culprits in ocean pollution. An estimated 1,900 microfibers can get rinsed out of a single piece of synthetic clothing each time it’s washed, and these microplastic fibers might be the biggest contributors to ocean pollution. [So please dont buy synthetic clothing. Buy cotton.]
Most expensive off-year election in American history
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the 2014 midterm elections cost at least $3.67 billion. That will become a historic figure for midterm elections. And those figures only reflect what was spent at a maximum of 60 days before the elections. This is as per official records.