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Archive for April 9th, 2011
Belo Monte Dam Faces Endless Hurdles and Controversies
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 9th, 2011
Inter Press Service: The Xingu river flows around small isles and islands and across rapids and waterfalls in Brazil's Amazon jungle, and has a dramatically reduced flow during dry season. Navigating it presents constant hurdles and risks.
The project to build the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam along the Xingu in the northern state of Pará, in the eastern part of the rainforest, is facing a similar variety of obstacles.
The opposition is not limited to the usual complaints by local environmentalists and social activists....
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Biodiversity improves water quality in streams through a division of labour
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on April 9th, 2011
Science Centric: Biologically diverse streams are better at cleaning up pollutants than less rich waterways, and Bradley Cardinale, an assistant professor at the U-M School of Natural Resources and Environment, says he has uncovered the long-sought mechanism that explains why this is so. Cardinale reports his findings in the 7 April edition of the journal Nature.
He used 150 miniature model streams, which use recirculating water in flumes to mimic the variety of flow conditions found in natural streams. He grew...