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Archive for September, 2010
Mosquito ecology ‘must advance’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 14th, 2010
BBC: We need to learn more about the ecology of malaria-spreading mosquitoes to capitalise on molecular biology's recent advances, a top scientist says. Charles Godfray, the British Ecological Society's president, said a lot was still unknown about Anopheles gambiae. Evidence of insects becoming resistant to current treatments meant new methods had to be explored, he said. But it required getting "into the field" to investigate the mosquitoes' ecology, he ...
EPA begins investigation into hydraulic fracturing
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 14th, 2010
Guardian: The US Environmental Protection Agency is investigating the hydraulic fracturing techniques used by mining companies to determine the controversial practice's effect on human health and the environment. The EPA has sent letters to nine companies known to employ the process, asking them to disclose the chemical composition of fluids used. The agency has also asked for information about the impacts of the chemicals on human health and the environment, along with data on standard ...
World pays high price for overfishing, studies say
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 14th, 2010
Reuters: Decades of overfishing have deprived the food industry of billions of dollars in revenue and the world of fish that could have helped feed undernourished countries, according to a series of studies released on Tuesday. The Canadian, U.S. and British researchers behind the studies also said that overfishing is often the result of government subsidies that would have been better spent conserving fish stocks. Fisheries contribute $225 billion to $240 billion to the world economy ...
How Peru’s wells are being sucked dry by British love of asparagus
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 14th, 2010
Guardian: Asparagus grown in Peru and sold in the UK is commonly held up as a symbol of unacceptable food miles, but a report has raised an even more urgent problem: its water footprint. The study, by the development charity Progressio, has found that industrial production of asparagus in Peru's Ica valley is depleting the area's water resources so fast that smaller farmers and local families are finding wells running dry. Water to the main city in the valley is also under threat, it says. It ...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on How Peru’s wells are being sucked dry by British love of asparagusGulf Spill May Defy Darkest Predictions
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 14th, 2010
New York Times: Marsh grasses matted by oil are still a common sight on the gulf coast here, but so are green shoots springing up beneath them. In nearby bird colonies, carcasses are still being discovered, but they number in the thousands, not the tens of thousands that have died in other oil spills. And at the mouth of the Mississippi River, the zone of severely oxygen-depleted water that forms every summer has reappeared, but its size does not seem to have been affected by the Deepwater ...
BP oil spill: Disaster by numbers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 14th, 2010
Independent: 11 platform workers were killed when the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded on 20 April. Their bodies have never been found, despite a three-day Coast Guard search operation. Seventeen others were injured. 36 The number of hours for which Deepwater Horizon burned before it sank on the morning of 22 April 2010. 4.9 million The total barrels of crude oil released before the leak was capped on 15 July. This makes Deepwater Horizon the biggest oil spill to have occurred in ...
Arctic fox joins polar bear on new list of Arctic species in danger of extinction
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 13th, 2010
Telegraph: The animals have become an icon of the environmental movement, as their numbers reduce with the melting ice caps. But they are not the only ones. A new report by a major US conservation body has warned that other animals are in danger of going extinct as well. Sea ice in the Arctic fell to its lowest level since records began in 2007 and scientists predict the area could be largely ice free in summer within 10 years. The US Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) claim 17 ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Arctic fox joins polar bear on new list of Arctic species in danger of extinctionSouth Korea: ‘Climate change to cause more freak weather’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 13th, 2010
Korea Herald: CLIMATE change was behind the wild weather fluctuations in the first half of this year, the Korean Meteorological Administration said Sunday. This year's spring was cooler than usual. The average temperature in April was 9.9 degrees Celsius, the lowest since 1973. There was also less sunshine this spring. The country saw an average total of 176.5 hours sunshine in April, far below the usual 215 hours. In Busan, the city's March sunshine duration was 117.4 hours, the ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on South Korea: ‘Climate change to cause more freak weather’Citizens group cites global warming as catalyst for flooding in SouthCoast
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 13th, 2010
Herald News: When Mount Hope Avenue was deluged by floodwaters, it wasn`t just bad luck. It was a glimpse of our future in a world changed by global warming, officials with Environment Massachusetts said. "The floods this spring are just a taste of what is to come unless we tackle global warming," said Charles Keller, field associate for the group. "Global warming is making extreme weather events more likely." Environment Massachusetts is a statewide citizens group promoting the importance ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Citizens group cites global warming as catalyst for flooding in SouthCoastEPA holding upstate NY hearings on gas drilling
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 13th, 2010
AP: Hundreds of people on both sides gathered Monday for what are expected to be contentious public hearings on a federal environmental study of a natural gas drilling technique aimed at tapping a rich formation beneath much of the Northeast. Opponents of the process -- hydraulic fracturing, or fracking -- carried signs saying "Kids can't drink gas" and "Protect our water. Stop fracking America." Supporters, including union workers eager for jobs, carried signs that said "Yes to science, ...