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Archive for June, 2011
The new normal
Posted by Times Argus: None Given on June 5th, 2011
Times Argus: Climate change is no longer a theoretical idea. It is already here, and government has been forced to respond.
The floods that swept through central and northeastern Vermont nine days ago were a unique weather event and by themselves are not evidence of a changing climate. But the floods fit the pattern of extreme weather that experts have been observing and point to a larger problem.
For the past decade, every year seems to have set a record as the hottest or been nearly the hottest. And hot...
Protect Philippine forests
Posted by Philippine Daily Inquirer: Marjorie Pamintuan on June 5th, 2011
Philippine Daily Inquirer: REMAINING forests of Mt. Banoi in Lobo, Batangas, are under threat from large-scale mining. BUKAL-BATANGAS. REMAINING forests of Mt. Banoi in Lobo, Batangas, are under threat from large-scale mining. BUKAL-BATANGAS
The Philippines is both a hotspot and a megadiversity area, making it a priority for conservation. The country’s forests are habitat for more than 6,000 plant species and numerous bird and animal species, including the endangered Philippine Eagle and the Visayan warty pig.
Forests...
When it comes to climate change, we have no planet B
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 5th, 2011
Jakarta Post: You have a plan. It does not work. You switch to plan B. When it comes to climate change and the worst possible damage affects our Earth, we have no planet B to move to.
“There is no planet B” is the title of a British Council pamphlet on climate change programs that the Indonesia office of the London-based education and culture-promoting institute has in place.
The British Council was one of more than 20 participants in the first-ever Indonesia Climate Change Education Forum and Expo at the...
Climate change, extreme weather create perfect storms
Posted by Press-Republican: None Given on June 5th, 2011
Press-Republican: Watching the videos of tornados in the United States was like watching some fictional monster movie. It did not seem real. The size of the ominous dark cloud, the funnel, the debris in the air, the noise and sound of destruction and the awesome power of this event is etched in most of our minds. But it was real and the death and pain will be with us for a long time.
Many statements are being made as to what is the cause; and what is not, and it will be some time before all of the information is...
Climate change seen changing agriculture
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 5th, 2011
New York Times: The dun wheat field spreading out at Ravi P. Singh's feet offered a possible clue to human destiny.
Baked by a desert sun and deliberately starved of water, the plants were parched and nearly dead.
Singh, a wheat breeder, grabbed seed heads that should have been plump with the staff of life. His practiced fingers found empty husks.
"You're not going to feed the people with that," he said.
But then, over in Plot 88, his eyes settled on a healthier plant, one that had managed to thrive...
Death threat from Shell supplier on Brazilian tribe’s land
Posted by Survival International: None Given on June 5th, 2011
Survival International: Energy giant Shell's joint venture partner, Cosan, is buying sugarcane grown on Guarani land. A Brazilian rancher supplying sugarcane to a joint venture partner of energy giant Shell has reportedly issued a death threat against a political opponent. José Teixeira, who is also a state deputy, is said to have recently warned a political rival that, ‘If it were up to me, you’d be under the ground.’ Teixeira is renting out part of his ranch for sugarcane production, even though the Government has confirmed...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Death threat from Shell supplier on Brazilian tribe’s landCalifornians set to outlaw gold prospecting
Posted by Independent: Guy Adams on June 5th, 2011
Independent: There's gold in them thar hills. It built the city of San Francisco, and inspired generations of Americans to call California the "Golden State". But if local lawmakers get their way, making a living from the stuff is about to become nigh-on impossible.
Just 162 years after history's greatest gold rush, the state's last remaining prospectors are about to have their way of life declared illegal, amid a long-running battle with salmon-loving environmentalists.
At issue is the practice of suction-dredging,...
U.S. oks restart of Keystone pipeline
Posted by Reuters: Tom Doggett and Jeffrey Jones on June 5th, 2011
Reuters: TransCanada Corp can restart its Keystone oil pipeline on Sunday, after the company satisfied a series of safety conditions following leaks that idled the key export line twice in less than a month, the U.S. pipeline safety regulator said on Saturday.
The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said it approved resumption of crude flows from Canada on the pipeline after the agency evaluated the company's restart plan and was satisfied safety requirements were met.
PHMSA...
The food chain is almost broken. Who will reforge the links of trust?
Posted by Observer: Joanna Blythman on June 4th, 2011
Observer: Our faith in the modern food system is touching. When a bag of salad leaves reads: "Washed and ready to eat", most people will consume the contents without a second thought. We assume that the leaves were grown safely, picked hygienically, then broken up, washed, dried and bagged in a factory so meticulously clean that we don't even need to rinse them under the kitchen tap.
And why shouldn't we? On the face of it, our food has never been safer. Growers, farmers and food processors all over the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on The food chain is almost broken. Who will reforge the links of trust?United Kingdom: Crisis meeting is called as drought leaves crops dying in the fields
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 4th, 2011
Guardian: Ministers, farmers, supermarkets and utility companies will meet this week to assess a worsening dry spell in much of southern and eastern England that is threatening to become an agricultural and environmental disaster.
Britain's second-driest spring in 100 years and the warmest since 1659 has left soil in parts of East Anglia and south-east England concrete-hard, with many rivers shrunk to trickles and crops withering at critical times in their growth.
Some eastern counties have had only...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: Crisis meeting is called as drought leaves crops dying in the fields