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Archive for June, 2011
Climate, government controls hit Bolivia’s farmers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 20th, 2011
Associated Press: Bolivia's farmers were hit from all sides last year - drought, floods and wildfires - forcing the poor Andean nation to import staple foods on an unprecedented scale.
a woman buys cooking oil at a street market in Achacachi, Bolivia. Corn and sugar farmers worried as their crops withered last year during a drought that was the worst in 20 years. But the drought was only the start of their problems: Farmers said they were hurt just as much by price controls that eliminated profits and by other...
Stress rises in climate shifts
Posted by Canberra Times: Justin Ryan AND Clive Mcalpine on June 20th, 2011
Canberra Times: The recent devastating floods that occurred in many parts of Australia were a reminder of the power of nature. Infrastructure and property took a hit, but can be rebuilt. Crops can be replanted and fences mended. Whether it's a natural cycle or climate change that's fuelling these natural disasters, surely we can cope. But there are insidious factors we've overlooked. They are incremental changes occurring over a long time and over broad areas an almost imperceptible accumulation of impacts associated...
Armadillos move north across a warmer North America
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 20th, 2011
Daily Climate: Here's one advantage to armadillos' steady northward march across the Southeast United States:
They're awfully handy to have as bait if, say, you're a wildlife biologist looking to trap an alligator that has inexplicably settled into your local pond in north Georgia.
That's what happened last month near Atlanta: A biologist with Georgia's Department of Natural Resources, on the way to trap an alligator scaring residents, stopped en route to pick up some fresh road kill.
Now it's true that...
China affected by violent floods
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 20th, 2011
Guardian: Torrential rain continues to cause deadly flooding in parts of central and southern China. Millions of people have been evacuated amid the early onset of the rainy season
Afforestation Not Likely To Reverse Global Warming
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 20th, 2011
redOrbit: Afforestation, or the replacing of farmlands or unused open areas with forests is being encouraged under the UN’s Kyoto Protocol climate-change treaty under the theory that forests are will soak up carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air through photosynthesis, AFP is reporting.
Environmental researchers, in a new probe, said that even massive conversion of land to forestry would have only a slender benefit at best against the increase of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.
The primary reason is...
River falls short of Nebraska nuke plant shutdown
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 20th, 2011
Associated Press: The supply of sand used to fill hundreds of thousands of bags needed to fight off the swollen Missouri River is running low after weeks of relentless flooding. It's a problem that could get worse as the river is expected to remain high through August, making it unsafe to gather sand from the easiest place to get it: the river itself.
The sand shortage comes as the bloated river rose to within 18 inches of forcing the shutdown of Cooper Nuclear Plant at Brownville, Neb. It stopped and ebbed slightly...
Catastrophic species loss in Okavango delta
Posted by Guardian: Frederika Whitehead on June 20th, 2011
Guardian: The Okavango delta is one of the wonders of the natural world. The 16,000km oasis in the Kalhari desert, Botswana, is made up of around 50,000 islands intersected by channels, lagoons, and swamps.
United Kingdom: New app aims to reduce UK’s bottled water usage
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 20th, 2011
Independent: A new iOS application released June 14 aims to reduce the levels of bottled water consumption in the United Kingdom by directing users to establishments where they can obtain free tap water.
The free application called Water Water Everywhere is a location-based app providing users with details of the nearest establishment where they can find free tap water. The application also encourages users to expand the database by adding new locations.
Created by Caffeine Concepts and Water Water Everywhere,...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on United Kingdom: New app aims to reduce UK’s bottled water usageSmall hydro could add up to big damage
Posted by SciDev.Net: Tasneem Abbasi and S. A. Abbasi on June 20th, 2011
SciDev.Net: Environmental engineers Tasneem Abbasi and S. A. Abbasi warn that widespread adoption of small hydro could repeat a history of environmental damage.
A belief that 'small' hydropower systems are a source of clean energy with little or no environmental problems is driving the growing interest in mini, micro, and pico hydro systems that generate from less than 5 kilowatts up to 10 megawatts of energy.
Hydropower appears to be the cleanest and most versatile of renewable energy sources. But experience...
“Climate-Smart” Projects for a Successful Great Lake Restoration
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 20th, 2011
Public News Service: Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes face serious challenges such as invasive species, pollution and variable water levels. And as millions of dollars are being spent revitalizing the region, researchers say projects should take into account the effects of climate change.
Patty Glick, senior climate change specialist with the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), says the region is already seeing the effects of climate change, such as extreme precipitation, flooding and drought, and that scientists...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on “Climate-Smart” Projects for a Successful Great Lake Restoration