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Archive for November, 2010
Europe taking phosphates out of wash in water clean-up
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 4th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: Europe took steps Thursday to ban phosphates from laundry detergents in little over a year in a bid to clean up its rivers, lakes and marine waters.
A European Commission proposal said the ban aimed to reduce phosphates found in waste water which, when discharged, can cause algae to grow at the expense of other aquatic life -- a phenomenon known as "red tides" or "green tides" that scientists call "eutrophication."
The ban, to apply from January 1, 2013, will not affect detergents used for...
US urged to ratify treaty to protect the planet’s animals and plants which it conceived
Posted by Canadian Press: Edith M. Lederer on November 4th, 2010
Canadian Press: A top environmental official urged the United States on Tuesday to join 193 other countries and ratify the treaty aimed at protecting the planet's animals and plants that it conceived over 20 years ago and helped draft.
Ahmed Djoghlaf, executive secretary of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity, said it is in the strategic interest of the United States to be part of the treaty so it can influence future decisions and ensure that U.S. national interests are protected.
The United States...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on US urged to ratify treaty to protect the planet’s animals and plants which it conceivedArab world faces worsening water crisis: report
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 4th, 2010
Reuters: The Arab world, one of the driest regions on the planet, will tip into severe water scarcity as early as 2015, a report issued on Thursday predicts.
By then, Arabs will have to survive on less than 500 cubic meters of water a year each, or below a tenth of the world average of more than 6,000 cubic meters per capita, said the report by the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED).
"The Arab world is already living a water crisis that will only get worse with inaction," the report says,...
Long After Spill, BP Gets ‘F’ Ratings for Alaska Pipelines
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 3rd, 2010
New York times: Is there another BP disaster waiting to happen, this time in Alaska?
The British oil giant has several major accidents in the United States over the last five years, in part due to inadequate attention to maintenance and safety.
Most famously, a BP deepwater well blew out in April, killing 11 rig workers and spilling millions of barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. In 2005, an explosion at its Texas City, Tex., refinery left 15 dead and 170 others injured, and continuing problems at...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Long After Spill, BP Gets ‘F’ Ratings for Alaska PipelinesAgroforestry could hold key to African agriculture
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 3rd, 2010
USA Today: Could trees to be the answer to Africa's worn-out soils? Agroforestry experts presenting at a conference in The Hague say yes.
Growing crops under a canopy of "fertilizer trees" can increase grain production by two or three times in nutrient deficient ground. The trees, a unique type of acacia, fix nitrogen in the soil through their roots and go dormant during the corn, sorghum and millet-growing season, so they don't compete with farmers' crops, researchers from Nairobi said.
The technique...
Undercover for animals: on the frontline of wildlife crime in the US
Posted by Mongabay: Laurel Neme on November 3rd, 2010
Mongabay: US Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent Sheila O’Connor revealed the inside story of working in wildlife law enforcement to Laurel Neme on her "The WildLife" radio show and podcast. In the first of a two-part interview, Special Agent O’Connor talks about her adventures stopping wildlife crime--scoping out pet shops in the Chicago area for illegal tarantulas to busting a husband-wife team selling illegal pet tigers to nabbing a smuggler of literally thousands of rare and exotic animals parts from...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Undercover for animals: on the frontline of wildlife crime in the USBarack Obama’s green agenda crushed at the ballot box
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 3rd, 2010
Guardian: Californians decisively rejected a measure to roll back the state's landmark climate change law yesterday, the sole win for environmentalists on a night that crushed Barack Obama's green agenda.
With that lone victory in California, environmentalists managed to keep alive a model for action on climate change, preserving a 2006 law that had set ambitious targets for greenhouse gas reductions and had attracted tens of millions in clean-tech investment.
But many new members of Congress are at...
Floods in the south of Thailand
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 3rd, 2010
Guardian: X
Flood-hit Pakistan faces more challenges from climate change, UN told
Posted by Associated Press of Pakistan: None Given on November 3rd, 2010
Associated Press of Pakistan: A Pakistani delegate told a UN General Assembly panel Tuesday that the "extraordinarily hard' floods in Pakistan have underscored the need to link adaptation of adverse impact of climate change to government's economic planning.Speaking in the 192-member assembly's economic committee, Farrukh Iqbal Khan, a counselor at the Pakistan Mission to the UN, also said Pakistan could face more challenges from climate change and he voiced disappointment over the slow pace of international negotiations to deal...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Flood-hit Pakistan faces more challenges from climate change, UN toldAlgae For Biofuels: Moving From Promise To Reality, But How Fast?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 3rd, 2010
redOrbit: A new report from the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) in Berkeley projects that development of cost-competitive algae biofuel production will require much more long-term research, development and demonstration. In the meantime, several non-fuel applications of algae could serve to advance the nascent industry.
"Even with relatively favorable and forward-looking process assumptions (from cultivation to harvesting to processing), algae oil production with microalgae cultures will be expensive...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Algae For Biofuels: Moving From Promise To Reality, But How Fast?