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Archive for February 3rd, 2011
Sarawak’s last nomad: indigenous leader and activist, Along Sega, dies
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 3rd, 2011
Mongabay: Sarawak's last nomad: indigenous leader and activist, Along Sega, dies
Along Sega never knew exactly how old he was, but when he passed away yesterday in a hospital far from the forest where he born, he was likely in his 70s. Leader among the once-nomadic hunter and gatherer Penan people of Borneo and mentor to Swiss activist, Bruno Manser, Along Sega will be remembered for his work to save the Penan's forest--and their lifestyle and culture--from logging companies, supported by the Sarawak government...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Sarawak’s last nomad: indigenous leader and activist, Along Sega, diesEPA Decides to Limit Rocket Fuel in Drinking Water–Guess Who Objects?
Posted by Yahoo: None Given on February 3rd, 2011
Yahoo: Overturning a 2008 decision by the Bush administration, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday that it will establish a federal limit on the amount of perchlorate in drinking water. This would be the first nation-wide limit and would crack down on the naturally occurring and artificially produced chemical that is used in rocket fuel, fireworks, flares and missiles. The reason for concern is that the EPA says perchlorate may have an impact on the thyroid, which Time Magazine's Bryan...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on EPA Decides to Limit Rocket Fuel in Drinking Water–Guess Who Objects?Amazon drought stirs climate fear
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 3rd, 2011
BBC: Both droughts had a major impact on people living in the Amazon basin, as well as the forest
Last year's drought in the Amazon raises concerns about the region's capacity to continue absorbing carbon dioxide, scientists say.
Researchers report in the journal Science that the 2010 drought was more widespead than in 2005 - the last big one - with more trees probably lost.
The 2005 drought had been termed a "one in a century" event.
In drought years, the Amazon region changes from being...
Amazon’s double dry spell worries scientists
Posted by Agenece France -Presse: None Given on February 3rd, 2011
Agenece France -Presse: A pair of unusually severe droughts have parched the Amazon in recent years, raising concern about the rainforest's future as a major absorber of carbon emissions, said a study on Thursday.
A rare drought in 2005 was billed as a once-in-a-hundred-years event, but then it was followed by another drought in 2010 that may have been even worse, said the team of British and Brazilian experts in the journal Science.
Since the droughts killed many trees, the scientists predict that the Amazon will...
Mass tree deaths prompt fears of Amazon ‘climate tipping point’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 3rd, 2011
Guardian: Billions of trees died in the record drought that struck the Amazon in 2010, raising fears that the vast forest is on the verge of a tipping point, where it will stop absorbing greenhouse gas emissions and instead increase them.
The dense forests of the Amazon soak up more than one-quarter of the world's atmospheric carbon, making it a critically important buffer against global warming. But if the Amazon switches from a carbon sink to a carbon source that prompts further droughts and mass tree...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Mass tree deaths prompt fears of Amazon ‘climate tipping point’Amazon rainforest hit by second ‘once in a century drought’ in five years
Posted by Daily Mail: David Derbyshire on February 3rd, 2011
Daily Mail: Amazon rainforest hit by second 'once in a century drought' in five years
The Amazon has been hit by its second 'once in a century' drought in five years, scientists say.
A study found that last year's drought was even more severe and more widespread than the disastrous water shortages that gripped the world's largest rainforest in 2005.
The extended dry season is thought to have wiped out swathes of the Amazon, killing millions of trees, amphibians, fish, birds and mammals.
Repeat offender:...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Amazon rainforest hit by second ‘once in a century drought’ in five yearsAmazon drought caused huge carbon emissions
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 3rd, 2011
Reuters: A widespread drought in the Amazon rain forest last year was worse than the "once-in-a-century" dry spell in 2005 and may have a bigger impact on global warming than the United States does in a year, British and Brazilian scientists said on Thursday.
More frequent severe droughts like those in 2005 and 2010 risk turning the world's largest rain forest from a sponge that absorbs carbon emissions into a source of the gases, accelerating global warming, the report found.
Trees and other vegetation...
Two massive droughts evidence that climate change is ‘playing Russian roulette’ with Amazon
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 3rd, 2011
Mongabay: Two massive droughts evidence that climate change is 'playing Russian roulette' with Amazon
In 2005 the Amazon rainforest underwent a massive drought that was labeled a one-in-100 year event. The subsequent die-off of trees from the drought released 5 billion tons of CO2. Just five years later another major drought struck. The 2010 drought, which desiccated entire rivers, may have been even worse according to a new study in Science, adding on-the-ground evidence to fears that climate change may...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Two massive droughts evidence that climate change is ‘playing Russian roulette’ with AmazonEU fisheries commissioner pledges to end ‘nightmare of discards’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 3rd, 2011
Guardian: No more fish will be thrown away by fleets in European seas under reforms soon to be presented to ministers, the EU commissioner for fisheries pledged today, in response to a high-profile campaign to end the wasteful practice of discards.
Instead, fishermen will have to land their entire catch – whether the fish are saleable or not. "We can't go on like this, with this nightmare of discards," Maria Damanaki, the EU fisheries commissioner, told the Guardian. "We need a new policy."
Her strong...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on EU fisheries commissioner pledges to end ‘nightmare of discards’Threat of urban epidemics looms
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 3rd, 2011
SciDev.Net: Poor housing standards can allow disease vectors to thrive
An unprecedented alliance of urban planners, doctors and scientists is needed to better prepare for "the looming threat of explosive urban epidemics" in an increasingly urbanised world, according to a review paper in The Lancet.
The world's urban population will double by 2050 and most of this increase will be in developing countries, according to UN estimates.
But how this will affect infectious diseases is poorly understood. Better...