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Archive for September 3rd, 2012
Peru’s environment minister hails ‘landmark’ mining reforms
Posted by Guardian: Jonathan Watts and Dan Collyns on September 3rd, 2012
Guardian: After a deadly wave of anti-mining protests, Peru's congress will vote on Tuesday on reforms aimed at restoring public confidence in the government's efforts to manage a lucrative and polluting rush for minerals that has made the country one of the fastest growing economies in South America.
There were 168 protests over natural resources in July, according to Peru's human rights ombudsman, La Defensoria del Pueblo, down from a peak of 293 in 2009.
Official figures shows 17 people have been...
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Environmental politics: green shoots
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 3rd, 2012
Guardian: Greenery is on the agenda, all right – but for the wrong reasons. The reshuffle-cum-relaunch of the government is preceded by murmurs about how there might after all need to be a third runway at Heathrow, and perhaps also a builders' charter to bulldoze Britain's way out of recession. The days when the Cameronite pitch was Vote Blue, Go Green are forgotten. Over the past year, the prime minister has downgraded a big green speech to a few brief remarks, while his chancellor has roused the Conservative...
Firefighters battle California’s Angeles National Forest blaze
Posted by Reuters: Alex Dobuzinskis on September 3rd, 2012
Reuters: A 4,000-acre (1,620-hectare) wildfire in the Angeles National Forest in Southern California has forced the evacuation of some campsites as firefighters struggle to control the blaze, authorities said on Monday.
The fire amid dry chaparral was only 5 percent contained and heavy smoke was visible from miles away. Authorities said it was not threatening any structures.
The fire broke out on Sunday in the San Gabriel Canyon area of the 655,000-acre (265,000-hectare) Angeles National Forest. About...
Canada’s Mackenzie River needs aid as climate “refrigerator”
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 3rd, 2012
Reuters: Canada's Mackenzie River basin needs better protection as a vast northern "refrigerator" slowing global climate change, experts said on Monday.
Canada's longest river also needs a unifying plan to oversee water quality, wildlife and oil pollution that would be similar to European Union directives governing rivers such as the Rhine or Danube, they said.
There is now a patchwork of government and local rules for the 1,800-km-long (1,100-mile) river that flows into the Arctic Ocean through a basin...
Wildfire in Southern California’s Angeles National Forest grows to 4,000 acres, chases out holiday campers
Posted by NBC News: None Given on September 3rd, 2012
NBC News: A wildfire in Southern California's Angeles National Forest that curt short weekend holiday plans for hikers and campers grew to 4,000 acres on Monday.
The fire, which broke out near a campground Sunday afternoon, was about 5 percent contained by Sunday morning, U.S. Forest Service officials said.
The Williams fire promoted the evacuation of about 12,000 visitors who had flocked to campgrounds for the holiday weekend, The Associated Press reported. It sent a towering plume of smoke that could...
UN launches network for sustainable development
Posted by SciDev.Net: Jan Piotrowski on September 3rd, 2012
SciDev.Net: A network of universities, research centres and technical institutions to provide practical sustainable development solutions has been launched by the UN.
The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), launched last month (9 August), will work with governments, UN agencies, the private sector and civil society organisations to identify and demonstrate new approaches to sustainable development.
Poverty alleviation, social inclusion and environmental sustainability -- three of the major...
California wildfire forces evacuation of Angeles national forest – video
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 3rd, 2012
Guardian: A wildfire rages in the hills above San Gabriel mountains in the Angeles national forest in California. Some 300 firefighters have been tackling the blaze which started near a campsite. Evacuations have been ordered in the surrounding areas as the fire has burned across more than five-and-a-half square miles
Another whale dies after Fife mass stranding that left 16 dead
Posted by Independent: Hilary Duncanson on September 3rd, 2012
Independent: A whale thought to have been one of the 10 rescued from a mass stranding on a beach has died further down the coast.
The mammal died after becoming stranded just outside the Port of Leith, near Edinburgh.
Details of the latest death come as post-mortem examinations try to determine what caused 26 whales to be stranded at Pittenweem in Fife yesterday morning, resulting in the deaths of 16 of them at the time.
Work is also under way to remove the carcasses of those that died from the Fife...
We can learn resilience from the natural world
Posted by Guardian: Andrew Simms on September 3rd, 2012
Guardian: Fire climates – places with little rainfall, lots of wind and long spells when it is hot and dry – are perfect for some species. Woodland giants like the sequoias of the west coast of North America release seed when their cones are heated to temperatures that only fire can reach. A lodgepole pine may hold its cones for half a century until the right conflagration comes along.
Big trees like firs, spruces and sequoias that live for 1,000 years or more can be extraordinarily resilient to heat and...
Kenya’s farmers spot opportunities in warming climate
Posted by AlertNet: Kagondu Njagi on September 3rd, 2012
AlertNet: For farmer Eunice Wambui, the erratic weather patterns that increasingly disrupt the crop season in her village are a headache. But the same warmer temperatures plaguing Wambui have given Philomena Nyokabi the opportunity to try her hand at horticulture.
Both women are farmers in Kenya's Rift Valley region, but while climate shifts have favoured Nyokabi's newfound niche cultivating fruit and vegetables, Wambui struggles to produce a profitable harvest of corn.
At her farm in Rongai, a dry lowland...