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Archive for April, 2011
Losses from deforestation top $36 billion in Indonesian Borneo
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 29th, 2011
Mongabay: Losses from deforestation top $36 billion in Indonesian Borneo
Illegal forest conversion by mining and plantation companies in Indonesian Borneo has cost the state $36 billion according to a Forest Ministry official.
Speaking to AFP, Forestry Ministry information center director Masyhud said that more than 1,200 mining companies and 500 oil palm plantation firms are under investigation by the Ministry of Forestry for operating illegally in Central, East and West Kalimantan provinces on the...
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Illegal Logging, Mining Ravages Kalimantan, Costs Indonesia $36.4b
Posted by Jakarta Globe: None Given on April 29th, 2011
Jakarta Globe: The Ministry of Forestry says illegal logging, land clearance, forest fires and mining has devastated Indonesian Borneo and cost the country an estimated Rp 311.4 trillion ($36.4 billion).
Raffles Panjaitan, director for forest investigation and protection at the ministry, said an estimated 1,236 mining firms and 537 oil palm plantation companies were operating illegally in Central, East and West Kalimantan on the Indonesian half of Borneo.
The companies had caused losses put at Rp158.5 trillion...
Species from other climes invading state
Posted by GreenWichTime: None Given on April 29th, 2011
GreenWichTime: Animals from tropical waters have been showing up in Connecticut waterways, while cold-loving creatures, like lobsters, are becoming more scarce. Invasive plants and animals continue to encroach upon the state's lakes, ponds and woodlands, according to the 2010 annual environmental report compiled by the state Council of Environmental Quality, which was released this month.
Although the state of the air, water and wildlife in Connecticut has held mostly constant, according to "Environmental Quality...
Fighting water-borne disease in Africa, and making millions in the process
Posted by Fast Company: Lisa Katayama on April 29th, 2011
Fast Company: Vestergaard Frandsen makes an ingenious water filter that's too expensive for the people who need it. They figured out how to give it away and still make money.
Swiss-based Vestergaard Frandsen--makers of mosquito nets and the LifeStraw--has figured out a solution to turning a profit while saving the world.
The company is launching a campaign today that could change the plight of water-borne illnesses in Kenya, while making the company a tidy sum of money. Over the next five weeks, 4,000 temporary...
Forests to change irreversibly
Posted by Deccan Chronicle: None Given on April 29th, 2011
Deccan Chronicle: Experts meeting under the National Mission for a Green India warn that ten years down the line India’s key forests, including the Himalayas, western ghats and central India could alter irreversibly.
Making this dire warning was Dr Ravindranath, a professor at the Centre for Sustainable Technologies at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. He emphasised that an expected 2ºC increase in temperature due to climate change would result in a major shift from the present “forest type as we know...
Endangered tortoises delay Mojave Desert solar plant
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 29th, 2011
LA Times: The Obama administration has halted the building of two-thirds of a massive solar project in San Bernardino's Mojave Desert as a new federal assessment found that more than 600 endangered desert tortoises would die as a result of construction.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management assessment this week disputed the estimate by BrightSource Energy, developer of the 392 MW solar thermal plant, that only 38 of the reptiles would be disturbed by construction at the 5.6-square mile Ivanpah Valley site...
Change in climate conditions could reduce GDP
Posted by Economist: Clemencia Jacobs on April 29th, 2011
Economist: Namibia will lose an estimated 6% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually due to the impact of climate change on agriculture, fisheries and nature-based tourism, according to research findings.
Therefore climate change must become a national priority and urgent measures should be put in place to mitigate its effects, said Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Minister of Environment and Tourism, in her budget speech last week.
She said her ministry has finalised the National policy on Climate Change...
Threading The Climate Needle: The Agulhas Current System
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 29th, 2011
RedOrbit: Increased Agulhas "leakage" significant player in global climate variability
The Agulhas Current which runs along the east coast of Africa may not be as well known as its counterpart in the Atlantic, the Gulf Stream. But now researchers are taking a closer look at this current and its "leakage" from the Indian Ocean into the Atlantic Ocean--and what that may mean for climate change
In results of a study published in this week's issue of the journal Nature, a team of scientists led by University...
Frog pictures for Save the Frogs Day
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 29th, 2011
Mongabay: Frog pictures for Save the Frogs Day
Red-Eyed Tree Frog in Costa Rica
Amphibians -- cold-blooded animals that include frogs, toads, salamanders, newts and caecilians -- are in big trouble. More than one third of the world's 6,500 known species are threatened with extinction, while at least 200 species have gone extinct over the past 20 years. Worryingly the outbreak of a deadly fungal disease, chytridiomycosis, is spreading throughout the tropics leaving millions of victims, adding to the onslaught...
Pigs have ‘evolved to love mud’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 29th, 2011
BBC: It is a true picture of contentment, and now a scientist is suggesting that a pig's love of mud is more than just a way to keep cool.
A researcher in the Netherlands has looked at wallowing behaviour in pigs' wild relatives to find out more about what motivates the animals to luxuriate in sludge.
His conclusions suggest that wallowing is vital for the animals' well-being.
The study is published in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science.
It is already well accepted that pigs use...