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Archive for April, 2010
Why eco-friendly products are not as green as they appear
Posted by Water Conserve: Water Conservation RSS Newsfeed on April 28th, 2010
Independent (UK): Faced with a choice between normal cleaning products and more expensive "green" alternatives, many shoppers pay more to do their bit for the environment. But store chains and specialist manufacturers may be exaggerating some of their claims for "eco" cleaners and washing powders, a process dubbed "greenwashing". according to a survey by a consumer group today. The claims of 14 "green" household cleaners, laundry tablets, nappies and baby wipes were put to the test by a panel of ...
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Private water suppliers poised to grow as demand set to surge
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 28th, 2010
Guardian: Private companies are poised for a surge in demand to take over water supplies, despite widespread opposition to privatisation of what is seen as a life-giving public service. Global Water Intelligence analysts expect the water supply market to grow about 20% in the next five years, and demand is especially strong in North Africa, the Middle East and China, GWI's publisher Christopher Gasson told the Guardian. Another big growth area is likely to be the US, where "hundreds" of ...
Coast Guard says to set leaking oil ablaze
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 28th, 2010
Reuters: The U.S. Coast Guard said on Wednesday it will use a "controlled burn" to battle a giant oil slick from last week's deadly offshore drilling rig explosion, as the spill threatened wide-scale coastal damage for four U.S. Gulf Coast states. The leaking well, 5,000 feet under the sea off Louisiana's coast, has created an oil sheen and emulsified crude slick slightly bigger than the U.S. state of West Virginia, the Coast Guard said. Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead ...
Water Discovered on an Asteroid—A First
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 28th, 2010
National Geographic: Water has been spotted on an orbiting asteroid for the first time, according to a new study of a space rock that appears to be coated with frost. What's more, the frost seems to be mixed with carbon-bearing material, according to results from two independent teams studying the asteroid, which is known as 24 Themis. "We report the first detection of water ice and of organic molecules on an asteroid, and they are both on the same asteroid," said Humberto Campins of the University ...
Coast Guard considers lighting oil spill on fire
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 28th, 2010
Associated Press: The Coast Guard planned to set fire to oil leaking from the site of an exploded drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, a last-ditch effort to get rid of it before it reaches environmentally sensitive marshlands on the Lousiana coast. Fire-resistant containment booms will be used to corral some of the thickest oil on the surface, which will then be ignited, said Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Prentice Danner. It was unclear how large an area would be set aflame, ...
Rivers in England and Wales face drying out because of climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 28th, 2010
Telegraph: The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) fears that the growing population will mean more water from Britain's rivers is needed for washing and drinking in future. They are already running low and climate change could make the situation even worse as floods and droughts become more frequent. The charity is warning that during a hot summer with little rainfall, a third could almost completely dry out because so much water is being taken by utility companies. This would have ...
Buh-bye East Coast beaches
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 28th, 2010
Mother Jones: For most of the 20th century, Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, was known for its boardwalk, amusement park, and wide, sandy beaches, popular with daytrippers from Washington, DC. "The bathing beach has a frontage of three miles," boasted a tourist brochure from about 1900, "and is equal, if not superior, to any beach on the Atlantic Coast." [2]Today, on a cloudless spring afternoon, the resort town's sweeping view of Chesapeake Bay is no less stunning. But there's no longer any beach in ...
A day to celebrate (and save) the world’s amphibians: the 2nd Annual Save the Frogs Day
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 28th, 2010
Mongabay: Friday, April 30th is for the frogs: educational programs, conservation walks with experts, frog leaping races, and the world's first protest to save frogs are all planned for the world's 2nd Annual Save the Frogs Day. Organized by the non-profit SAVE THE FROGS!, events are so far planned in 15 countries on every continent besides Antarctica--fittingly the only continent that lacks amphibians. "[This] will be the largest day of amphibian education and conservation action in the ...
Melting sea ice would cause sea levels to rise by ‘hair’s breadth’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 28th, 2010
Telegraph: Researchers at the University of Leeds calculate that around 1.5 million Titanic-sized icebergs each year are melting into the sea every year in the Arctic and Antarctic. This is causing sea level to rise by just 49 micrometers per year - around a hair's breadth. At that rate it would take 200 years for the oceans to rise by 1cm as a result of melting sea ice. If all the floating ice in the world melted it would cause sea levels to rise by just 4cm. In comparison if all the ice on ...
Wheat variety thrives on saltier soils
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 28th, 2010
SciDev.Net: A variety of wheat that thrives on salty soils has been bred by scientists who say they will make it freely available to the developing world. The enhanced durum wheat is 25 per cent more productive in saline soils than its normal counterpart, according to Rana Munns, chief research scientist at the Australia-based CSIRO Plant Industry. Munns and her team isolated two salt tolerance genes from an old species of wheat (Triticum monococcum) and, using non-GM methods, introduced ...