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Archive for May 19th, 2011
Climate Change in the Northland
Posted by msnbc.com: None Given on May 19th, 2011
msnbc.com: Climate change has been in headlines for more than a decade, but many don't understand the difference between climate and meteorology. Meteorologist Jeff Edmondson helps clear up the misunderstanding.
So you're in a thunderstorm. Lightning, wind and rain all around you. How did this storm develop? What conditions came together to make this storm happen? The answer lies in the interplay between climate and meteorology.
"Weather is what you see day to day. Climate is the long term trends, the...
Posted in 
Parched Earth
Posted by BBC: Patrick Jackson on May 19th, 2011
BBC: French wheatfields, like this one near Lyon, are parched
Farmers in northern Europe are finding themselves caught between a hard place and a rock-hard place as an unusually dry spring turns to summer.
France, the EU's top wheat producer, has formed a national "drought committee", limiting water consumption in many regions and lifting curbs on the use of fallow land for grazing.
The European Commission has just approved in principle France's request for an advance on the Common Agricultural...
Deforestation Devours Rich Ecosystems
Posted by Inter Press Service: Franz Chávez on May 19th, 2011
Inter Press Service: Occupations of land for agriculture over the last four decades in Bolivia, whether by individuals or in organised collective initiatives, have led to severe ecological damages and low levels of productivity because of the intensive use of machinery and the failure to take into account the limitations of the soil, said environmentalist Marco Ribera.
"To this aggressive approach towards ecosystems is added the irregularity of many processes of obtaining land, in murky periods in which the phenomenon...
Three Gorges Dam has caused urgent problems, says China
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 19th, 2011
Associated Press: China says the Three Gorges Dam has caused urgent problems.
China has acknowledged that its showcase Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydroelectric project, has caused a slew of urgent environmental, geologic and economic problems.
The state council, or cabinet, made the rare admission late on Wednesday that the $23bn (£14bn) project was successful but requires action to curb pollution, counter risks of natural disasters and improve the living standards of the 1.4 million people who were...
Local knowledge ‘can corroborate climate data’
Posted by SciDev.Net: Usha Raman on May 19th, 2011
SciDev.Net: Knowledge held by communities about environmental shifts, such as temperature changes and species distribution, conforms closely to scientifically obtained data on climate change, new research shows.
A study by Kamal Bawa, a biology professor at the University of Massachusets, United States, and graduate student Pasupati Chaudhary published online last month (27 April) in Biology Letters, reported that local communities in villages observed changes that overwhelmingly supported scientific findings...
The Middle East is running dry – and into the perfect storm?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 19th, 2011
Guardian: Water stress is at its most extreme in the Middle East and north Africa, according to Maplecroft's water stress index. Photograph: maplecroft.com
Water, it's the very stuff of life, and a high-resolution analysis of the most water-stressed places on Earth reveals anew a stark reality. The Middle East and north Africa (Mena), currently in the middle of a historic wave of unrest, is by far the worst affected region.
Of the 16 nations suffering extreme water stress, according to risk analysts...
Activists Protest Destruction of 500-Year-Old Forest by Road
Posted by Inter Press Service: Kester Kenn Klomegah on May 19th, 2011
Inter Press Service: Environmentalists and rights campaigners have mounted pressure on the Russian government to rescind the decision to demolish more than 500-year-old woodlands to make way for the construction of a new super-highway linking Moscow with the country's northern capital, St. Petersburg.
Despite the divided public reaction, the multi-lane motorway project was given the go-ahead in late December, just three months after President Dmitry Medvedev suspended it. Ecologists have argued the new highway could...
Climatologist: Flooding the Result of Climate Change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 19th, 2011
Public News Service: Connecticut rivers have been high this spring, but nothing like the record-breaking, devastating flooding of the Mississippi River. Some climatologists point to climate change as a direct cause of these extreme weather events.
Kevin Trenberth, senior scientist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research, says the environment in which all these storms are occurring is different than it was, for instance, 30 years ago.
"When we look at the statistics, we find that the very heavy rains are...
China acknowledges dam ‘problems’
Posted by BBC: Michael Bristow on May 19th, 2011
BBC: China acknowledges Three Gorges dam 'problems'
Beijing The Three Gorges is the world's largest dam China has admitted that the Three Gorges Dam has created a range of major problems that need solving quickly.
Top leaders say the project has led to environmental problems and issues involving relocating 1.3m people.
The Three Gorges is the world's largest dam and could have cost up to $40bn. This appears to be the first time that central government leaders have admitted to problems with the...
China confronts raft of problems at Three Gorges
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 19th, 2011
Associated Press: China is acknowledging serious troubles with its showcase Three Gorges Dam project, citing an urgent need to curb pollution and do a better job with relocations and disaster management related to the world's biggest hydroelectric project.
A government statement released Thursday outlines a blueprint for a cleaner, safer and more sustainable future for the Three Gorges, a scenic section of the Yangtze River that was dammed to create a 410-mile (660-kilometer) -long reservoir.
With shipping stalled...