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Archive for April 4th, 2011
Declining mangroves shield against global warming
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 4th, 2011
Independent: Mangroves, which have declined by up to half over the last 50 years, are an important bulkhead against climate change, a study released on Sunday has shown for the first time.
Destruction of these tropical coastal woodlands accounts for about 10 percent of carbon dioxide emissions from deforestation, the second largest source of CO2 after fossil fuel combustion, the study found.
Fewer trees not only mean less CO2 absorbed from the air, but also the release of carbon stocks that have been accumulating...
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Penan community’s ancestral land destroyed
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 4th, 2011
Aliran: Hundreds of Penan facing eviction to make way for the Murum Dam are horrified to learn that the forest in the proposed resettlement area is being destroyed, reports Tomasz Johnson.
Hundreds of indigenous people in Borneo who are due to be evicted from their land to make way for a giant hydroelectric dam have discovered that the rainforest they hoped to move to is being destroyed.
The Penan are being forced to move by the Sarawak state government to allow the billion-dollar Murum dam project...
Japan may review CO2 cut targets
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 4th, 2011
Ria Novosti: Japan may review its greenhouse gas emission reduction target in the wake of a nuclear crisis set off by last month's massive earthquake and tsunami, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano was quoted by Japanese media as saying.
He stressed, however, that the government has no definitive plans yet to review its climate change goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions 25% by 2020 from 1990 levels, and it will depend on Japan's ability to tackle its worst ever nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi...
Japan: Open door: Explaining the Fukushima crisis
Posted by Guardian: Chris Elliott on April 4th, 2011
Guardian: The still-unfolding tragedy of Japan may be told simply through the statistics of death and destruction. However, the scientific complexity underlying the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is much harder to report.
There are many kinds of radiation and more than one view as to the short- and long-term effects of exposure. Trying to explain in a clear, accurate fashion what is happening to the plant's damaged reactors and the workers struggling to bring the plant under control...
Wildfires rage across five states of parched Southwest
Posted by Reuters: Elliott Blackburn on April 4th, 2011
Reuters: Wildfires fed off what were described as "perfect" conditions for burning again on Monday across drought-stricken Texas and nearby states.
High temperatures, dry grass, gusting winds and dry air contributed to fires that began over the weekend in Texas, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma and New Mexico, said Patrick Slattery, a spokesman for the National Weather Service.
More than three quarters of Texas was under severe or extreme levels of drought, according to the Texas Forest Service. Hot, dry...