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Archive for March, 2010
With war and neglect, Afghans face water shortage
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 24th, 2010
Reuters: Afghanistan needs billions of dollars for dams and irrigation to feed and provide power for its growing population after decades of war, with future water supply a major security challenge, Afghan and foreign officials say. Most of Afghanistan's precious water is allowed to flow out to its neighbors, a situation which must be changed quickly if the country is to sustain itself, deputy Water and Energy Minister Shujauddin Ziayee told Reuters recently. "In 30 years, the size of ...
Giant Ethiopian dam to make 200,000 go hungry: NGO
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 24th, 2010
Reuters: More than 200,000 Ethiopians who rely on fishing and farming could become reliant on aid to survive if the government goes ahead with building Africa's biggest hydropower dam, an advocacy group said. Ethiopia is building the 1.4 billion euro dam as part of a campaign to beat power shortages and become a power exporter. The dam - Gibe III -- is expected to generate 1,800MW, almost doubling Ethiopia's current capacity of just under 2,000MW. Tribal rights group Survival ...
Restore Scotland’s peatland bogs says nature body
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 24th, 2010
BBC: Clifton Bain, director of the IUCN Peatland Programme, said restoration projects would help Scotland meet climate change targets. He said: "Damaged peatlands are a major source of emissions, both here in Scotland and world wide. "Proposed changes to international rules on carbon accounting will allow Scotland to get full credit for its peatland restoration work, including the massive conservation efforts in the Flow Country of Caithness and Sutherland, one of the worlds largest ...
Population growth should be curbed: conservationist Goodall
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 24th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: Humans should have fewer babies to help the global battle against climate change, according to the renowned British primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall. Goodall, whose 1960s research on chimpanzees changed perceptions of relations between humans and animals, fears the controversial issue has slipped down the agenda in the debate about man's impact on the environment. "It's very frustrating as people don't want to address this topic," said the 75-year-old English ...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Population growth should be curbed: conservationist GoodallNative groups vow to fight pipeline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 24th, 2010
Reuters: Aboriginal groups on Canada's Pacific Coast vowed on Tuesday to block Enbridge Inc's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline to carry oil sands crude to export markets including China. The groups said the environmental danger of oil tankers traveling through the coastal waters of British Columbia is too great, and the announcement could set the stage for a protracted legal and political fight over the pipeline. "Some people are saying (the pipeline) is a done deal. It's not," Art ...
Canada: Ontario, Quebec sing different oilsands tune when cash beckons
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 23rd, 2010
Calgary Herald: After months of publicly denouncing the oilsands for its environmental footprint, the Quebec and Ontario governments are in Alberta this week with entrepreneurs looking to land supplier contracts with companies developing the resource. The Quebec government asked businesses from that province to participate in the economic mission to Edmonton this week for the National Buyer/Seller Forum -- a conference dedicated to oilsands investment -- saying the projects in northern Alberta ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada: Ontario, Quebec sing different oilsands tune when cash beckonsEthiopia: Construction of Dam Will Devastate Local Communities
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 23rd, 2010
Inter Press Service: Gideon Lepalo describes growing up in Loiyangalani, 20 kilometres from Lake Turkana, as magical. However, he fears the building of Gilgel Gibe III dam in Ethiopia, upstream of the Omo River, will soon mean that his childhood memories of the lake will be exactly that - memories. According to an independent environmental impact assessment (EIA) done by the Africa Resources Working Group (ARWG), a cluster of eight scholars and consultants from the United States, Europe and Eastern ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Ethiopia: Construction of Dam Will Devastate Local CommunitiesGlobal warming threatens plant diversity
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 23rd, 2010
ScienceDaily: In the coming decades, climate change is set to produce worldwide changes in the living conditions for plants, whereby major regional differences may be expected to occur. Thus today´s cool, moist regions could in future provide habitats for additional species, and in arid and hot regions the climatic prerequisites for a high degree of plant diversity will deteriorate. This is the conclusion reached in a new study by scientists at the Universities of Bonn, Göttingen and Yale, and ...
Watchdog urges World Bank to address water stress
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 23rd, 2010
Business Green: The World Bank is failing to adequately target funding at developing countries suffering water shortages despite the fact droughts are likely to be exacerbated by climate change, according to a report from the body's internal watchdog. The report, released yesterday by the bank's Independent Evaluation Group to coincide with World Water Day, concluded that there was "no clear relationship between Bank water lending and water stress". The report found that the effects of water ...
Caracas peak blazes for third day in drought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 23rd, 2010
Reuters: A blaze raged on the Avila mountain over Caracas for a third day on Tuesday, threatening wildlife in its national park and sending smoke billowing over the upper reaches of the Venezuelan capital. Since the weekend, the fire has lit up the night sky and consumed nearly 120 hectares (300 acres) of the Avila's thickly wooded slopes, which are home to more than 120 mammal species and 500 types of bird. The authorities said some 200 firemen, police and volunteers had been battling ...