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Archive for July 11th, 2012
Warning as floods flush out rats
Posted by BBC: Peter Jackson on July 11th, 2012
BBC: Health experts have warned homeowners to take measures to stop "huge numbers" of rats flushed out by floods from re-establishing themselves.
The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) said people clearing up after the heavy rain should block up holes and clear up waste food.
Rats washed out of sewers are infesting homes amid more daytime sightings.
The pest-control industry estimates the number of call-outs to rat-catchers in flood-hit areas is up by a quarter.
CIEH director...
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Florida Just Says No To GM Mosquitoes
Posted by redOrbit: Brett Smith on July 11th, 2012
redOrbit: Florida residents are voicing their opposition to the release of genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes by a British pest control company; despite the fact that the pesky critters were engineered to impede the spread of dengue fever.
Dengue Fever, which comes from a virus spread by the bite of an infected mosquito, was first recognized in the 1950s, yet has become a leading cause of hospitalization and death among children in tropical Asian and Latin American countries. The incidence of dengue has...
Ecological Internet: Strength, Vision, Truth-Filled Resolve to Sustain Global Ecology
Posted by Water Conservation Blog on July 11th, 2012
** UPDATE: Small Is Beautiful - 2012 Mid-Year Fundraiser - $17,855 donated from 212 donors, $7,145 yet to be raised to sustain thriftiest, leanest, most effective global network to sustain ecology ever! Please gift Earth now at http://forests.org/shared/donate/
Dear EI friends and fellow Earth lovers,
We are very pleased that Ecological Internet (EI) has raised over 2/3 of the funds required to pay for our uniquely successful biocentric activism. Despite a health related delay discussed below, we are confident that together a last minute push will raise the funds necessary to ensure our vital work for Earth continues. Please give what you can afford to EI's vigorous efforts to help sustain global ecology now at http://forests.org/shared/donate/.
For two decades this work has fearlessly identified and truthfully acted upon sufficient ecological policies to stop ecosystem destruction and maintain our shared biosphere. With strength and vision, EI has consistently staked out important and controversial ecological-science based positions necessary to achieve global ecological sustainability including protecting primary forests, ending fossil fuels, reducing over-population, resisting economic injustice, warning of geo-engineering, promoting a wisely conceived people's Earth Revolution and more. Our efforts are known and respected worldwide.
Enbridge says pipeline safe after NTSB blasts company
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 11th, 2012
Reuters: Enbridge Inc, stung by a harsh rebuke from regulators over a 2010 spill that dumped more than 20,000 barrels of crude into a Michigan river system, has stepped up inspections and is confident its pipeline network is safe, the company's incoming chief executive said on Wednesday.
Company President Al Monaco, slated to replace Pat Daniel as chief executive later this year, said Enbridge has boosted spending on safety inspections since the July 2010 spill in the Kalamazoo River.
"We'll be spending...
Texas judge rules atmosphere, air to be protected like water, may aid climate change lawsuits
Posted by Associated Press: Plushnick-Masti on July 11th, 2012
Associated Press: A Texas judge has ruled that the atmosphere and air must be protected for public use, just like water, which could help attorneys tasked with arguing climate change lawsuits designed to force states to cut emissions.
The written ruling, issued in a letter Monday by Texas District Court Judge Gisela Triana, shot down arguments by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that only water is a "public trust,' a doctrine that dates to the Roman Empire stating a government must protect certain...
Climate Change Driving Salmon Evolution
Posted by Mother Jones: Julia Whitty on July 11th, 2012
Mother Jones: Pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha): NOAA | Fisheries ServiceTwo of our hottest-button topics--climate change and evolution--are now linked by genetic research on migrating salmon.
The results, published in a new paper in the science journal Proceedings of the Royal Society, report on groundbreaking evidence that climate change is driving the evolution of pink salmon in Alaska.
DNA data clearly show a genetic selection for earlier migrating fish during the last three decades.
This is particularly...
Odds of This Summer Heat Happening Without Climate Change: 1 in 1.6 Million
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 11th, 2012
Mother Jones: You don't need science to tell you it's been really crazy hot lately in much of the United States. But seriously, it's been really stinking hot. How hot? Well, the last 12 months have been the hottest since recorded-keeping started in 1895, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Average temperatures in the continental US for the month of June were a full 2 degrees above the average for the 20th century. It was even worse in Colorado, where temperatures for June...
Every home to pay price of floods
Posted by Telegraph: Tim Ross and Robert Winnett on July 11th, 2012
Telegraph: Britain has endured the wettest start to a summer for more than a century with up to 17 inches of rain falling in some places and forecasts that the miserable conditions will continue into next month.
Thousands of properties have been flooded with insurers estimating the cost of repairs at hundreds of millions of pounds.
Now the Environment Secretary, Caroline Spelman, has disclosed she is in talks with the insurance industry about a scheme which could add 10 per cent to an average family's...
FAO Yields to Meat Industry Pressure on Climate Change
Posted by New York Times: Robert Goodland on July 11th, 2012
New York Times: Robert Goodland retired as lead environmental adviser at the World Bank Group after serving there for 23 years. His work was influential in my “We Could Be Heroes” column of May 15.
The past year has been the warmest ever in the United States, with record heat sweeping across the country last week, causing at least 52 human deaths and also harming livestock. In fact, livestock are not only harmed by human-caused global-warming greenhouse gas, but also cause about 18 percent of it, according to...
United States: How Climate Change Exacerbated the Drought
Posted by National Public Radio: Olivia Gordon on July 11th, 2012
National Public Radio: Last year, Texas suffered the worst single-year drought on record. It resulted in nearly $10 billion dollars in losses to crops, livestock and timber in Texas, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
In a new report from NOAA, “State of The Climate,” the agency suggests that thanks to climate change, Texas is likely to see more extreme heat waves and dry spells like it did last year. Twenty times more likely, in fact.
Computer simulations from scientists in...