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Archive for July 20th, 2010
Nigeria: Federal government to tackle desertification in the north, says Jonathan
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 20th, 2010
Vanguard: President Goodluck Jonathan has said the Federal Government is determined to combat desertification and reclaim lost land in the Northern part of the country. Reacting to concerns by Nigerians on desertification on his facebook website page, he said he was personally studying a scientific paper on the benefits of a plant, Jatrophas Curcas in solving the desertification menace. He also said that the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Water Resources would be supported to ...
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Little impact if U.S. ethanol tax breaks end: Study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 20th, 2010
Reuters: U.S. ethanol production would drop a modest amount if tax incentives costing $6 billion a year are eliminated, a think tank at Iowa State University said on Tuesday. The incentives -- a 45-cent a gallon excise tax credit for U.S.-made ethanol and a 54-cent a gallon tariff on imports -- are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. Almost all fuel ethanol is distilled from corn Imports would remain at low levels if the tariff is removed, said the study by the Center for ...
Parched California: Severe water shortages loom
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 20th, 2010
Central Valley Business Times: Over 1,100 U.S. counties-- more than one-third of all counties in the lower 48 states -- now face higher risks of water shortages by mid-century as the result of global warming and more than 400 of these counties – many within the Central Valley -- will be at extremely high risk for water shortages, based on estimates from a new report by Tetra Tech for the Natural Resources Defense Council. The report uses publicly available water use data across the United States and climate ...
The Thinker: Ready for REDD?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 20th, 2010
Jakarta Globe: Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation has swiftly taken its place near the top of policy agendas in countries around the world. In Indonesia, the government has promised to slash its emissions between 26 and 41 percent, principally through the scheme. Following the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn in 2009, REDD activities covering conservation, sustainable forest management and the enhancement of carbon stocks in forests have become increasingly ...
South Africa’s rooibos farmers go wild to take on commercial growers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 20th, 2010
Guardian: When rooibos, South Africa's naturally caffeine-free tea, made the jump from health food store to supermarket staple it provided a lifeline for a small group of indigenous farmers. Then drought and the entry of commercial growers into the market threatened them with ruin. But they are fighting back by planting wild rooibos. George Kotze's great, great, great- grandparents were among the first farmers to grow rooibos tea in South Africa's wild and desolate Western Cape, the only place ...
Helsinki data centre to heat homes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 20th, 2010
Guardian: A mini revolution in eco-friendly computing is taking place in the depths of the 19th-century Orthodox Uspenski Cathedral in downtown Helsinki. The Finnish IT company Academica has installed a new 2MW database server centre in an empty second world war bomb shelter meant to protect city officials in the event of a Russian attack. Water warmed while cooling the servers will go on to provide heat for 500 homes or 1,000 flats in a city that often suffers winters of -20C. After the heat ...
China rushes to keep oil from international waters
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 20th, 2010
Associated Press: China rushed to keep an oil spill from reaching international waters Tuesday, while an environmental group tried to assess if the country's largest reported spill was worse than has been disclosed. Crude oil started pouring into the Yellow Sea off a busy northeastern port after a pipeline exploded late last week, sparking a massive 15-hour fire. The government says the slick has spread across a 70-square-mile (180-square-kilometer) stretch of ocean. Images of 100-foot-high ...
Letters: Speculation does raise food prices
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 20th, 2010
Guardian: Goldman Sachs dismisses the World Development Movement's new report, The Great Hunger Lottery, as "horribly misinformed" (Hedge funds accused of gambling with lives of the poorest as food prices soar, 19 July). Goldmans is clearly on the defensive again and its reply is both disingenuous and misleading. The profit figures cited in our report are derived from numbers published in Goldmans' own annual report, which also states quite openly that commodities produced "particularly strong ...
New methodology improves winter climate forecasting
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 20th, 2010
ScienceDaily: It may be hot out right now, but new research from North Carolina State University will help us know what to expect when the weather turns cold. Researchers have developed a new methodology that improves the accuracy of winter precipitation and temperature forecasts. The tool should be valuable for government and utility officials, since it provides key information for use in predicting energy consumption and water availability. "Predicting winter precipitation is extremely useful, ...
Climate Change and Increased Demand Cause Shift in Water Supply
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 20th, 2010
Associated Press: A new report predicts an increased water supply in the Northeast over the next 40 years, while many other regions could face major shortages. The report, released by the Natural Resources Defense Council, cited warm climate change for the increased use of bodies of water already stressed by agricultural and consumer use, causing shortages. The climate change could also be responsible for shifting weather patterns that would bring more water to the Northeast. While the report ...