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Archive for June, 2011
Weather catastrophes in China soar: Reinsurer
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2011
Agence France-Presse: The world's biggest reinsurance company, Munich Re, said on Tuesday that deadly weather catastrophes in China had soared around four-fold in the last 30 years, costing its economy billions.
Munich Re said in a report that the number of annual disasters including violent storms, floods, extreme temperatures, droughts and forest fires had risen to about 48 by 2010 from around 11 in the early 1980s.
A company spokesman noted however that official reporting of such catastrophes would have been...
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Laos defies neighbors on dam project: environmentalists
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2011
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’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2011
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
Posted by Aljazeera.net: Dahr Jamail on June 23rd, 2011
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
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2011
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
Posted by AAP: Lisa Martin on June 23rd, 2011
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
Posted by recOrbit: None Given on June 23rd, 2011
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...
House votes to ease rules for offshore drilling
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 22nd, 2011
Associated Press: The House has approved a bill removing a barrier to companies seeking to drill for oil in some areas offshore.
The measure was approved Wednesday by 253-166 vote. It would give the Environmental Protection Agency six months to decide on air pollution permits for offshore rigs or platforms exploring for oil. It also limits challenges to the EPA's appeals board and restricts which emissions can be evaluated.
Shell Oil Co. scrapped plans to drill in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska in February after...
How Agriculture Affects Endemic Fish
Posted by New York Times: John S. Sparks and Christopher B. Braun on June 22nd, 2011
New York Times: Walking to Lake Andrapongy through a lengthy series of rice paddies and mud fields laced with zebu dung, we become disheartened. It looks as though more and more of the flood basin has succumbed to agriculture. The water is fetid on our approach and we expect yet another disappointment. One team member who went down to see the lake returns, exclaiming, “There’s nothing here in this schistosome-infested dung-hole!” Still, we approach some local fishermen and inquire whether the Damba (Paretroplus...
US ethanol subsidy caused corn price surge: study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 22nd, 2011
Agence France-Presse: US ethanol subsidies pushed up corn prices as much as 17 percent in 2011, according to a study released Wednesday at a time when Washington's policies on biofuels are coming under heightened scrutiny.
The study by Bruce Babcock of Iowa State University and released by the Geneva-based International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, suggests that high gasoline prices this year may have intensified demand for ethanol, creating a tighter market for maize than in previous years.
"Under...