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Archive for February, 2011
China: China overtakes Japan as world’s second-largest economy
Posted by Guardian: Justin McCurry and Julia Kollewe on February 15th, 2011
Guardian: China has leapfrogged Japan to become the world's second-largest economy, a title Japan has held for more than 40 years.
While Japan grew 3.9% last year – its first annual growth in three years – this was not enough to hold off China's booming economy. Japan's nominal GDP was $5.4742tn (£3.4tn) in 2010, less than China's total of $5.8786tn, according to official data released by Japan.
But, despite Japan's displacement from second slot, its leadership welcomed the figures as a boost to Asia...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on China: China overtakes Japan as world’s second-largest economyEcuador Judge Orders Chevron to Pay $9 Billion
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2011
New York Times: A judge in a tiny courtroom in the Ecuadorean Amazon ruled Monday that the oil giant Chevron was responsible for polluting remote tracts of Ecuadorean jungle and ordered the company to pay more than $9 billion in damages, one of the largest environmental awards ever.
The decision by Judge Nicolás Zambrano in Lago Agrio, a town founded as an oil camp in the 1960s, immediately opened a contentious new stage of appeals in a legal battle that has dragged on in courts in Ecuador and the United States...
In Northwest, a Clash Over a Coal Operation
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2011
New York Times: A plan to build the United States' first West Coast facility for exporting coal to Asia has come under increased scrutiny after the disclosure of documents suggesting that the company proposing the project did not convey the full scope of its plans to state regulators here in Washington.
The project, which would be built on the Columbia River in Longview, Wash., received preliminary approval from Cowlitz County commissioners late last year but has been delayed by a legal challenge by environmentalists....
Ecuador court orders Chevron to pay $8.6 bln
Posted by Reuters: Victor Gomez on February 15th, 2011
Reuters: A court in Ecuador's Amazon told Chevron Corp on Monday to pay $8.6 billion in environmental damages, but the U.S. oil company vowed to fight on in a lawsuit seen as a global test case.
Chevron said it would appeal, meaning the case, which dates from drilling in the Andean nation during the 1970s and 1980s, could drag on.
The legal battle has spawned accusations of dirty tricks and bribery. Activists portray it as a fight for justice against rich polluters, but Chevron says it is driven more...
CO2 Fears After Amazon Rainforest Droughts
Posted by Sky News: None Given on February 4th, 2011
Sky News: Two severe Amazon droughts have sparked fears that the rainforest's ability to absorb carbon emissions is being diminished - and, worse still, it may soon release almost as much CO2 as the US.
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A rare drought in 2005 - billed as a once-in-a-hundred-years event - was then followed by another drought in 2010 that may have been even worse, according to a study by...
Amazon drought caused huge carbon emissions
Posted by Reuters: Stuart Grudgings on February 4th, 2011
Reuters: Amazon drought caused huge carbon emissions -study
* 2010 drought released more emissions than 2005 dry spell
* Frequent droughts may turn forest into emissions source
* Droughts fit some models of drier Amazon this century
A widespread drought in the Amazon rain forest last year was worse than the "once-in-a-century" dry spell in 2005 and may have a bigger impact on global warming than the United States does in a year, British and Brazilian scientists said on Thursday.
More frequent...
Amazon’s double dry spell worries scientists
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 4th, 2011
Agence France-Presse: Croatia's new river regulation projects risk wiping out endangered species and run counter to the laws of the European Union that it aspires to join, the environmental WWF warned Thursday. "We are very much concerned that new planned river regulation projects along all major rivers in Croatia are threatening unique natural areas and counteracting efforts of the EU to bring water management in line with EU policy and law," said WWF Austria expert Arno Mohl in a statement. At issue are large-scale...
Deadly floods in Pakistan were “predictable,” study says
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on February 4th, 2011
Climate Central: Program Needed to Convey Warnings to Vulnerable Populations
A view of heavy floods caused by monsoon rains in Punjab Province, near the city of Multan, Pakistan, on August 15, 2010. Credit: UN Photo/Evan Schneider.
In Pakistan last summer, severe flooding killed nearly 2,000 people and affected more than 20 million, destroying infrastructure such as roads, bridges and power stations, killing 20,000 cattle, and damaging fertile farmlands that are major sources of income and food for the Pakistani...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Deadly floods in Pakistan were “predictable,” study saysAmazon Drought Caused Huge Carbon Emissions
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 4th, 2011
Planet Ark: A Brazilian crosses the muddy bottom of the Rio Negro, a major tributary to the Amazon river, in the city of Manaus, October 26, 2010.
Photo: Euzivaldo Queiroz
A widespread drought in the Amazon rain forest last year was worse than the "once-in-a-century" dry spell in 2005 and may have a bigger impact on global warming than the United States does in a year, British and Brazilian scientists said on Thursday.
More frequent severe droughts like those in 2005 and 2010 risk turning the world's...
Chief financier of Belo Monte dam ties social and environmental requirements to controversial project
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 4th, 2011
Mongabay: Chief financier of Belo Monte dam ties social and environmental requirements to controversial project
The Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES) has announced it will not grant a $640 million loan for the hugely controversial Belo Monte dam until 40 social and environmental conditions are met. In response, the company contracted to build the dam, Norte Energia, S.A. (NESA), has stated it may drop the bank's loan altogether and seek less discriminating private funding to start construction....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Chief financier of Belo Monte dam ties social and environmental requirements to controversial project