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Archive for May 8th, 2010
World’s biggest beaver dam discovered in northern Canada
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 8th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: A Canadian ecologist has discovered the world's largest beaver dam in a remote area of northern Alberta, an animal-made structure so large it is visible from space. Researcher Jean Thie said Wednesday he used satellite imagery and Google Earth software to locate the dam, which is about 850 metres (2,800 feet) long on the southern edge of Wood Buffalo National Park. Average beaver dams in Canada are 10 to 100 metres long, and only rarely do they reach 500 metres. First ...
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Mali: Farmers Restore Forests
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 8th, 2010
Inter Press Service: Villagers in the interior delta of the Niger River, already experiencing the harsh impacts of climate change, have a good understanding of the need to restore forests decimated by drought. Where forest cover has been rehabilitated, it is already reshaping the surrounding environment - and economy. "It is important to set regulations to protect the restored forests against fresh destruction by drought," Yaya Bocoum, an elder from the Malian village of Youwarou, told IPS. "I can ...
Jordan River could die by 2011
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 8th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: The once mighty Jordan River, where Christians believe Jesus was baptised, is now little more than a polluted stream that could die next year unless the decay is halted, environmentalists said on Monday. The famed river "has been reduced to a trickle south of the Sea of Galilee, devastated by overexploitation, pollution and lack of regional management," Friends of the Earth, Middle East (FoEME) said in a report. More than 98 percent of the river's flow has been diverted by ...
Deepwater Horizon blast triggered by methane bubble, report shows
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 8th, 2010
Guardian: The deadly blast on board the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico was triggered by a bubble of methane gas, an investigation by BP has revealed. A report into last month's blast said the gas escaped from the oil well and shot up the drill column, expanding quickly as it burst through several seals and barriers before exploding. The sequence of events, described in the interviews with rig workers, provides the most detailed account of the blast that killed 11 workers ...