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Archive for January 14th, 2011
Brazil’s environment chief resigns over controversial Amazon dam
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 14th, 2011
Mongabay: The president of Brazil's environmental agency IBAMA has resigned over pressure to grant a license for the Belo Monte dam, a hydroelectric project on the Xingu River that faces strong opposition from environmental groups and indigenous tribes, reports O Globo.
Abelardo Bayma Azevedo, the head of IBAMA, reportedly refused to grant the license due to environmental concerns. Azevedo was said to be under pressure from the country's Ministry of Mines and Energy to approve the license.
Azevedo's...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Brazil’s environment chief resigns over controversial Amazon damIndonesia to open protected forests to geothermal power
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 14th, 2011
Mongabay: The Indonesian government will soon issue a decree allowing geothermal mining in protected forests, reports The Jakarta Post.
Mining of any kind is currently prohibited in protected forest areas, but because the government says geothermal mining is "environmentally friendly" it would be allowed. Geothermal would enable Indonesia to reduce its dependence on oil, reserves of which are fast being depleted. Geothermal might also reduce reliance on coal, although much of Indonesia's coal is sold to...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Indonesia to open protected forests to geothermal power2010 ties for the warmest year on record
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 14th, 2011
Mongabay: 2010 tied 2005 as the warmest year on record, according to separate analyses by NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Global surface temperatures in 2010 were 1.34°F (0.74°C) warmer than the average global surface temperature from 1951 to 1980 and 1.12°F (0.62°C) above the 20th century average.
"If the warming trend continues, as is expected, if greenhouse gases continue to increase, the 2010 record will not stand for long," said James Hansen, the director of NASA's...
Climate flux matched Europe’s social rise and fall
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 14th, 2011
Agence France-Presse: Ancient tree rings show links between climate change and major events in human history, like migrations, plagues and the rise and fall of empires, said a study this week in the journal Science.
Moist, balmy temperatures were seen during prosperous Medieval and Roman times, while droughts and cold snaps coincided with mass migrations.
To match the environmental record with the historical one, researchers looked at more than 7,200 tree fossils from the past 2,500 years, said lead author Ulf Buntgen...
United States: Halt To Mining Permit Draws Fire In Coal Country
Posted by National Public Radio: Emily Corio on January 14th, 2011
National Public Radio: Reaction in West Virginia to the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to halt a permit for the state's largest mountaintop removal mining project has been heated. It's part of an Obama administration effort to crack down on the controversial mining practice. But in coal country, the move has angered some.
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United States: Halt To Mining Permit Draws Fire In Coal CountryWorld farmers to grow slightly more wheat in 2011: report
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 14th, 2011
Reuters: The world's farmers will grow only slightly more wheat in 2011, the Canadian Wheat Board said on Friday, even as food inflation spurred protests this month and pumped up grain values.
In its first market outlook of 2011, the Wheat Board said that despite attractive prices, global wheat production will be reined in by ongoing concerns about drought in Russia and potential flooding in Canada, as well as high prices of competing crops ahead of planting season in the Northern Hemisphere.
"In terms...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on World farmers to grow slightly more wheat in 2011: reportEU to ban Icelandic mackerel as dispute over ‘excessive’ catches intensifies
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 14th, 2011
Associated Press: The European Union plans to ban the landing of Icelandic mackerel in its ports in a dispute over what it sees as excessive catches.
The European Commission today told Iceland of its intent and will now work out how to enforce it.
The EU has long threatened to escalate the dispute, which might affect Reykjavik's EU membership application.
The EU maintains that Iceland catches disproportionate amounts of mackerel in northern waters, not only threatening the livelihoods of EU fishermen around...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on EU to ban Icelandic mackerel as dispute over ‘excessive’ catches intensifiesUnited Kingdom: We’re letting our flood defences down
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 14th, 2011
Telegraph: It was not just superstition, it seems, that led the Romans to sacrifice a local lamb and consult its liver before starting a building project. If the organ was discoloured, it would suggest the presence of liver flukes, which live in low-lying areas that are prone to flooding.
We could take a leaf from their precautionary book, as the disaster in Brisbane testifies. The last severe floods, in 1974, produced a greater inundation but swamped far fewer homes: 6,700 as against at least 26,000. The...
Coal industry fumes as US revokes mining permit
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 14th, 2011
Agence France-Presse: The withdrawal of a permit for a controversial "mountaintop removal" coal mining operation has sparked outrage in the US industry, but was hailed as a victory for environmental protection and the health of nearby communities.
The move Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to revoke licenses for a major open-pit mine in West Virginia, at the heart of the Appalachian wilderness region, was a landmark move against Mingo Logan Coal Co, a subsidiary of the leading coal producer Arch...
Fall of Rome ‘recorded in trees’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 14th, 2011
BBC: An extensive study of tree growth rings says there could be a link between the rise and fall of past civilisations and sudden shifts in Europe's climate.
A team of researchers based their findings on data from 9,000 wooden artifacts from the past 2,500 years.
They found that periods of warm, wet summers coincided with prosperity, while political turmoil occurred during times of climate instability.
The findings have been published online by the journal Science.
"Looking back on 2,500...