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Archive for March 16th, 2010
Parched California to get more water
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 16th, 2010
Reuters: California's drought-baked cities and farms will get considerably more water this year than last from federal officials, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said on Tuesday, making good on forecasts issued in February after a series of strong winter storms. Irrigation districts south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which represent farmers on the west side of the state's Central Valley, will get 25 percent of their contracted water allotment from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, ...
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Uganda: 100 Encroachers Face Eviction From Lutoboka Forest
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 16th, 2010
Monitor: The parliamentary Committee on Commissions and Statutory Authorities has given a go ahead to the National Forestry Authority to evict the over 100 encroachers in Lutoboka Forest Reserve in Kalangala District. The members led by their chairperson, Mr Reagan Okumu, who were on Friday in the district to inspect the status of the forest reserves, observed that encroachment on the forest reserve, which acts as a water catchment for Lake Victoria, has not only degraded the reserve but also ...
Habitat loss wiping out Europe’s butterflies
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 16th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: The destruction of natural habitats in Europe is wiping out butterfly, beetle and dragonfly species across the region, the updated European "Red List" of endangered species showed Tuesday. "When a Red List like this raises the alarm, the implications for our own future are clear. This is a worrying decline," said EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik. Scientists examining Europe's 435 butterfly species found that the populations of one in three species are falling and nine ...
Asian carp: how one fish could ruin the Great Lakes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 16th, 2010
Christian Science Monitor: The Asian carp's presence is highly contentious in the Midwest, with ramifications that could affect the economy as well as the environment. Here's a primer on the Asian carp and why this invasive species poses such a threat to the Great Lakes ecosystem. What is the Asian carp?It's a collective term that describes four species of fish that originated in China but have shown up in the United States: the silver, bighead, grass, and black carp. The bighead and silver carp are the ones ...
Endangered species dilemma: Protect whales or salmon they eat?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 16th, 2010
McClatchy Newspapers: When it comes to dinner, Puget Sound 's killer whales show no respect for international boundaries. It's long been known that their favorite meal is Chinook salmon. However, using new genetic tests on the orcas' feces, and fish tissue and scales taken from the waters near where the whales are feasting, scientists say that as much as 90 percent of the Chinook they eat are from Canada's Fraser River . Though the dietary habits of killer whales may not seem like a big deal, the ...