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Archive for April 18th, 2011
Can US handle historic Texas wildfires?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 18th, 2011
Christian Science Monitor: The wildfires that have consumed 1.6 million acres of Texas plains and pines, threatened its capital, and destroyed 240 homes is stretching, but not yet stressing, the United States' wildland firefighting capability, the US Forest Service says.
On Sunday, Gov. Rick Perry acknowledged that Texas needs more federal help to deal with the situation, as dozens of fires are now burning largely uncontrolled across the state, including unusual "crown fires" in tops of trees in the east Texas pine barrens...
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Bird feathers show pollution rise over 120 years: study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 18th, 2011
Agence France-Presse: Feathers collected from rare Pacific seabirds over the past 120 years have shown an increase in a type of toxic mercury that likely comes from human pollution, US researchers said on Monday.
Scientists at Harvard University took samples from feathers belonging to the endangered black-footed albatross from two US museum collections, said the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The feathers, which dated from 1880 to 2002, showed "increasing levels of methylmercury that...
Carbon Goes Wild: The Global Warming Story
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 18th, 2011
National Public Radio: Well, it's that time of year. Friday is Earth Day, and this is the week that some of us pause to ponder the health of our planet (while others of us spend the week yelling at the people who are pausing to ponder the health of the planet). Being a pauser, not a yeller, I thought I'd spend this week sharing with you, especially the younger set of you, a series of cartoon essays about ... carbon. Why carbon?
"Water may be the solvent of the universe," writes Natalie Angier in her classic introduction...
Decision Looms for Laos Dam, but Impact Is Unclear
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 18th, 2011
New York Times: The Mekong River is so brown with silt as it passes this impoverished village, it could be called liquid dirt. For millions of people downstream this is the color of life: the Mekong, teeming with hundreds of species of fish and rich in minerals, has for centuries been the lifeline of villages and towns stretching from the rocky rapids of Tibet to the lazy meanderings of the river in the Vietnam delta. On Tuesday the four countries that share the lower reaches of the Mekong River will announce whether...
Tropical countries aim for global forest pact
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 18th, 2011
Mongabay: Tropical countries aim for global forest pact in Panama.
Representatives from more than 30 countries are expected to hammer out a formal agreement for future discussions on forest and climate issues when they meet next month in the Republic of Congo, reports the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
The summit, which will be held from May 31 through June 3 in Congo's capital of Brazzaville, will be attended by nearly 500 delegates from tropical countries, donor nations, NGOs, and multilateral...
Sugarcane cools climate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 18th, 2011
ScienceDaily: Brazilians are world leaders in using biofuels for gasoline. About a quarter of their automobile fuel consumption comes from sugarcane, which significantly reduces carbon dioxide emissions that otherwise would be emitted from using gasoline. Now scientists from the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology have found that sugarcane has a double benefit. Expansion of the crop in areas previously occupied by other Brazilian crops cools the local climate. It does so by reflecting sunlight...