Archive for June 23rd, 2011

Laos defies neighbors on dam project: environmentalists

Reuters: Laos is forging ahead with construction of a controversial $3.5 billion hydropower dam in breach of an agreement to suspend the project pending approval by ministers of neighboring countries, an environmental group said on Thursday. The Lao government has already given Thai developer Ch Karnchang the go-ahead to resume work on the Xayaburi Dam, informing the company that the Mekong River Commission's (MRC) decision-making process was complete, according to International Rivers, an environmental...

Ancient lake outburst ‘holds clues to climate change events’

SciDev.Net: Unique lake burst records indicates Indus river vulnerable to climate change A glacial lake outburst that occurred in the Himalayas thousands of years ago holds clues to the dangers faced by the entire Indus river valley system from similar events triggered by rapid climate change, say scientists. A team of Indian geologists from the University of Pune and the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, has been studying the site of the ancient outburst in a deep gorge close to the exit...

It’s bad and getting worse

Aljazeera.net: Climate Change: It's bad and getting worse Severe weather events are wracking the planet, and experts warn of even greater consequences to come. Flooding in China is currently affecting approximately five million people The rate of ice loss in two of Greenland's largest glaciers has increased so much in the last 10 years that the amount of melted water would be enough to completely fill Lake Erie, one of the five Great Lakes in North America. West Texas is currently undergoing its worst drought...

Australia: Climate change confusing farmers

Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Farmers seem to be suffering from a case of information overload, when it comes to climate change. The director of the National Institute for Rural and Regional Australia at the Australian National University in Canberra, Dr Anthony Horgan, says farmers are confused about how to manage changes in the climate because of conflicting information. He's told a climate symposium at Wagga Wagga in NSW that mixed messages are starting to effect farmers mental health. "You get the rabbit in the headlights...

Australia must do its fair share: Garnaut

AAP: Australia has done more than its fair share in times of war, so Ross Garnaut can't fathom the reluctance to at least pull our weight on climate change. The federal government's chief climate change adviser used a speech in Brisbane to prick the national conscience on Thursday. "Some people say 'we're only 1.5 per cent of world emissions, why should we do anything? It's the other 98.5 per cent that matters most," he said. That might be true but it was a trivial point, he said. "If we applied...

Tracking Groundwater Pollution To Its Source

recOrbit: Computer algorithms might be useful in identifying sources of groundwater pollution, according to researchers in Australia and India. Writing in the International Journal of Environment and Waste Management they explain how notoriously difficult it is to trace such pollution. Groundwater is a major and economical source of drinking water for both urban and rural areas. Although groundwater represents a small percentage of the total water distribution across the globe, it is the largest available...