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Archive for October 26th, 2012
What’s A Lake Doing In The Middle Of The Desert?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 26th, 2012
National Public Radio: One place you don't expect to see waves lapping against the shore is in the middle of a desert. But that's exactly what's happening deep inside the United Arab Emirates, where a recently formed lake is nestled into the sand dunes, and a new ecosystem is emerging.
Drive through the desert in the United Arab Emirates, and all you see mile after mile are red, rolling dunes. Maybe some occasional trees or shrubs, but otherwise a dry, red sandscape.
And then, suddenly, a bright blue spot comes into...
Hot, dry winds raise fire danger for San Diego
Posted by MSNBC: None Given on October 26th, 2012
MSNBC: With hot, dry, Santa Ana winds expected to blow into San Diego through Saturday, fire officials are warning locals to be on high alert for the next few days.
A high-wind warning was to take effect Thursday night, followed by a red flag warning, which means fire danger is high. As a result of the dangerous weather conditions, more local firefighters will be on duty through Saturday.
"We're getting our first traditional offshore Santa Ana wind event,' California Fire Capt. Mike Mohler said. "(That...
Biodiversity protection needs community input
Posted by SciDevNet: T. V. Padma on October 26th, 2012
SciDevNet: A pledge to increase support for biodiversity targets in developing countries is welcome, but care for indigenous people is vital too.
This month's meeting of the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP 11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), held in Hyderabad in India, came as a reality check on the capacity of the international community to implement pledges on biodiversity made two years ago in Nagoya, Japan.
At that landmark meeting in Nagoya, countries agreed on 20 global biodiversity...
Shale oil and gas boom puts global warming issue on the back burner
Posted by South China Morning Post: Peter Schwartz on October 26th, 2012
South China Morning Post: A technological revolution is transforming the world's energy landscape as we move from an expectation of shortages of oil and gas to a new era of abundance. The development of natural gas from shale, that has already taken off in the US, and a variety of technologies are creating new options for oil development, so much so that the notion of peak oil has vanished from the conversation.
We can expect some consequences. Chief among them is the fact that, as energy gets more abundant, the incentives...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Shale oil and gas boom puts global warming issue on the back burnerFlood-hit Pakistan moves toward disaster insurance
Posted by AlertNet: Saleem Shaikh and Sughra Tunio on October 26th, 2012
AlertNet: Hussain Khan lost everything in the 2010 floods that swept through Pakistan: His two children, his home on the banks of the Swat River, his dozens of cattle, sheep and goats, and his six-acre cherry crop.
Today the 43-year-old farmer, the sole breadwinner for a family of 10, works as a motel waiter in Mingora, a bustling town in the Swat Valley, some 160 kms (100 miles) northwest of Pakistan's capital city Islamabad. He is grateful to no longer be begging to survive, but he doubts he will recover...