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Archive for March 8th, 2011
Rainwater harvest study finds roofing material affects water quality
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on March 8th, 2011
Science Centric: For the past few years, one of the most common questions facing the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) hasn't been over contentious water rights or proposed water projects; it's been from homeowners wanting to know what type of roofing material is most suitable for collecting rainwater for indoor domestic use.
'Rainwater harvesting is becoming fairly widespread, at least in Central Texas. There's interest born out of necessity because people are simply running out of water in rural areas or...
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Rising waters in Kiribati threatening villages
Posted by Australia Network News: Stephanie March on March 8th, 2011
Australia Network News: Rising waters in Kiribati threatening villages: president
The President of Kiribati says his country is in urgent need of funding to build walls to prevent sea water destroying villages. [flickr.com]
The President of Kiribati says an increasing number of coastal villagers are asking to be relocated because of rising sea waters.
Anote Tong says Kiribati is in urgent need of funding to build sea walls to prevent sea water destroying villages and crops.
President Tong has recently come back...
Counting the carbon cost of peatland conversion
Posted by Nature: Gayathri Vaidyanathan on March 8th, 2011
Nature: Counting the carbon cost of peatland conversion
A study has quantified emissions from clearing peat-swamp forest in Southeast Asia for palm-oil plantations.
Large amounts of carbon stored in both biomass and soils are released when peat-swamp forests are cleared.ROMEO GACAD/AFP/Getty Images
Up to 6% of carbon-rich peat-swamp forests had been cleared in Peninsular Malaysia and on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra to make way for oil-palm plantations by the early 2000s, according to a study...
Eco-farming can double food output by poor: U.N
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 8th, 2011
Reuters: Many farmers in developing nations can double food production within a decade by shifting to ecological agriculture from use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, a U.N. report showed on Tuesday.
Insect-trapping plants in Kenya and Bangladesh's use of ducks to eat weeds in rice paddies are among examples of steps taken to increase food for a world population that the United Nations says will be 7 billion this year and 9 billion by 2050.
"Agriculture is at a crossroads," according to the study...
Projected California megastorm given added edge by climate change
Posted by Earth Times: Martin Leggett on March 8th, 2011
Earth Times: Recurring mega-storms hit California every 200 years, and the impact of the next one could be huge, according to a USC economist. At $1 trillion in economic loss, a potential megastorm could easily exceed the damage from the projected San Andreas earthquake - and climate change is boosting their destructive potential.
Californians have long gotten used to living in the shadow of 'The Big One', a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that is predicted to hit the SoCal region hard, at some point in the future....
Human origin ‘in southern Africa’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 8th, 2011
BBC: Hunter-gatherer groups in southern Africa were among the most genetically diverse populations Modern humans may have originated from southern Africa, an extensive genetic study has suggested.
Data showed that hunter-gatherer populations in the region had the greatest degree of genetic diversity, which is an indicator of longevity.
It says that the region was probably the best location for the origin of modern humans, challenging the view that we came from eastern Africa.
The study appears...
New biosafety protocol to UN treaty on biological diversity opens for signature
Posted by UN News: None Given on March 8th, 2011
UN News: New biosafety protocol to UN treaty on biological diversity opens for signature Home Press Room Multimedia Tools & Services Resources News Focus What, When at UN
New biosafety protocol to UN treaty on biological diversity opens for signature Colombia, Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden became the first countries to sign a new treaty that opened for signature at United Nations Headquarters in New York today that provides international rules and procedures for liability and redress in the event...
Rhodia Credits Show CO2 Trade Can Help Brazil, World Bank Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 8th, 2011
Bloomberg: Rhodia SA (RHA)’s sale of 6 million carbon credits to the World Bank’s Spanish Carbon Fund shows that emissions trading can help emerging nations cut pollution and potentially aid in their economic development, the lender said.
The credits for delivery through 2013 are generated under the United Nations’ Clean Development Mechanism from a Rhodia plant that produces adipic acid in Paulinia, Brazil, the French chemical maker said Feb. 28. The fund chose to accept credits from adipic acid, for an...
US judge halts damages enforcement against Chevron
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 8th, 2011
Reuters: A U.S. judge on Monday halted enforcement of an $8.6 billion award against Chevron Corp, siding with the oil company against Ecuadorean plaintiffs in a long-running dispute over Amazon rain forest pollution.
The move follows an Ecuadorean court's judgment last month that went against Chevron in what has become an international test case, watched closely by private-sector oil companies wary of potential damages claims elsewhere.
U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan, extending a Feb. 8 temporary...
Deforestation gives some Brazil beef a big carbon footprint
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 8th, 2011
Mongabay: Deforestation gives some Brazil beef a big carbon footprint
Extensive deforestation for low-yielding cattle production means some Brazilian beef carries a disproportionately high carbon footprint, reports a new study published in Environmental Science & Technology.
Researchers at the Swedish Institute of Food and Biotechnology found that sixty percent of the Brazilian beef industry's carbon emissions come from just six percent of producers: the small group of ranchers that clear Amazon rainforest...