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Archive for January, 2013
Riding the apocalypse
Posted by Canberra Times: None Given on January 31st, 2013
Canberra Times: Afew years ago, I took part in a panel discussion on the future as part of the Brisbane Festival of Ideas. My two co-panellists quickly declared their optimism (although both were fully across the challenges). I'd decided that morning to ''come out'' and admit I was a pessimist. ''Pessimist'' was a pejorative term, I said, but pessimists had the consolation of being right.
I realised more than five years ago, with the evidence of the growing effects of global warming, that we'd left it too late;...
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India to meet domestic mitigation goal of reducing emissions by 2020: PM
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 31st, 2013
Asian News International: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Thursday said India is committed to meeting its domestic mitigation goal of reducing the emissions intensity of our GDP by 20-25 percent by 2020. Addressing at the Inaugural Session of Delhi Sustainable Development Summit here, Dr. Singh said: "Our country is committed to meeting its domestic mitigation goal of reducing the emissions intensity of our GDP by 20-25 percent by year 2020 compared with 2005 levels. We have already taken several major steps on the...
Chinese protesters plead guilty after water pollution riot in Qidong
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 31st, 2013
Associated Press: Fourteen people have pleaded guilty to encouraging a riot in eastern China last year in which scores of police were hurt and the local Communist party chief was stripped half-naked in a mass protest that ultimately forced the scrapping of a wastewater treatment project.
The official Xinhua news agency said the defendants were prosecuted on charges of encouraging mass violence against government buildings and intentionally damaging property in Qidong city in Jiangsu province, north of Shanghai....
Shell Case Shows Failure of Nigerian Judiciary
Posted by Inter Press Service: Toye Olori on January 31st, 2013
Inter Press Service: The decision by The Hague over Shell's liability for polluting in the Niger Delta shows that justice is possible - but it is extremely hard to achieve if you are taking on a massive multinational, says Amnesty International's Africa programme director Audrey Gaughran.
While The Hague dismissed most of the landmark case brought by the four Nigerian farmers and environmental pressure group, Friends of the Earth, against a subsidiary of international oil giant Royal Dutch Shell, the judges ordered...
India’s Prime Minister Asks Developed Nations to Use Less Energy and Water
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 31st, 2013
New York Times: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday called on developed nations to strive for gains in energy efficiency and to reduce their environmental impact to help protect the world’s poor from a growing paucity of electricity and water.
“There are genuine concerns that in an unequal world, scarcity of resources would affect the poor more adversely,” Mr. Singh said at the inaugural session of the three-day Delhi Sustainable Development Summit, an annual international conference. “Key resources will...
Climate vulnerability assessments may fall short for migratory species
Posted by Ars Technica: None Given on January 30th, 2013
Ars Technica: It's been estimated that up to one in ten species could go extinct by the end of this century as a result of climate change. Conservation professionals are working hard to understand how climate change will influence species and to develop strategies to manage the risks, but migratory species pose a particular challenge. These long-distance migrants spend parts of their annual cycle in different habitats, at different latitudes, and often cross geopolitical boundaries.
Migration is an adaptive...
Argentine court upholds freeze on Chevron assets
Posted by Reuters: Guido Nejamkis on January 30th, 2013
Reuters: An Argentine appeals court has upheld a freeze on up to $19 billion worth of assets held by U.S. oil major Chevron Corp in Argentina as part of an environmental lawsuit by Ecuadorean villagers, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers said on Wednesday.
An Ecuadorean court last year ordered Chevron to pay the enormous sum for contamination of watersheds over nearly 30 years that the plaintiffs say sickened indigenous tribes people and farmers in the Ecuadorean Amazon.
Chevron, which vowed to fight the...
English Heritage launches study into effect of bridges on floods
Posted by Guardian: Maev Kennedy on January 30th, 2013
Guardian: Ancient stone bridges with water pouring over the parapets, their narrow arches choked by fallen trees and debris washed down swollen rivers, have been recurring images in reporting the myriad floods of the past sodden years – and the bridges have often been blamed for damming the rivers' flow and causing misery to nearby communities.
As torrential rains wash away the snows, causing more floods in many parts of the country, English Heritage is launching a pilot study to establish whether the 7,000...
Mississippi River barge backup tops 1,000 after oil spill
Posted by Reuters: Karl Plume on January 30th, 2013
Reuters: More than 1,000 barges were backed up on the Mississippi River near Vicksburg, Mississippi, on Wednesday after a weekend barge accident and oil spill forced the closure of the major shipping artery, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
An 80,000-gallon tanker barge that struck a railroad bridge on Sunday continued to leak crude oil, but cleanup crews have deployed 2,800 feet of boom to contain the spill and airborne spotters have not detected any oil outside the containment area.
Response crews will...
5 Sobering Realities about Global Water Security
Posted by World Resources Institute: None Given on January 30th, 2013
World Resources Institute: Some people say that water is the oil of the 21st Century. If only water were that simple.
Water is very complicated. It’s affected by large-scale issues like climate change and globalization. International commerce moves virtual water (the water it takes to grow or produce a product) from farms in Brazil to grocery stores in China and Egypt.
But water is also inherently local, impacted by site-specific weather, geography, and other environmental and land use conditions. Managing and using...