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Archive for February 4th, 2011
CO2 Fears After Amazon Rainforest Droughts
Posted by Sky News: None Given on February 4th, 2011
Sky News: Two severe Amazon droughts have sparked fears that the rainforest's ability to absorb carbon emissions is being diminished - and, worse still, it may soon release almost as much CO2 as the US.
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A rare drought in 2005 - billed as a once-in-a-hundred-years event - was then followed by another drought in 2010 that may have been even worse, according to a study by...
Amazon drought caused huge carbon emissions
Posted by Reuters: Stuart Grudgings on February 4th, 2011
Reuters: Amazon drought caused huge carbon emissions -study
* 2010 drought released more emissions than 2005 dry spell
* Frequent droughts may turn forest into emissions source
* Droughts fit some models of drier Amazon this century
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...
Amazon’s double dry spell worries scientists
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 4th, 2011
Agence France-Presse: Croatia's new river regulation projects risk wiping out endangered species and run counter to the laws of the European Union that it aspires to join, the environmental WWF warned Thursday. "We are very much concerned that new planned river regulation projects along all major rivers in Croatia are threatening unique natural areas and counteracting efforts of the EU to bring water management in line with EU policy and law," said WWF Austria expert Arno Mohl in a statement. At issue are large-scale...
Deadly floods in Pakistan were “predictable,” study says
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on February 4th, 2011
Climate Central: Program Needed to Convey Warnings to Vulnerable Populations
A view of heavy floods caused by monsoon rains in Punjab Province, near the city of Multan, Pakistan, on August 15, 2010. Credit: UN Photo/Evan Schneider.
In Pakistan last summer, severe flooding killed nearly 2,000 people and affected more than 20 million, destroying infrastructure such as roads, bridges and power stations, killing 20,000 cattle, and damaging fertile farmlands that are major sources of income and food for the Pakistani...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Deadly floods in Pakistan were “predictable,” study saysAmazon Drought Caused Huge Carbon Emissions
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 4th, 2011
Planet Ark: A Brazilian crosses the muddy bottom of the Rio Negro, a major tributary to the Amazon river, in the city of Manaus, October 26, 2010.
Photo: Euzivaldo Queiroz
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...
Chief financier of Belo Monte dam ties social and environmental requirements to controversial project
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 4th, 2011
Mongabay: Chief financier of Belo Monte dam ties social and environmental requirements to controversial project
The Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES) has announced it will not grant a $640 million loan for the hugely controversial Belo Monte dam until 40 social and environmental conditions are met. In response, the company contracted to build the dam, Norte Energia, S.A. (NESA), has stated it may drop the bank's loan altogether and seek less discriminating private funding to start construction....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Chief financier of Belo Monte dam ties social and environmental requirements to controversial projectAmazon drought stirs climate fear
Posted by BBC News: None Given on February 4th, 2011
BBC News: Amazon drought 'severe' in 2010, raising warming fears
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 wide-spread than in 2005 - the last big one - with more trees probably lost.
Australian disasters spark call for climate action
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 4th, 2011
Reuters: An architect of Australia's stalled climate-change policy has linked the nation's recent natural disasters with global warming and called for a new political push to cut carbon emissions.
Ross Garnaut, releasing updated advice to the government, said extreme weather events like massive Cyclone Yasi, which hit the northeast coast on Thursday, and recent floods were just a taste of what would come if climate change went unchecked.
"The greater energy in the atmosphere and the seas can intensify...
Bison slaughter challenged as habitat effort flops
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 4th, 2011
Associated Press: Dozens more wild bison were herded into corrals on the border of Yellowstone National Park to await possible slaughter Thursday, as a much-heralded initiative to expand where the animals can roam in Montana collapsed.
An estimated 368 bison have been captured over the last week while attempting to migrate to lower elevations in Montana in search of food.
Yellowstone workers and state livestock agents are trying to halt the animals' exodus from the snow-packed park under a controversial program...
indigenous people deserve right to refuse big companies
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 4th, 2011
Mongabay: Report: indigenous people deserve right to refuse big companies
As large-scale mining, logging, and plantations threaten indigenous communities worldwide, a new report from the indigenous rights NGO Amazon Watch states that when extractive industries work in indigenous people's territories, the peoples' rights must be respected. The report argues that all indigenous groups have the right to 'free, prior, and informed consent' of any resource extraction occurring on their lands, and that this international...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on indigenous people deserve right to refuse big companies