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Archive for March 26th, 2013
Group Warns of “Natural Resources Giveaway” in Latin America
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 26th, 2013
Inter Press Service: Researchers have unveiled new data warning that governments in Latin America are infringing on the rights of their indigenous populations in a bid to fuel development through the extraction of natural resources.
The Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), a Washington-based organisation, says it has documented a "natural resources giveaway" in Latin America, which highlights how an outdated development model is trampling on human rights and the environment throughout much of the region.Governments...
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Peru declares state of emergency due to oil contamination in Amazon
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 26th, 2013
Mongabay: The Peruvian government has declared an environmental state of emergency after finding elevated levels of lead, barium, and chromium in the Pastaza River in the Amazon jungle, reports the Associated Press. Indigenous peoples in the area have been complaining for decades of widespread contamination from oil drilling, but this is the first time the Peruvian government has acknowledged their concerns. Currently 84 percent of the Peruvian Amazon is covered by potential oil blocs, leading to conflict...
Concerns Mount as U.S. Plans Major Natural Gas Exports
Posted by Inter Press Service: Carey L. Biron on March 26th, 2013
Inter Press Service: Environmentalists and others here are reacting with concern to a surprise announcement on Monday of a major deal that would see U.S. natural gas exported to the United Kingdom, marking the first time that such sales have been permitted.
The agreement, between the UK energy company Centrica and the U.S.-based Cheniere Energy Partners, would see more than 1.7 million metric tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year shipped to the United Kingdom, starting in 2018. The U.K.'s gas supply has been...
Is Shrinking Sea Ice Behind Chilly Spring?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 26th, 2013
National Geographic: First it was the fault of Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog who mistakenly forecasted a quick end to winter. Now climate scientists are saying that Arctic sea ice-or the lack of it-is a driving force behind the Northern Hemisphere's unseasonably cold spring.
As Northern Hemisphere temperatures remain below normal more than a week into the official start of spring, a team of meteorologists and climate scientists are pointing to recent research that suggests sea ice cover is a likely culprit.
Recent...
Homeowner groups can support native species in suburbia
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 26th, 2013
ScienceDaily: Although it's known that construction of homes in suburban areas can have negative impacts on native plants and animals, a recent study led by University of Massachusetts Amherst ecologist Susannah Lerman suggests that well- managed residential development such as provided by homeowners associations (HOA) can in fact support native wildlife.
For their recent study published in Ecology and Society, Lerman and her colleagues Kelly Turner and Christofer Bang of Arizona State University (ASU), Phoenix,...
Decreased water flow may be trade-off for more productive forest
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 26th, 2013
ScienceDaily: Bubbling brooks and streams are a scenic and much loved feature of forest ecosystems, but long-term data at the U.S. Forest Service's Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest suggests that more productive forests might carry considerably less water, according to a study published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Mark Green, a research hydrologist with the Forest Service's Northern Research Station and an assistant professor at Plymouth State University, is the lead...
1,000 dead ducks found in Chinese river
Posted by Mother Nature Network: Melissa Breyer on March 26th, 2013
Mother Nature Network: As sanitation workers conclude the cleanup of 16,000 dead pigs from the Huangpu River in Shanghai, the country faces a new gruesome discovery — around 1,000 dead ducks have been found in the Nanhe River in Pengshan county, Sichuan province. Unlike the Huangpu River, the Nanhe River is not used for drinking water. Liang Weidong, a deputy director in Pengshan's publicity department, said in an interview on China National Radio that authorities first heard about the ducks in southwest China on Tuesday....
US seeks land conservation to adapt to climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 26th, 2013
USA Today: Climate change threatens U.S. fish, wildlife and plants, including brook trout, the lesser prairie-chicken and the Joshua tree, the Obama administration said Tuesday in releasing its first national strategy on climate adaptation. "Flowers are blooming earlier. Plants and animals are moving" to new places to cope with rising sea levels, higher temperatures, loss of sea ice and other climate effects, said Dan Ashe, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which co-authored the strategy. Ashe...
China’s exploitation of Latin American natural resources raises concern
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 26th, 2013
Guardian: Amazonian forest cleared in Ecuador, a mountain levelled in Peru, the Cerrado savannah converted to soy fields in Brazil and oil fields under development in Venezuela's Orinoco belt.
These recent reports of environmental degradation in Latin America may be thousands of miles apart in different countries and for different products, but they have a common cause: growing Chinese demand for regional commodities.
The world's most populous nation has joined the ranks of wealthy countries in Europe,...
United Kingdom: ‘Disappointment’ at failure to reach flood insurance deal
Posted by Telegraph: Jessica Winch on March 26th, 2013
Telegraph: The Association of British Insurers (ABI) and the Government have been in talks over a new strategy, which would provide a pot of money raised from insurance premiums for paying claims in the event of serious flooding.
Mr Paterson told the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee: "We really are working on this in a very intense manner, but there is no point coming up with an agreement just for the sake of it. We've got to get it right.
He went on: "I think they are as disappointed as...