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Archive for February 15th, 2011
Chevron penalty is $9.5 bln for cleanup in Ecuador
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2011
Agence France-Presse: US oil giant Chevron's court-ordered indemnification of Ecuadoran communities for environmental pollution increases 10 percent to $9.5 billion under a provision in Ecuadoran law, a lawyer for the plaintiffs said Tuesday.
The $8.6 billion penalty announced Monday did not include an additional 10 percent allowed under the law for environmental management costs, according to Pablo Fajardo, attorney for the Amazon communities that sued Texaco in 1993.
It is believed to be the largest fine imposed...
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Cambodia approves titanium mine in world’s ‘most threatened forest’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2011
Mongabay: Cambodia approves titanium mine in world's 'most threatened forest'
Asian elephants in Cambodia. Photo courtesy of Wildlife Alliance.
The Cambodian government has approved a mine that environmentalists and locals fear will harm wildlife, pollute rivers, and put an end to a burgeoning ecotourism in one of the last pristine areas of what Conservation International (CI) recently dubbed 'the world's most threatened forest'. Prime Minister, Hun Sen, approved the mine concession to the United Khmer...
Climate change hits Alaska’s national parks in a big way
Posted by Anchorage Daily News: None Given on February 15th, 2011
Anchorage Daily News: These and some better-known impacts -- proliferation of invasive plants and fish, greater frequency and intensity of wildfires, and declines in wildlife populations that depend on sea ice and glaciers -- are outlined in a recent National Park Service report. ...
In some far northern parks such as Gates of the Arctic, average temperatures are expected to shift in coming years from below freezing to above freezing, crossing a crucial threshold, said Bob Winfree, Alaska science adviser for the Park...
US Coal Companies Reap Windfall From Australian Climate Catastrophe
Posted by CleanTechnica: None Given on February 15th, 2011
CleanTechnica: How ironic! The effects of climate change might turn out to create a windfall for some of the very same fossil energy companies that are essentially also causing climate change. US coal companies have seen record profits, higher exports and soaring prices as Australian coal companies have had their production curtailed by the floods that inundated an area the size of Texas, which included some key coal mining regions. (Australia`s Catastrophic Floods Shut Down Coal Exports)
“Are we pushing the...
Central America Has Highest Rate of Forest Loss in Region
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2011
Inter Press Service: Central America has suffered the highest rate of forest loss in Latin America over the last 10 years, despite a growing number of plans aimed at curbing the decline, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reports.
FAO's State of the World’s Forests report says the average rate of loss of forest cover in Central America, which is made up of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala City, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, was 1.19 percent a year between 2000 and 2010, compared to a global rate...
New way to estimate global rainfall and track ocean pollution
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2011
ScienceDaily: New Way to Estimate Global Rainfall and Track Ocean Pollution
A study by scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science suggests a new way to estimate how much of the ocean's pollution is falling from the sky. The new findings can help improve scientific understanding of how toxic airborne chemicals, from the burning of fossil fuels and industrial power plants emissions, are impacting the oceans globally.
By measuring Beryllium-7 (7Be)...
Bt cotton yields come at hidden cost to farmers – study
Posted by SciDev.Net: M Sreelata on February 15th, 2011
SciDev.Net: Bt cotton has increased crop yields for small farmers in southern India, a study has confirmed. But the increase is less than claimed by some studies, is unlikely to be sustainable and has come at a substantial cost to the farmers. The cotton farmers at Warangal in Andhra Pradesh, India, are known for their widespread adoption of genetically modified cotton that produces an insecticide that kills bollworm, a common pest. Numerous studies say that planting Bt cotton increases the yield by up to...
Green news roundup: Rare birds, spying, and forest sell-off on hold
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2011
Guardian: Climate change
* Connie Hedegaard insists tougher carbon targets will boost European economy
* Barack Obama 2012 budget provides $8bn for clean energy
* Carbon Trust funding cut by 40%
* 'Bonfire of the quangos' threatens climate change committee
* China bids to ease drought with $1bn emergency water aid
Activism
* Revealed: how energy firms spy on environmental activists
* Juror in activists' trial hits out at absence of police tapes
* Green groups targeted polluters as...
What’s behind the Belo Monte dam
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2011
Guardian: I recently witnessed a conversation between someone working for the Brazilian federal government and an environmentalist; both were Workers' party (PT) supporters (the ruling party of President Dilma Rousseff).
"I'm in favour of the construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant," the former said, "but I concede it's not a 'left versus right' issue."
"It isn't," the latter replied. "Or if it is, maybe the left isn't who you think."
The scene encapsulates a dimension that the Belo Monte...
Climate change and Africa’s vanishing lake
Posted by Mail and Guardian: None Given on February 15th, 2011
Mail and Guardian: Five-year-old Fatime Owye's emaciated body evokes memories of famines such as those in 1980s Ethiopia.
But Fatime and 4,3-million other children who are suffering from chronic malnutrition are victims of a more permanent crisis -- the disappearance of Lake Chad.
As South Africa prepares to host the United Nations climate change summit in Durban this year, Lake Chad is living proof of the continent's environment in crisis. It was almost double the area of Gauteng just four decades ago but has...