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Archive for April 22nd, 2011
Texas governor calls for prayers for rain amid fires
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 22nd, 2011
Reuters: Texas Governor Rick Perry called on Texans to pray for rain as cooler temperatures on Thursday helped firefighters contain wildfires that have charred more than 1.5 million acres across the state.
Perry, a Republican, sought increased federal help in combating the blazes last weekend and urged Texans to ask the same from a higher power over the Easter holiday weekend.
"Throughout our history, both as a state and as individuals, Texans have been strengthened, assured and lifted up through prayer,"...
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Chesapeake stems flow from leaking natgas well
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 22nd, 2011
Reuters: Chesapeake Energy has stemmed the flow of leaking fluids from a natural gas well which suffered a blow-out late on Tuesday in Pennsylvania, the company said in a statement.
Chesapeake said it would conduct an investigation into the cause of the accident which sent thousands of gallons of drilling fluid into the environment.
Europe scorns “supersalmon” as GM battle widens
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 22nd, 2011
Reuters: European salmon farmers and breeders who dominate global sales have a wary eye on transgenic American superfish that grow fast and might gulp part of the $107 billion-a-year aquaculture business.
"We don't have any monster pigs in Europe, or monster cows, and there's no need for such a salmon," said Geir Isaksen, the chief executive at big Norwegian fish farmer Cermaq.
Genetically modified (GM) Atlantic salmon patented by U.S. biotech firm AquaBounty are widely billed as growing at double speed...
Pictures: International Year of Forests on Earth Day
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 22nd, 2011
Mongabay: Pictures: International Year of Forests on Earth Day
In my nearly 12 years of running mongabay.com, I have had the good fortune to visit spectacular forests around the world. So this Earth Day, instead of writing something pithy (Jeremy has done a fine job in his Earth Day post recognizing the value of what nature gives us), I'm just posting some of my favorite forest pictures I've taken in my travels.
If you are a long-time mongabay reader, you've probably noticed my tradition of not writing...
Extinction rates being altered by contemporary climate change
Posted by Newstrack India: None Given on April 22nd, 2011
Newstrack India: A study has found that contemporary climate change is affecting extinction rates.
Local extinction rates of American pikas have increased nearly five-fold in the last 10 years, and the rate at which the climate-sensitive species is moving up mountain slopes has increased 11-fold, since the 20th century.
The research strongly suggests that the American pika's distribution throughout the Great Basin is changing at an increasingly rapid rate.
The pika (Ochotona princeps), a small, hamster-looking...
Earth Day pictures: International Year of Forests
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 22nd, 2011
Mongabay: Earth Day pictures: International Year of Forests
In my nearly 12 years of running mongabay.com, I have had the good fortune to visit spectacular forests around the world. So this Earth Day, instead of writing something pithy (Jeremy has done a fine job in his Earth Day post recognizing the value of what nature gives us), I'm just posting some of my favorite forest pictures I've taken in my travels.
If you are a long-time mongabay reader, you've probably noticed my tradition of not writing...
Ethiopia says won’t allow Egypt to examine new dam
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 22nd, 2011
Reuters: Ethiopia will deny Egypt a chance to examine a new mega dam it is building on the Nile unless Cairo inks a new deal relinquishing its veto powers over allocation of the river's waters, an official said on Thursday.
Egypt has been locked for more than a decade in a dispute with other countries through which the river passes, refusing changes to colonial-era treaties contested by Ethiopia and other upstream nations.
Under the pact signed in 1929, Egypt is entitled to 55.5 billion cubic meters...