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Archive for March, 2015
Safeguarding Africa’s Wetlands a Daunting Task
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 12th, 2015
Inter Press Service: African wetlands are among the most biologically diverse ecosystems on the continent, covering more than 131 million hectares, according to the Senegalese-based Wetlands International Africa (WIA).
Yet, despite their importance and value, wetland areas are experiencing immense pressure across the continent. Commercial development ranks as the major threat for the draining of wetlands, including for tourism facilities and agriculture, where hundreds of thousands of hectares of wetlands have been...
Anthropocene: New dates proposed for the ‘Age of Man’
Posted by BBC: Rebecca Morelle on March 12th, 2015
BBC: The Anthropocene - a new geological time period that marks the "Age of man" - began in 1610, a study suggests.
Scientists believe that the arrival of Europeans in the Americas had an unprecedented impact on the planet, marking the dawn of this new epoch.
The findings are published in the journal Nature.
Others say that the industrial revolution or the first nuclear tests better signal the start of the Anthropocene.
While some believe the exact date for a new epoch can only be determined...
Scientists Pinpoint Exact Date When Humans Began to Dominate Earth
Posted by Nature World: None Given on March 12th, 2015
Nature World: It has long been suggested that our impact on the planet is so substantial that it grants its own new geological epoch - known as the Anthropocene. While the beginning of this new era has been heatedly debated, one group of scientists believes it has finally pinpointed the exact date of when humans began to dominate the Earth.
The year was 1610, when the effects of the collision between the New and Old Worlds, which occurred a century earlier, were first felt around the globe. That is, there was...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Scientists Pinpoint Exact Date When Humans Began to Dominate EarthMega-disasters and urbanization spur spike in displacement: Report
Posted by Reuters: Megan Rowling on March 12th, 2015
Reuters: The number of people forced from their homes each year by disasters has quadrupled over the past four decades, and the risk of being displaced has doubled, said a Norwegian humanitarian group.
The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), part of the Norwegian Refugee Council, called on governments meeting in Sendai, Japan, later this week to tackle displacement as part of a new global plan to reduce disaster risk worldwide.
The plan's predecessor, the Hyogo Framework for Action, did...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Mega-disasters and urbanization spur spike in displacement: ReportPublic opposition forces retooling for California desert renewable energy plan
Posted by KPCC: None Given on March 12th, 2015
KPCC: A barrage of criticism has forced federal and state officials to redirect the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, a multiyear effort to balance big renewable energy projects with protections for California wildlands and their inhabitants.
Six years ago the plan was conceived as a roadmap, meant to guide development for growing interest in large-scale solar and wind projects on more than 22 million acres of lands throughout the lower half of the state, including the Mojave and Colorado deserts....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Public opposition forces retooling for California desert renewable energy planBattle Over Keystone XL Heads Back to Nebraska’s Statehouse
Posted by KETV: None Given on March 12th, 2015
KETV: Lawmakers heard arguments over a bill that would strip away eminent domain powers for TransCanada, the private company trying to build the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Wearing a cowboy hat, Sandhills rancher Bob Allpress, of Naper, wanted to shake hands with a guy he usually doesn't agree with: Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers.
"I'm a red-necked Republican, but I want to thank Sen. Chambers for bringing this up, because he's right," Allpress said.
Allpress bused to the Capitol Wednesday, along with 60...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Battle Over Keystone XL Heads Back to Nebraska’s StatehouseArctic sea ice dwindling toward record winter low
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 12th, 2015
Climate Central: While balmy hints of spring melt piles of snow in the eastern U.S., the impending end of winter marks peak season for Arctic sea ice. But this year, that winter maximum area is currently on track to hit a record low since satellite records began in 1979.
The area of the Arctic covered by sea ice during the winter of 2014-2015. In March, that area has hit such low levels that they could set a seasonal record if they persist.
What that low-ice mark means for the spring and summer melting seasons...
Public lands may be America’s best climate defense
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 12th, 2015
Climate Central: Willow and cottonwood trees, verdant with springtime foliage, draped over the shallow Aravaipa Creek in mid-February as if forsaking any notion of winter.
The blooming trees and abundant plant life, along with rare species of desert wildlife, make the Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness so biologically diverse and sensitive to human intrusion that it is one of a handful of wilderness areas in the country that have a daily cap on the number of visitors. This wild slice of the Sonoran Desert is also potentially...
UN report warns of grave consequences if mangroves not protected
Posted by Mongabay: Morgan Erickson-Davis on March 11th, 2015
Mongabay: Protecting Mangrove Forests Good For Environment And Economy: UN Global destruction of mangrove forests impacts biodiversity, food security, and the lives and livelihoods of some of the most marginalized communities in the world, according to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). Mangroves, which are forests of salt-tolerant trees and shrubs that lie along coastlines in the tropics and subtropics, are also invaluable carbon sinks. And we’re not doing nearly enough to protect them, says a...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on UN report warns of grave consequences if mangroves not protectedThe unexpectedly weird and beautiful world of lichens
Posted by Mother Nature Network: None Given on March 11th, 2015
Mother Nature Network: Lichen is something we commonly see growing on rocks or tree branches, on old wood fences and rotting stumps. But how often do you stop to really ponder lichens? Probably not often. And yet lichens are surprisingly fascinating, and weird -- and beautiful! Despite their looks, lichens aren't actually a plant. Nor are they a fungus. They're a unique composite organism, the result of a symbiotic relationship of organisms from as many as three kingdoms, with the main partner being fungus. As Lichens...