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Archive for September 22nd, 2012
Gas drilling protests held in US, other countries
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 22nd, 2012
Associated Press: Demonstrators in the United States and other countries protested Saturday against the natural gas drilling process known as fracking that they say threatens public health and the environment.
Participants in the "Global Frackdown" campaign posted photos on social media websites showing mostly small groups.
But organizer Mark Schlosberg said Saturday afternoon he thought the protests were going well and he pointed to photos showing larger demonstrations in South Africa and France as well as...
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Shell attacked over four-year delay in Niger oil spill clean-up
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 22nd, 2012
Guardian: Two large crude oil spills from Shell pipelines in the Niger delta four years ago have still not been cleaned up by the company despite an outcry by the UN, Amnesty International and the Nigerian government about pollution in the area.
Shell, which made £19.1bn profit last year, accepted responsiblity and pledged to fully restore the damage done by spills from its rusting pipelines near the Ogoni village of Bodo in 2008.
But an assessment has found only small pilot schemes were started and...
Scientists trace climate change in cave’s stalagmites
Posted by Salt Lake Tribune: Judy Fahys on September 22nd, 2012
Salt Lake Tribune: For seemingly endless miles in every direction above and around the caves, drought is blighting the simmering-hot desert. In contrast, life inside the mile-long cave network relies on steady 50-degree temperatures and dank air.
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But Gretchen Baker, an author and park ecologist, explains that inside and outside are intimately related and always have been. To see a sign of the record drought outside, she shows visitors to two popular...
World Rhinocerous Day Pokes At A Serious Issue
Posted by National Public Radio: Shula Neuman on September 22nd, 2012
National Public Radio: If you had a sudden urge to put a horn on your head, not use your knees and chew on some leaves, you may be catching the spirit of World Rhino Day. It's being celebrated all over the world with art shows, auctions, walk-a-thons and lectures with the theme of "Five Rhino Species Forever."
The effort is to raise awareness for the threats posed to the rhinoceroses who are hunted for their horns, which are believed to have medicinal properties. The commemorative day is only in its second year, but...
Synchronized Flushing In Zimbabwe Is Not A New Olympic Sport
Posted by National Public Radio: Shula Neuman on September 22nd, 2012
National Public Radio: After months of severe water shortages, the city's authorities have imposed 72 hours of water rationing a week. Two of Bulawayo's five supply dams have dried up because of the drought, according to the online version of Africa Review. So, when water is restored to the city's 1 million residents today, the city council has asked everyone to pitch and engage in "The Big Flush," at 7:30 p.m. local time.
The AP explains that synchronized flushing will clear waste that has been accumulating in the...
A Lake of Hope and Conflict
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 22nd, 2012
Inter Press Service: Parvez Ahmad Dar climbs three hours to reach the hilltop, generator-equipped tourist centre in Ajaf village, 35 kilometres from Srinagar, to recharge his mobile phone.
The 46-year-old president of the Wular Valley People's Welfare Forum is in high demand as an activist and organiser -- he cannot allow the long power outages in northern India's Kashmir Valley to cut off communication with his constituency.
The Forum was set up earlier this year to protect livelihoods dependent on the massive...
Water for Phosphate, Not People
Posted by Inter Press Service: Ihsan Bouabid on September 22nd, 2012
Inter Press Service: Gafsa region in the south of Tunisia was once an oasis; today the phosphate industry has plunged it into a water crisis.
"This summer for the first time we had water cuts on a daily basis," says Lakhdar Souid, coordinator of the Blue Plan for a Green Tunisia. "Gafsa (343 km south of capital Tunis) and the neighbouring towns were deeply affected."
The Blue Plan, or the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP), a joint initiative of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the European...