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Archive for June 8th, 2011
Need to Protect Millions Displaced by Environmental Disasters
Posted by Inter Press Service: Rosebell Kagumire on June 8th, 2011
Inter Press Service: Heavy rainfall means that over 500,000 people living in mountainous areas in Uganda need to be relocated as they live in areas at risk to landslides.
In 2010 over 300 people died on the slopes of Mount Elgon, eastern Uganda after days of heavy rains led to landslides on the mountain. Thousands more were displaced. This week the Uganda Red Cross Society warned that more landslides are looming in the Elgon area, placing thousands more at risk and in need of relocation.
The displacement of people...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Need to Protect Millions Displaced by Environmental DisastersNuke plant stopped spent fuel pumps to fight fire
Posted by Associated Press: Ray Henry and Josh Funk on June 8th, 2011
Associated Press: A small fire briefly knocked out the cooling system for used fuel at a nuclear power plant in Nebraska, but temperatures never exceeded safe levels and power was quickly restored, federal officials said Wednesday.
The electrical system running the pumps that cool spent fuel in a pool of water was disrupted by a suspected electrical fire Tuesday, though one pump was restored shortly after the incident and another was running Wednesday, utility officials said.
The pumps are a key piece of safety...
Hosepipe bans on horizon as drought declared
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 8th, 2011
Telegraph: The Environment Agency is expected to declare later this week that parts of East Anglia are officially in drought following the latest 'crisis meeting' with the Government and water companies.
There are also concerns about water levels in the Midlands and south west England.
This will mean a crackdown on farmers taking water from rivers to irrigate fields, increasing the risk of failed crops and a rise in food prices. Power generators, food processors, manufacturers and breweries may also be...
Trapped Between Droughts and Floods
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 8th, 2011
Inter Press Service: Extreme weather conditions across Europe have transformed the continent into a climatic roller coaster - while rainfall in May was the lowest ever measured in Germany and France, June began with stormy showers that caused the death of at least one person, and high economic losses.
On Jun. 6, storms caused flooding in the northern German city of Hamburg. The showers transformed city streets into rivers, and inundated numerous buildings, including the central station, immobilising the regional railroad...
A perfect storm of stupid
Posted by Guardian: Amy Goodman on June 8th, 2011
Guardian: More than 100 people have been killed in Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas as tornadoes hit central and southern US, in the worst year for tornado fatalities for decades. High temperatures are also leading to warnings of an intense hurricane season.The troubled sky reveals
The grief it feels.
These two lines were written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his poem "Snow-Flakes", published in a volume in 1863 alongside his epic and better-known "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere". Much of the news...
A Voice From (and for) the Wilderness
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 8th, 2011
New York Times: The gray wolf, which the House voted to remove from the endangered species list.
Bruce Babbitt, the former Democratic Arizona governor and Secretary of the Interior, plans to rip into the Republicans in Congress in a speech on Wednesday afternoon, saying that they have “declared war on our land, water and natural resources.” But he also chides President Obama for not having done enough to stop them.
In a text of his remarks released in advance of a 1 p.m. speech, Mr. Babbitt, 73, an ardent...
Food prices posing risk to poor nations
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 8th, 2011
Wall Street Journal: Drought in some areas and heavy rain in others are keeping world food prices near record levels, threatening the food supply for poorer, food-importing countries, the United Nations' food body said Tuesday.
The Food and Agriculture Organization forecast in its biannual report that world cereal output would rise 3.5% to a record 2.3 billion metric tons in 2011–;but warned that this might not be enough to replenish scarce world stocks and calm the recent turbulence in world food markets.
Drought in southwest Kansas wheat fields is worst since Dust Bowl
Posted by Kansas City: Annie Greenberg on June 8th, 2011
Kansas City: South-central Kansas has been one area of the state affected by the drought. Southeast of Anthony, Kan., farmers cut a field of wheat earlier this week.
In southwest Kansas, the wheat fields look more brown than gold.
The drought-stricken corner of the state is following one of its best-yielding years with one of its worst.
Farmers say there are good seasons and there are bad seasons, and there’s nothing to do but pray for rain and try again. But with the harvest projected to produce...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Drought in southwest Kansas wheat fields is worst since Dust BowlParts of Mexico experiencing worst drought in 70 years
Posted by Latin American Herald Tribune: None Given on June 8th, 2011
Latin American Herald Tribune: About 40 percent of Mexico’s territory has been experiencing the worst drought in seven decades, President Felipe Calderon said.
Climate change has caused extreme weather events in Mexico in the past three years, ranging from torrential rains to severe droughts, Calderon said during an event held in connection with the celebration earlier this week of World Environment Day.
Mexico experienced its second worst drought in 60 years in 2009, while 2010 was the rainiest year on record and this year...
Yangtze rains bring drought relief, and floods
Posted by New York Times: Edward Wong on June 8th, 2011
New York Times: Heavy rains since last Friday have brought some relief from the worst drought in the Yangtze River region in 50 years, but also caused flooding in at least two southern provinces, state news organizations reported Tuesday.
The six-month drought had resulted in water shortages for 3.5 million people. With the rains, that number has dropped to 2.15 million, according to Xinhua, the state news agency. The amount of farmland affected by the drought has dropped by 3.68 million acres, to 5.68 million....