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Archive for April 5th, 2011
Rights group urges halt to Brazil dam in Amazon
Posted by Associated Press: Juliana Barbassa on April 5th, 2011
Associated Press: The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is urging Brazil's government to halt work on a massive hydroelectric dam in the heart of the Amazon rain forest until it deals with concerns of the region's residents.
The commission's April 1 cautionary message said Brazil should stop the Belo Monte dam's licensing process until its developers consult with indigenous groups and other people in a culturally adequate way, give them access to environmental impact reports and adopt measures meant to...
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Record Loss Of Ozone Layer Over Arctic
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 5th, 2011
redOrbit: In the spring of 2011, the ozone layer that protects us from harmful levels of ultraviolet rays has shown a record loss in the Arctic region, according to the U.N. weather agency.
The continued presence of ozone-depleting substances in the atmosphere coupled with a very cold winter in the stratosphere is to blame.
Although an international agreement from 1987 called the Montreal Protocol has successfully reduced the production and consumption of these ozone destroying chemicals, the long atmospheric...
Vanishing mangroves are carbon sequestration powerhouses
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 5th, 2011
Mongabay: Mangroves may be the world's most carbon rich forests, according to a new study in Nature Geoscience. Measuring the carbon stored in 25 mangrove forests in the Indo-Pacific region, researchers found that mangroves forests stored up to four times as much carbon as other tropical forests, including rainforests.
"Mangroves have long been known as extremely productive ecosystems that cycle carbon quickly, but until now there had been no estimate of how much carbon resides in these systems. That's...
Icy meltwater pooling in Arctic Ocean: A wild card in climate change scenarios
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 5th, 2011
EurekAlert: A massive, growing pool of icy meltwater in the Arctic Ocean is a wild card in future climate scenarios, European researchers said today. Estimated in 2009 at more than 7,500 cubic km – twice the volume of Africa's Lake Victoria – and growing, the water could flush quickly into the Atlantic with unpredictable effect when prevailing atmospheric patterns shift, as occurred most recently in the 1960s and 1990s. The situation is one of many disquieting findings captured by project CLAMER, a collaboration...
Arctic Ocean freshwater will cause ‘unpredictable changes on climate’
Posted by Guardian: Fiona Harvey, on April 5th, 2011
Guardian: A vast expanse of freshwater in the midst of the Arctic Ocean is set to wreak unpredictable changes on the climate in Europe and North America, new scientific analysis has shown.
The water – comprising meltwater from the ice cap and run off from rivers – is at least twice the volume of Lake Victoria in Africa, and is continuing to grow. At some point huge quantities of this water are likely to flush out of the Arctic Ocean and into the Atlantic, which could have significant impacts on the climate....
Republicans Open Inquiry on Yucca Mountain Shutdown
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 5th, 2011
New York Times: Republican leaders have begun a formal inquiry into the Obama administration`s decision to halt development of a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
United States Geological Survey Japan`s crisis has revived interest in Yucca Mountain as a potential nuclear waste repository.
The investigation is led by Fred Upton, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, who on Thursday demanded documents and written answers from Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Gregory Jaczko,...
Gulf Stream could be threatened by Arctic flush
Posted by New Scientist: Fred Pearce on April 5th, 2011
New Scientist: Rapid warming in the Arctic is creating a new and fast-growing pool of fresh water in the Arctic Ocean. Measuring at least 7500 cubic kilometres, it could flush into the Atlantic Ocean and slow the Gulf Stream, bringing colder winters to Europe.
The water is mostly coming from melting permafrost and rising rainfall, which is increasing flows in Siberian rivers that drain into the Arctic, such as the Ob and Yenisei. More comes from melting sea ice, says Laura de Steur of the Royal Netherlands Institute...
Exclusive: Canada warns EU of trade conflict over oil sands
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 5th, 2011
Reuters: The Canadian government has stepped up lobbying in Europe for its highly-polluting tar sands industry, repeating its threats of trade conflict, a leaked letter shows.
The letter dated March 18 to Europe's commissioners for climate, trade and energy follows Canada's denial it threatened to scrap a free trade deal unless the European Union alters planned environmental laws.
"Given the desire for freer trade between us, it is important that our individual efforts to address climate change do not...
Australia: Facing a climate of uncertainty
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 5th, 2011
Australian: IT was a long way from picture postcard blue skies in Cairns yesterday as the nation's top 450 climate scientists gathered to take stock of global warming.
The tropical rainstorm may pale alongside the political cyclone that has been unleashed by the federal government's talk about a carbon tax. But the continued wet weather may prove relevant to this week's scientific discussions, which are expected to have a heavy focus on how much there is still to understand about climate change.
For Australia,...
Japan: Fukushima radioactivity hit ‘7.5m times legal limit’
Posted by Guardian: Jonathan Watts , on April 5th, 2011
Guardian: The radioactivity of saltwater near the Fukushima nuclear power plant reached 7.5m times the legal limit last weekend but has since declined, its operator reported on Tuesday as Japan made a rare appeal for Russian help to cope with the contaminated waste.
The Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) insisted that iodine, caesium and other radionuclides were being diluted to safe levels in the Pacific, but the firm's inability to stem the leak has prompted concern among fishermen, seafood consumers...