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Archive for July, 2010
A fifth of the world’s mangroves gone in 30 years
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2010
Mongabay: A new report by the United Nation Environment Program (UNEP) and the Nature Conservancy has found that mangrove forests are being lost at staggering rates worldwide: since 1980 one fifth of the world's mangroves have been felled. Mangroves, which grow in saline coastal habitats, are disappearing four times faster than other forests. They are being destroyed largely for aquaculture, agriculture, and coastal development worldwide. According to the report, even surviving mangroves are ...
Engineers detect seepage near BP oil well
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2010
Reuters: Engineers monitoring BP Plc's damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico detected seepage on the ocean floor that could mean problems with the cap that has stopped oil from gushing into the water, the government's top oil spill official said on Sunday. Earlier on Sunday, BP officials had expressed hope that the test of the cap which began Thursday could continue until a relief well can permanently seal the leak next month. Oil gushed from the deep-sea Maconda well for nearly three months ...
Photos show dramatic shrinking of Mount Everest glaciers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2010
Telegraph: The two pictures show an "alarming" retreat in ice over more than 80 years. The first was taken in 1921 by British mountaineer George Mallory, who later died trying to conquer Everest. The Asia Society commissioned the same picture to be taken of the main Rongbuk glacier on the northern slope of Mount Everest in Tibet in 2007. The new picture by mountaineer David Breashears show that the glacier is shrunk and withered. A spokesman for the Asia Society said the ...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Photos show dramatic shrinking of Mount Everest glaciersUnited States: Lake Champlain affected by climate change, report says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2010
Standard Speaker: My wife and I once lived near the shore of Lake Champlain. In fact, only a riparian forest and railroad tracks divided our yard on the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base from the big lake that's sometimes billed as another of North America's Great Lakes. One of our good memories from those years was hearing the yodeling call of a migrating common loon from the lake while camping outside in a newly purchased tent that was destined for use soon thereafter in the Adirondack ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United States: Lake Champlain affected by climate change, report saysEthiopia’s forest cover triples: ministry
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: The total forest cover of Ethiopia has tripled in size since 2000 as a result of large-scale reforestation campaigns, the authorities announced on Thursday. The impoverished Horn of Africa nation, which suffered from chronic droughts and famine in the past, has in recent years undertaken massive tree-planting campaigns to help reduce land degradation and improve its biodiversity. "Ethiopia was able to increase its forest coverage to nine percent now from only three percent ...
10 ways vegetarianism can help save the planet
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2010
Guardian: If we really want to reduce the human impact on the environment, the simplest and cheapest thing anyone can do is to eat less meat. Behind most of the joints of beef or chicken on our plates is a phenomenally wasteful, land- and energy-hungry system of farming that devastates forests, pollutes oceans, rivers, seas and air, depends on oil and coal, and is significantly responsible for climate change. The way we breed animals is now recognised by the UN, scientists, economists and politicians ...
Poachers kill last female rhino in South Africa’s Kruger park for prized horn
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2010
Guardian: Fears are growing for the survival of the rhinoceros as the last female in the popular Krugersdorp game reserve near Johannesburg was killed, bleeding to death after having its horn hacked off by poachers. Wildlife officials say poaching for the prized horns has now reached an all-time high. "Last year, 129 rhinos were killed for their horns in South Africa. This year, we have already had 136 deaths," said chief game ranger Japie Mostert. The gang used tranquilliser guns and a ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Poachers kill last female rhino in South Africa’s Kruger park for prized hornThe well is capped. But what else lurks below the surface for BP?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2010
Guardian: On Friday afternoon, BP senior vice-president Kent Wells was trying hard to contain his elation. The well in the Gulf of Mexico, which had been leaking oil for 88 days, was holding up. The cap, lowered onto the well on Thursday, remained in place. And after numerous failed attempts, the torrent of oil had finally stopped. "It felt very good to see no oil going into the Gulf of Mexico," Wells told reporters on the daily conference call he hosts from Houston on BP's attempts to stop the ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on The well is capped. But what else lurks below the surface for BP?Environment minister launches flood strategy to combat impact of climate change in Wales
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 17th, 2010
Daily Post: FUTURE public spending on flood defences in Wales must be targeted at communities most at risk, a new strategy suggested yesterday. Fresh plans for managing flooding and coastal erosion aim to respond to the increasing threat from climate change. One in six properties in Wales is already at risk from inundation. Predicted changes to rainfall patterns and rising sea levels will significantly increase the risk in the future. Welsh environment minister Jane Davidson ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Environment minister launches flood strategy to combat impact of climate change in WalesToo much of a good thing: Growth in wind power makes life difficult for grid managers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 17th, 2010
Oregonian: On the afternoon of May 19, in a single chaotic hour, more than a thousand wind turbines in the Columbia River Gorge went from spinning lazily in the breeze to full throttle as a storm rolled east out of Hood River. Suddenly, almost two nuclear plants worth of extra power was sizzling down the lines -- the largest hourly spike in wind power the Northwest has ever experienced. At the Bonneville Power Administration's control room in Vancouver, it was too much of a good thing. ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Too much of a good thing: Growth in wind power makes life difficult for grid managers