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Archive for March, 2013
Homeowner groups can support native species in suburbia
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 26th, 2013
ScienceDaily: Although it's known that construction of homes in suburban areas can have negative impacts on native plants and animals, a recent study led by University of Massachusetts Amherst ecologist Susannah Lerman suggests that well- managed residential development such as provided by homeowners associations (HOA) can in fact support native wildlife.
For their recent study published in Ecology and Society, Lerman and her colleagues Kelly Turner and Christofer Bang of Arizona State University (ASU), Phoenix,...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Homeowner groups can support native species in suburbiaDecreased water flow may be trade-off for more productive forest
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 26th, 2013
ScienceDaily: Bubbling brooks and streams are a scenic and much loved feature of forest ecosystems, but long-term data at the U.S. Forest Service's Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest suggests that more productive forests might carry considerably less water, according to a study published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Mark Green, a research hydrologist with the Forest Service's Northern Research Station and an assistant professor at Plymouth State University, is the lead...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Decreased water flow may be trade-off for more productive forest1,000 dead ducks found in Chinese river
Posted by Mother Nature Network: Melissa Breyer on March 26th, 2013
Mother Nature Network: As sanitation workers conclude the cleanup of 16,000 dead pigs from the Huangpu River in Shanghai, the country faces a new gruesome discovery — around 1,000 dead ducks have been found in the Nanhe River in Pengshan county, Sichuan province. Unlike the Huangpu River, the Nanhe River is not used for drinking water. Liang Weidong, a deputy director in Pengshan's publicity department, said in an interview on China National Radio that authorities first heard about the ducks in southwest China on Tuesday....
US seeks land conservation to adapt to climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 26th, 2013
USA Today: Climate change threatens U.S. fish, wildlife and plants, including brook trout, the lesser prairie-chicken and the Joshua tree, the Obama administration said Tuesday in releasing its first national strategy on climate adaptation. "Flowers are blooming earlier. Plants and animals are moving" to new places to cope with rising sea levels, higher temperatures, loss of sea ice and other climate effects, said Dan Ashe, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which co-authored the strategy. Ashe...
China’s exploitation of Latin American natural resources raises concern
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 26th, 2013
Guardian: Amazonian forest cleared in Ecuador, a mountain levelled in Peru, the Cerrado savannah converted to soy fields in Brazil and oil fields under development in Venezuela's Orinoco belt.
These recent reports of environmental degradation in Latin America may be thousands of miles apart in different countries and for different products, but they have a common cause: growing Chinese demand for regional commodities.
The world's most populous nation has joined the ranks of wealthy countries in Europe,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on China’s exploitation of Latin American natural resources raises concernUnited Kingdom: ‘Disappointment’ at failure to reach flood insurance deal
Posted by Telegraph: Jessica Winch on March 26th, 2013
Telegraph: The Association of British Insurers (ABI) and the Government have been in talks over a new strategy, which would provide a pot of money raised from insurance premiums for paying claims in the event of serious flooding.
Mr Paterson told the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee: "We really are working on this in a very intense manner, but there is no point coming up with an agreement just for the sake of it. We've got to get it right.
He went on: "I think they are as disappointed as...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: ‘Disappointment’ at failure to reach flood insurance dealPeru declares environmental state of emergency in its rainforest
Posted by Guardian: Dan Collyns on March 26th, 2013
Guardian: Peru has declared an environmental state of emergency in a remote part of its northern Amazon rainforest, home for decades to one of the country's biggest oil fields, currently operated by the Argentinian company Pluspetrol.
Achuar and Kichwa indigenous people living in the Pastaza river basin near Peru's border with Ecuador have complained for decades about the pollution, while successive governments have failed to deal with it. Officials indicate that for years the state lacked the required...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Peru declares environmental state of emergency in its rainforestCanada: Water escapes Suncor oil sands pond into Athabasca River
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 26th, 2013
Reuters: Contaminated water may have spilled into the Athabasca River from a broken pipe at Suncor Energy Inc's oil sands project in northern Alberta, sparking new fears about pollution of the river from the massive oil sands developments along its banks.
The Athabasca is the main source of drinking water for aboriginal and other communities downstream and has been the subject of several controversial reports on its water quality.
The province of Alberta's environment department said it does not yet...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada: Water escapes Suncor oil sands pond into Athabasca RiverNetherlands: Parts of Low Country Are Now Quake Country
Posted by New York Times: John Tagliabue on March 26th, 2013
New York Times: Jannes Kadyk’s modest brick home suffered more than $5,000 in damage. Bert de Jong’s more stately home will need about $500,000 to get back into shape.
Both houses, like thousands of others, were damaged during recent earthquakes that have shaken the flat farmland in this area dotted with villages and tucked up against the North Sea.
The quakes were caused by the extraction of natural gas from the soil deep below. The gas was discovered in the 1950s, and extraction began in the 1960s, but only...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Netherlands: Parts of Low Country Are Now Quake CountryClimate change is the risk that increases all others
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 26th, 2013
Wall Street Journal: On climate change
Climate change is the greatest risk we face. It's the great exacerbater. It exacerbates the risk of pandemics. It exacerbates the risks of water. It exacerbates the risk of conflict. Take a look at South Asia, where China owns the ice, India owns the water and has 21 dams, and Pakistan and Bangladesh are out of luck. Pakistan's entire food production is dependent on two other nuclear-armed countries.
I was the CEO of two public companies. When I'm looking at quarterly profits,...