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Archive for March, 2010
Climate change, development blamed for rapidly rising number of ‘100-year storms’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 21st, 2010
Eagle Tribune: In their worst form, they were known as "100-year storms": catastrophes that occurred once a century and caused devastating floods. And yet, in just the past four years, three times the Merrimack Valley and Southern New Hampshire have been hard-hit by storms that once came with interludes of decades between them. The most recent deluge was last week, when residents of Andover and Lawrence were forced out of their homes as their properties became drenched and heavily damaged by ...
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Comments Off on Climate change, development blamed for rapidly rising number of ‘100-year storms’Internet ‘threatens’ rare species
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 21st, 2010
BBC: The internet has emerged as one of the biggest threats to endangered species, according to conservationists who are meeting in Doha, Qatar. Campaigners say it is easier than ever before to buy and sell anything from live baby lions to polar bear pelts on online auction sites and chatrooms. The findings were presented at the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites). Several proposals to give endangered species more protection were ...
Internet is biggest threat to endangered species, say conservationists
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 21st, 2010
Guardian: The internet has emerged as one of the greatest threats to rare species, fuelling the illegal wildlife trade and making it easier to buy everything from live lion cubs to wine made from tiger bones, conservationists said today. The internet's impact was made clear at the meeting of the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites). Delegates voted overwhelmingly today to ban the trade of the Kaiser's spotted newt, which the World Wildlife Fund says ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Internet is biggest threat to endangered species, say conservationistsPhilippines: Drought drives monkeys out of forests, into streets
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 21st, 2010
Philippine Daily Inquirer: LACK of food due to drought has forced monkeys to leave their sanctuaries in Barangay New Israel here and take refuge in nearby forested areas. "It all started when severe heat wilted some crops in the village including banana plants that serve as food for these animals," Darwin Paraiso, a village councilor, said. Paraiso said the monkeys started to form groups and scramble for food, particularly bananas donated by Dole-Stanfilco. The village councilor said there were ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Philippines: Drought drives monkeys out of forests, into streetsLebanon’s liquid treasure is just trickling away
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 21st, 2010
Agence France-Presse: Rose Hatem's home overlooks the Mediterranean and is just a short distance from one of Lebanon's longest rivers. But twice a week the 60-year-old has to buy water for her daily needs. "I have been buying in water since I moved here 14 years ago," Hatem told AFP in the picturesque village of Amsheet, north of the Lebanese capital Beirut. "In the summer, when demand is high, I'm often left without a drop." Hers is a story repeated across Lebanon, one of the rare countries in the ...
Solution to a thirsty world: sea water without the salt
Posted by Water Conserve: Water Conservation RSS Newsfeed on March 21st, 2010
Times (UK): MIDDLE East government officials spent last week in Vienna, discussing oil at a meeting of Opec, the producers' cartel. In Oman, however, another dwindling resource was top of the agenda. In the coastal town of Al Khaluf, Oman's minister for water turned on a desalination plant that will provide the area with 100 cubic metres of fresh, clean water every day -- enough for 80,000 people. The plant was sold by Modern Water, a British company that claims places such as Oman will ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Solution to a thirsty world: sea water without the saltAustralia: Living in defiance of a drying climate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 20th, 2010
Age: WHEN Premier John Brumby travelled deep into the suburbs on Tuesday to relax Melbourne's water restrictions, the surprise was not in the announcement but in the bold statement that followed. ''There are no circumstances in which we would ever, ever have to go back to stage 3a or stage 4,'' he said, as children kicked footballs behind him. Vowing to return Victoria to its ''garden state'' glory, Brumby promised that Melbourne's parks and gardens would never again suffer the thirst and ...
Philippines: Drought destroys P8.4b worth of crops
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 20th, 2010
Manila Standard Today: THE damage wrought by El Niño to crops amounted to P8.4 billion, Agriculture Secretary Bernie Fondevilla said Friday. Verified reports showed standing corn crops sustained most of the damage, he told reporters at the sidelines of the Agriculture Guarantee Fund Pool awarding rites at the Bureau of Soils and Water Management. The government could not yet say if the damage would go beyond P11 billion as reported earlier. "We'll see. Should the episode worsen, we can estimate the ...
Ore. town uses geothermal energy to stay warm
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 20th, 2010
Associated Press: When snow falls on this downtown of brick buildings and glass storefronts in southern Oregon, it piles up everywhere but the sidewalks. It's the first sign that this timber and ranching town is like few others. A combination of hot rocks and water like those that created Yellowstone's geysers have been tapped by the city to keep the sidewalks toasty since the early 1990s. They also heat downtown buildings, kettles at a brewhouse, and greenhouses and keep the lights on at a college ...
Sandstorms sweep into Beijing
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 20th, 2010
Guardian