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Archive for September, 2012
Slum surveys giving ‘invisible’ inhabitants a say in urban planning
Posted by Guardian: Claire Provost on September 7th, 2012
Guardian: In 2005, Jeremiah Makori was asleep in his home in Nairobi's Deep Sea slum when he heard a voice outside.
"We went to sleep as usual, and at midnight I heard a strange voice outside, [saying] move out and save your lives," he said. He rushed outside with his nightclothes on, carrying his two sons, and watched his home disappear. "It was all demolished. We lost everything."
Makori had lived in the slum since 1998, having left his home in rural western Kenya to look for work in the city.
Although...
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Comments Off on Slum surveys giving ‘invisible’ inhabitants a say in urban planningBalkans drought fuel fear of repeat winter energy crisis
Posted by Reuters: Maja Zuvela on September 7th, 2012
Reuters: A second straight winter of blackouts and escalating energy prices is hanging over the Balkans as the driest weather in 40 years has depleted water levels and shows no signs of easing.
Hydro power accounts for about a quarter of the region's generation, and with nearly 1,800 MW of coal-fired capacity offline for planned maintenance, utilities may have to turn to costly imports to maintain supply as they did a year ago.
"If the drought continues the situation in the power sector is set to be...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Balkans drought fuel fear of repeat winter energy crisisIssac tar balls came from BP oil spill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 7th, 2012
Associated Press: Laboratory tests show that globs of oil found on two Louisiana beaches after hurricane Isaac came from the 2010 BP spill.
Tests run by Louisiana State University (LSU) for state wildlife officials confirmed that oil found on Elmer's Island and Grand Isle matched the biological fingerprint of the hundreds of millions of gallons of oil that spewed from BP's Macondo well.
On Wednesday, BP said oil from its spill had been exposed by Isaac's waves and that the company would work to clean it up....
Yangtze finless porpoise: China’s national treasure disappearing fast
Posted by Guardian: Nicola Davison on September 7th, 2012
Guardian: It's been an hour and the group of volunteers aboard the rickety fishing boat are still yet to spot a Yangtze finless porpoise, known as jiangzhu or "river pig". Thirty years ago, when they numbered 2,000, the mammals could be seen from the shore here dancing on Dongting Lake in the sludge-coloured waves. Now there are about 85 jiangzhu here. As Xu Yaping, the patrol's chief, peers through the haze, and coal barges and dredgers churn the lake, the chance of encountering this ancient creature seems...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Yangtze finless porpoise: China’s national treasure disappearing fastAfrican farmers must do more to beat climate change -study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 7th, 2012
Reuters: African farmers are finding new ways to cope with droughts, erosion and other ravages of climate change but need to develop even more techniques to thrive in an increasingly uncertain environment, scientists said on Friday.
Smallholders have started to plant more drought-resistant and faster-growing crops to keep the harvests coming in, according to a survey of 700 households in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania.
"The good news is that a lot of farmers are making changes," said Patti Kristjanson,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on African farmers must do more to beat climate change -studyObama Says Climate Change Not A Hoax, Extreme Weather Not A Joke
Posted by Climate Desk: James West on September 7th, 2012
Climate Desk: President Obama, often shy of turning climate change into a marquee campaign issue, last night made a full-throated endorsement of climate action, calling out Governor Romney and the Republicans as disbelievers of reality, and jokesters about a real threat. He also explicitly linked this summer's extreme weather to global warming.
"And yes," he said to some of the longest applause of the night, "my plan will continue to reduce the carbon pollution that is heating our planet – because climate change...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Obama Says Climate Change Not A Hoax, Extreme Weather Not A JokeSoutheastern farmers might benefit from climate change
Posted by Online Athens: Lee Shearer on September 7th, 2012
Online Athens: Farmers in Georgia and other southeastern states might actually benefit as the world’s atmosphere heats up in the first part of the 21st century.
“I think we’re really in good shape for the long term, compared to some parts of the country,” said University of Georgia agricultural climatologist Pam Knox. “The Southeast is really well positioned for the future in terms of climate change.”
Knox and two other climatologists recently interviewed state climatologists across the region to get their...
Drought hit Q3 farm income expectations in Midwest: Fed
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 6th, 2012
Reuters: Farm income expectations in key Midwestern states for the third quarter have been badly dented by the harsh drought, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis on Thursday.
Crops have been stunted by withering heat across the U.S. heartland, with corn and soybean yields hit hard. Hay and cattle farming have also suffered significantly.
Based on an Agricultural Finance Monitor survey of 88 agricultural banks in its district, with the exception of the Memphis, Tennessee,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Drought hit Q3 farm income expectations in Midwest: FedNRC staff to review nuclear reactor waste storage rules
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 6th, 2012
Reuters: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) directed its staff on Thursday to start an environmental review into the temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel, following a court ruling that led the agency to stop issuing new reactor licenses.
The NRC did not say when it would start issuing new reactor licenses again.
The NRC has more than a dozen reactor operating license renewal applications and a dozen new reactor license applications pending.
The NRC said it told its staff to develop an...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on NRC staff to review nuclear reactor waste storage rulesShale: the hidden treasure that could transform Britain’s fortunes
Posted by Telegraph: Fraser Nelson on September 6th, 2012
Telegraph: For years, the countryside has had pitifully few friends in Westminster. The Labour Party had abandoned hope of winning votes there: its interest in rural England extended solely to imposing a fox-hunting ban. The Tory modernisers, meanwhile, took rural voters for granted, so felt able to pick fights over planning laws and ludicrously expensive railway lines. Both parties also allowed their environmental policy to be shaped by the prevailing fashion in London: so mainly concerns about carbon emissions...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Shale: the hidden treasure that could transform Britain’s fortunes