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Archive for February, 2010
Warming climate threatens Prairie Pothole Region
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 28th, 2010
Grand Forks Herald: A new report shows predictions for a warming climate could be devastating to duck production in the Prairie Pothole Region. Published in the February edition of the journal BioScience, the research uses a climate model that predicts average temperatures in the Prairie Pothole Region could rise from 2 to 4 degrees Celsius between 2050 and 2100. Under that scenario, wetlands crucial to duck production would hold water for a shorter amount of time. "The impact to the ...
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Sea Grant funds sea lamprey research on Lake Superior
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 28th, 2010
Green Bay Press Gazette: Despite 70 years of control efforts, a University of Wisconsin researcher said climate change and a warming Lake Superior could lead to a rise of the invasive -- and destructive -- sea lamprey. Methods ranging from chemicals to barriers have been tried to control sea lampreys, which have a round mouth full of teeth and attach to fish, draining their blood until they drop dead to the bottom. Those who study sea lamprey readily admit complete eradication throughout the Great Lakes is ...
Do fence me in: 250-mile barrier helps protect Kenyan water sources
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 28th, 2010
Guardian: After just over two decades, 250 miles (402km) and $9m (£5.9m) later, the last post on one of the longest fences ever built in Africa has been hammered in. The electrified barrier, which rings the Aberdare mountain range, in west central Kenya, was initially intended to keep people out in order to save the few endangered black rhino within, but has become a model for countries struggling to protect scarce water resources. Colin Church, the chair of the Kenya-based Rhino Ark ...
900 ships stranded amid drought in’s China
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 28th, 2010
Xinhua: Nine hundred ships jammed before a navigation lock of a reservoir in south China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region amid falling water level caused by severe drought, local authorities said Saturday. The waterway traffic jam started on Tuesday and the number of stranded ships had been increasing on Wuzhou City section of Xijiang River, said an official with the city's maritime affairs department. The rapid drop of the reservoir's water volume due to the drought and the ...
USDA to boost wildlife habitat, trim cropland
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 28th, 2010
Reuters: The federal government will maximize enrollment in the land-idling Conservation Reserve, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a policy that would reduce U.S. cropland by 1.5 percent if successful. The amount of land involved, around 5 million acres, could produce more than 150 million bushels of wheat, 200 million bushels of soybeans or 700 million bushels of corn, based on recent abandonment rates and the Agriculture Department's projected yields for the three crops this ...
Climate Refugees, Hotspot Case Study: Mexico
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 28th, 2010
Counter Currents: 'Hotspot' case study: Mexico With a confluence of climate and non-climate drivers, the ubiquitous presence of land degradation, and an irregular geographical population and land distribution, Mexico, not just Chile, stands out as a candidate to witness the next environmental shock and its consequences and an exemplary potential hotspot for environmentally-induced migration in Latin America.1 Its adjacency to the United States has in part facilitated international migration as a viable ...
Malta: Opposition mounts to ‘factory farm’ plans that will house 8,100 cows
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 28th, 2010
Guardian: Opposition is mounting over a plan to farm 8,100 cows in "battery conditions" at Britain's largest dairy – a complex of indoor hangars that protesters say will match the carbon emissions of 3,000 homes. Everything from pollution worries to possible damage to Roman remains is being thrown into the fight to stop the 22-acre development in Lincolnshire, which is set to revolutionise milk production methods. The consortium of dairy farmers behind the idea, linking herds in ...
Severe drought to persist in SW China
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 27th, 2010
Xinhua: Severe drought will continue to ravage southwest China as no major rainfalls are expected in the next three days, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) warned on Saturday. Experts with the CMA also urged local governments in provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region to take necessary water-saving measures and to prevent forest fire. Facing the lingering drought, the CMA on Saturday switched on its level-3 response to meteorological ...
Indian festival goers warned about water wastage
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 27th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: A chronic water shortage in the Indian city of Mumbai could put a dampener on a popular Hindu festival normally celebrated with wild "rain dances" and riotous fights using powdered paint. The municipal authorities in India's financial capital have issued an edict to Holi revellers not to waste drinking water on Monday and vowed to crack down on anyone caught misusing precious supplies. Holi -- also called the Festival of Colours -- is a public holiday, marking the end of winter ...
Zambia: Farming – Unpredictable Weather Patterns Hurting
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 27th, 2010
Times of Zambia: "Farming has now become completely different and difficult," laments Dickson Siangoma. Mr Siangoma is a headman at Malundu Village in Lusitu area of Siavonga and is struck by the changing weather patterns and conditions that have made farming a little less predictable and a high risk venture. He wonders what has become of the world. "When the rain comes, it pours continuously for almost a whole day causing damage to crops. The weather pattern is in disarray. There is ...