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Archive for May 12th, 2011
Climate change and the spring floods
Posted by Minneapolis Star Tribune: Bill Mckibben on May 12th, 2011
Minneapolis Star Tribune: Recently, at a place called Bird's Point, just below the confluence of the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers, the Army Corps of Engineers was busy mining a huge levee with explosives.
The work was made dangerous by outbreaks of lightning, but eventually the charges were in place and corps Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh gave the order: A 2-mile-wide hole was blasted in the earthen levee, and a wall of water greater than the flow over Niagara Falls inundated 130,000 acres of prime Missouri farmland.
The...
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Blind, legless lizard found in Cambodia
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 12th, 2011
AFP: A Cambodian scientist has discovered a new species of blind and legless lizard that looks like a snake.
The small reptile, which mostly lives underground, was given the name dibamus dalaiensis, after the Dalai mountain in southwestern Cambodia where it was found, according to conservation group Fauna and Flora International (FFI).
"At first I thought it was a blind snake," said Neang Thy, who works as a zoologist with the Ministry of Environment and FFI and made the discovery.
"But when...
UN climate services eyed for vulnerable nations
Posted by Associated Press: John Heilprin on May 12th, 2011
Associated Press: The global economy could reduce $100 billion a year in climate change-linked losses by providing the most vulnerable countries with "climate services" to help them prepare, a United Nations expert panel recommended Thursday.
The panel proposed creating a $75 million-a-year U.N.-administered agency, or program, to help developing nations deal with an increasing onslaught of tropical cyclones, storm surges, floods and droughts.
The World Meteorological Organization -- the U.N.'s weather agency...
UN proposes global system to provide new ‘climate services’ for developing nations
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 12th, 2011
Associated Press: The United Nations is proposing a global system to provide new “climate services” for developing nations trying to cope with a warmer world.
A proposal Thursday by U.N. weather agency director Michel Jarraud, former U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland and former Egyptian water minister Mahmoud Abu Zeid would create a $75 million a year service to help the most vulnerable countries cut their risk of disasters from tropical cyclones, storm surges, floods and droughts.
The World Meteorological...
Fukushima reactor water leak risks delaying crisis plan
Posted by Reuters: Yoko Kubota on May 12th, 2011
Reuters: Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant is leaking water from the center of the reactor seen as the closest to stabilizing, its operator said Thursday, risking a delay in its plan to resolve the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which was struck by a massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, are pumping water at four reactors to bring their nuclear fuel rods to a "cold shutdown" state by January.
But after repairing a gauge in the...
Allocating Logging Rights in Peruvian Amazonia—Does It Matter to Be Local?
Posted by Elites TV: None Given on May 12th, 2011
Elites TV: The fate of tropical forests is a global concern, yet many far-reaching decisions affecting forest resources are made locally. We explore allocation of logging rights using a case study from Loreto, Peruvian Amazonia, where millions of hectares of tropical rainforest were offered for concession in a competitive tendering process that addressed issues related to locality.
Methodology/Principal Findings
After briefly presenting the study area and the tendering process, we identify and define...
Developing countries urgently need better REDD data
Posted by environmentalresearchweb: None Given on May 12th, 2011
environmentalresearchweb: Developing countries urgently need better REDD data
Developing countries urgently need to be given better tools to quantify their emissions from deforestation if they are to benefit from the REDD+ initiative, according to scientists in Canada.
Johanne Pelletier and her colleagues from McGill University have, for the first time, looked at the uncertainty and detectability of emissions reductions for REDD+ for an entire country -- Panama. They chose Panama because it is one of the first countries...
Forest fires contributing to climate change
Posted by Deccan Herald: None Given on May 12th, 2011
Deccan Herald: Rising temperatures have led to more forest fires across the world, which in turn contribute to climate change, warns a report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
In the report presented at the Fifth International Conference on Forest Fires in Sun City, South Africa, FAO urged governments to develop strategies to stop this vicious circle, Prensa Latina news agency reported.
Most forest fires are caused by humans, but also through the influence of drought and wind, said the report...
China closes stretch of Yangtze due to drought: report
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 12th, 2011
Reuters: Part of China's Yangtze River has been closed to shipping because of a drought, the China Daily newspaper reported on Thursday, citing the body that manages shipping on the river.
Authorities in Hubei province have closed the middle reaches of the river because of low water levels between the city of Wuhan and Chenglingji in Yueyang city, it said.
The shallow water conditions will continue to impede traffic until June, despite heavy rain that is expected this month and the partial opening of...