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Archive for May 1st, 2011
‘Cedar mafia’ threatens Morocco’s cherished wood
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 1st, 2011
Agence France-Presse: Revered as the "king of the forest" in Morocco, the native cedar tree is under increasing threat from illegal logging - a crime which also threatens the country's main water reserve.
In the Ajdir forest, in the heart of the Middle Atlas mountain range, these imposing trees once covered every slope. Now their numbers are in rapid decline, to the bitter dismay of the local Berber-speaking population.
"Each year thousands of trees - some of them several centuries old - are illegally felled as...
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Tornado destruction shocks even weather experts
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 1st, 2011
LA Times: Veteran tornado watchers saw Wednesday's mega-twisters coming.
But they were still staggered by the destruction that a massive storm system unleashed across the South and Southeast that leveled broad swaths of Tuscaloosa, Ala., and killed more than 280 people.
"I've been at this for a while, and I've never seen anything like this," said Chris Weiss, an associate professor of atmospheric science at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.
Some of Wednesday's tornadoes could have traveled...
Bangladesh: a present-day water world
Posted by National Public Radio: Jonathan Makiri on May 1st, 2011
National Public Radio: Photographer Jonas Bendiksen made three separate trips to Bangladesh last year to document the wet season and the ways that rising waters are altering Bangladeshi life. National Geographic's May issue shows the impact of flooding in a densely-populated, low-lying country barraged by seasonal monsoons and cyclones, and situated in the Ganges Delta "” the world's largest delta.
The photos portray an adaptability and resilience of the Bangladeshi people "” who don't seem to ask if there will be floods...
Canada: Potential for left-leaning coalition raises questions for oilsands
Posted by Edmonton Journal: Gary Lamphier on May 1st, 2011
Edmonton Journal: Suddenly, it's a brand new ball game.
What was widely dismissed as one of the most boring, uninspiring and unnecessary federal elections in recent memory has abruptly morphed into what may yet become one of the most dramatic.
With just two days to go before voters head to the polls, Stephen Harper's Conservatives suddenly find themselves just five points ahead of Jack Layton's surging NDP, according to two national surveys released this week.
It's a storyline that literally no one foresaw...
Wildfires out West
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 1st, 2011
Climate Central: In the American West, wildfires are essential for keeping forests healthy. But the same fires that help release nutrients and promote new plant growth can also wipe out thousands of acres of forest and cause millions of dollars in damage. Since the 1970s, wildfires have been on the rise and some of this is due to a warming planet. But a hot climate is not the only reason wildfires can increase from year to year. Here we look at the way climate can affect vegetation in the West, and what influence...
Poland dreams of becoming shale gas El Dorado
Posted by Agence France-Presse: Bernard Osser on May 1st, 2011
Agence France-Presse: Poland is dreaming of becoming a European shale gas El Dorado thanks to estimates of huge deposits, which if confirmed could make it an natural gas powerhouse and free it from energy dependence on Russia.
"If early estimates are confirmed, it will be a revolution like in Norway or Great Britain after the discovery of natural gas in the North Sea," Piotr Krzywiec, a geologist at Poland's National Institute of Geology (PIG) told AFP in a recent interview. "Poland could become Europe's number one...
New report says climate change likely to make water more scarce
Posted by Pasadena Star-News: Mike Sprague on May 1st, 2011
Pasadena Star-News: Gov. Jerry Brown declared the state's drought over, but in the long term the availability of water locally is still going to pose a problem, according to a new government report.
A report released last week by the Interior Department said annual flows in three river basins - the Colorado, Rio Grande and San Joaquin - could decline by as much 8 percent to 14 percent over the next four decades.
The Colorado and San Joaquin rivers supply water to Southern California.
"The study basically verifies...