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Archive for March 22nd, 2010
UN report: World’s biggest cities merging into ‘mega-regions’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 22nd, 2010
Guardian: The world's mega-cities are merging to form vast "mega-regions" which may stretch hundreds of kilometres across countries and be home to more than 100 million people, according to a major new UN report. The phenomenon of the so-called "endless city" could be one of the most significant developments - and problems - in the way people live and economies grow in the next 50 years, says UN-Habitat, the agency for human settlements, which identifies the trend of developing mega-regions in ...
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E.P.A. Moves to Tighten Drinking Water Standard
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 22nd, 2010
Associated Press: The Environmental Protection Agency is tightening drinking water standards to impose stricter limits on four contaminants that can cause cancer. In a speech Monday, the E.P.A. administrator, Lisa P. Jackson, said the agency was developing stricter regulations for four chemical compounds: tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, acrylamide and epichlorohydrin. All four compounds can cause cancer. Trichloroethylene, also known as TCE, and tetrachloroethylene are used as industrial ...
Uganda says pollution of Lake Victoria worsening
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 22nd, 2010
Reuters: Pollution in parts of Lake Victoria is worsening so fast that soon it may be impossible to treat its waters enough to provide drinking water for the Ugandan capital, a senior official said Monday. The lake, east Africa's largest by area, also supplies water to millions in neighboring Kenya and Tanzania, and supports fishing communities in all three countries. Gerald Sawula, deputy executive director of Uganda's state-run National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA), told ...
Coca-Cola hit by pollution claim in India
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 22nd, 2010
Agence France-Presse: Coca-Cola contaminated water and polluted the environment at a south Indian bottling plant and should pay 47 million dollars in compensation, local authorities said on Monday. The government in Communist-run Kerala state said it had accepted the findings of a panel that investigated the soft drinks giant and recommended a fine of 2.16 billion rupees. Coca-Cola denied all the allegations. The state panel said that the Palakkad bottling factory, which was closed in 2005 ...
Sandstorms across China prompt health warnings
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 22nd, 2010
Associated Press: Sandstorms whipping across China shrouded cities in an unhealthy cloud of sand and grit Monday, with winds carrying the pollution outside the mainland as far as Hong Kong and Taiwan. It was the latest sign of the effects of desertification: Overgrazing, deforestation, urban sprawl and drought have expanded deserts in the country's north and west. The shifting sands have gradually encroached onto populated areas and worsened sandstorms that strike cities, particularly in the ...
Taking action for World Water Day
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 22nd, 2010
Guardian: This is a tale of two countries – one landlocked, with two-thirds of its harsh environment given over to desert and where rainfall is thought to be reducing; the other low lying, with millions of inhabitants squeezed onto narrow spits of land prone to severe monsoon flooding. They may be continents apart, each with their own set of problems, but in both, girls miss out on school because they spend hours fetching water. Mothers give birth with no access to clean water. Children are ...
Drought, refugees, revolution and war – military prepares for climate doomsday
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 22nd, 2010
Scotsman: MILITARY chiefs are holding "back room" discussions on how to cope with the threat of a world ravaged by wars provoked by uncontrolled climate change, an expert has warned. Gwynne Dyer, an influential lecturer in international affairs, said if the climate continues to change at its current rate there will be global conflict in decades. Tens of millions of climate refuges unable to feed themselves in their own dried-up countries will aim for places like Scotland where conditions will ...
FB ALERT & RELEASE: Protest Greenpeace and Rainforest Action Networks Censoring of Facebook Criticism of Their Support for Primary Forest Logging
Posted by Water Conservation Blog on March 22nd, 2010
By Dr. Glen Barry, Ecological Internet
Earth Meanders come from Earth's Newsdesk
Genuine and growing concern with their ongoing, publicly undefended support for Forest Stewardship Council certified primary forest logging destroying an area two times the size of Texas deleted, blocked and reported to Facebook as terms of use violations
Greenpeace US and International, as well as Rainforest Action Network, are censoring comments of concern regarding their support for sustainable forest management of old forests including primary rainforests [search] on Facebook and their blogs. Ecological Internet has been at the vanguard of working to protect and restore primary and old growth forests [search] globally by ending their industrial logging and other developments. Unfortunately this has required campaigning to confront Greenpeace[1] and Rainforest Action Network[2] two of the strongest supporters of continued primary forest logging.
As Greenpeace condemns censorship by Nestle[3] of a YouTube video showing their use of oil palm at the expense of orangutans, and RAN blasts Facebook censorship of its use of tar sands financier RBC Banks logo, both groups are systematically removing criticism of their support for first time industrial primary forest logging from their facebook pages and blogs. To who are these groups accountable, asks ...