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Archive for September, 2011
Rain due in S.Somalia, unlikely to end drought
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on September 8th, 2011
AlertNet: Famine-hit southern Somalia may experience a return to normal or above-normal rainfall conditions in the next rainy season, which runs from September through December, according to the latest Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook.
The forecast is issued on a quarterly basis after a meeting organised by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development's Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and other partners.
Somalia and large parts of...
Sustainable development world’s top issue: UN chief
Posted by Agence France-Presse: Krystle Wright on September 8th, 2011
Agence France-Presse: United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon singled out sustainable development as the top issue facing the planet with the world's seven billionth person expected to be born next month.
Key to this was climate change, and he said time was running out with the population set to explode this century.
"Next month, the seven billionth citizen of our world will be born," the UN secretary general said during a speech at Sydney University on Thursday.
"For that child, and for all of us, we must keep working...
Big Oil: To create jobs, let us drill more widely
Posted by CNN: Steve Hargreaves on September 7th, 2011
CNN: With job creation taking center stage in American politics, the oil industry Wednesday made a pitch for drilling more widely. With looser restrictions, the industry says it could deliver 1.4 million new jobs, boost tax rolls by $800 billion, and increase domestic energy production almost 50%.
To hit those numbers, the industry would need to drill off the East and West Coasts, in waters off Florida's Gulf Coast, in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and on most federal public land that's...
Clouds Don’t Cause Climate Change, Study Shows
Posted by Science Daily: None Given on September 7th, 2011
Science Daily: Clouds only amplify climate change, says a Texas A&M University professor in a study that rebuts recent claims that clouds are actually the root cause of climate change.
Andrew Dessler, a Texas A&M atmospheric sciences professor considered one of the nation's experts on climate variations, says decades of data support the mainstream and long-held view that clouds are primarily acting as a so-called "feedback" that amplifies warming from human activity. His work is published in the American...
Nepali Women Sow a Secure Future
Posted by Inter Press Service: Sudeshna Sarkar on September 7th, 2011
Inter Press Service: Learning a lesson from crop failures attributed to climate change, Nepal’s women farmers are discarding imported hybrid seeds and husbanding hardier local varieties in cooperative seed banks.
"I had a crop failure two years ago," says Shobha Devkota, 32, from Jibjibe village in Rasuwa, a hilly district in central Nepal which is part of the Langtang National Park, a protected area encompassing two more districts, Nuwakot and Sindhupalchowk.
"The maize was attacked by pests, the paddy had no...
Rwanda harnesses volcanic gases from depths of Lake Kivu
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 7th, 2011
Guardian: It's dusk on Lake Kivu and the fishermen sing while paddling out in their catamarans, three canoes secured together with long wooden poles. As the twin volcanoes on the far shore disappear into the darkness the men spark kerosene lamps to attract the sambaza sardines into their nets. Across the vast lake their lanterns offer the only tiny sequins of light.
At least that is how it used to be. Now, near the northern shore, the bright fluorescent bulbs illuminating a tall barge can be seen from miles...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Rwanda harnesses volcanic gases from depths of Lake KivuAl Gore’s message about climate change grows in urgency
Posted by Tennessean: Anne Paine on September 7th, 2011
Tennessean: Former Vice President Al Gore has settled into new office space in Green Hills with a refurbished strategy on how to spread the word on climate change.
In a building certified for its advanced energy-efficiency features that include a rooftop garden and solar panels, he has set up a small studio to broadcast his message.
And what he has to say is stronger than ever -- blasting oil and coal companies and others who he says dismiss scientific evidence to the harm of future generations.
...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Al Gore’s message about climate change grows in urgencyChina to increase forest area by 40 mln hectares. It’s a good news?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 7th, 2011
Rainforest News: China aims to increase its total area of forest by 40 million hectares in the next decade, as compared with that in 2005, President Hu Jintao said at the APEC Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Forestry held Tuesday morning in Beijing. Is it a good news? Forest protection, without measures to convert the timber industry, resulted in increasing import from other countries: Indonesia, Gabon, Mozambico, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Island, Surinam and Guyana are now facing a massive...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on China to increase forest area by 40 mln hectares. It’s a good news?In the Land of Denial on Climate Change
Posted by New York Times: Editorial on September 7th, 2011
New York Times: The Republican presidential contenders regard global warming as a hoax or, at best, underplay its importance. The most vocal denier is Rick Perry, the Texas governor and longtime friend of the oil industry, who insists that climate change is an unproven theory created by "a substantial number of scientists who have manipulated data so that they will have dollars rolling into their projects." Never mind that nearly all the world's scientists regard global warming as a serious threat to the planet,...
Study: Clouds do not cause climate change
Posted by Summit County Citizens Voice: Bob Berwyn on September 7th, 2011
Summit County Citizens Voice: A new paper published this week in Geophysical Research Letters rebuts recent claims that clouds are the root cause of climate change.
Based on a 10-year study of El Niño and La Niña cycles, Texas A&M atmospheric sciences professor Andrew Dessler says clouds act primarily as a feedback mechanism that amplifies warming from human activity.
"The bottom line is that clouds have not replaced humans as the cause of the recent warming the Earth is experiencing," Dessler said. "I hope my analysis...