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Archive for March, 2011
Salmon play hidden role in forest growth, researchers find
Posted by Vancouver Sun: Margaret Munro on March 25th, 2011
Vancouver Sun: Salmon play hidden role in forest growth, researchers find
Salmon may live in the water, but a new study shows they help shape the forest.
A study of 50 watersheds in the Great Bear Rainforest on British Columbia's central coast says bears, fish-catching wolves and other predators haul huge amounts of salmon into the forest that provide a potent "nutrient subsidy" that drives plant growth in the surrounding forest.
Nitrogen released by the fish favours some plants -such as the aptly named...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Salmon play hidden role in forest growth, researchers findJapan: Devil’s in the Details for Drinking Water in Nuclear Accident Scenarios
Posted by Greenwire: Jenny Mande on March 25th, 2011
Greenwire: Residents of Tokyo and other areas around the failed Daiichi power plants have been faced with a whiplash of advisories on the safety of tap water in the face of tests showing the presence of radioactive iodine. Tokyo officials warned Wednesday that infants should not consume tap water, only to rescind the advisory yesterday when radiation levels tested lower. It is not clear what the precise route of exposure is through which Japanese water supplies have picked up detectable levels of radioactivity,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Japan: Devil’s in the Details for Drinking Water in Nuclear Accident ScenariosAmazon village bans tourists
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 25th, 2011
Guardian: The small Amazonian town of Nazareth is a traveller's dream. Wildlife prowls the surrounding jungles and indigenous inhabitants practise ceremonies that long predate the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores.
But it may be advisable for tourists to give the place a wide berth. Locals have declared their town off-limits to travellers, even though this stretch of the Amazon river is playing host to more visitors than ever. Their main complaint: tourists' behaviour, and that only a fraction of the...
New Mekong Dam a Go, and a Blow to Endangered Megafishes?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 25th, 2011
National Geographic: , recommended a 10-year building freeze on all Mekong dam construction projects to allow time for more studies on the dams’ environmental and societal impacts to be conducted.
"My intuition is that if you really account for the full sweep of negative impacts to humans and fish species, it would be hard to justify a dam on the Mekong River," McIntyre said.
Laos recently indicated it would resist the SEA report's recommendations. "We have no reason to believe that the Project should be delayed...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on New Mekong Dam a Go, and a Blow to Endangered Megafishes?Nuclear safer than coal, Chinese atomic official says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 25th, 2011
Reuters: Even in the wake of Japan's Fukushima nuclear crisis, nuclear power remains a safer and cleaner choice for China than coal, Pan Ziqiang, the chairman of the science and technology committee at the China National Nuclear Corporation, said on Friday. Before Japan's earthquake and tsunami, Beijing was bullish about the prospects of nuclear power in China, fast-tracking the approval of dozens of reactors along the coast as part of a wider plan to ease dependence on heavily-polluting fossil fuels. Since...
Cutting carbon dioxide could help prevent droughts, new research shows
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 24th, 2011
ScienceDaily: Recent climate modeling has shown that reducing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would give Earth a wetter climate in the short term. New research from Carnegie Global Ecology scientists Long Cao and Ken Caldeira offers a novel explanation for why climates are wetter when atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations are decreasing. Their findings, published online March 24 by Geophysical Research Letters, show that cutting carbon dioxide concentrations could help prevent droughts...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Cutting carbon dioxide could help prevent droughts, new research showsJapan: Psychological Risks Loom in Tokyo Water Warning
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 24th, 2011
Greenwire: Overnight, Tokyo transformed into the world's largest psychological laboratory. Japan's now-rescinded warning yesterday that radioactive iodine in the city's drinking water exceeded standards set for infants' chronic radiation exposure was, above all, a public health threat. But it is likely that the warning's psychological effects on Tokyo could cause lasting stress to a group particularly at risk during nuclear crisis: young mothers. The mental health legacies of nuclear power accidents like...
Salmon play hidden role in forest ecology, researchers find
Posted by Calgary Herald: Margaret Munro on March 24th, 2011
Calgary Herald: Salmon may live in the water, but a new study shows they help shape the forest.
A study of 50 watersheds in the Great Bear Rainforest on British Columbia's central coast says bears, fish-catching wolves and other predators haul huge amounts of salmon into the forest that provide a potent "nutrient subsidy" that drives plant growth in the surrounding forest.
Nitrogen released by the fish favours some plants -- such as the aptly named salmonberry -- while pushing out other species, researchers...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Salmon play hidden role in forest ecology, researchers findCrisis Forces Japanese Farmers To Destroy Crops
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 24th, 2011
National Public Radio: The Japanese government is asking people not to eat spinach, parsley and other produce grown near the damaged power plant because some is tainted with radiation. Dairy farmers are also dumping their milk, and drinking water has been a problem in some locations, including "” briefly "” Tokyo.
But the biggest impact following the nuclear disaster has been in the region where these foods are produced. One might expect that reports of food contaminated with radiation would create panic in Japan, but...
Salmon run helps shape ecosystems
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 24th, 2011
BBC: Pacific salmon plays an important role in providing nutrients to part of the world's largest old-growth temperate rainforest, a study has shown.
The annual migration sees salmon return to western Canada to spawn, but many are caught by bears and wolves, which carry carcasses away from the streams.
This allows nutrient-rich plants to thrive in these areas.
Writing in Science, the team said a shift in salmon numbers would have "far-reaching impacts" on biodiversity.
"Along the Pacific coast,...