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Archive for January, 2013
A Milestone Looms for Farm-Raised Fish
Posted by New York Times: CRAIG LEISHER on January 24th, 2013
New York Times: Sometime this year, we will quietly pass a milestone in human history: the majority of the fish we eat will be farm-raised rather than wild-caught.
In the last 20 years, the production of fish through aquaculture has grown exponentially, while marine fish catches have leveled off. Unless it’s an extraordinary year for marine fishing, in 2013 the lines will cross, and the majority of the fish we eat will come from aquaculture rather than oceans.
Fishing is the only part of global food production...
Fighting Unregulated Fracking in California
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on January 24th, 2013
EcoWatch: The Center for Biological Diversity went to court today to compel California regulators to enforce an existing state law that should protect people and the environment from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a rapidly spreading new method of oil and gas extraction. The lawsuit filed this morning in Alameda County Superior Court says the California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources has allowed fracking to expand without legally required oversight.
California law applies safeguards and...
John Kerry Says He’ll Control Keystone XL Review as Secretary of State
Posted by InsideClimate News: None Given on January 24th, 2013
InsideClimate News: Sen. John Kerry made it clear Thursday that he will play a pivotal role in deciding the fate of the Keystone XL pipeline if he is confirmed as secretary of state. “I’ll make the appropriate judgments about it,” he said, referring to the State Department’s ongoing review of the 1,200-mile tar sands oil pipeline. “There are specific standards that have to be met with respect to that review, and I’m going to review those standards and make sure they’re complete.” Kerry made his remarks to the Senate...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on John Kerry Says He’ll Control Keystone XL Review as Secretary of StateGroups Initiate Federal Court Battle to Stop Illegal Coal Pollution
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on January 24th, 2013
EcoWatch: Last March 22 on world water day, Waterkeepers all over the world took action to fight for swimmable, fishable and drinkable waters. Each Waterkeeper chose the issues they felt were the greatest concern to the health of their local community and waterway. The French Broad Riverkeeper and the Western North Carolina Alliance decided to spend world water day gathering hundreds of community members together to call for an end to air and water pollution from the Progress Energy coal fired power plant...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Groups Initiate Federal Court Battle to Stop Illegal Coal PollutionHow Obama Could Nix the Keystone Pipeline (And Why He Won’t)
Posted by Atlantic Wire: David Wagner on January 24th, 2013
Atlantic Wire: President Obama will be confronted with the first big policy decision of his second term where environmentalists and business interests are at odds: the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Despite promising to act on climate change in his inaugural speech, all signs point to the controversial project going forward.
On Wednesday, a majority of Senators (44 Republicans and nine Democrats) sent a letter to President Obama urging him to move forward on Keystone XL, a massive pipeline that would carry oil from...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on How Obama Could Nix the Keystone Pipeline (And Why He Won’t)Most unknown species can be named
Posted by BBC: Melissa Hogenboom on January 24th, 2013
BBC: Most of the world's plant and animal species could be named before they go extinct, claim researchers.
Writing in the journal Science, the researchers said it could be achieved this century.
This is largely due to an increase in taxonomists - the people who describe species new to science.
Although there is an extinction crisis, the rates are lower than previously expected, the scientists report.
Discovering and naming the world's species is critical for their conservation and can be...
Animal kingdom is smaller than we thought (but that’s good news)
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 24th, 2013
Independent: How many species are there?
It was a question that fascinated Charles Darwin, and generations of biologists who followed him, with recent estimates ranging from a few million to as many as 100 million – now scientists believe the true number of animals and plants is nearer to 5 million.
The incredible diversity of life on Earth and the sheer scale of the taxonomic problem have mesmerised biologists trying to figure out the total number of living species. But a group of biologists believes the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Animal kingdom is smaller than we thought (but that’s good news)A Rallying Cry for Naming All Species on Earth
Posted by New York Times: Rachel Nuwer on January 24th, 2013
New York Times: Most species will go extinct before they are ever discovered -- or so some researchers believe. It is something that conservationists agonize over at professional meetings and in scientific papers. But the situation may not be so hopeless after all, one team argues. Naming all of earth’s species is an endeavor well within science’s grasp, they say, if only researchers will focus their efforts.
In a paper published in Science, the team delivers good news in three-fold. Taxonomy, or the branch of...
United Kingdom: Centrica talks down shale gas but may still invest
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 24th, 2013
Guardian: Sam Laidlaw did his bit to rain on the Davos parade when he dissed the prospects for shale gas as the game-changer that will shake countries out of their economic torpor. Yes, said the Centrica boss, shale had produced astonishing changes in the price of natural gas in America, but it was unrealistic to imagine this could be replicated – at least in Britain.
That is not what those on the Alpine jaunt want to hear. Global political and business leaders are desperate to find the equivalent of a...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: Centrica talks down shale gas but may still investForests in Kenya worth much more intact says government report
Posted by Mongabay: Liz Kimbrough on January 24th, 2013
Mongabay: Kenya's forests provide greater services and wealth to the nation when they are left standing. A landmark report by The Kenyan Government and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) addresses the importance of forests to the well-being of the nation, putting Kenya among a pioneering group of countries that aim to center development plans around nature-based assets.
"The study by UNEP on valuing Kenya's montane forests is an enormous breath of fresh air that is welcomed by conservationists...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Forests in Kenya worth much more intact says government report