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Archive for January, 2011
Saving Iraqi marshes from desert
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 18th, 2011
BBC: The Mesopotamian Marshes in southern Iraq were once home to thousands of marsh Arabs, millions of birds - and rebels fighting against Saddam Hussein. In the 1990s he ordered his engineers to drain the land as a punishment, turning the land to dust. Now conservationist and environmental engineer Dr Azzam Alwash is attempting to restore the marshes. The project is the subject of the first in a new series of Natural World. He and cameraman Steve Foote spoke about both the difficulty of the restoration...
Eco power lists: Fatuous, invidious and misrepresentative | George Monbiot
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 18th, 2011
Guardian: Is there anything the Sunday papers can't turn into a fatuous celeb-fest? Two days ago, the Observer published its "eco power list". It will come as no surprise that it featured Brad Pitt – which list doesn't? It was more surprising to find Jay Leno there, on the grounds that he has made the, er, 240 cars he runs "as green as possible". And the chief executive of Ford, because he has just unveiled an electric Ford Focus (sadly he didn't simultaneously veil the gas guzzlers he continues to market)....
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Eco power lists: Fatuous, invidious and misrepresentative | George MonbiotSouth Sudan seeks millions for war-hit wildlife
Posted by Reuters: Jason Benham on January 18th, 2011
Reuters: South Sudan appealed for investors to plough $140 million into its war-hit wildlife parks, seeking to kick-start a tourism industry and wean itself off oil months ahead of its expected independence.
The south has the world's second largest migration of mammals, untamed wildernesses and vast herds of gazelles and antelopes, rivaling anything seen in Kenya, Uganda and other African holiday hotspots, say experts.
But populations of elephants, hippos and other fleshier animals have plummeted after...
Restoring Eden
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 18th, 2011
BBC: Thousands of rare marbled teal return to the wetlands, ornithologists discover
It is thought to be the original Garden of Eden.
A place so beautiful, teeming with water and life, that according to the Christian faith it was the birthplace of mankind.
That was until the 1980s, when Saddam Hussein drained these great wetlands of southern Iraq, destroying them, turning them to desert.
However, since his overthrow, a remarkable effort has begun to restore these Mesopotamian Marshes, among...
Extreme Weather Changes Could Follow Floods
Posted by Inter Press Service: Amantha Perera on January 18th, 2011
Inter Press Service: Weather experts warned Sri Lankan to be prepared for extreme weather changes with hardly any notice following devastating floods here that have affected over one million people.
"Global weather patterns are changing, we should be prepared for extreme changes," Gunavi Samarasinghe, the head of Meteorological Department, said as the country battled floods in the east as temperatures island-wide dropped to sixty year lows.
The drop in temperature was caused by the cloud cover over the island,...
Floodwaters inundate south-east Australia
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 18th, 2011
Guardian: Knee-deep water inundated communities in south-east Australia today, splitting one town in two, as swollen rivers carried flood fears downstream and officials urged residents to evacuate.
The state of Victoria is the latest area of Australia afflicted to be hit in the weeks-long flooding crisis that has left 30 people dead, caused once a century floods in many areas and could become the country's costliest natural disaster.
Horsham, in Victoria state, resembled a lake after the Wimmera river...
New water policy by 2011, will include climate change impact
Posted by Sify: None Given on January 18th, 2011
Sify: Nine years after the last document, work is on to put in shape a new water policy that will by the end of the year not just lay down a framework for the allocation of water but also take into account the impact of climate change and the remedial steps that need to be taken, an official said.
The National Water Policy, which lays down the framework for the government's plan of action and covers various aspects like allocation of water, groundwater conservation, rainwater harvesting and interlinking...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on New water policy by 2011, will include climate change impactLast refuge of rare fish threatened by Yangtze dam plans
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 18th, 2011
Guardian: The last refuge for many of China's rarest and most economically important wild fish has mere days to secure public support before it is trimmed, dammed and ruinously diminished, conservationists warned today.
The alarm was raised after the authorities in Chongqing quietly moved to redraw the boundaries of a crucial freshwater reserve on the Yangtze, which was supposed to have been the bottom line for nature conservation in one of the world's most important centres of biodiversity.
The Upper...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Last refuge of rare fish threatened by Yangtze dam plansThe joys of online activism
Posted by Guardian: Jonathan Glennie on January 18th, 2011
Guardian: There are many worrying trends in this modern era of globalisation, most notably the ease with which companies can operate and banks move money around, apparently outside any democratic parameters set by nations or an international community struggling to catch up with a rapidly liberalising context. But I have never been part of the "anti-globalisation" movement because there are so many positive aspects to globalisation. The most important are those related to the incredible improvements in communication...
What happens when the West is ‘stuck’ in drought?
Posted by Climate Central: Brendon Bosworth and Tom Yulsman on January 18th, 2011
Climate Central: In part one of this series, we examined what's happening now in the Colorado River Basin, including the impact of a protracted, multi-year drought on the region. Today, we take a look at what the future might bring.
Climate change research offers little reason to believe that the gloriously snowy start to the year in the mountains of the Colorado Basin are a harbinger of wetter times to come.
To begin with, some research suggests that changes to the climate, thanks in part to rising concentrations...