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Archive for November 2nd, 2010
Testing the Waters Ahead of Closer Collaboration on River
Posted by Inter Press Service: Tinus de Jager on November 2nd, 2010
Inter Press Service: You would expect to find children in the Vaal River outside Parys on a hot afternoon. But 28 of them, on the Gauteng side of the river, are not swimming; they are doing research for ORASECOM.
For three months beginning in November, ORASECOM, the Orange-Senqu River Commission, will test the water quality, the environmental impact of industry and the general health of the ecosystem at some 60 sites along the river basin. The data is to be shared amongst all four of the participating states and the...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Testing the Waters Ahead of Closer Collaboration on RiverCoastal erosion problems highlighted in new study
Posted by Ventura County Star: Zeke Barlow on November 2nd, 2010
Ventura County Star: Machinery digs apart sections of a concrete seawall near Surfers Point in Ventura. A parking lot and bike path in the area is being ripped up and moved farther from the sea, replaced by rocks and sand that will allow the ocean to ebb and flow naturally.
The face of California is its beaches, which attract millions of surfers, sunbathers and tourists every year.
But that facade is in dire need of a face-lift.
All along the more than 1,100 miles of coastline, the homes, freeways and communities...
Rising Seas and the Groundwater Equation
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 2nd, 2010
New York Times: Worldwide overpumping of groundwater, particularly in northern India, Iran, Mexico, northeastern China and the American West, more than doubled between 1960 and 2000 and is responsible for about 25 percent of the current rise in sea level, according to estimates in a new study by a team of Dutch researchers published in Geophysical Review Letters.
The general idea that groundwater used for irrigation is running off into ocean-bound rivers or evaporating into the clouds, only to end up raining...
Bangkok faces severe flooding
Posted by Guardian: Bruno Philip on November 2nd, 2010
Guardian: Downpours that caused rivers to burst around Thailand have killed 94 people in nearly two weeks of flooding, which officials say is the worst in decades. It has affected more than 3 million people in 36 of Thailand's 76 provinces, according to government medical and disaster agencies.
In Bangkok, more than 4 million sandbags were erected into walls along stretches of the Chao Phraya River, which swelled with runoffs from upper provinces. The precautions held and the city had only minor flooding....
United Kingdom: Lindow Moss development: Peat bog under threat
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 2nd, 2010
Guardian: Name of project Lindow Moss development: Peat bog under threat
Describe the site currently, including details of protected or threatened habitat or species The site is currently a Peat Bog, in which the 2000 year old Lindow Man was found. Crogan Peat were given a 50 year licence to extract peat from the site.
What development is proposed? The most recent scheme proposed was for 26 houses and 6 apartments.
What one thing would help you or your group protect this site? The best thing that...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: Lindow Moss development: Peat bog under threatArgentine judge bars some glacier-protection rules
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 2nd, 2010
Reuters: An Argentine judge has ruled that key articles of a glacier protection law cannot be applied in San Juan province, where Barrick Gold Corp is building a large mine, an official news agency said on Tuesday.
Mining industry analysts had warned that the new law could hinder construction of Barrick's Pascua Lama mine, although the company says the ore body it has permission to mine does not lie under a glacier.
The glacier protection law bans mining and oil drilling on glaciers and the areas surrounding...
Canada: US Tea Party’s deep ties to oil sands giant
Posted by Tyee: Geoff Dembicki on November 2nd, 2010
Tyee: The Tea Party movement, poised to help shift the U.S. legislature to the right and stymie President Obama's green agenda, has financial and organizational ties to Koch Industries, one of America's biggest processors of Alberta oil sands crude.
Congressional midterm elections on Tuesday could create a U.S. government less amenable to climate change action, partly a result of Tea Party influence.
That would likely bode well for Alberta's carbon-intensive oil sands industry, which has long worried...
Idaho Court Punts on Oil Shipments
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 2nd, 2010
New York Times: Highway 12, a portion of which cuts through northern Idaho`s pristine back country, is also part of the historic Lewis & Clark trail. Critics object to giant oil-related shipments along the route.
Efforts to block shipments of giant oil processing equipment along a historic stretch of Highway 12 in Idaho, which I wrote about two weeks ago, were dealt a blow by the state Supreme Court there on Monday -- or so it would seem.
The court overturned a lower court`s ruling in support of a lawsuit...
Every person emits two tons of carbon dioxide a year through eating, Spanish study finds
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 2nd, 2010
ScienceDaily: Every person emits the equivalent of approximately two tonnes of carbon dioxide a year from the time food is produced to when the human body excretes it, representing more than 20% of total yearly emissions. That is what a study by the Universidad de Almería says, confirming for the first time that human excrements contribute to water pollution, primarily with nitrogen and phosphorus.
A team of researchers from the Universidad de Almería (UAL) has estimated the environmental impact of the Spanish...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Every person emits two tons of carbon dioxide a year through eating, Spanish study findsUnited Kingdom: Could you give up washing?
Posted by Guardian: Kira Cochrane on November 2nd, 2010
Guardian: If you are reading this article over breakfast, the chances are you have recently stepped into the shower, lathered up your hair and torso, rinsed off, towelled and blow-dried, before dousing your armpits with deodorant, and wafting on a fog of perfume or aftershave.
Then again, maybe not. The New York Times has just reported on a new trend towards what's sometimes known as soap-dodging. Among those who have cut down on daily showers, baths or hair-washing were a woman who swipes a sliced lemon...