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Archive for January 17th, 2012
Climate Change Ripples Through Mountain Ecosystems
Posted by LiveScience: Joseph Castro on January 17th, 2012
LiveScience: Like dominoes given one nudge, climate change in the form of reduced winter snowfall on mountaintops has subtle but powerful cascading effects felt throughout entire ecosystems, a new study finds.
In the northern mountains of Arizona, elk spend their winters in lower elevations where there's much less snow and the cold is less pronounced. But the decrease in high-elevation snowfall in the mountains over the last 25 years has allowed elk to forage in these areas throughout winter. Researchers found...
Shale Gas: A Boon That Could Stunt Alternatives, Study Says
Posted by National Geographic: Mason Inman on January 17th, 2012
National Geographic: Shale gas has transformed the U.S. energy landscape in the past several years-but it may crowd out renewable energy and other ways of cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, a new study warns.
A team of researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology used economic modeling to show that new abundant natural gas is likely to have a far more complex impact on the energy scene than is generally assumed. If climate policy continues to play out in the United States with a relatively weak set of...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Shale Gas: A Boon That Could Stunt Alternatives, Study SaysBulgaria cancels Chevron shale gas permit
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 17th, 2012
Reuters: The Bulgarian government, preparing a full ban on shale gas drilling due to environmental concerns, on Tuesday cancelled a exploration permit for the unconventional energy source that it granted to U.S. energy major Chevron in June.
The centre-right government decided Chevron can still prospect for oil and gas in northeastern Bulgaria but only by using conventional drilling techniques and not hydraulic fracturing, which involves injecting water mixed with sand and chemicals at high pressure into...
Tainted gold: thousands join protest against Peru’s largest ever mining project
Posted by Ecologist: Gervase Poulden on January 17th, 2012
Ecologist: A US-backed billion-dollar gold mine has attracted thousands of protestors in recent weeks. Many have the poor economic legacy of existing mines fresh in their minds, reports Gervase Pouldon in Cajamarca, Peru
For Segundo Ortiz, a worker at the San Antonio Market in Cajamarca, a city in the north of Peru, the reasons for taking to the street in protest are clear: 'It's about protecting our water supply, nothing more.'
Ortiz feels that if his generation fails to act to stop the construction...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Tainted gold: thousands join protest against Peru’s largest ever mining projectNO2 levels over India increasing, says data
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 17th, 2012
Times of India: The satellite data of tropospheric pollution over Asia shows that there has been a rise in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) level over India and China. It is due to usage of more fossil fuel. At the same time, there is a decline in the level of nitrogen dioxide in Europe and US, said Andreas Richter, senior scientist, University of Bremen, Germany.
He was speaking at the Indo-German workshop on 'challenges and opportunities in air pollution and climate change' organised by the Indian Institute of Tropical...
Thousands ‘forcibly relocated’ in Ethiopia, says HRW report
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 17th, 2012
Guardian: The Ethiopian government is forcibly moving tens of thousands of people in the remote western Gambella region, with villagers being told that their resettlement is connected to the leasing of large tracts of land for commercial agriculture, according to a human rights group.
Waiting for Death, a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, said the population transfers under the "villagisation" programme are being carried out with little consultation or compensation. People are being moved to new villages...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Thousands ‘forcibly relocated’ in Ethiopia, says HRW reportKenya: Key Lakes Succumb to Human Activities
Posted by Inter Press Service: Peter Kahare on January 17th, 2012
Inter Press Service: Several years ago, Lakes Kamnarok and Ol Bollosat in Kenya were vibrant water bodies that supported and shaped the ecosystems around them. But today they are shells of their former selves, due to heavy siltation caused by human activities.
"Siltation is still happening, the lake is drying up and this is threatening Lake Kamnarok and the wildlife with extinction, besides affecting the lives of people around it," Elijah Chemitei, senior warden in Baringo County, in the Rift Valley Province, told...