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Archive for June 20th, 2012
Activists stage colorful anti-Rio+20 demo in central Rio
Posted by Agence France-Presse: Claire de Oliveira and Javier Tovar on June 20th, 2012
Agence France-Presse: With placards, balloons and chain saws, thousands of militants staged a good-natured and colorful protest in central Rio Wednesday against the UN Rio+20 summit on a 'green' economy.
The march drew environmentalists, workers, civil servants, black militants, homosexuals, indigenous peoples and feminists on the day world leaders kicked off the UN summit on sustainable development.
Organizers said 50,000 people turned up but police estimate the crowd at no more than 20,000.
The protesters came...
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Deadly Colorado wildfire surpasses 100-square-mile mark
Posted by Reuters: Keith Coffman on June 20th, 2012
Reuters: A deadly, stubborn wildfire that ranks as the most destructive on record for Colorado has scorched more than 100 square miles (259 square km) of rugged mountain terrain northwest of Denver, but a cool snap on Wednesday gave fire crews a chance to take the offensive.
The so-called High Park Fire already is blamed for one death and has consumed 189 homes in the 12 days since it was ignited by lightning at the edge of the Roosevelt National Forest, and authorities say they expect property losses...
Fire risk to increase in the Amazon rainforest
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 20th, 2012
Mongabay: The risk of fire could increase across large parts of the Amazon rainforest due to increasing incident of drought, expansion of road networks, and rural outmigration, said a scientist speaking at the annual meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) in Bonito, Brazil.
Maria Uriarte of Columbia University presented research on fire occurrence and frequency in the Peruvian Amazon using data from NASA's MODIS system. She and her colleagues found that fire risk increases...
U.S. Interior needs to strengthen fracking rules: lawmakers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 20th, 2012
Reuters: U.S. Democrats in the House of Representatives urged the Obama administration on Wednesday to expand proposed regulations for fracking for natural gas, saying companies should be required to reveal the chemicals to be used in the process prior to drilling.
Calling the Interior Department's draft rules for fracking on federal lands "a good first step," a group of 38 lawmakers called for disclosure of chemicals before and after drilling takes place.
"Increasing transparency by requiring the disclosure...
Imperial drops Montana mountain pass megaload plan
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 20th, 2012
Reuters: Imperial Oil Ltd formally withdrew a highly contested plan to truck huge loads of equipment over a mountain pass on the Idaho/Montana border, having already moved them to its Alberta oil sands project via alternative routes.
According to a court filing on Wednesday by lawyers for the Montana Department of Transportation, the MDT would not conduct any more analysis of the "megaloads" plan because Exxon Mobil-owned Imperial had pulled its application for permits.
Environmentalists who worried...
Senate Move to Reverse Mercury Rule Fails
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 20th, 2012
New York Times: A Senate resolution seeking to reverse federal regulations limiting emissions of mercury and other toxic substances from coal-burning power plants failed to win passage on Wednesday. The resolution, introduced by Senator James M. Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, won support from 46 senators; 53 voted against it.
The Environmental Protection Agency rules, issued late last year, have been criticized by some utilities, coal producers, Congressional Republicans and other foes as overly broad and potentially...
Warm Snap Turned Antarctica Green Around the Edges
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 20th, 2012
National Geographic: An unexpectedly warm period about 15 million years ago temporarily thawed Antarctica, turning the continent green around its edges, a new study says.
Antarctica developed its ice sheets about 34 million years ago. But during the more recent warm period, the interior landscape would've resembled tundra found in parts of modern-day Chile and New Zealand, and the coasts would've been lined with beeches and a type of conifer.
The surprising evidence comes from "abundant" remains of leaf waxes in...
Rio+20 summit starts under cloud of criticism
Posted by Reuters: Paulo Prada and Valerie Volcovici on June 20th, 2012
Reuters: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff welcomed world leaders to a rainy Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday under a cloud of criticism that a three-day summit is falling far short of its promise to establish clear goals for sustainable development. Before the official start of the event, known as Rio+20 because of the landmark Earth Summit in the city two decades ago, Brazil convinced visiting delegations to finalize a draft declaration for their leaders. But many delegations and summit organizers - as well...
Research shows the response of the carbon cycle to climate change
Posted by Phys.Org: None Given on June 20th, 2012
Phys.Org: Marine and freshwater environments have the potential to release more carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere in a warmer climate than their land counterparts, scientists at Queen Mary, University of London have found.
In the largest ever analysis of rates of respiration, published online in the journal Nature today, scientists compared the temperature dependence of respiration between aquatic and land ecosystems.
Lead author, Dr Gabriel Yvon-Durocher from Queen Mary, University of London...
Rio+20: Ban Ki-moon warns summit over slow progress
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 20th, 2012
BBC: The UN sustainable development summit in Rio de Janeiro has formally opened with a warning from UN head Ban Ki-moon that progress on the issue is too slow.
The secretary-general told world leaders and other ministers that "words must translate into action".
On the summit's fringes, international finance institutions launched a $175bn fund to boost sustainable transport.
And the UK government announced that major businesses will have to report their carbon emissions from next year.
Mr...