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Archive for February 1st, 2012
Israel: Climate Change and Forest Fires Conference
Posted by Jerusalem Post: None Given on February 1st, 2012
Jerusalem Post: On Thursday, January 26, scientists and foresters participating in the Climate Change and Forest Fires Conference organized by KKL-JNF, in cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection, visited the Carmel Forest. KKL-JNF Chief Forester David Brand welcomed the participants, many who came from around the world, and provided professional background information during the tour.
The group was greeted at a site overlooking Nahal Bustan by KKL-JNF Northern Region Director Dr. Omri Boneh,...
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China’s disregard for the environment shows no sign of improving
Posted by Telegraph: David Eimer on February 1st, 2012
Telegraph: China continues to struggle to balance the demands of growing its economy and lifting more of its 1.3 billion-plus people out of poverty, with the need to protect what is left of its environment.
Decades of loosely-regulated industrialisation has rendered vast swathes of China's land and waterways toxic. One-third of the Yellow River is not only incapable of supporting marine life but is so deadly it can't be used even for industrial purposes. The pollution that belches from coal-fired power plants...
REDD: Saving the Amazon rainforest
Posted by GlobalPost: Simeon Tegel on February 1st, 2012
GlobalPost: International negotiators are closing in on a new solution for combating climate change -- and saving the world's remaining forests.
Some 20 percent of all greenhouse-gas emissions now come from deforestation, especially in the lush, green band of tropical rainforest that circles the earth.
That is more than from global transport.
So representatives from member states involved in UN climate negotiations are attempting to hammer out a way to make it more profitable to protect forests than...
Argentina tries to combat a drier future
Posted by AlertNet: Ana Belluscio on February 1st, 2012
AlertNet: For almost two months, an intense drought has been damaging crops in Argentina, especially corn and soy, threatening the economic and food security of a country where agriculture and livestock account for approximately 10 percent of GDP.
German Cuadrada rents 220 hectares (540 acres) of land in Pozo del Molle, Cordoba province, where he grows maize and soybeans. Since December he has lost his entire maize crop and part of his soybeans.
"If we don't receive a 100-150 mm (4-6 inches) rainfall...
20 tons of cadmium poisoning vital Chinese river
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 1st, 2012
Telegraph: Even considering China's notoriously poor environmental record, the spill in Guangxi Province is huge with officials describing it as "unprecedented".
In 2005, the discharge of just over 6 tons of cadmium into a tributary of the Pearl River in Guangdong Province prompted a massive pollution scare and cut off water supplies for over 100,000 people.
The scale of the disaster in Guangxi is far larger, with millions of people already affected. Experts from China's Ministry of Environmental Protection...
Pythons are squeezing the life out of the Everglades, scientists warn
Posted by Independent: Guy Adams on February 1st, 2012
Independent: If you go down to the Florida Everglades today, you're in for a big surprise: in the past 12 years, 90 per cent of the wild mammals which once roamed freely through the National Park have gone.
Snakes are to blame, say scientists. Big ones. Specifically: an exponentially-growing population of Giant Burmese Pythons, which can grow up to 16 feet long and have a huge appetite.
The creatures were first discovered in the park in 2000. They got there after being released into the wild by overwhelmed...