RSS Feed
Archive for April, 2010
South Africa looks to sea to meet growing water demand
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 15th, 2010
Reuters: South Africa will increasingly use desalinated seawater to meet growing demand for drinking water in coastal towns facing the worst drought in 150 years, the country's water minister said Thursday. South Africa is a water-scarce country with an average rainfall of 450 millimeters -- compared to a world average of 860 mm -- and conditions are expected to worsen as a result of global climate warming. "South Africa has a boundary consisting of approximately 3,000 kilometers of sea ...
Ten emerging potato pest and disease threats
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 15th, 2010
Farmers Weekly Interactive: International trade and climate change are just two reasons why new potato pest and disease threats could emerge. Philip Case with the help of Gerry Saddler from Scottish government agency SASA pinpoints 10 potential threats. Last year's Dickeya solani outbreaks were a distinct reminder of just how easily new pest or disease threats can emerge, and how serious they could potentially be for the UK's potato industry. It also brought sharply into focus whether all potential ...
Beyond green growth: why we need a world without economic growth
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 15th, 2010
Guardian: Last March, Tim Jackson put forward the idea of prosperity without growth in a report published by the United Kingdom's Sustainable Development Commission and followed up with a book of the same name released last November. The book is a best seller (ranked 1,729 on Amazon) and in it he argues convincingly that we can still prosper without adhering to the encoded mantra of expansion and growth that permeates modern market economies. More recently, in January 2010, Andrew Simms and ...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Beyond green growth: why we need a world without economic growthBrazil suspends Amazon dam project targeted by Avatar director
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 15th, 2010
Mongabay: A Brazilian judge on Wednesday suspended the preliminary license for the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, a controversial project in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, citing "danger of irreparable harm," reports the Amazon Watch, an NGO that has been campaigning on the issue. The move comes just days after a high-profile visit by James Cameron, director of the box office hit Avatar, and Sigourney Weaver, one of the stars of Avatar, to indigenous communities potentially affected by the ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Brazil suspends Amazon dam project targeted by Avatar directorAnother Water Crisis Unfurling: Tar Sands Development Coming to Utah?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 15th, 2010
AlterNet: Much of the more than 2 million barrels of oil Canada sends south every day comes from the tar sands of the Athabasca region in Alberta. The ongoing tar sands boom in the area has been called an environmental crime of enormous proportions, and there are hints that some of the dirty processes required might be heading south as well, to the Uintah Basin in Utah. Several companies have been operating small-scale projects in tar sands areas mines in Utah. Now, Earth Energy Resources has ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Another Water Crisis Unfurling: Tar Sands Development Coming to Utah?BP pledges not to use open-pit mining at Canadian oil sands sites
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 15th, 2010
Guardian: Tony Hayward, BP's chief executive, has attempted to dampen growing investor anger over its oil sands activities by publicly pledging for the first time not to use mining techniques that devastate the landscape. But the pledge was not enough to head off a significant rebellion from a growing group of increasingly environmentally aware investors at its annual general meeting today. Environmentalists also poured scorn on the promise, which was also made in BP's sustainability ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on BP pledges not to use open-pit mining at Canadian oil sands sitesEarth’s missing heat could haunt us later: report
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 15th, 2010
Reuters: The rise in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere means far more energy is coming into Earth's climate system than is going out, but half of that energy is missing and could eventually reappear as another sign of climate change, scientists said on Thursday. In stable climate times, the amount of heat coming into Earth's system is equal to the amount leaving it, but these are not stable times, said John Fasullo of the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research, a co-author of the ...
Measuring global water vapor and formaldehyde
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 14th, 2010
ScienceDaily: Atmospheric water vapour (H2O) is the most important natural greenhouse gas, accounting for about two-thirds of the natural greenhouse effect. Despite this importance, its role in climate and its reaction to climate change are still difficult to assess. Many details of the hydrological cycle are poorly understood, such as the process of cloud formation and the transport and release of latent heat contained in the water vapour. In contrast to other important greenhouse gases like ...
Fears of glacial lake outburst floods allayed
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 14th, 2010
SciDev.Net: The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has good news for people living in the Nepal Himalayas -- its latest survey shows three lakes formed by melting glaciers are not about to burst as previously feared. In 2009, ICIMOD studied 1,466 glacial lakes in Nepal, in collaboration with the World Bank and non-government organisations (NGOs). Its teams identified six of them as candidates for glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFS). Extensive field studies ...
Spain warming faster than rest of northern hemisphere: study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 14th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: Spain has warmed at a faster rate than the rest of the northern hemisphere over the past three decades, according to a study prepared for the environment ministry that was published Tuesday. The country has experienced average temperature increases of 0.5 degrees Celsius per decade since 1975, a rate that is "50 percent superior to the average of nations in the northern hemisphere", the study by the Spanish branch of the Clivar research network found. The study predicts average ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Spain warming faster than rest of northern hemisphere: study