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Archive for November 13th, 2010
United States: Sarah Palin accused of breaking countryside rules in TV nature show
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 13th, 2010
Guardian: Sarah Palin accused of breaking countryside rules in TV nature show
The former Alaska governor was filmed fishing too close to protected bears, claims environmentalist
In her television show tonight, Sarah Palin casts herself as a can-do superwoman of the natural world. She fishes, hikes across glaciers and preaches "respect for the elements" from a speedboat while clad in a yellow cagoule. But the programme has already plunged the Mama Grizzly-in-chief into controversy after a leading conservationist...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on United States: Sarah Palin accused of breaking countryside rules in TV nature showIreland: Extreme weather clouds the water for our river fish
Posted by Irish Times: Michael Viney on November 13th, 2010
Irish Times: AS THE GREAT Atlantic swells approached Ireland last Sunday, rising under low pressure and driven by the wind, their rolling turbulence sent vibrations -- microseisms -- humming ahead through the coastal lakes and rivers.
A tingling intimation of floods and swollen estuaries touched thousands of adult eels already primed for migration, their bellies silvered, their systems saltproofed. As our hillside spinney bowed to the gale in a midnight blizzard of leaves I pictured the long procession flashing...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Ireland: Extreme weather clouds the water for our river fishUnited Kingdom: Coalition stance on industrial dairy farms will see cows suffer
Posted by Independent: Peter Stevenson on November 13th, 2010
Independent: The Conservatives, the dominant members of the Coalition Government, are traditionally the farmers' friend yet it would be unfair to accuse them of being any worse than Labour on the welfare of farm animals.
There have been positive measures and there have been black marks but they are certainly no worse than the last government and are better than we expected.
The last government announced they would ban the practice in 2002 but it failed to put sufficient pressure on the industry to comply....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: Coalition stance on industrial dairy farms will see cows sufferUnited States: For hundreds, lawsuit over coal slurry unresolved
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 13th, 2010
Associated Press: Eighteen months ago, Christina Doyle packed up her two kids for an eight-hour journey to a West Virginia courthouse, hoping for some resolution to a lawsuit over water pollution she believes caused her daughter's learning disabilities and slow growth.
This weekend, the 32-year-old who now lives in South Carolina is doing it again. And so will hundreds of others who believe Virginia-based Massey Energy Co. and subsidiary Rawl Sales & Processing have poisoned their water wells with 1.4 billion...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United States: For hundreds, lawsuit over coal slurry unresolvedKyrgyzstan: Fast Melting Glaciers Threaten Biodiversity
Posted by Inter Press Service: Pavol Stracansky on November 13th, 2010
Inter Press Service: Kyrgyzstan's glaciers are receding at what scientists say is an alarming rate, fuelled by global warming. And while experts warn of a subsequent catastrophe for energy and water security for Kyrgyzstan and neighbour states downstream reliant on its water flows, devastation to local ecosystems and the effects on plant and wildlife could be just as severe.
"Animals and vegetation will not be unaffected and the risks for some species will be great," Ilia Domashov, deputy head of the BIOM Environmental...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Kyrgyzstan: Fast Melting Glaciers Threaten BiodiversityClimate change issues gaining momentum in Guatemala
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 13th, 2010
Reuters: Guatemala is stepping up its efforts to address climate change impacts and implement disaster prevention plans following a series of natural disasters that have hit Central American, experts say.
Throughout this year, Guatemala has had to deal with the wettest rainy season of the last 60 years, the eruption of the Pacaya volcano and a battering by tropical storm Agatha.
These events have claimed 235 lives, uprooted 208,000 Guatemalans from their homes, destroyed nearly 15,000 homes and worsened...
Study: Warming could ‘tip’ Bolivia drought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 13th, 2010
United Press International: The capital of Bolivia could face a near-term catastrophic drought, U.S. researchers studying the historical ecology of the Andes Mountains say.
Research funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation suggests if temperatures rise more than 3 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit above modern averages, parts of Peru and Bolivia will become a desert-like setting, an NSF release says.
Scientists say the change would be disastrous for the water supply and agricultural capacity of the 2 million inhabitants of...
Arabs face severe water crisis by 2015
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 13th, 2010
United Press International: Lebanon, once considered to have an abundance of water, is threatened with acute shortages as the Arab world lurches toward severe water scarcity as early as 2015.
For Lebanon, which has long neglected to take measures to conserve and manage its water resources, the crisis couldn't come at a worse time: The government is gripped by political crisis that many fear could lead to renewed civil war; the decision-making process has been paralyzed; and a 10-year water plan adopted in 2002 has ground...
Online seed selection tool launched to help fight hunger in Africa
Posted by AlertNet: Katy Migiro on November 13th, 2010
AlertNet: The U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has launched an online cropping calendar to guide the aid community in giving appropriate seeds in the wake of floods, droughts and other natural disasters.
Seed aid is a growing business, with private companies and donors ramping up their donations to developing countries in recent years.
"Where there is an emergency they need to know quickly when the next planting season is and what crops will be grown," an FAO spokeswoman told AlertNet....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Online seed selection tool launched to help fight hunger in Africa