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Archive for February 23rd, 2010
Heatwave to end summer – and a record beckons
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 23rd, 2010
Age: Perth is inching towards claiming its second hottest summer on record, with temperatures expected in the high 30's all week. It is already one of the hottest summers Perth has ever recorded, but there's still a final sting in the tail. As the record for Perth's hottest-ever summer goes down to the wire, the city is set to face a heatwave from today as temperatures stay in the high 30s, or early 40s, to close out summer. It is forecast to be 36 degrees today, with the ...
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‘Terminator’ carp threatens Great Lakes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 23rd, 2010
Guardian: The fight looks utterly unequal. In the red corner: the combined might of North America, including the US and Canadian governments, the US army, the governors of eight American states, two Senate cÂommittees and the supreme court. In the blue corner: one fish. The way things are looking, the fish is winning. At stake is the health of the Great Lakes, the world's largest body of fresh water. Environmentalists warn of ecological disaster, courtesy of Asian carp, an invasive ...
Disaster Blamed on Chaotic Urban Planning
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 23rd, 2010
Inter Press Service: Prominent Portuguese environmentalists blamed the Dantesque scene in the tourist island of Madeira Monday, in the wake of flash floods that claimed at least 42 lives over the weekend, on seriously flawed urban planning. One of the worst storms in the history of the small hilly Portuguese archipelago, which lies around 500 km off the coast of Morocco in northwest Africa, caused raging torrents of brown mud to drag trees, rocks and cars down streets, destroying houses, bridges and roads ...
Indigenous Groups Step Up Protests Over Mining Project
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 23rd, 2010
Inter Press Service: When 5,000 indigenous Dongria Kondhs trekked Sunday to Niyam Dongar hill, the abode of their presiding deity Niyam Raja, and designated it as inviolate, it meant they were stepping up their resistance to a controversial alumina refinery and bauxite mine project here. They carried out religious rituals to Niyam Raja - the sacred dispenser of law, and then put up a totem pole in the area located in Niyamgiri hills in their homeland Lanjigarh, a bauxite-rich hilly area in Kalahandi of ...
Gardeners urged to weed out exotic invaders
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 23rd, 2010
Telegraph: Aquatic plants like water-primrose and parrot's feather are used to liven up ponds with the bright flowers and exotic foliage. However the plants, that can grow up to eight inches a day, take hold quickly in the countryside and have caused havoc for native plants and animals. Species like Japanese knotweed is even capable of growing through concrete and destroying buildings. New Zealand pygmy, that sucks oxygen from the pond, can make it impossible for frogs and fish to breed. ...
Kenya losing wild animals at alarming rate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 23rd, 2010
Daily Nation: The number of carnivorous animals in the country is on the decline and the government is worried. From cheetahs, lions and leopards to stripped hyena's and African wild dogs, their population has been dwindling at an alarming rate, a trend that is now being blamed on climate change, loss of food, and increased human population. On Monday, Forestry and Wildlife minister Noah Wekesa said it was a matter of serious concern that needed urgent attention. "The number of the ...