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Archive for July 6th, 2011
Summer floods threaten record levels as rain predicted
Posted by Reuters: Molly O'Toole on July 6th, 2011
Reuters: With rivers still running above flood stage and soils saturated, forecasters predicted on Wednesday this summer flooding season could rival the worst in United States history.
In the "Great Flood of 1993," record-breaking floods from April to August cost more than $25 billion in damages in at least nine states.
But due to current high water levels and soaked soil, just a small amount of rain could trigger more flooding in areas that have already seen record flooding this 2011 season, the National...
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Yellowstone Oil Spill Fuels Opposition to Proposed U.S.-Canada Pipeline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 6th, 2011
Greenwire: As cleanup continues along a Montana river despoiled by a 1,000-barrel oil leak, green groups see a new opening to secure stronger pipeline safety rules and to beat back a major U.S.-Canada oil link -- the types of victories that did not materialize after last year's Gulf of Mexico gusher.
The political ramifications of the Friday rupture on Exxon Mobil Corp.'s Silvertip line are likely to be felt most keenly in the next six weeks, as the Obama administration readies a final environmental review...
Ranchers using Agent Orange to deforest the Amazon
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 6th, 2011
Mongabay: 180 hectares (450 acres) of rainforest in the Brazilian Amazon were defoliated using Agent Orange, reports IBAMA, Brazil's environmental law enforcement agency.
The affected area, which is south of the city of Canutama and near the Mapinguari Jacareúba / Katawixi indigenous reservation in Rondônia, was first detected by Brazil's deforestation monitoring system. A subsequent helicopter overflight last month by IBAMA revealed thousands of trees largely stripped of their vegetation. Authorities later...
Canada: Pulp Dreams
Posted by Dominion: Miles Howe on July 6th, 2011
Dominion: If you thought that the Canadian pulp and paper industry was environmentally irresponsible, you were right. But the new players on the clear-cut block make them look like a bunch of patchouli-scented tree-huggers. This is the story of how Canada hopped into bed with one of Asia's worst environmental criminals, and how for the Pictou Landing Indian Band in Nova Scotia, it's just one more proverbial slap in the face. Amidst a lack of fanfare from mainstream Canadian media, and encouragement by the...
Rising Temperatures Melting Away Global Food Security
Posted by Inter Press Service: Lester R. Brown on July 6th, 2011
Inter Press Service: Heat waves clearly can destroy crop harvests. The world saw high heat decimate Russian wheat in 2010. Crop ecologists have found that each one-degree Celsius rise in temperature above the optimum can reduce grain harvests by 10 percent. But the indirect effects of higher temperatures on our food supply are no less serious.
Rising temperatures are already melting the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. Recent studies indicate that a combination of melting ice sheets and glaciers, plus the...
Bangladesh trials African rice to boost food yield
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 6th, 2011
AFP: A Bangladeshi farmer harvests rice in a field on the outskirts of Dhaka in May 2011. A high-yield strain ...
A high-yield strain of rice developed for Africa's drylands is being trialled in Bangladesh to help the country feed its teeming population in an age of climate change and extreme weather conditions.
Rice has been grown in Bangladesh's Ganges delta for thousands of years and the country was once home to 4,000 varieties of the grain, but it is unable to produce enough for its own needs,...
Disaster relief seeds ‘should be more diverse’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 6th, 2011
SciDev.Net: Farmers trade cowpea seeds with friends and family African farmers who lose their seeds in floods and droughts could restore their crop biodiversity quicker by trading local seed varieties at markets and through informal social links than by receiving seeds from aid agencies, a study suggests.
The genetic diversity of crops allows plant populations to adapt to changing environments and provides the raw materials for crop improvement programmes. It is crucial for ensuring food security through...
United Kingdom: Attack of the jellyfish
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 6th, 2011
Daily Mail: Another power station was shut down by jellyfish today amid claims that climate change is causing a population surge among the species.
A huge swarm clogged up the Orot Rabin plant in Hadera, Israel, a day after the Torness nuclear facility in Scotland was closed in a similar incident.
Hadera ran into trouble when jellyfish blocked its seawater supply, which it uses for cooling purposes, forcing officials to use diggers to remove them.
Nuisance: A digger drops jellyfish cleared from the...
Canada: As Alberta’s tar sands boom, foes target project’s lifelines
Posted by Yale Environment 360: Jim Robbins on July 6th, 2011
Yale Environment 360: The Sand Hills of Nebraska are a unique Great Plains prairie ecosystem. The rolling dunes, rising to 300 feet, cover about a quarter of the state, and because the grasses and wildflowers there are adapted to wet, sandy soil, many grow nowhere else. Thousands of ponds and lakes dot the Sand Hills, nourishing the Ogallala Aquifer.
This region is an unlikely ground zero for a growing rebellion against a different kind of sand -- the Athabascan oil sands of Alberta, 1,400 miles to the north. But that...
Climate talks put heat on Obama
Posted by Politico: None Given on July 6th, 2011
Politico: President Barack Obama faces several big green tests over the next year on the international stage. Environmentalists and foreign allies are clamoring for U.S. leadership from the Nobel Prize winner on a pair of upcoming summits focused on global warming, sustainable development and biodiversity. But the White House will need to temper expectations on its foreign policy as it fends off Republicans eager to keep Obama from winning a second term. U.S. officials say a presidential trip to Rio de...