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Archive for April 21st, 2010
Iceland: The ash cloud’s silver lining
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 21st, 2010
Newsweek: Initially, the environmental consequences will be severe. The contents of eruptions depend on location and geologic conditions, but all volcanoes spew skyward a mix of pulverized rock and glass, both of which can devastate ecosystems in the short term. The floating ash that has limited air travel will soon settle on Europe's fields and water systems and may have deadly consequences when ingested by livestock. The glass-and-rock mixture is fatal to most plant species since it prevents ...
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‘Love-dart’ slug, lungless frog among new species on Borneo
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 21st, 2010
Agence France-Presse: Wildlife researchers said on Thursday they have discovered around 120 new species on Borneo island, including a lungless frog, the world's longest insect and a slug that fires "love darts" at its mate. Conservation group WWF listed the new finds in a report on a remote area of dense, tropical rainforest that borders Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei on Borneo. The three governments in 2007 designated the 220,000-square-kilometre (88,000-square-mile) area as the "Heart of Borneo" ...
Severn Trent presses for reforms to allow water trading
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 21st, 2010
Guardian: The water industry needs to undergo radical reform in order to survive, according to one of the biggest utilities in Britain, Severn Trent. The reforms would also reduce debt levels and customers' bills, according to chief executive Tony Wray, who wants companies to divert more water from rivers in wetter parts of the country to supply households in the drier south-east. This plan would be cheaper than building dozens of planned reservoirs and desalination plants to cope with ...
United Kingdom: Water trading idea should be allowed to run
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 21st, 2010
Guardian: The cynical view is that Tony Wray, chief executive of Severn Trent, is talking his own book in promoting the idea that water companies should trade their product with each other. His firm straddles the middle of the country. If water were to be diverted from where it is plentiful (the north and the west) to where it is scarce (the south and the east), Severn is ideally positioned to be a winner from trading. Even so, the idea – part of Severn's thinking on how to achieve "optimal ...
South Africa: Benefits of Working Together on Water
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 21st, 2010
Inter Press Service: The river basin organisation people are gathered in Botswana again: the theme this year is "benefit-sharing", an approach to allocating water that, it is promised, will accomplish nothing less than to make more water. As a region, Southern Africa faces water scarcity which is expected to grow more acute as the effects of climate change manifest. Almost all of the fresh water in the region is found in shared water courses - across Africa, 93 percent of surface water is found in rivers ...
Military leads march to shrink US carbon ‘boot print:’ Study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 21st, 2010
Agence France-Presse: From solar-powered water purification systems in Afghanistan to a Navy jet fueled in part by biofuel, the US military is taking a lead role in shrinking the US carbon "boot print," an independent report said Tuesday. The US Department of Defense accounts for 80 percent of the US government's total energy consumption energy needs, and most of the energy it uses currently comes from fossil fuels, the report by the Pew Research think tank's Project on National Security, Energy and ...
Some fear dams could spoil Montenegro’s green image
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 21st, 2010
Reuters: With its scenic Adriatic coastline, pristine waters and rugged mountains, Montenegro has presented itself as a green paradise for holidaymakers and investors. Yet plans to award a 30-year concession for the construction of four hydropower plants could risk harming that image as environmentalists mount a campaign warning about the impact on a local lake, birds and greenery. The planned dams in Moraca River with the total capacity of 242 megawatts would reduce the country's ...
‘Toxic stew’ of chemicals causing male fish to carry eggs in testes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 21st, 2010
Guardian: More than 80% of the male bass fish in Washington's major river are now exhibiting female traits such as egg production because of a "toxic stew" of pollutants, scientists and campaigners reported yesterday. Intersex fish probably result from drugs, such as the contraceptive pill, and other chemicals being flushed into the water and have been found right across the US. The Potomac Conservancy, which focuses on Washington DC's river, called for new research to determine what was ...
Brazil awards dam tender despite environmental protests
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 21st, 2010
Agence France-Presse: Brazil on Tuesday speedily awarded the tender for a controversial hydro-electric dam projected to be the world's third-largest, despite fierce opposition from environmentalists. The government pushed ahead with the bidding process to begin construction of the giant Belo Monte dam after beating back a last-minute suspension order with a rushed appeal. The tender was awarded to Norte Energia, a consortium led by a subsidiary of the state electricity company Electrobras, after a ...
Australia: Grounded ships: Just one threat to the Great Barrier Reef
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 21st, 2010
Time Magazine: Environmentalists and politicians alike went wild this month when a Chinese shipping vessel plowed at full speed into the delicate corals of Australia's protected Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Damage to the Douglas Shoal, one of the 2,900 reefs in the 133,000-sq.-mi. (350,000 sq km) marine park, covered an area equivalent to five football fields, leaving a vast, empty plain of sand where a healthy coral community had hosted a variety of unique plants and animals. But marine ...