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Archive for September, 2011
More than 30 million climate migrants in Asia in 2010, report finds
Posted by Guardian: Fiona Harvey, on September 19th, 2011
Guardian: More than 30 million people were displaced last year by environmental and weather-related disasters across Asia, experts have warned, and the problem is only likely to grow worse as climate change exacerbates such problems.
Tens of millions more people are likely to be similarly displaced in the future by the effects of climate change, including rising sea levels, floods, droughts and reduced agricultural productivity. Such people are likely to migrate in regions across Asia, and governments must...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on More than 30 million climate migrants in Asia in 2010, report findsTracking the Cracks in Greenland’s Ice Sheet
Posted by New York Times: Jim Witkin on September 19th, 2011
New York Times: Research on crevasses in the Greenland ice sheet may help scientists build better computer models to predict the impact of ice bodies on rising sea levels.
In a new study, researchers have observed an expansion of the crevasse fields in one portion of the Greenland ice sheet, a change that they suggest may influence how the ice sheets move toward the ocean and raise sea levels.
The researchers, from the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, a joint institute of the National...
Pakistan floods: monsoons bring more misery to millions – in pictures
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 19th, 2011
Guardian: More than 5 million people have been affected by monsoons that have brought flash flooding to areas of southern Pakistan. Prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has cancelled a trip to attend the United Nations in New York in order to co-ordinate emergency aid for flood victims, a move indicative of the situation's seriousness. Sindh province, one of the worst hit areas in last year's floods, has been badly affected, with five districts declared 'calamity areas' by authorities
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Pakistan floods: monsoons bring more misery to millions – in picturesChina invests billions in oil sands
Posted by Houston Chronicle: Jennifer A. Dlouhy on September 18th, 2011
Houston Chronicle: As U.S. companies look toward oil riches in northern Canada, they're encountering increasing competition - as well as some much-needed cash infusions - from the Far East.
U.S. and Canadian companies have dominated Alberta's oil sands for decades. Now, though, Chinese firms are rushing to snap up Canadian oil sands resources and invest in ongoing projects - to the tune of $15 billion in the past 18 months in Alberta alone.
They are motivated by a desire to jump into one of the world's lowest-risk...
Repeated droughts taking toll on midstate
Posted by Macon: S. Heather Duncan on September 18th, 2011
Macon: It was a summer when the hot air seemed to cling to your skin, dragging your ankles toward the baking pavement, drowning your lungs as you sucked in moist gulps.
The sun was relentless. On Saturdays, neighborhoods were strangely devoid of kids’ voices or bouncing basketballs, silent as everyone huddled behind their curtains over air conditioning vents.
The only hotter summer on record, in terms of mean temperature or average high, was in 1954, according to David Stooksbury of the University...
Egypt, Ethiopia to review impact of mega dam
Posted by Reuters: Sami Aboudi on September 18th, 2011
Reuters: Egypt and Ethiopia have agreed to set up a technical team to review the impact of a $4.8-billion Nile river dam which Addis Ababa announced in March, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said in Cairo on Saturday.
Egypt has been worried over changes to colonial-era treaties since Nile basin nations, including Ethiopia, signed a deal last year that strips Cairo of the right to the lion's share of the river's waters and effectively removes its veto power over dam projects.
Egypt, witnessing...
Cold-Water Detergents Get a Cold Shoulder
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 17th, 2011
New York Times: Newly formulated laundry detergents can wash most clothes perfectly well in cold water, manufacturers say, but customers are stubbornly refusing to turn down the temperature. Although some of these detergents have been available for several years, customers cling to mom’s age-old advice that hot water washes best — squandering energy and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.
Even in Germany, where consumers tend to be more environmentally attuned than in the United States, manufacturers have...
Hungary ‘to prevent toxic sludge firm bankruptcy’
Posted by BBC: Nick Thorpe on September 16th, 2011
BBC: The Hungarian government says it is working to prevent the bankruptcy of a company that was heavily fined over a major industrial accident last year.
The firm, MAL Zrt, was fined more than $650m (£412m) this week for damages caused by the red sludge disaster last October.
The alumina producer has announced it will appeal against the fine.
Ten people died and two villages and a town were heavily polluted when toxic waste material leaked from a reservoir.
MAL Zrt is under attack from all...
Is Obama dragging his feet on environmental issues to get reelected?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 16th, 2011
Christian Science Monitor: To many environmentalists, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) announcement this week that it would miss a deadline for setting greenhouse gas regulations for power plants and refineries is one more sign that the Obama administration is dragging its feet on a range of environmental issues.
Whether or not that’s true, the economy – particularly record joblessness – seems to be trumping the environment these days.
Earlier this month, the White House asked the EPA to rewrite an air-quality...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Is Obama dragging his feet on environmental issues to get reelected?Obama Warns Iceland on Whaling Activity
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 16th, 2011
New York Times: In a move hailed by conservation activists, President Barack Obama initiated potential diplomatic sanctions against Iceland this week for its commercial whaling activity. The sanctions include six measures ranging from possibly limiting cabinet-level visits to Iceland to limiting cooperation with Iceland in the Arctic region.
While such sanctions might seem mild to some, for environmentalists it was akin to throwing down the gauntlet, diplomatically speaking. “This is a real shot across the bow,”...