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Archive for November, 2010
Meltwater from glaciers could be accelerating ice melt
Posted by Our Amazing Planet: None Given on November 11th, 2010
Our Amazing Planet: Meltwater flowing through cracks in glaciers and ice sheets could be the secret ingredient responsible for speeding up the warming of the massive blocks of ice and increasing their speed as they move, a new study suggests.
Thomas Phillips, a research scientist at the Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research, said scientists had thought meltwater moved through the ice fairly quickly before it reached the base and lubricated the bottom of the ice on its slow journey to the sea.
Upon closer...
Greenland wants $2bn bond from oil firms keen to drill in its Arctic waters
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 11th, 2010
Guardian: Greenland is demanding that oil companies bidding to drill in huge areas of its Arctic waters each pay an estimated $2bn (£1.25bn) upfront "bond" to meet the clean-up costs from any large spill.
The condition, which is thought to be the first of its kind anywhere in the world, will please environmentalists and could encourage other governments to follow suit in the wake of BP's Gulf of Mexico disaster. Half a dozen energy companies – thought to include Shell, Cairn Energy, Statoil, the Danish...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Greenland wants $2bn bond from oil firms keen to drill in its Arctic watersFormal petition filed against Belo Monte dam
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 11th, 2010
Mongabay: The struggle against Brazil's Belo Monte dam on the Xingu River continues as today indigenous groups sent a formal petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to suspend the dam's construction, stating the dam violates human rights. The dam, which has been contentious in Brazil for decades, would flood 500 square miles of rainforest, lead to the removal of at least 12,000 people in the region, and upturn the lives of 45,000 indigenous people who depend on the Xingu River for...
Interior West forests on verge of becoming net carbon emitter
Posted by Greenwire: April Reese on November 11th, 2010
Greenwire: Forests in the Interior West could soon flip from carbon sink to carbon source, forest experts say. The region's forests once absorbed and stored more carbon from the atmosphere than they released. But huge conflagrations -- like the 138,000-acre Hayman Fire in Colorado in 2002 and the Yellowstone fires of 1988, which scorched 1.2 million acres -- combined with a series of severe bark beetle infestations and disease outbreaks, have left large swaths of dead, decomposing trees in almost every major...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Interior West forests on verge of becoming net carbon emitterWorld Bank should shift carbon focus off hydro – report
Posted by Carbon Finance: None Given on November 10th, 2010
Carbon Finance: The World Bank Group has been urged to curtail buying carbon credits from hydropower projects, shifting the emphasis of its carbon finance activities to areas where it can have more influence.
A report by the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) says: "Carbon finance needs to be redirected away from hydropower, where it has minimal impact on project bankability, to applications where it can have more leverage.'
Post-2012 funds run by the bank, such as the Carbon Partnership Facility, should focus...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on World Bank should shift carbon focus off hydro – reportWorld scientists in $600 million plan to boost rice yield
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 10th, 2010
Reuters: Scientists launched a $600 million global initiative on Wednesday to raise rice yields and reduce the impact of rice production on the environment, which they said could also help 150 million people escape poverty by 2035.
The Global Rice Science Partnership will oversee research over the next five years to boost yields and breed stronger strains that can resist flooding and threats from climate change.
The scheme, led by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and partners, was launched...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on World scientists in $600 million plan to boost rice yieldUnited States: New York Harbor, Then and Now
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 10th, 2010
NYT: A modern-day view of New York Harbor, with Governors Island in the foreground.
Since 1909, the city has tested the waters within New York Harbor to measure their overall quality. The effort started when the harbor, with nearly 600 miles of waterfront and about 240 miles of shipping channels, received hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage discharged straight from the sewer pipes.
Such dumping still occurs but to a far lesser extent (when heavy rain overwhelms the city`s waste treatment...
Lead shot laws failing to protect birds
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 10th, 2010
Telegraph: Shooting duck, geese, snipe or golden plover with lead shot became illegal in England in 1999. Those found guilty of using the wrong ammunition can be fined up to £1,000.
The law was brought in to protect rare birds like whooper swans that ingest stray shot along with the grit they swallow to aid digestion. In Europe it is thought that just under one million birds are poisoned every year. In the UK the figures is estimated to be in the tens of thousands.
But research published by the Department...
Stone age etchings found in Amazon basin as river levels fall
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 10th, 2010
Guardian: Brazil Stone age etchings found in Amazon basin as river levels fall
Drought in Brazil reveals engravings up to 7,000 years old – evidence of ancient civilisation
A series of ancient underwater etchings has been uncovered near the jungle city of Manaus, following a drought in the Brazilian Amazon.
The previously submerged images – engraved on rocks and possibly up to 7,000 years old – were reportedly discovered by a fisherman after the Rio Negro, a tributary of the Amazon river, fell to...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Stone age etchings found in Amazon basin as river levels fallUnited States: Vt. nuclear plant restarting after leak is fixed
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 10th, 2010
Associated Press: Vermont's only nuclear power plant is back online following an unplanned shutdown caused by a leak of radioactive water.
Plant officials say the Vermont Yankee reactor was reconnected to the New England power grid at 5:18 a.m. Thursday.
The plant in Vernon, Vt., was shut down Sunday after a leak of radioactive water was spotted during routine surveillance.
Technicians found the leak was coming from a welded-over section of pipe in the feed water system, a closed loop system that carries...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United States: Vt. nuclear plant restarting after leak is fixed