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Archive for March 10th, 2013
How to Resurrect Lost Species
Posted by National Geographic: Brian Switek on March 10th, 2013
National Geographic: Will we ever see a woolly mammoth again? What about the striped Tasmanian tiger, once-prolific passenger pigeon, or the imposing wild cattle called aurochs?
Our species has played a role in the extinction of these and many other species. But now some scientists are proposing a radical turn of the tables: Bringing lost species back from the dead.
Three main methods for "de-extinction" have been proposed. Cloning gets the most attention, thanks in part to the science fiction of Jurassic Park....
UK’s Centre for Ecology and Hydrology says rainforests will survive climate change
Posted by Telegraph: Malcolm Holland on March 10th, 2013
Telegraph: NEW research has challenged "catastrophic" climate change forecasts for the world's tropical rainforests, instead predicting that they will survive even if greenhouse gas emissions aren't cut.
An international team of computer climate modelling experts found rainforests in Asia, Africa and the Americas would not dramatically shrink, in contrast to warnings, including those from Australia's Chief Climate Commissioner Professor Tim Flannery, that global warming was a catastrophe for tropical rainforests....
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on UK’s Centre for Ecology and Hydrology says rainforests will survive climate changeBills seek more disclosure, oversight of fracking
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 10th, 2013
Associated Press: The growing concern over hydraulic fracturing, the technology that has led to an oil and gas boom in many parts of the country, has caught the attention of California lawmakers as companies seek to expand production in the San Joaquin Valley oil fields.
At least eight bills proposing to regulate or tax the industry's expansion are under consideration in this year's legislative session. They include proposals that would require disclosure of the ingredients used in fracking, which uses a high-pressure...
Rwanda: How Farmers Cope With Climate Change
Posted by New Times: Jean Pierre Bucyensenge on March 10th, 2013
New Times: Tharcisse Semaguge might be 88 today, but to him, age is just a number. And the other numbers in his life that he proudly talks about beside the age makes the figure 75-the number of years he has spent farming. The resident of Save sector in Gisagara district says agriculture remains his sole bread winner and source of revenue. But, a few years ago, his fate came to stake mainly due to changes in temperature and precipitation which he says are affecting his production in terms of quality and quantity....
Dead pig mystery in Shanghai river
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 10th, 2013
BBC: An inquiry has been launched in China after more than 900 dead pigs were found floating in a river near the eastern city of Shanghai.
No evidence has been found that the animals in the Huangpu river were dumped there or died of any animal epidemic, officials say.
But measures are being taken to monitor the quality of the water.
The authorities are trying to establish where the animals came from, after they appeared in the river on Friday.
Shanghai residents use the river as source of...
Ecuador: Saving Yasuni: Can a revolutionary plan protect the rainforest from commercial exploitation?
Posted by Independent: Stanley Johnson on March 10th, 2013
Independent: The flight from Quito to Coca, a small oil town in the Ecuadorian Amazon, takes off a couple of hours late, so we don't reach Coca until around noon. Then we have to take a helicopter up the Napo river to reach Añangu, in the heart of Yasuni, the extraordinary national park that is among the most biodiverse places on the planet.
If all had gone to plan, we would have been in our seats long before the president and his party arrived. As it is, as we hover over the endless jungle, I can see that...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Ecuador: Saving Yasuni: Can a revolutionary plan protect the rainforest from commercial exploitation?