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Archive for February 17th, 2011
Indonesia set to free orangutans into ‘killing fields’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 17th, 2011
Agence France-Presse: More than 1,000 captive orangutans set for release into the wild on Borneo island are being sent into a "killing field" of illegal logging and poaching, conservationists said Thursday.
Indonesia has reserved 86,450 hectares (214,000 acres) of forest in Muara Wahau, East Kalimantan province, for the rehabilitation of 1,200 captive big apes over the next four years.
But the independent Centre for Orangutan Protection (COP) warned that the endangered mammals were being sent to their deaths unless...
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China ministry: drought likely to last, threatening winter wheat
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 17th, 2011
Reuters: China's ongoing drought in northern wheat areas is likely to continue, threatening the winter crop, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Thursday.
The drought worsened in some wheat areas that haven't seen precipitation recently despite a slight decrease in the overall size of the drought-hit region as of Wednesday, said the ministry in a statement published on its web site.
For areas that have received precipitation or irrigation recently, the drought may reappear with rising temperature, as...
Rare frog proves glimmer of hope for ‘lost amphibians’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 17th, 2011
Telegraph: The Rio Pescado stubfoot toad was found during a night time search by a remote stream in Ecuador.
The striking spotted toad has not been seen since 1995 and the discovery should help to protect the last surviving specimens or stubfoot - or harlequin toads - living in the wild.
But despite the involvement of more than 120 scientists across five continents the search for nine other elusive creatures that make up the world's top 10 'lost amphibians' proved fruitless.
Dr Robin Moore, of Conservation...
Malaysia drops coal power plant scheme: minister
Posted by Agence France -Presse: None Given on February 17th, 2011
Agence France -Presse: A plan to build a controversial coal-fired power plant in Malaysian Borneo has been scrapped over fears of its impact on the environment, a local minister was quoted as saying Thursday.
Musa Aman, Sabah chief minister, said coal would not be used as a source of energy in the state as it could hurt the environment and damage its key tourism industry.
"Sabah needs to increase its power supply but the state cannot put its natural environment at risk," he was quoted as saying by the Star newspaper....
Study links extreme weather to climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 17th, 2011
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Two independent studies suggest greenhouse gas emissions are linked to more frequent heavy rainfall.
The studies, which appear today in the journal Nature, highlight the impact humans are having on extreme weather events, and come less than a month after a set of major flooding events around the world.
In one of the studies, scientists from the University of Victoria in Canada and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, looked at rainfall totals collected between 1951 and 1999 from 6000 rain...
Frog re-emerges in India after century
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 17th, 2011
Agence France-Presse: Researchers have rediscovered frog species including one last seen in India more than a century ago, potentially offering clues on why they have survived a global crisis killing amphibians.
But in a five-continent study released Thursday, conservationists largely had bleak news. Of 10 species at the top of a list of missing amphibians, only one -- a harlequin toad in Ecuador -- was found again.
Scientists estimate that more than 30 percent of amphibians are facing extinction due to a mysterious...