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Archive for August, 2012
‘Torture Lab’ Kills Trees To Learn How To Save Them
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 26th, 2012
National Public Radio: The droughts that have parched big regions of the country are killing forests.
In the arid Southwest, the body count is especially high. Besides trying to keep wildfires from burning up these desiccated forests, there's not much anyone can do. In fact, scientists are only now figuring out how drought affects trees.
Park Williams studies trees at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, but not the way most scientists do. "We're interested in trees that die," he says - spefiically,...
Britain’s lakes and canals hit by toxic algae
Posted by Telegraph: Padraic Flanagan on August 26th, 2012
Telegraph: Mild weather and fertilisers washing into waterways after heavy rain have been blamed for widespread algae covering inland water, putting pets at risk and devastating fish stocks.
The Environment Agency said it had recorded 127 incidents of algae, halfway through the three-month peak season for the blight. The record figure is 226, set in 2005, making a new record this year possible.
The algae starve fresh water of oxygen and when they are the blue-green toxic cyanobacteria are a risk to human...
United Kingdom: Ministers get ready to go for green-belt grab
Posted by Independent: Matt Chorley on August 26th, 2012
Independent: Building on green belt land around towns and cities will "irreversibly damage the countryside" yet fail to deliver the Government's hoped-for economic growth, the former poet laureate Sir Andrew Motion warns today, as ministers face charges that they are ignoring the needs of Britain's rural communities.
So desperate is the Treasury in its search for growth that George Osborne is said to want to redesignate protected land to kickstart large-scale housing schemes. Developers wanting to build on...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on United Kingdom: Ministers get ready to go for green-belt grabBiomass ‘on rise despite drought’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 26th, 2012
BBC: The carbon storage capacity of protected forests in West Africa has increased despite the region suffering a 40-year drought, a study suggests.
A team of UK and Ghanaian researchers found that the tree composition in these areas favoured species that were able to cope with drier conditions.
Previous studies suggested that drought conditions resulted in less carbon being stored as vegetation died.
The findings have been published in the journal Ecology Letters.
"Despite the long-term drought,...
ALERT! Resist Monsanto: Reassert Your Faith in Non-GMO Seeds and Properly Labeled Unnatural Foods
Posted by Water Conservation Blog on August 25th, 2012
"Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders."
- Henry David Thoreau, Faith in a Seed
TAKE ACTION to protect your seeds and thus healthy, natural food from Monsanto's GMOs
TAKE ACTION!
From seeds come all life, power, wealth and well-being. Control over seeds and knowing whether our food products have been genetically modified [search] means control over our lives, our food safety, and our freedom. Open pollinated, non-genetically modified seeds are a human right. We must not recognize any law that illegitimately makes seed the private property of corporations. And we must assert the right to know what we're eating, through labeling of all genetically engineered foods. It is time to reclaim Thoreau's faith in a seed from Monsanto. Please send and share this alert, and join the many initiatives globally to do so.
Posted in Uncategorized Comments Off on ALERT! Resist Monsanto: Reassert Your Faith in Non-GMO Seeds and Properly Labeled Unnatural FoodsUnited States: Tropical Storm Isaac: Where On Earth Is It Going?
Posted by National Public Radio: Korva Coleman on August 25th, 2012
National Public Radio: The Republican National Committee said in a statement Saturday that the Monday night session for the convention in Tampa has been canceled:
"Due to the severe weather reports for the Tampa Bay area, the Republican National Convention will convene on Monday August 27th and immediately recess until Tuesday afternoon, August 28th."
In the statement, Committee Chairman Reince Priebus says they have consulted with Gov. Rick Scott, NOAA and local emergency management officials. RNC President Bill...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United States: Tropical Storm Isaac: Where On Earth Is It Going?United Kingdom: Gardeners urged to plant wildflowers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 25th, 2012
Telegraph: While exotic plants and paving stones might make gardens appear neat and tidy, cultivating a wilder and more natural environment would benefit Britain's dwindling birds and butterflies, Sir Robert Watson said.
Educating people about the benefits that native flowers like milkwort and cowslips bring to wildlife could help turn around the steep decline in certain species, he claimed.
Sir Robert, who will leave his five year post at Defra at the end of this month, admitted Britain's wildlife was...
United States: Bloomberg Backs Fracking, With Rules to Protect the Environment
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 25th, 2012
New York Times: After giving away a chunk of his personal fortune to the cause of eliminating coal-fired power plants, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is opening his checkbook in support of “responsible” extraction of natural gas by hydraulic fracturing. In an op-ed article in The Washington Post on Friday, the mayor came out strongly in favor of natural gas extraction through the controversial drilling process, known as fracking, as a way to lower utility bills, spur economic growth and reduce the nation’s dependence...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United States: Bloomberg Backs Fracking, With Rules to Protect the EnvironmentWhy worry about methane seeping up through Alaska tundra?
Posted by Alaska Dispatch: Laura Naranjo on August 25th, 2012
Alaska Dispatch: As people watch the decline of Arctic sea ice, the most obvious sign of climate warming in that region, scientists are noting other signs of change, like methane seeping out of the ground as permafrost thaws and glaciers melt across the Arctic. Scientists suspected these methane seeps existed, but no one had measured how much methane was escaping -- until recently.
After working for nearly 10 years on the ground studying Siberian lakes, Katey Walter Anthony, an aquatic ecosystem ecologist at the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Why worry about methane seeping up through Alaska tundra?Drought Weakens Mississippi River’s Flow; Threatens New Orleans’ Water
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 24th, 2012
National Geographic: New Orleans may be the victim of a one-two punch as Hurricane Isaac threatens to strengthen over the Gulf of Mexico and the ongoing affects of this summer's drought continue to trickle down to the Delta.
The record temperatures and lack of rain that have devastated crops in America's heartland upstream also have weakened the once-mighty Mississippi River's defenses against saltwater intrusion.
Freshwater flowing south from the Mississippi and salty water from the Gulf are constantly arm wrestling...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Drought Weakens Mississippi River’s Flow; Threatens New Orleans’ Water