Archive for June 1st, 2010

Unless Additional Funds Raised, Ecological Internet Closes at End of Summer

2010 Ecological Internet Mid-Year Fund-Raiser Update: $16,943 raised/34% to goal from 117 donors, $33,057 to go Help Keep Dream of Global Ecological Sustainability Alive: http://www.ecoearth.info/shared/donate/ Dear Earth loving colleagues, It has been a tremendous pleasure to work with you all online – some as long as 20 years – to protect rainforests, climate and promote ecological sustainability. No one has diagnosed the severity of ecological crises, and together done more to promote implementation of policy adequate to achieve global ecological sustainability, than Ecological Internet’s massive global network spanning virtually every country. Sadly, after being user funded for 12 years, and having faced some one off expenditures this past year, our cash flow is very bad. We are falling so far short of our $50,000 fund-raising goal, that if no more is raised, Ecological Internet will be closing its doors at the end of the northern hemisphere’s summer (3 months – end of August). Our current “Earth's Ecology & Ecological Internet Need You Now More Than Ever” fund-drive requires your support immediately if we are to continue achieving massive people power conservation victories. You are urged to make a tax-deductible donation at: http://www.ecoearth.info/shared/donate/ . There is information on doing so by check, credit ...

Climate change to hurt Egypt farming, tourism

Reuters: Egypt's farming and tourism sectors could be hurt as climate change takes its toll on the country, fuelling food security concerns in what is already the world's largest wheat importer, an environment official said. Climate change in Egypt threatens to cut key agricultural crops, force millions to migrate, flood or alter tourism destinations, and dramatically cut water supplies, head of the climate change unit of the environmental affairs agency said. "We are looking at an ...

North-South Conservation Divide: “Show Me the Money”

Inter Press Service: Developing countries rich in plants and animals but poor in financial and technical resources refused to make binding commitments to halt the unraveling of the planet's biological infrastructure at the close of a major meeting Friday at the U.N.'s African headquarters in Nairobi. For their part, rich countries balked at a 50-fold increase in funding to support efforts to slow and reverse the loss of species and ecosystems. "Anything to do with finance has been a big problem ...

Diversity the Best Option for Cuban Farmers

Inter Press Service: Cuban biodiversity scientist Humberto Ríos, one of the six recipients of the 2010 Goldman Environmental Prize, probably won't be able to collect the 150,000 dollars in prize money, though that setback is unlikely to cause him to lose any sleep -- or keep him from singing. "I'm preparing my second album, with my children," he told IPS in this interview. In his April trip to the United States to receive the award, widely known as the "Green Nobel", Ríos visited the White House and the ...

Mapping the Deepwater disaster

Guardian: Andy Lintner on Beowulfe.com is doing his part for the Deepwater disaster with a map mashup that compares the size of the slick to anywhere in the world. Transposed to the UK, the results are horrifying. Lintner created the map using data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which collates data from high-resolution satellite images that are tracking the spread of the slick in the Gulf on changing currents. The same site has the live video feed from the ...

BP plunges 15 percent as oil spill costs soar

AFP: BP revealed Tuesday that the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico had cost it almost a billion dollars, sparking a 13-percent plunge in its shares after the latest attempt to fix the leaking well failed. At its lowest point, the British energy giant's share price dropped nearly 17 percent on the day, but it recovered slightly to close at 430 pence, down 13.1 percent. The sell-off wiped more than 12 billion pounds (14.4 billion euros, 17.6 billion dollars) off its market value -- its ...

‘Noise pollution’ threatens fish

BBC: Sound matters to cichlids Fish are being threatened by rising levels of man-made noise pollution. So say scientists who have reviewed the impact on fish species around the world of noises made by oil and gas rigs, ships, boats and sonar. Rather than live in a silent world, most fish hear well and sound plays an active part in their lives, they say. Increasing noise levels may therefore severely affect the distribution of fish, and their ability to reproduce, ...

As speculative fever rages, China bursts bean bubble

Reuters: Germany has banned naked short-selling and the United States may block banks from proprietary trading. But China has taken rules aimed at ensuring market stability to new, tastier lengths. It has launched a strike-hard campaign against speculators driving up vegetable prices. Investors are no strangers to Chinese produce, as witnessed last year when garlic was the country's top-performing asset. While soaring garlic prices troubled those looking to spice up their meals, ...

Gibbs: BP not forthcoming on spill

Associate Press: White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says BP was not forthcoming about the possibility oil could leak faster as a result of the latest attempt to contain the Gulf spill. White House Energy Adviser Carol Browner said over the weekend that cutting and capping the damaged oil riser could result in a temporary 20 percent increase in the flow, a figure Gibbs repeated Tuesday. BP has said it didn't expect a significant increase in flow from the cutting and capping plan. Gibbs ...

Persistent organic pollutants in large concentrations in Arctic areas: Fires spread environmental toxi

ScienceDaily: Persistent Organic Pollutants in Large Concentrations in Arctic Areas: Fires Spread Environmental Toxins Over the Arctic Forest fires and straw and stubble burning in North America and Eastern Europe are leading to record-high concentrations of the environmental toxin PCB over Svalbard. As a result of climate change, airborne pollution is thus becoming an increasing problem in the Arctic. For the last decades, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have been found in large ...