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Archive for January 4th, 2011
Apocalypse now? Mystery bird deaths hit Louisiana
Posted by Guardian: Paul Harris on January 4th, 2011
Guardian: Birds dropping dead from the skies and rivers flowing with tens of thousands of dead fish sounds like a cheesy Hollywood movie about the Apocalypse. Or the ravings of a Revelation-obsessed street preacher.
But residents of several US states are coping with the reality of mystery mass wildlife deaths, which have left officials scratching their heads and jumpy members of the public joking (nervously) about the end of the world.
Today it emerged that about 500 red-winged blackbirds and starlings...
The ecosystem engineer: Research looks at beavers’ role in river restoration
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on January 4th, 2011
Science Centric: When engineers restore rivers, one Kansas State University professor hopes they'll keep a smaller engineer in mind: the North American beaver.
Beavers are often called ecosystem engineers because they can radically alter stream or valley bottom ecosystems, said Melinda Daniels, an associate professor of geography who recently studied the connection between beavers and river restoration. Beaver dams create diverse river landscapes, she said, and can turn a single-thread channel stream into a meadow,...
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Comments Off on The ecosystem engineer: Research looks at beavers’ role in river restorationCongress may force White House to expand drilling: group
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 4th, 2011
Reuters: Congress should pass legislation, if necessary, to force the Obama administration to open more offshore areas to oil and gas exploration, the head of the American Petroleum Institute said on Tuesday.
The administration last month removed from its proposed five-year offshore drilling plan an earlier decision to allow energy exploration off the Atlantic coast and in Florida waters. It had pledged to open the areas to exploration shortly before last summer's BP oil spill.
Jack Gerard, president...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Congress may force White House to expand drilling: groupAs High Gas Prices Loom, New Congress Faces Pressure on Drilling
Posted by Greenwire: Anne C. Mulkern on January 4th, 2011
Greenwire: Party leaders in the new Congress have yet to unveil their full agenda, but lobbyists and observers see one issue they'll likely confront: what to do about rising gas prices. Pump prices jumped over the past six weeks, and some experts predict they will continue climbing. Former Shell Oil President John Hofmeister predicts that increased worldwide demand and lack of production could push gas prices in the United States to $5 per gallon by 2012. "We continue to demand more," Hofmeister said today,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on As High Gas Prices Loom, New Congress Faces Pressure on DrillingW.Va. mountaintop mining foe Judy Bonds dies at 58
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 4th, 2011
Associated Press: West Virginia environmental activist Julia "Judy" Bonds, who garnered national attention for her homespun opposition to mountaintop removal coal mining, has died, the environmental group Coal River Mountain Watch said Tuesday.
Bonds died Monday evening at a hospital, Coal River Mountain Watch co-director Vernon Haltom told The Associated Press. Bond, the group's 58-year-old executive director, had cancer.
A descendant of generations of West Virginia coal miners, Bonds became known as a passionate...
China makes gain in battle against desertification but has long fight ahead
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 4th, 2011
Guardian: China has gained a sliver of ground in its ancient battle against the desert sands, the government announced today, though it warned another 300 years may be needed to solve "the most serious ecological problem facing the country".
A survey showed more than a quarter of China's land remained either degraded or lost to sand and gravel due to a combination of a naturally dry climate, centuries of over-cultivation and decades of excessive demand on water and soil from the world's biggest population...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on China makes gain in battle against desertification but has long fight aheadQueensland floods: Residents wait for swollen river to peak
Posted by Guardian: Alison Rourke on January 4th, 2011
Guardian: Queensland residents were today warned to stay away from flooded areas as towns and cities waited anxiously for rivers to peak.
The Fitzroy River has been slowly submerging the town of Rockhampton, 380 miles north of Brisbane, and is expected to peak there at 9.4 metres (30.8ft) above its normal level – threatening up to 40% of the town – tomorrow.
"Staying clear of flooded creeks, rivers and causeways could mean the difference between life and death," Neil Roberts, Queensland's emergency services...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Queensland floods: Residents wait for swollen river to peakWater: not having it makes you realise how precious it is
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 4th, 2011
Guardian: For the past eight days I have lived without running water. Pretty strange for normally wet Britain, but this is Wales where we have had 10 days or more or with minus 20C temperatures. (Northern Ireland has been having its own problems with lack of running water.) The underground pipes in our valley froze solid at Christmas for the first time in about 50 years, and we have to collect water from a neighbour who has a working standpipe a few hundred yards away.
People rolled out the old cliche that...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Water: not having it makes you realise how precious it isFloods take toll on Australia economy
Posted by New York Times: Aubrey Belford on January 4th, 2011
New York Times: Churning floodwaters continued to rise across a vast stretch of northeastern Australia on Tuesday as the authorities worked to grapple with the multibillion-dollar economic toll from record inundations that have killed at least nine people.
Rain predicted for Wednesday is expected to worsen flooding that has struck the state of Queensland, said Jimmy Stuart, a senior hydrologist at the state branch of the Bureau of Meteorology. At least 200,000 people have been affected since heavy rains and floods...
Bundled solar water project likely to take off in Orissa soon
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 4th, 2011
Business Standard: Bundled Solar Water Heater Project, the first CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) project in the country to have been registered with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is likely to take off in Orissa soon.
The project, which involves the installation of solar water heaters in commercial and institutional buildings, will enable the users to sell green energy through carbon credit deals. -Cart before horse-Cancun compromise-Carbon credit prices tumble, to fall more-India...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Bundled solar water project likely to take off in Orissa soon