Lenin Again Wins Ecuador’s Presidential Race After Recount

teleSUR | 18 April, 2017

The recount is observed by electoral council members, delegates from political parties and international observers. | Photo: teleSUR

Ecuador’s National Electoral Council President Juan Pablo Pozo reported that Tuesday’s recount of the ballots that had inconsistencies during the April 2 presidential run-off election was completed, with Alianza Pais candidate Lenin Moreno again winning the vote.

The result of the recount culminated with more votes for leftist Moreno, while the right-wing candidate Guillermo Lasso, of the CREO-SUMA coalition, obtained fewer votes. Moreno obtained 51.15 percent of the votes on April 2, but in today’s recounted got 51.16 percent. Lasso went from 48.85 percent to 48.84 percent.

Venezuelan FM Slams “Interventionist” Statement from Regional Governments

by RACHAEL BOOTHROYD-ROJAS

venezuelanalysis.com | 18 April, 2017

Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez responds to the 11 country statement on state TV Tuesday. (ElUniversal)

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez hit back at a joint statement issued by 11 Latin American governments this Monday, accusing them of intervening in Venezuelan domestic affairs.

The declaration was made public by Colombia’s Foreign Ministry on Twitter, and calls on the Venezuelan government to “ensure the right to peaceful protest” and “avoid violence” during mass pro and anti-government marches this coming Wednesday.

Declaration of the 15th Meeting of the ALBA-TCP Political Council

Granma | 11 April, 2017

Photo: Jose M. Correa

We, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the member countries of the Bolivarian Alliance of Latin America – People’s Trade Treaty, at the 15th meeting of its Political Council in Havana:

Reject the aggression and manipulation inflicted on the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, as well as the deceit and lies that threaten its sovereignty, independence and stability, and those of the entire region.

February & March, 2017 were second-warmest March & February months on record

Climate crisis causes “river piracy” in Canada

A Journal of People report

March and February 2017 were the second warmest March and February in 137 years of modern record-keeping, according to a monthly analysis of global temperatures by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York.

News reports from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (NASA, Global Climate Change) in March and April said:

March 2017 was 1.12 degrees Celsius warmer than the mean March temperature from 1951-1980. The two top March temperature anomalies have occurred during the past two years.

March 2016 was the hottest on record, at 1.27 degrees Celsius warmer than the March mean temperature. March 2017’s temperature was 0.15 degrees Celsius cooler than March 2016, but 0.2 degrees Celsius warmer than any previous March.

The seven men who will decide US role in Paris climate deal

Donald Trump’s most powerful advisors are set to debate whether the US stays in the UN climate pact. Here’s what we know about their positions

by Karl Mathiesen

Climate Home | April 18, 2017

US president Donald Trump signs orders to green-light the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines in January in front of key advisors Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon (6th and 7th from right) (Photo: Office of the President of the United States)

On Tuesday seven White House powerbrokers will sit down to discuss the US’ ongoing participation in the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

President Donald Trump has criticised the agreement – and the US policies developed to implement it – for targeting the US fossil fuel industry and harming US workers.

The accord, which was agreed by 194 countries and has already been ratified by 143 (including the US), caps global warming at below 2C.

Permafrost thaw threatens flood of emissions

Global warming’s impact on permafrost will release huge amounts of methane and carbon dioxide as frozen soil of an area larger than India could be lost for every additional degree of global warming

by Alex Kirby

Climate News Network | 11 April, 2017

A pond created by melting permafrost in northern Yukon, Canada. Image: Keith Williams via Flickr

London – Permafrost, the layer of permanently frozen ground that lies just beneath the Earth’s surface in the polar regions, has been found to be more sensitive to the effects of global warming than climatology had recognised.

In a new study published in Nature Climate Change journal, scientists say they expect the warming to thaw about 20% more permafrost than previously thought, potentially releasing significant amounts of greenhouse gases (GHG) into the Earth’s atmosphere.

The study, conducted by climate change experts from the universities of Leeds and Exeter and the Met Office, all in the UK, and the universities of Stockholm and Oslo, suggests that nearly four million square kilometres of frozen soil – an area larger than India – could be lost for every additional degree of global warming the planet experiences.