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Archive for February 1st, 2011
Indonesia set to clear 3 million ha of rainforest in New Guinea
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 1st, 2011
Mongabay: Indonesia set to clear 3 million ha of rainforest in New Guinea
Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry has approved conversion of some 3 million hectares of natural forest in Papua province, on the island of New Guinea, according to new analysis by Greenomics Indonesia, an environmental group.
Data from Greenomics Indonesia indicates 17 companies have been granted concessions to clear natural forest in Papua. Roughly 1 million hectares is earmarked for industrial plantations that will supply the...
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How one town is recovering from the Australian floods
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 1st, 2011
Guardian: Beyond a police cordon that still seals off Grantham from the rest of Australia lies a landscape that looks as if it has been rearranged by a giant toddler in a tantrum. In the middle of a field is a house where once there was nothing. Crumpled cars are overturned in paddocks. A Volvo is filled with pebbles. Swaths of riverbank gum trees have been ripped from their sockets. A child's blue bicycle stands on the twisted railway. Strewn across dirt and silt is a truck exhaust pipe, a bath tub, golf...
Steam showers: Save water, ease stress
Posted by Y! Green: None Given on February 1st, 2011
Y! Green: Steam showers are the modern day equivalent of the steam baths of ancient Rome and the traditional Finnish saunas. Historically, wet steam baths have been used for cleansing, relaxation, detoxification and as a social activity. In Scandinavia and the Baltics, saunas and steam baths were often family activities. In fact, most cultures have a tradition of some kind of steam room, including Native American huts and Japanese mishiburo, dating to the 12th century. Warm, moist air opens the pores, increases...
Illegal mining, plantation development rampant in Indonesian Borneo; state losses top $17B
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 1st, 2011
Mongabay: Illegal mining, plantation development rampant in Indonesian Borneo; state losses top $17B
Hundreds of mining and oil palm plantation companies are operating illegally in Indonesian Borneo, according to an investigation by a task force set up by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
As reported by AFP, the task force--which was established to investigate the 'forest mafia'--found that less than 20 percent of plantation companies and less than 1.5 percent of mining firms had the proper permits...
Pakistan floods last summer could have been predicted
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on February 1st, 2011
Science Centric: Five days before intense monsoonal deluges unleashed vast floods across Pakistan last July, computer models at a European weather-forecasting centre were giving clear indications that the downpours were imminent. Now, a new scientific study that retrospectively examines the raw data from these computer models, has confirmed that, if the information had been processed, forecasters could have predicted extremely accurate rainfall totals 8-10 days beforehand.
The study also finds that the floods...
Malaysian palm oil producers destroying Borneo peat forests faster than ever before
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 1st, 2011
Mongabay: Malaysian palm oil producers destroying Borneo peat forests faster than ever before
Oil palm plantations, peatland, and forest in Sarawak.
Peatlands and rainforests in Malaysia's Sarawak state on the island of Borneo are being rapidly destroyed for oil palm plantations, according to new studies by environmental group Wetlands International and remote sensing institute Sarvision.
The analysis shows that more than one third (353,000 hectares or 872,000 acres) of Sarawak's peatswamp forests...
Record high fish consumption keeps populations imperiled
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 1st, 2011
Mongabay: Record high fish consumption keeps populations imperiled
More people than ever are eating more fish than ever, according to a new report by the United Nations covering the year 2008. At the same time, fish populations in the world's oceans continue to decline threatening marine ecosystems, food security, and the fishing industry itself.
"That there has been no improvement in the status of stocks is a matter of great concern," Richard Grainger, senior fisheries expert at the UN Food and Agriculture...
Scientists launch major ecological study on Borneo’s deforested landscapes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 1st, 2011
Physorg: Scientists launch major ecological study on Borneo's deforested landscapes
A giant-scale experiment on deforestation, biodiversity and carbon cycling has got underway in the spectacular forests of Sabah, a Malaysian state on the tropical southeast Asian island of Borneo. Scientists hope the results will help guide the management and conservation of remaining rainforests in tropical Asia.
One of the largest ecological studies in the world, encompassing 8000 hectares (an area larger than Manhattan),...
China’s big hydro wins permission for 21.3GW dam in world heritage site
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 1st, 2011
Guardian: China's dam builders will press ahead with controversial plans to build a cascade of hydropower plants in one of the country's most spectacular canyons, it was reported today, in an apparent reversal for prime minister Wen Jiabao.
The move to harness the power of the pristine Nu river - better known outside of China as the Salween - overturns a suspension ordered by the premier in 2004 on environmental grounds and reconfirmed in 2009.
Back then, conservation groups hailed the reprieve as a...
Demand for fish hits record high
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 1st, 2011
BBC: Fish products provide the planet's population with almost 16% of its animal protein intake The global consumption of fish has hit a record high, reaching an average of 17kg per person, a UN report has shown.
Fisheries and aquaculture supplied the world with about 145m tonnes in 2009, providing about 16% of the population's animal protein intake.
The findings published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) also stressed that the status of global fish stocks had not improved.
It...