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Archive for April 6th, 2011
Indigenous group claims Ecuadorian government complicit in ‘genocide’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 6th, 2011
Mongabay: Indigenous group claims Ecuadorian government complicit in 'genocide'
Ecuador's paramount indigenous organization has filed a legal complaint against the government, including President Rafael Correa, for allegedly participating in 'genocide' against indigenous people in the Amazon. The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) is arguing that expanding oil exploration and mining is imperiling the lives of uncontacted tribes that have chosen voluntary isolation known as the...
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Addressing the nuclear waste issue
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on April 6th, 2011
Science Centric: Researchers from Northwestern University and Argonne National Laboratory have an enhanced understanding of a common freshwater alga and its remarkable ability to remove strontium from water. Insight into this mechanism ultimately could help scientists design methods to remove radioactive strontium from existing nuclear waste.
Strontium 90, a major waste component, is one of the more dangerous radioactive fission materials created within a nuclear reactor. It is present in the approximately 80...
Gulf Stream could be threatened by Arctic flush
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 6th, 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...
Arctic Ocean hosts weird freshwater pond
Posted by ScienceNews: None Given on April 6th, 2011
ScienceNews: As rivers empty into seas, freshwater mixes into the vast briny depths to replace water lost to evaporation. Or that’s what’s supposed to happen. But for the past dozen years, scientists now report, a large share of river inflows and sea-ice melt within a large expanse of the Arctic Ocean has effectively pooled with little mixing.
An unusual and persistent pattern of clockwise winds has corralled at least 7,500 cubic kilometers of freshwater within the Beaufort Gyre off northern Canada, reports...
New research finds mangroves key to climate change
Posted by Eureka! Science News: None Given on April 6th, 2011
Eureka! Science News: New research shows that mangroves store exceptionally more carbon than most tropical forests, but they are being destroyed from coastlines at a rapid rate causing significant emissions of greenhouse gases. The findings from the study, which was carried out by scientists from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the USDA Forest Service, underscore a call by scientists for mangroves to be protected as part of global efforts to combat climate change.
"Mangroves are being destroyed...
New group tackles forest threats
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 6th, 2011
BBC: A partnership has been established to tackle the range of threats facing forests in the Mediterranean region, such as water scarcity and fires.
Each year, wildfires in the region claim up to 1m hectares of forests, at an estimated cost of 1bn euros (£870m).
The new partnership was launched at the 2nd Mediterranean Forest Week, which is being held in Avignon, France.
It will bring together scientists, policymakers, landowners and farmers.
"The region's forests have faced a number of socio-economic...
Arctic freshwater pool could change climate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 6th, 2011
Associated Press: AMSTERDAM -- Scientists are monitoring a massive pool of fresh water in the Arctic Ocean that could spill into the Atlantic and potentially alter the key ocean currents that give Western Europe its moderate climate.
The oceanographers said yesterday that the unusual accumulation has been caused by Siberian and Canadian rivers dumping more water into the Arctic and from melting sea ice. Both are consequences of global warming.
If it flushes into the Atlantic, the infusion of fresh water could,...
Arctic meltwater could lower temperatures at home, study warns
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 6th, 2011
Telegraph: The pool, which has grown by more than a fifth over the last decade, could interrupt the flow of the Gulf Stream which brings warm water from the tropics, raising average European temperatures by between five and ten degrees Celsius.
Scientists are monitoring the large area of cold water amid fears that changing wind patterns could move it south towards the North Atlantic.
A study by 17 institutes from ten European countries warned that the effects of the melted ice could be abrupt in altering...
Ireland climate victims’ ‘lifeboat.’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 6th, 2011
Herald: Ireland will act like a lifeboat for people fleeing drought, rising seas and destructive weather in decades to come, a leading climate change expert has warned.
NUI Maynooth Professor Brendan Gleeson said world temperatures will rise three or four degrees, leaving only a few currently cool regions habitable.
He said Ireland cannot refuse to engage with the climate crisis as worse-hit countries will see the island as a safe haven.
"We cannot know precisely how the disaster will unfold, but...