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Archive for April 17th, 2013
Colorado River Tops America’s Most Endangered Rivers List
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on April 17th, 2013
Environment News Service: "Dammed, diverted, and drained ... to a trickle" and facing another drought this summer, the Colorado River tops American Rivers` annual list of America`s Most Endangered Rivers, the nonprofit river advocacy group announced today.
From its headwaters in Rocky Mountain National Park, the Colorado River flows for 1,450 miles through seven U.S. and two Mexican states, sustaining tens of millions of people as well as endangered fish and wildlife.
With its dramatic canyons, including the Grand Canyon,...
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Residents of N.Y. Town Free to Express Worries About Fracking Again
Posted by OnEarth: Scott Dodd on April 17th, 2013
OnEarth: Back in February I wrote about a town in upstate New York that wanted its residents to just shut up about the potential hazards of fracking in their community. The details:
I had never heard of a town that actually imposed a gag order on its own citizens, until the Natural Resources Defense Council (which publishes OnEarth) received complaints about a town board in Sanford, New York (population: 2,400), that told its residents they could no longer bring up concerns about fracking at town meetings....
Giant Snails Invading Florida, “Major Threat” to Crops
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 17th, 2013
National Geographic: A new outbreak of giant, disease-carrying snails is threatening Florida's crops, experts say.
The giant African land snail is finding itself right at home in the Sunshine State, whose hot and humid climate resembles the species' tropical Nigerian habitat. elated: "Giant Snails, Once a Delicacy, Overrun Brazil.")
Now found throughout the world, including the contiguous United States and Hawaii, these invasive plant-eaters pose a particular danger in Florida because of its vibrant agricultural...
Environmentalists appeal decision in fracking suit
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 17th, 2013
Associated Press: A coalition of environmental and landowner groups is appealing a district judge's decision that individual ingredients used in hydraulic fracturing can be protected under Wyoming's trade secrets law.
The Casper Star-Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/174zBna ) Wednesday the group, which includes the Powder River Basin Resource Council and the Wyoming Outdoor Council, appealed the decision by Natrona County District Judge Catherine Wilking to the Wyoming Supreme Court.
Hydraulic fracturing, or...
None of the world’s top industries would be profitable if they paid for the natural capital they use
Posted by Grist: David Roberts on April 17th, 2013
Grist: The notion of "externalities" has become familiar in environmental circles. It refers to costs imposed by businesses that are not paid for by those businesses. For instance, industrial processes can put pollutants in the air that increase public health costs, but the public, not the polluting businesses, picks up the tab. In this way, businesses privatize profits and publicize costs.
While the notion is incredibly useful, especially in folding ecological concerns into economics, I`ve always had...
Coelacanth genome informs land vertebrate evolution
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 17th, 2013
ScienceDaily: An historic fish, with an intriguing past, now has had its genome sequenced, providing a wealth of information on the genetic changes that accompanied the adaptation from an aquatic environment to land. A team of international researchers led by Chris Amemiya, PhD, Director of Molecular Genetics at the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) and Professor of Biology at the University of Washington, will publish "The African coelacanth genome provides insights into tetrapod evolution"...
Voice Your Concerns About Keystone XL Pipeline: Six Days Left to Comment
Posted by EcoWatch: May Boeve, 350.org on April 17th, 2013
EcoWatch: From the beginning, we`ve known that Keystone XL pipeline would be a climate disaster. We took James Hansen`s words seriously when he said that exploiting the tar sands would mean "essentially game over" for the climate.
Yesterday, a new report showed that it could be worse than we thought.
The report--the most comprehensive study of Keystone`s climate impacts yet--shows that the pipeline would carry 181 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, equal to 51 coal plants worth of carbon....
Land ‘grabs’ expand to Europe as big business blocks entry to farming
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 17th, 2013
Guardian: Vast tracts of land in Europe are being "grabbed" by large companies, speculators, wealthy foreign buyers and pension funds in a similar way to in developing countries, according to a major new report.
Chinese corporations, Middle Eastern sovereign wealth and hedge funds, as well as Russian oligarchs and giant agribusiness have all stepped up land acquisitions in the past decade in a process that the report says is preventing ordinary people farming, and concentrating agriculture and land wealth...
Kenya: Small farmers take the stage to sway climate justice debate
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on April 17th, 2013
AlertNet: In northern Kenya's impoverished and drought-prone Turkana region, a group called Kenya Climate Justice Women Champions is encouraging local women to grow hardy, nutritious crops like amaranth, sorghum and cassava, to improve their own health and that of their children. The vitamins and minerals from these foods means mothers are less likely to die in childbirth and can better breastfeed their babies. The micronutrients help kids avoid growing up stunted and give them the energy to attend school....
Scientists Raise Questions on Drought and Climate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 17th, 2013
Climate Central: When the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a report on April 11 that seemed to exonerate global warming as a cause of last summer's historic drought, a reasonable person might conclude that global warming had been exonerated. After all, NOAA is a highly respected organization, and the report's lead author, meteorologist Martin Hoerling, is a widely respected scientist.
Judging by the reactions of other respected scientists, though, the idea that global warming is off the hook...