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Archive for March, 2011
Pakistan unprepared as monsoon approaches
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 11th, 2011
Guardian: Pakistan's next monsoon season is still months away, but after the deadly floods last year aid workers and experts are warning that the country is still unprepared for the worst. "Now is the time to build up Pakistan's resilience to disaster," said Neva Khan, director of Oxfam in Pakistan. "The cost of implementing safeguards pales in comparison to the damage to lives and property [that could be caused by the monsoon]."
The monsoon season usually runs from July-September. Last year, more than...
Smile, Crocodile! Up Close With A Predator
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 11th, 2011
National Public Radio: Didier Noirot films a Nile crocodile in the Okavango Delta. The crocs can grow up to 21 feet and live for 100 years.
Roger Horrocks
Didier Noirot films a Nile crocodile in the Okavango Delta. The crocs can grow up to 21 feet and live for 100 years.
"I grew up watching footage of Nile crocodiles flying out of the water, eating zebras and wildebeest. And the thought of getting in the water with one was completely incomprehensible to me "” just impossible."
Those are the words of photographer...
Japan commits $50 million to water and sanitation
Posted by AllAfrica: Tina A. Hassan on March 11th, 2011
AllAfrica: The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said it would commit $50 million in the review and up date of the National Water Resources Master Plan currently underway in order to improve access to potable water and sanitation.
Speaking at the review and update of the National Water Resources Master Plan by stakeholders in the water sector in Abuja, JICA said it would continue to partner with Nigeria in providing clean water to the people.
While presenting the scope of work for the review...
Delaware river faces threats
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 11th, 2011
Associated press: Threats ranging from global warming to natural gas drilling could threaten the water quality in the Delaware River, scientists and environmental advocates said Thursday. The state of the river got in-depth attention Thursday at a forum held by the federal Environmental Protection Agency with meetings at six locations in all four states along the river. Many of the presentations focused on the dangers of climate change, which could cause the salt line to shift upriver and threaten drinking water...
Canada: Permafrost thaw shifts land, lives
Posted by Postmedia News: Monique Polak on March 11th, 2011
Postmedia News: In his seven terms as mayor of Salluit, Qalingo Angutigirk has tried to look after his people, and their land. But it's not an easy job when the ground is literally shifting under his feet.
Since 1998 Salluit, the province's second northernmost community, has been hit by a series of landslides. Scientists blame it on the melting of the permafrost, the fragile underground layer of soil and rock that remains frozen year round -or is supposed to.
Though Angutigirk, 72, is familiar with the science...
Tanzania: Kilimanjaro deforestation could impact local weather patterns
Posted by Our Amazing Planet: None Given on March 11th, 2011
Our Amazing Planet: Deforestation around Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro may have as large of an impact on the mountain's local weather and climate as global climate change, according to researchers from the University of Alabama, Huntsville.
Udaysankar Nair, a research scientist at the university's Earth Sciences Center, and doctoral student Jonathan Fairman are using climate models and data from NASA satellites to create a local model that can predict the effects of deforestation on local weather patterns, including...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Tanzania: Kilimanjaro deforestation could impact local weather patternsGasoline with higher ethanol blend available in U.S. soon
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 11th, 2011
Reuters: Gasoline containing up to 15 percent ethanol should be available for the coming summer driving season as the government moves to finalize labeling and other issues for the new motor fuel.
The Environmental Protection Agency approved in January raising the amount of ethanol in gasoline to 15 percent for newer cars and trucks from 10 percent, a ruling welcomed by the industry and by farmers who supply the corn to make the fuel.
The government will finalize in a few months the labels on the gasoline...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Gasoline with higher ethanol blend available in U.S. soonClimate change damaging ancient treasures
Posted by TG Daily: None Given on March 11th, 2011
TG Daily: Climate change is destroying important archaeological remains that have been frozen for thousands of years, a study has shown.
Scientists at the University of Edinburgh's Business School looked at examples of damaged remains frozen in permafrost in the Altai Mountains in central Asia, in sea ice in Alaska and in glaciers in the Rocky Mountains.
They found that all three sites were under threat. Thawing represents a risk to the Altai burial mounds, they say, which contain the only frozen tombs...
Scientist at Work: Arriving in Panama to a Series of Games
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 11th, 2011
New York Times: By BRYSON VOIRIN Sebastian Cruz Bryson Voirin arriving on Isla Iguana with a mountain of luggage and equipment.
Bryson Voirin, a doctoral student at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Germany and fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, writes from Panama, where he is studying sleep in wild frigate birds.
Sunday, March 6
When conducting fieldwork in a foreign country, I prefer to view the various problems, issues and lost-in-translation moments that arise...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Scientist at Work: Arriving in Panama to a Series of GamesGuyana sees a 300 per cent increase in deforestation despite climate change financing from Norway to protect its forests
Posted by Carbonyatra: None Given on March 11th, 2011
Carbonyatra: Guyana has seen deforestation rates soar over the last year, despite the signing of an agreement with the Norwegian government aimed precisely at supporting a reduction in deforestation rates, said Global Witness.
Signed in November 2009, the agreement -- worth $250m over four years -- was initially welcomed as a potential breakthrough, and a blueprint for other countries to follow, in supporting the preservation of forests. However, once the technical details were made public, initial optimism...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Guyana sees a 300 per cent increase in deforestation despite climate change financing from Norway to protect its forests