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Archive for October 26th, 2011
Brazil: Boycott of Dam Hearing Shows ‘Radical’ Foreign Policy Shift
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 26th, 2011
Inter Press Service: Activists opposed to the construction of the Belo Monte hydropower dam in the Amazon jungle say the Brazilian government's decision to boycott an Inter-American Commission on Human Rights hearing represents a "radical" shift in the country's foreign policy.
The closed IACHR hearing held Wednesday Oct. 26 in Washington, D.C. was aimed at fostering dialogue to resolve the conflict over the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam on the Xingu river in Brazil's Amazon rainforest.
It was also held to discuss...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Brazil: Boycott of Dam Hearing Shows ‘Radical’ Foreign Policy ShiftLawmakers Seek Inquiry on Keystone XL Process
Posted by New York Times: Dan Frosch on October 26th, 2011
New York Times: Lawmakers have called on the State Department’s inspector general to investigate the department’s handling of a crucial environmental study on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline and urged President Obama to delay a decision on the project until the report is completed.
In a letter sent on Wednesday to Harold W. Geisel, the State Department’s deputy inspector general, 14 members of Congress asked the department to look into the relationship between the pipeline company, TransCanada, and the firm...
Researchers nurture innovative biofuel crops to reduce our carbon footprint
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 26th, 2011
ScienceDaily: Fears of global warming and its impact on our environment have left scientists scrambling to decrease levels of atmospheric carbon we humans produce. Now, Tel Aviv University researchers are doing their part to reduce humanity's carbon footprint by successfully growing forests in the most unlikely place -- deep in Israel's Aravah Desert.
With environmental "extras" such as a local plant species, recycled sewage water unsuitable for agriculture, and arid lands unusable for crops, a group of researchers...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Researchers nurture innovative biofuel crops to reduce our carbon footprintCanada: Congressional Democrats push for investigation into Keystone XL project
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 26th, 2011
Guardian: A group of Democrats in Congress has written a letter to the State Department demanding an investigation into its handling of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project.
The letter, from independent senator Bernie Sanders and 13 Democrats, was the second potential obstacle to TransCanada's hopes of beginning construction in the near future on the pipeline, after the state of Nebraska on Monday said it was exploring legal measures to re-route the pipeline away from an important aquifer.
The...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada: Congressional Democrats push for investigation into Keystone XL projectClimate change may be spiking mercury in Yukon rivers: study
Posted by Vancouver Sun: Bradley Bouzane on October 26th, 2011
Vancouver Sun: The massive Yukon River Basin has mercury levels vastly higher than many other comparable river bodies, the U.S. Geological Survey said this week, with release from thawing permafrost singled out as the prime suspected reason.
A five-year sampling shows the basin, which is roughly twice the size of California, has mercury levels 32 times that of some other rivers included in the study, published this week in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.
One USGS researcher, however, said...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change may be spiking mercury in Yukon rivers: studyIndia: Calcutta leads world city list most at risk from climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 26th, 2011
Environmental News Network: A major new mapping study, analysing climate change vulnerability down to 25km² worldwide, has revealed some of the world's fastest growing populations are increasingly at risk from the impacts of climate related natural hazards and sea level rise.
Many of the countries with the fastest population growth are rated as 'extreme risk' in the Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) released by risk analysis and mapping firm Maplecroft. These include the strategically important emerging economies...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on India: Calcutta leads world city list most at risk from climate change‘Risk Atlas’ assesses climate vulnerability
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 26th, 2011
CNN: Some of the world's fastest growing population centers in Asia and Africa are at greatest risk from the impact of climate change, according to a new report.
The Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI), published by UK-based risk analysis and mapping company Maplecroft, examined the climate risks and adaptive capacity of 193 nations factoring in population concentration, development, natural resources, agricultural dependency and conflict.
A total of 30 countries were classified as being at...
Bat killer cause traced to fungus
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 26th, 2011
BBC: White-nose syndrome (WNS), the disease rampaging its way through the bats of North America, is caused by a fungus, scientists have confirmed.
Researchers from a number of US institutions infected healthy bats with the fungus Geomyces destructans, and found they did develop the disease.
The team also showed that the fungus can pass from one bat to another.
Writing in the journal Nature, they say WNS "has the potential to decimate North American bat populations".
So far, the disease has...
Killer Russian heatwave product of climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 26th, 2011
Mongabay: Image of Russia and nearby areas from August 4th, 2010 by NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer. Especially intense fires are outlined in red. Smoke from peat and forest fires lead to dangerous levels of pollution throughout Moscow and surrounding areas. Photo by: NASA. Click to enlarge.
Last year's Russian heatwave and drought resulted in vast wildfires and a mortality rate that was 56,000 people higher than the same period in 2009. Now, researchers have published a paper in the...
Climate Change is Altering the Lives of Alaska’s Natives
Posted by U.S. News and World Report: Joel N. Shurkin on October 26th, 2011
U.S. News and World Report: Climate change has altered the lives of Native Alaskans in the state's interior in dramatic, sometimes dangerous ways.
Although the effects of change are well documented along the coast, where higher tides and ferocious storms have threatened native communities, a study by the U.S. Geological Survey has found indigenous people in Alaska's interior also have felt the transformation to a warmer climate during the past several decades of their lifetimes.
The study, appearing in the October 2011...
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