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Archive for August 10th, 2010
President Barack Obama supports directing most BP oil spill penalties to Gulf Coast restoration
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 10th, 2010
Times-Picayune: President Barack Obama supports the idea of directing revenue from fines paid by BP to the Gulf Coast states affected by the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a top White House aide says. "He absolutely supports the notion of returning it to the region," Carol Browner, Obama's top adviser on energy and global warming said Sunday on "Meet the Press." Browner, however, wouldn't commit to supporting a specific proposal by Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., to funnel 80 percent of ...
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Environmental Impact Studies on Dams Count for Little in Amazon
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 10th, 2010
Inter Press Service: "It's a fait accompli," acknowledges André Villas-Boas, head of the independent SocioEnvironmental Institute (ISA), resigned to the fact that the legal actions and protests have failed to block the construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in Brazil's Amazon jungle region. But the battles lost against megaprojects harmful to the environment and to indigenous peoples and other local communities have not discouraged activists from mobilising. However, they have made social ...
Canada: Oil sands toxins growing rapidly
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 10th, 2010
Globe and Mail: Canada's oil sands mining operations produce vast and fast-growing quantities of deadly substances, including mercury, heavy metals and arsenic, new data released by Environment Canada shows. The information on pollutants sheds new light on the environmental toll exacted by Canada's bid to extract oil from bitumen, showing in stark relief how many nasty substances are being laid on the northern Alberta landscape in the process -- and how quickly those are growing. In the past ...
United Kingdom: Come on in, the wildlife’s lovely
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 10th, 2010
Independent: Rare amphibians nestle cheek-by-jowl with seldom-seen insects. Shy mammals swim alongside the fearsome-sounding toothed threadwort. This wet wildlife wonderland might sound as if it's found in the depths of the Amazon or the shallows of the Nile, but it's actually happening a lot closer to home. In fact, it could be the bottom of your garden. You may be surprised to hear so much activity takes place in a pond. Despite being transformed into "water features" by enterprising television ...
Heat seen continuing in European Russia for 10 days
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 10th, 2010
Reuters: The heat in most parts of European Russia is likely to continue over the next 10 days, the deputy director of Hydrometcentre, a senior Russian weather official said on Tuesday. "The situation is not changing radically," Dmitry Kiktyov, deputy director of Hydrometcentre, said. "The temperature will change insignificantly, and there will be only local rains. They will be insufficient to cushion the current situation." But he said the weather conditions in Siberia, where ...
Rising temperatures threaten rice yield growth: study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 10th, 2010
Reuters: Rising temperatures could slow the growth of rice production unless farmers adapt by changing management practices and switch to more heat-tolerant varieties, scientists say. Rice is among the world's most important crops and a staple for people in Asia and Africa, with Asia producing and consuming more than 90 percent of the world's output. A drop in production could lead to higher prices, fears over food security and more hunger in a world with a rising human ...
Russia’s fires cause “brown cloud,” may hit Arctic
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 10th, 2010
Reuters: Smoke from forest fires smothering Moscow adds to health problems of "brown clouds" from Asia to the Amazon and Russian soot may stoke global warming by hastening a thaw of Arctic ice, environmental experts say. "Health effects of such clouds are huge," said Veerabhadran Ramanathan, chair of a U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) study of "brown clouds" blamed for dimming sunlight in cities such as Beijing or New Delhi and hitting crop growth in Asia. The clouds -- a haze of ...
Can Brazil live up to its promise as a ‘natural knowledge economy’?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 10th, 2010
Guardian: Outside Dr Gilberto Cãmara's office, there is a beautiful satellite map of Brazil. From the fractal elegance of the Amazon and its tributaries to the twinkling mega-cities of Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro, the map shows why he thinks Brazil can be the world's first environmental superpower. He leads Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), one of the top 50 research organisations in the world. His startling claim, he explains in his easy English, rests on turning a piece ...
Brazil: New horizons as city makes connections that could tear Amazon apart
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 10th, 2010
Guardian: The dog licking itself lazily on the hot red earth is lying on a road that within months will make a huge leap across the Amazon, forming a ramp up to a bridge that will symbolise the surging development at the heart of the world's greatest rainforest. The first bridge on the world's largest river system will open in November, replacing the chugging ferries that plough through the dark water below. The 3.5km-long structure spanning the Amazon's major tributary, the Rio Negro, will ...
Russia: Moscow wildfires fanned by Soviet legacy of neglect
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 10th, 2010
Guardian: Some have cited the reform of forest law, initiated by Vladimir Putin in 2007, as a possible explanation for the scale of the forest fires in Russia. Is this justified? Indeed, but the changes to forest law were just the last step in the dismantling of measures to protect Russia's forests. The Soviet Union had a large body of highly skilled, specialist foresters. With the collapse of the regime and the economic crisis that followed, they were allowed to sell the timber they felled. ...