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Archive for February, 2011
Amazon drought stirs climate fear
Posted by BBC News: None Given on February 4th, 2011
BBC News: Amazon drought 'severe' in 2010, raising warming fears
Last year's drought in the Amazon raises concerns about the region's capacity to continue absorbing carbon dioxide, scientists say.
Researchers report in the journal Science that the 2010 drought was more wide-spread than in 2005 - the last big one - with more trees probably lost.
Australian disasters spark call for climate action
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 4th, 2011
Reuters: An architect of Australia's stalled climate-change policy has linked the nation's recent natural disasters with global warming and called for a new political push to cut carbon emissions.
Ross Garnaut, releasing updated advice to the government, said extreme weather events like massive Cyclone Yasi, which hit the northeast coast on Thursday, and recent floods were just a taste of what would come if climate change went unchecked.
"The greater energy in the atmosphere and the seas can intensify...
Bison slaughter challenged as habitat effort flops
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 4th, 2011
Associated Press: Dozens more wild bison were herded into corrals on the border of Yellowstone National Park to await possible slaughter Thursday, as a much-heralded initiative to expand where the animals can roam in Montana collapsed.
An estimated 368 bison have been captured over the last week while attempting to migrate to lower elevations in Montana in search of food.
Yellowstone workers and state livestock agents are trying to halt the animals' exodus from the snow-packed park under a controversial program...
indigenous people deserve right to refuse big companies
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 4th, 2011
Mongabay: Report: indigenous people deserve right to refuse big companies
As large-scale mining, logging, and plantations threaten indigenous communities worldwide, a new report from the indigenous rights NGO Amazon Watch states that when extractive industries work in indigenous people's territories, the peoples' rights must be respected. The report argues that all indigenous groups have the right to 'free, prior, and informed consent' of any resource extraction occurring on their lands, and that this international...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on indigenous people deserve right to refuse big companiesAmazon Drought Accelerating Climate Change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 4th, 2011
Inter Press Service: Last year's severe drought in the Amazon will pump billions of tonnes of additional carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, a new report has found.
Researchers calculate that millions of trees died in 2010, which means the Amazon is soaking up much less CO2 from the atmosphere, and those dead trees will now release all the carbon they've accumulated over 300 or more years.
The widespread 2010 drought follows a similar drought in 2005 which itself will put an additional five billion tonnes...
Amazon Drought Accelerating Climate Change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 4th, 2011
Inter Press Service: Last year's severe drought in the Amazon will pump billions of tonnes of additional carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, a new report has found.
Researchers calculate that millions of trees died in 2010, which means the Amazon is soaking up much less CO2 from the atmosphere, and those dead trees will now release all the carbon they've accumulated over 300 or more years.
The widespread 2010 drought follows a similar drought in 2005 which itself will put an additional five billion tonnes...
Special report: Catastrophic drought in the Amazon
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 4th, 2011
Independent: A widespread drought in the Amazon rainforest last year caused the "lungs of the world" to produce more carbon dioxide than they absorbed, potentially leading to a dangerous acceleration of global warming. Scientists have calculated that the 2010 drought was more intense than the "one-in-100-year" drought of 2005.
They are predicting it will result in some eight billion tonnes of carbon dioxide being expelled from the Amazon rainforest, which is more than the total annual carbon emissions of the...
Sarawak’s last nomad: indigenous leader and activist, Along Sega, dies
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 3rd, 2011
Mongabay: Sarawak's last nomad: indigenous leader and activist, Along Sega, dies
Along Sega never knew exactly how old he was, but when he passed away yesterday in a hospital far from the forest where he born, he was likely in his 70s. Leader among the once-nomadic hunter and gatherer Penan people of Borneo and mentor to Swiss activist, Bruno Manser, Along Sega will be remembered for his work to save the Penan's forest--and their lifestyle and culture--from logging companies, supported by the Sarawak government...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Sarawak’s last nomad: indigenous leader and activist, Along Sega, diesEPA Decides to Limit Rocket Fuel in Drinking Water–Guess Who Objects?
Posted by Yahoo: None Given on February 3rd, 2011
Yahoo: Overturning a 2008 decision by the Bush administration, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday that it will establish a federal limit on the amount of perchlorate in drinking water. This would be the first nation-wide limit and would crack down on the naturally occurring and artificially produced chemical that is used in rocket fuel, fireworks, flares and missiles. The reason for concern is that the EPA says perchlorate may have an impact on the thyroid, which Time Magazine's Bryan...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on EPA Decides to Limit Rocket Fuel in Drinking Water–Guess Who Objects?Amazon drought stirs climate fear
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 3rd, 2011
BBC: Both droughts had a major impact on people living in the Amazon basin, as well as the forest
Last year's drought in the Amazon raises concerns about the region's capacity to continue absorbing carbon dioxide, scientists say.
Researchers report in the journal Science that the 2010 drought was more widespead than in 2005 - the last big one - with more trees probably lost.
The 2005 drought had been termed a "one in a century" event.
In drought years, the Amazon region changes from being...