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Archive for November 18th, 2010
African Pelicans in Russia
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 18th, 2010
NYT: Pink pelicans that landed in Siberia on Tuesday were taken to a zoo aviary in Barnaul.
A flock of African pelicans lands in Siberia after being thrown off course by abnormally warm weather this autumn throughout Russia. "They just lost their way and went in exactly the opposite direction: Instead of Africa they somehow chose the Altai region," a zoologist says. [Reuters]
Britain`s plan to double its use of biofuels by 2020 will significantly boost global carbon dioxide emissions, officials...
Fooling Fish to Grow and Multiply
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 18th, 2010
Inter Press Service: Surrounded by glass jugs and beakers full of bubbling green slime, Mohamed Ashour appears to be experimenting with a new formula for pea soup. As part of his daily rounds, the Egyptian researcher checks the valves on the tubing connecting each vessel, ensuring their verdant-hued contents are adequately aerated.
It is a tedious task, but an important one. The colonies of microalgae brewing inside the glass vessels form the basic building block of a marine hatchery food chain. The harvested microscopic...
Cattle Ranching Areas in the Amazon Industrialise
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 18th, 2010
Inter Press Service: The agricultural frontier state of Rondonia in Brazil is a byword for deforestation in the Amazon jungle, much of which has been cleared in the northwestern state for cash crops and a cattle herd that has grown to 12 million head.
But industrialisation is arriving by the hand of the construction of two big hydropower dams and transport corridors -- including roads, railways and waterways -- that will provide an overland link connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
The Indústria Metalúrgica...
Cracks in Costa Rica’s Green Image
Posted by Inter Press Service: Daniel Zueras* - IPS/IFEJ on November 18th, 2010
Inter Press Service: For many, Costa Rica embodies the notion of a country committed to taking care of its natural environment. But Costa Rican activists beg to differ, and have a list of the actions that contradict the country's green "for-export" image.
Open-pit mining, pollution of rivers and an international reprimand for weak protection of wetlands only fuel their criticisms.
The non-governmental World Wetland Network chastised Costa Rica in October with its Grey Globe award for the Neotropics region, citing...
Scientists warn of more rain, heat and hurricanes
Posted by AFP: Kerry Sheridan on November 18th, 2010
AFP: Hungry polar bears gathering along the tundra, twice as many record-breaking temperatures and stronger hurricanes are among the latest signs of climate change, scientists say.
And we can expect more rain, more drought and fiercer storms in the future if the world continues on its fossil-fuel gobbling track, they told reporters on a conference call Wednesday to discuss the year in global warming.
Michael Mann, a leading US scientist, said he just returned from a trip to Churchill, Manitoba,...
United Kingdom: Cumbria’s natural landscape may be restored to ease flooding
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 18th, 2010
Guardian: One of Britain's best-loved landscapes may be subtly reshaped over the next decade in a long-term attempt to ease the risk of catastrophic floods.
Millions of pounds' worth of damage in Cumbria last year has prompted local planning bodies and the Environment Agency to consider restoring meanders, flood meadows and long-lost plantations in the valleys of the Lake District.
The strategy would be to "slow down" cascades of rainfall from the Pennine chain and Cumbrian fells such as those which...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on United Kingdom: Cumbria’s natural landscape may be restored to ease floodingUSAID study says climate impact on Himalayas remains unknown, but worrisome
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 18th, 2010
ClimateWire: Glaciers in the Himalayas are shrinking slowly, but their retreat still presents major risks for more than a billion people who rely on glacier-fed rivers, says a new report by the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The agency says more information about the glaciers' behavior is needed to help communities adapt to climate change-driven changes in glacier melt and the region's water cycle. More than 50,000 glaciers help supply water for Asia's major rivers, including the Ganges, Indus,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on USAID study says climate impact on Himalayas remains unknown, but worrisomeUnited Kingdom: Cornwall mops up after devastating flash floods
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 18th, 2010
Guardian: A multimillion-pound mopping-up operation was today under way in Cornwall after flash floods forced hundreds of people from their homes and devastated businesses.
All the flood and severe weather warnings for the area were lifted as the clean-up and recriminations continued.
Environment ministers are expected to make a statement to parliament, setting out extra support for some of the worst-hit areas.
The government faces criticism for cutting funding for flood defences, but promised yesterday...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: Cornwall mops up after devastating flash floodsReforestation effort launched in Borneo with nearly-extinct rhinos in mind
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 18th, 2010
Mongabay: The Rhino and Forest Fund (RFF) has partnered with the Forestry Department of Sabah in northern Borneo to launch a long-term reforestation project to aid Malaysia's threatened species with particular emphasis on the Bornean rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni), one of the world's most imperiled big mammals. The reforestation project will be occurring in and adjacent to Tabin Wildlife Reserve, which is surrounded on all sides by oil palm plantations.
"We see the charismatic [Bornean rhino]...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Reforestation effort launched in Borneo with nearly-extinct rhinos in mindIndia to pay extra $15.8 million to Bhopal gas victims
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 18th, 2010
Reuters: India will pay an extra 713 million rupees ($15.8 million) in compensation to the victims of the world's worst industrial accident that killed thousands in 1984, the government said in a statement late on Thursday.
India says about 3,500 people died when a Union Carbide plant in the central Indian city of Bhopal accidentally released toxic gases into the air, but activists say 25,000 died in the immediate aftermath and the years that followed.
The 713 million rupees is in addition to a compensation...