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Archive for October 12th, 2011
Journey to Antarctica: Mission to drill into ice-buried lake
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 12th, 2011
LiveScience: A team of British engineers is set to begin a journey to a lake hidden beneath nearly 2 miles of Antarctic ice.
The explorers depart next week for Antarctica on the first stage of an ambitious scientific mission to collect water and sediment samples from a lake buried beneath 1.8 miles (3 kilometers) of solid ice. This mission will hopefully yield new knowledge about the evolution of life on Earth and other planets, and will provide vital clues about the Earth's past climate.
Transporting nearly...
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RELEASE: Today as Rainforest Action Network and Awardee Naomi Klein REVEL, Primary Rainforests Continue to Be Destroyed in Their Names
Posted by Water Conservation Blog on October 12th, 2011
By Earth's Newsdesk, a project of Ecological Internet
http://www.ecoearth.info/newsdesk/
CONTACT: Dr. Glen Barry, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org
- Once again Ecological InternetÂ’s true global rainforest action network questions the dominate paradigm that primary rainforests exist to be industrially logged [search]. The Rainforest Action Network and Forest Stewardship Council are first time industrial primary forest logging which must end immediately. Standing, intact primary rainforests and all old forests must be fully protected from certified and carbon forestry, and restored to continue powering global ecosystems and advance local communities.
(Earth) - Today San Francisco based Rainforest Action Network (RAN) will throw yet another swanky celebrity filled party to REVEL and congratulate themselves for logging primary forests to protect them, and to raise further money for such "rainforest protection". RAN continues to hold to the myth that primary rainforests - 500 year old trees in millions of year old ecosystems - should be "sustainably managed" for consumption such as toilet paper and lawn furniture. Noted author Naomi Klein will be RAN's guest of honor, receive an award, and has been vocal in defending the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) brand of disaster capitalism.
Modern ecosystems feel ancient climate change effect
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 12th, 2011
Physorg: Earth's animals migrate to ensure their survival in suitable conditions. This is especially true when climate cycles switch between warm and cool periods. Now researchers in Denmark and the United Kingdom shed new light on how quickly species have had to migrate in the past in order to keep pace with the changing climate. Presented in the journal Science, the findings show how small-ranged species - which account for most of the planets biodiversity - have found a niche in areas where migration has...
Who owns Papua New Guinea’s resources boom?
Posted by Guardian: Johnny Blades on October 12th, 2011
Guardian: Peter O'Neill's first two months in office as Papua New Guinea's prime minister have seen him having to apply political damage control more often than he may have expected.
There was the tidying up after members of his new-look cabinet moved to suspend certain provincial administrations – including that of East Sepik which, as the power base of Sir Michael Somare, had just launched a legal challenge to the parliamentary ruling that dramatically ousted PNG's longtime prime minister and enabled...
Indo-French satellite to boost climate insight
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 12th, 2011
SciDev.Net: A newly launched Indo-French satellite will help scrutinise weather over the tropics in detail and permit better understanding of the monsoon, cyclones and floods.
The one-tonne 'Megha-Tropiques' (Megha means cloud in Sanskrit) was launched along with three other smaller satellites on an Indian rocket 'Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle' this week (12 October) from the Indian space port of Sriharikota, an island in the Bay of Bengal, 90 kilometres off Chennai.
The new satellites would help study...
India monsoon satellite launched
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 12th, 2011
BBC: India has successfully launched a new satellite, the Megha-Tropiques, to study the patterns of the monsoon.
The one-tonne satellite was one of four spacecraft fired into orbit on Wednesday from Sriharikota, about 80km from Madras.
The Megha-Tropiques satellite is a joint venture with France.
Its should give meteorologists fresh insight into how water moves through the atmosphere to produce the intense weather associated with monsoons.
India built the satellite platform and provided the...
Thai floods damage rice, seen delaying shipments
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 12th, 2011
Reuters: Floods have inundated farms and some rice mills in central parts of Thailand, threatening to delay at least 300,000 tonnes of exports due for shipment mainly to Indonesia and Africa this month.
Swollen rivers were hampering the movement of barges, while ships at the ports were unable to load cargoes in the face of heavy rains, three traders said on Wednesday, which will push up prices of the staple that have already been supported by a government intervention scheme.
"The situation is really...
Geek Farmers Gamble on Global Warming
Posted by Forbes: None Given on October 12th, 2011
Forbes: An alliance of data fanatics, geek farmers and high-priests of advanced computing are attempting to crack the code on the business of bad weather.
Originally established by a group of Google veterans as WeatherBill, the effort is now known the Climate Corporation and is growing by leaps and bounds. The San Francisco, CA-based company peddles a portfolio of what it calls "automated weather insurance products" for players in the $3 trillion global agriculture industry trying to reign in the risk...