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Archive for September, 2011
Canada faces huge global warming costs
Posted by Agence France-Presse: Michel Comte on September 30th, 2011
Agence France-Presse: The economic impact of climate change on Canada could climb to billions of dollars per year, according to a study published Thursday by a policy group that advises the Canadian government.
The report "Paying the Price: The Economic Impacts of Climate Change for Canada" by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy estimates that warming-related costs may rise to $5 billion per year by 2020, and between $21 and $43 billion per year by 2050.
It points to a reduced timber supply,...
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US embassy cables: how Rangoon office helped opponents of Myitsone dam
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 30th, 2011
Guardian: 243770
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON
000030
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EAP/MLS, DRL, OES, EEB, AND INR
PACOM FOR FPA
EO 12958 DECL: 01/14/2020
TAGS BM, ECON, ENRG, PGOV, PHUM, PREL, SENV
SUBJECT: BURMA: GRASSROOTS OPPOSITION TO CHINESE-BACKED DAM IN NORTHERN BURMA
REFTEL A: 08 RANGOON 815
REFTEL B: 09 RANGOON 447 RANGOON 00000030
001.2 of 002 Classified By: P/E Officer Adam Murray for Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)
Summary
---------------
1. (C) On December...
US embassy cables: Americans funded groups that stalled Burma dam project
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 30th, 2011
Guardian: The US embassy in Rangoon funded some of the civil society groups in the Burmese region that forced the government to suspend a controversial Chinese dam on the Irrawaddy river, according to a US diplomatic cable.
The January 2010 cable on the $3.6bn (£2.3bn) Myitsone dam project noted that local groups had "voiced strong opposition to the project on economic, environmental and cultural grounds and have organised grassroots campaigns to rally others to their cause".
The cable, signed by then...
Satellite data plus conservation equals better crop yields
Posted by SciDev.Net: Archita Bhatta on September 30th, 2011
SciDev.Net: Combining remote sensing technology with water and soil conservation techniques can help raise crop yields in South Asia, scientists have reported.
Satellite data can help identify specific problems on farmlands such as moisture shortage, excessive soil wetness and flood occurrence.
Using the data along with appropriate resource conserving technology (RCT) will increase productivity, a study team of researchers reported this month (8 September) in Applied Geography.
The study team included...
Government Declares Emergency On Environment
Posted by Daily Champion: Agaju Madugba on September 30th, 2011
Daily Champion: The Federal Government has declared a state of emergency for the nation's environment explaining that the challenges of deforestation and forest degradation resulting in desertification, loss of biodiversity, siltation of rivers and water bodies resulting in accentuating poverty have reached monumental level which requires a holistic.
The Minister of Environment, Hajia Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafia, who announced this yesterday, said that the relevant natural resources management regulations must be...
Air pollution is stunting India’s monsoon
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 30th, 2011
New Scientist: India has been drying out for half a century, and air pollution thousands of kilometres away is partly to blame.
The monsoon has been weakening since the 1950s. Indian air pollution has been blamed, but now it seems that emissions further afield are also a factor.
"The summer monsoon provides up to 80 per cent of total annual rainfall in south Asia, and supports 20 per cent of the world's population," says Yi Ming of Princeton University in New Jersey. With his colleagues, Ming used climate...
Victory for Burma reformers over dam project
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 30th, 2011
Guardian: Activists, tribal militias and environmentalists notched up a rare victory in Burma when the president ordered the suspension of a huge Chinese hydropower project on the Irrawaddy river.
President Thein Sein informed parliament on Friday that construction of the $3.6bn (£2.3bn) Myitsone dam should be halted because it was against the will of the people.
The suspension of the 3,600 megawatt project on Burma's most important river is a remarkable step for a nation long ruled by military fiat,...
Myanmar shelves $3.6 billion mega dam, officials say
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 30th, 2011
Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20110930&t=2&i=508984210&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=2011-09-30T103025Z_01_BTRE78T0T6100_RTROPTP_0_MALAYSIA
Climate change will show which animals can take the heat
Posted by SFX: None Given on September 30th, 2011
SFX: The researchers chose to study frogs, salamanders, and toads because their living areas are known and their susceptibility to temperature changes has been well studied. Based on that information, they modeled the migratory paths for each creature, estimating their travels to be about 15 miles per decade.
Species' ability to overcome adversity goes beyond Darwin's survival of the fittest. Climate change has made sure of that. In a new study based on simulations examining species and their projected...
Myanmar to stop construction of controversial dam
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 30th, 2011
Associated Press: Myanmar's president called Friday for work on a controversial Chinese-backed hydroelectic dam to be halted and the concerns of its critics settled, in a startling turnaround welcomed by democracy activists and environmentalists.
President Thein Sein said in a statement read out on his behalf at Parliament that the $3.6 billion Myitsone dam project in the northern state of Kachin should be suspended because "it is against the will of the people."
Thein Sein said all construction would be stopped...