RSS Feed
Archive for June, 2011
Record fires and floods threaten Southwest, upper Midwest
Posted by Climate Central: Alyson Kenward on June 13th, 2011
Climate Central: Being put on evacuation notice is a terrible way to spend a weekend, but that's the prospect thousands of residents in both Arizona and parts of the Central U.S. are facing today, albeit from two very different threats.
Hundreds of thousands of acres continue to burn in eastern Arizona's Wallow Fire, prompting residents of Springerville and Eagar to evacuate their homes. In drought-ridden Arizona, a week of warm weather and strong winds stoked the Wallow Fire, which is burning near the state's...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Record fires and floods threaten Southwest, upper MidwestGlobal demand for beef and soy challenges South American tropical forest conservation
Posted by Cifor: None Given on June 13th, 2011
Cifor: Cattle ranching is a prime cause of deforestation in South America. _Market forces and policies encouraging economic growth are having a increasingly large influence in shaping forest landscape transformation in South America, according to a recent research paper.
In an article published in the January 2011 edition of Forests, Pablo Pacheco, a researcher at CIFOR and his colleagues said agribusiness development brings economic development to forest frontiers, but at the expense of forest conservation....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Global demand for beef and soy challenges South American tropical forest conservationUnited States: Lake Champlain: Learning to adapt to the new normal
Posted by Burlington Free Press: Matt Sutkoski on June 12th, 2011
Burlington Free Press: Will the nightmare of this year's record Lake Champlain flood repeat itself?
A report prepared for The Nature Conservancy last year concluded that global climate change is both increasing temperatures and precipitation in the Lake Champlain basin. The report said the changes make the lake more unpredictable, and could increase the likelihood of spring flooding.
As if to underscore the Nature Conservancy report, a winter of heavy snow and a record wet spring combined to bring on an epic Lake...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United States: Lake Champlain: Learning to adapt to the new normalObama should confront GOP on water
Posted by Sacramento Bee: Editorial on June 12th, 2011
Sacramento Bee: Unusual, to be sure. But ever so necessary. Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt took off the gloves and aimed a one-two combo at House Republicans and President Barack Obama on environmental issues.
Babbitt's well-rounded attack last week was richly deserved. Others should follow his example. It is time for a parade of people to stand up publicly in defense of the nation's public lands and water resources.
House Republicans, Babbitt noted, have "declared war on our land, water and natural...
China lead pollution outbreak poisons 103 children
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 12th, 2011
Reuters: Lead pollution from workshops in eastern China seriously poisoned 103 children and has affected hundreds of other residents in the country's latest case of unfettered industrial toxins, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.
The pollution from tinfoil-making workshops in Yangxunqiao town in Zhejiang province left the children, aged 14 or younger, with 250 microgrammes or more of lead for every liter of blood.
Another 26 adults were found to have "severe lead poisoning, or with...
ALERT! Ken to Barbie Doll and Greenpeace USA: Not Coming Back Just Because You Say Your Wood Is FSC Certified
Posted by Water Conservation Blog on June 12th, 2011
By Ecological Internet's Rainforest Portal
TAKE ACTION HERE NOW!
Greenpeace's quirky new rainforest campaign [search] says Ken is leaving Barbie (Mattel's dolls) because of rainforest destruction, yet they leave the door open for "certified" primary rainforest paper pulp for toy packaging. Ecological Internet will not accept an outcome from Greenpeace USA's Barbie campaign that includes FSC certified papers from Indonesia's primary rainforests [search]. Let Greenpeace and Mattel - manufacturers of the Barbie and Ken dolls, which Greenpeace USA alleges contains rainforest pulp in its packaging - know that paper derived from primary rainforests and certified by Forest Stewardship Council is not ecologically sustainable. Greenpeace must be encouraged to resign from FSC greenwash; and work to end primary forest logging, protect and restore standing old forests, for local and global advancement and ecology.
Posted in Uncategorized Comments Off on ALERT! Ken to Barbie Doll and Greenpeace USA: Not Coming Back Just Because You Say Your Wood Is FSC CertifiedReport Blasts Management Style of Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman
Posted by New York Times: John M. Broder and Matthew L. Wald on June 11th, 2011
New York Times: Gregory B. Jaczko, the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the subject of a harsh new investigative report from his own agency, finds himself in the cross-fire of a 30-year political battle over disposal of radioactive waste from the nation's nuclear power plants and weapons program.
The fight pits Republicans in Congress who support continued work on a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada against Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic majority leader and an ardent...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Report Blasts Management Style of Nuclear Regulatory Commission ChairmanGetting Serious About Funding Ecological Internet and Grassroots Global Ecological Sustainability
Posted by Water Conservation Blog on June 11th, 2011
After initial success raising 36% of our goal, next week EIs 2011 mid-year fund-raiser intensifies, continuing until the remaining $25,000 is raised. Act now by donating to Ecological Internet.
Dear Earth loving colleagues,
Ecological Internets 2011 mid-year fund-raiser continues in earnest. While we are 36% to our $40,000 goal, $25,000 remains to be raised. There is nothing left to cut in terms of salary or resources, this is what we need to continue on the cutting edge of the ecological science and IT methods for achieving global ecological sustainability. Ecological Internet is extremely proud of our grassroots global advocacy.
Consider Ecological Internets history of excellence as you decide whether and how much to donate
Ecological Internet was founded with a grant from the MacArthur Foundation in 1999, as Google Grant recipients we have received nearly a million dollars of free advertising over 5 years, and I Dr. Glen Barry, Ecological Internets founder and President was recently named a global visionary for this work by the Utne Reader a national U.S. publication. The work sprung from my PhD research which included inventing blogging.
During this time, EI has participated in hundreds of ecosystem protection successes, built and managed the worlds largest environmental ...
Posted in Uncategorized Comments Off on Getting Serious About Funding Ecological Internet and Grassroots Global Ecological SustainabilityWhat’s to Be Done About Food Supply?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 10th, 2011
New York Times: World Food Supply: What`s To Be Done?
Somali children wait for rations in the courtyard of a food distribution center in Mogadishu.
In a long article on Sunday and a string of posts on the Green blog this week, The Times has given readers a large body of reporting and analysis on the global food situation, including the risk to the food supply from climate change. I would like to end that run of coverage by pointing concerned readers toward the best thinking out there that tries to answer this...
100 years of UK rainfall: when was it this dry before?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 10th, 2011
Guardian: East Anglia is now officially classed as in drought by DEFRA. Today James Meikle wrote about what this means for the farmers of East Anglia and others affected by dry weather.
It's useful to know the last time the weather was this dry, for clues about what we can expect. We ask: when has the weather been drier?
The Met Office produces some very nice visualisations of UK rainfall history, showing rainfall anomalies - which is the difference from the average rainfall.
The Met Office also publishes...