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Archive for June 1st, 2011
Destruction of world’s biggest rainforests down 25 pct – FAO
Posted by Reuters: Jonny Hogg on June 1st, 2011
Reuters: The rate of destruction of the world's three largest forests fell 25 percent this decade compared with the previous one, but remains alarmingly high in some countries, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation said.
A report entitled The State of the Forests in the Amazon Basin, Congo Basin and South East Asia, was released to coincide with a summit in the Congo Republic bringing together delegates from 35 countries occupying those forests, with a view to reaching a global deal on management...
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Rich nations pledge billions for climate change
Posted by ONE News: None Given on June 1st, 2011
ONE News: Time is running out - climate change scientist Warming seas could push fish species to limit: Study Greenhouse gas research funding announced
Earthquake-hit Japan and many other rich nations are reaffirming pledges to give $US30 billion from 2010-12 to help poor nations fight climate change despite budget cuts. Climate aid has totalled $US16.2 billion since January 2010, according to submissions to the United Nations by a May deadline. Poor nations have said much of the cash is from existing programmes...
Apparent Tornado Hits Massachusetts City
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 1st, 2011
Associated Press: An apparent tornado struck the downtown of one of Massachusetts' largest cities Wednesday afternoon, scattering debris and toppling trees. No injuries were immediately reported.
Television news footage showed buildings Main Street with their top floors pulverized or sheared off. Video aired by WWLP-TV showed a debris-filled funnel roaring into downtown from the west, crossing the Connecticut River and tossing water and debris.
Thomas Walsh, a spokesman for Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, told...
Brazil: £10bn Amazonian dam approved
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 1st, 2011
Reuters: Brazil's environment agency gave definitive approval yesterday for construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, a controversial $17bn (£10.3bn) project in the Amazon that has been criticised by native Indians and conservationists.
The regulator, Ibama, issued licences to the consortium in charge of Belo Monte to build the dam on the Xingu River, an Amazon tributary. The government saysthe 11,200-megawatt project, due to start producing electricity in 2015, is crucial to provide power to Brazil's...
UK ecosystem assessment warns of decline in green space
Posted by Guardian: Fiona Harvey, on June 1st, 2011
Guardian: Only 10% of the UK’s allotments remain, according to Defra's national ecosystem assessment. Photograph: Jeff Morgan /Alamy
Maintaining the UK's green spaces would reap at least £30bn a year in health and welfare benefits, according to the first attempt to put a price on the natural environment.
About a third of the UK's natural assets – including green spaces, rivers, wetlands and important wildlife habitats – is in danger of being lost to development or degraded through neglect, says a report...
Nature ‘is worth billions’ to UK
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 1st, 2011
BBC: The UK's parks, lakes, forests and wildlife are worth billions of pounds to the economy, says a major report.
The health benefits of merely living close to a green space are worth up to £300 per person per year, it concludes.
The National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA) says that for decades, the emphasis has been on producing more food and other goods - but this has harmed other parts of nature that generate hidden wealth.
Ministers who commissioned the NEA will use it to re-shape planning policy....
What price nature? Report puts financial value on UK’s ecology
Posted by Independent: Sarah Morrison on June 1st, 2011
Independent: A view of green space from your bedroom window? That's worth £300 to you each year. The total value of British woodland to the national economy in sucking in carbon every year: £680m. The country's bees and other pollinating insects are, meanwhile, worth £430m.
That is the verdict of the first report to place a monetary value on the economic, health and social benefits of the UK's environment -- a report commisioned by the Government and sponsored by the Department for the Environment's chief...
Brazil grants building license for Amazon dam
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 1st, 2011
Associated Press: The massive Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in the heart of the Amazon rain forest won approval from Brazil's environmental protection agency on Wednesday, clearing the way for construction of a project fiercely opposed by environmentalists, indigenous activists and celebrities including film director James Cameron and rock star Sting.
The dam would be the world's third largest, behind China's Three Gorges dam and the Itaipu, which straddles the border of Brazil and Paraguay.
The consortium building...
Amazon mega-dam gets final approval
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 1st, 2011
Mongabay: Amazon mega-dam gets final approval
Brazilian authorities gave final approval to the controversial Belo Monte dam, reports AFP.
The project –; which has been widely opposed by human rights groups, environmentalists, and indigenous tribes –; will dam the Xingu river, one of the largest tributaries of the Amazon River. The $11 billion dam will generate 11,200 megawatts of electricity, more than 10 percent Brazil's current capacity, when it is completed in 2019.
Construction of the dam is expected...
Brazil grants building license for Amazon dam
Posted by Associated Press: Bradley Brooks on June 1st, 2011
Associated Press: The massive Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in the heart of the Amazon rain forest won approval from Brazil's environmental protection agency on Wednesday, clearing the way for construction of a project fiercely opposed by environmentalists, indigenous activists and celebrities including film director James Cameron and rock star Sting.
The dam would be the world's third largest, behind China's Three Gorges dam and the Itaipu, which straddles the border of Brazil and Paraguay.
The consortium building...