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Archive for September 26th, 2011
New York’s New Shipping Plan Sparks Feud
Posted by National Public Radio: Brian Mann on September 26th, 2011
National Public Radio: New York state is poised to implement new rules that could have a major impact on the global shipping industry. Invasive species sometimes move from place to place in "ballast water" — that's the water ships suck in and discharge to level their loads. Officials in New York want all that ballast water treated to kill any "living pollution" before it reaches their harbors. But the treatment technology is expensive and untested. Because the state serves as a gateway to the Great Lakes and ports in New...
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Rwanda Wins Gold for Forest Conservation Blueprint
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 26th, 2011
Inter Press Service: Government policies are seldom lauded, yet Rwanda's forest policy has resulted in a 37-percent increase in forest cover on a continent better known for deforestation and desertification.
Rwanda's National Forest Policy has also resulted in reduced erosion, improved local water supplies and livelihoods, while helping ensure peace in a country still recovering from the 1994 genocide.
Now Rwanda can also be known as the winner of the prestigious Future Policy Award for 2011.
"Rwanda has sought...
Panama canal drives forest conservation, offers insight on value of ecosystems
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 26th, 2011
Mongabay: As demonstrated by growing enthusiasm for conserving forests and the rise of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) program, the public is increasingly aware of the role forests play in delivering ecosystems services - like clean air and water - that benefit mankind. Yet, science still lags conventional wisdom - researchers have yet to fully quantify much of what healthy forests provide. Bridging this gap is key to unlocking the full value of protecting and restoring tropical...
World has ‘enough water’ for future food needs
Posted by SciDev.Net: Gozde Zorlu on September 26th, 2011
SciDev.Net: There is enough water in the world's rivers to meet the demands of the expanding global population, but the rivers have to be better managed, according to a series of studies released today at the 14th World Water Congress in Porto de Galinhas, Brazil.
The key problem for water use is not scarcity but inefficient use of supplies because of poor governance and regulation, concludes a special issue of the International Water Journal coordinated by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural...
Alaska Natives First to Feel the Heat
Posted by Discovery News: Emily Sohn on September 26th, 2011
Discovery News: Although climate studies offer plenty of projections about how the world might change as the Earth warms up, it's easy for people to imagine that those numbers don't apply to them.
A new study offers a wake-up call. Climate change doesn't just have the potential to alter people's lives -- it already has.
For the Yup'ik people of Alaska, who still depend on hunting, gathering and fishing for much of their subsistence, interviews showed that warmer temperatures and thinner ice in recent years...
Major Rivers Have Enough Water to Sustain Growing Populations, Study Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 26th, 2011
Yale Environment 360: A new study says the world’s major river systems contain more than enough water to meet global food production needs in the 21st century. Following a five-year study of 10 river basins — including the Nile, Ganges, Andes, Yellow, and Niger — scientists with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) found that the greatest water challenge facing the planet is not scarcity but the inefficient and inequitable distribution of water. “Huge volumes of rainwater are lost or never...
The high price of gold: death and destruction in Amazon mineral rush
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 26th, 2011
Guardian: Elton Thompson was out drinking when he was bludgeoned to death by a miner called Frank. He was 14. Arturo Balcazar was a shopkeeper. He was gunned down on a riverboat as his wife looked on. Alan Welch was 54. He was clubbed to death with tree trunks and branches after being accused of theft.
Three men, three murders but apparently one common cause: the global economic crisis that has sent gold prices through the roof and aggravated an already cut-throat scramble for gold in the South American...
Built in a Dirty Boom, China’s Biggest City Tries to Go Green
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 26th, 2011
ClimateWire: Wandering around in downtown Chongqing, it is hard to imagine that this is a city that is going green. Vehicles clog roads in every direction. Construction cranes stretch to the horizon. And huge posters displaying locally produced industrial goods show where the city's exploding economic growth is coming from. But Chongqing (population 28,846,200) is more than meets the eye. After living with acid rain and toxic smog for decades, the city has been scrambling for ways to clean up the air. It is...
Kenya: Nobel laureate and Green Belt Movement founder Wangari Maathai dead at 71
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 26th, 2011
Mongabay: Kenyan environmentalist and Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai died Sunday after a battle with ovarian cancer. She was 71.
Maathai is best known for founding the Green Belt Movement in Kenya in 1977. The initiative empowered rural women by getting them engaged in management and protection of forests. Over the past three decades, the Green Belt Movement has planted tens of millions of trees across Kenya and trained thousands of women in agroforestry, bee-keeping, and other sustainable livelihoods....
Obama slams Perry on climate change
Posted by Dallas Morning News: Tom Benning on September 26th, 2011
Dallas Morning News: President Barack Obama blasted Rick Perry at a California fundraiser Sunday, calling him "a governor whose state is on fire, denying climate change."
The Associated Press reports that the jab was part of a broader criticism of the Republican Party. Obama also mentioned recent GOP debates, where some in the audience booed a gay service member and cheered a hypothetical scenario where a man without health insurance is left to die.
"That's not reflective of who we are," Obama said.
Politico's...