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Archive for December, 2013
Amazon Deforestation Threatens South America Water Security
Posted by Climate News Network: Paul Brown on December 30th, 2013
Climate News Network: The continued destruction of the Amazon to exploit its resources for mining, agriculture and hydro-power is threatening the future of the South American continent, according to a report by campaigning groups using the latest scientific data.
Five countries--Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru--share the Amazon, and for all of them the forest area occupies more than 40 percent of their territory. All face threats to their water supply, energy production, food and health.
In addition,...
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Seven wonders of a hopeful world
Posted by Ensia: None Given on December 30th, 2013
Ensia: Seven billion people and growing. A quarter of them living in poverty. Unsustainable -- and unequal -- resource use. Landscapes vanishing, along with their nonhuman inhabitants. Global warming upending natural systems. These are tough times on planet Earth. But while sustainability remains far from a global edict, hopeful signs of progress are poking up around the world. In some places, in some cases, we are doing things right, taking steady steps toward a smarter future. Here we offer seven of them...
The Benefits of Laundry-to-Landscape Greywater Systems
Posted by Environmental News Network: Madeline Valinski on December 30th, 2013
Environmental News Network: Approximately 30% of household water use is for outdoor use in the form of garden irrigation. Outdoor water usage is very seasonal, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and outdoor water usage is highest when water availability is the lowest due to drought conditions and heat. The top three uses of water in the household are for landscaping, sewage, and laundry. Yet a simple laundry-to-landscape system could reduce one of these high water wasters. A laundry-to-landscape system might...
Global public water alliance must not be allowed to evaporate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 30th, 2013
Guardian: Over the past 30 years, there has been an almost religious commitment to the privatisation of water on the part of the World Bank, international donors, and many UN agencies. Millions are spent each year by these institutions on pro-privatisation conferences, workshops and publications, not to mention loans and grants to make it happen.
It is refreshing, therefore, to know that there is at least one UN institution committed to improving public water provision. Founded by UN-Habitat in 2009, the...
Waiting for the Rains, Zambia Grapples With Climate Change
Posted by Inter Press Service: Ernest Chiombe on December 30th, 2013
Inter Press Service: It is seven in the morning and Georgina Musende, 56, of Kamanga Township, which just lies east of the Zambian capital Lusaka, is already sweating as she digs into the dry earth. Every time the hoe hits the ground, the dust engulfs her.
But Musende, a single parent who supports her four children and 10 grandchildren, is not concerned about the scorching 35-degree Celsius heat nor the dust. She is worried that the delayed onset of the rainy season will affect her maize production.
"In the past,...
Afganistan: Barren Fields Recover From Taliban
Posted by Inter Press Service: Ashfaq Yusufzai on December 30th, 2013
Inter Press Service: Ahmed Nawaz, a 55-year-old farmer in northwestern Pakistan's Swat valley, rues the day the Taliban arrived in his beautiful land, known for its rolling mountains, lush fields and blossoming orchards. "The earth became barren," he says.
"Our agricultural income used to be enough for the entire extended family, but for two years after the advent of the Taliban in 2007, we couldn't cultivate our lands," Nawaz tells IPS.
Swat is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The Taliban had a strong presence...
Natural Defenses Can Best Protect Coasts Says Study
Posted by Climate News Network: Tim Radford on December 29th, 2013
Climate News Network: It isn't just the catastrophic storms and tropical cyclones that threaten disaster for the world's coastal cities. Simple, insidious things like sea level rise, coastal subsidence and the loss of wetlands could bring the sea water coursing through city streets in the decades to come.
Aerial photo of Mantoloking, N.J., after Hurricane Sandy. Many cities are on low-lying coastal plains or on river estuaries and are therefore at risk as sea levels rise because of global warming.
Jonathan Woodruff...
It won’t be long before the victims of climate change make the west pay
Posted by Guardian: Chris Huhne on December 29th, 2013
Guardian: Would you enjoy the cosiness and warmth of Christmas with your children or grandchildren just that little bit less if you knew that other people's children were dying because of it? More than four million children under five years old are now at risk of acute malnutrition in the Sahel, an area of the world that is one of the clearest victims of the rich world's addiction to fossil fuels.
About 18 million people in the Sahel – the vulnerable pan-African strip of land that runs from Senegal to Sudan...
Is LNG fracking worth its weight in water?
Posted by Globe and Mail: Justine Hunter on December 29th, 2013
Globe and Mail: More than seven billion litres of water were used for fracking in B.C. last year. If the government's liquefied natural gas sector takes off, the water needed to get shale gas out of the ground in the northeast corner of the province will likely increase by 500 per cent, or more.
Much of that water is consumed with only minimal regulation. A new law set to be introduced in the spring would, for the first time in B.C., impose fees for the use of groundwater and allow for government to restrict...
Australia: Brisbane just misses out on hottest day of year
Posted by Sydney Morning Herald: Cameron Atfield on December 29th, 2013
Sydney Morning Herald: Dangerous storms are set to provide an unwelcome form of relief from Brisbane's hot conditions, with two cells bearing down on the city's metropolitan area.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a warning for "very dangerous thunderstorms with destructive winds" moving north-east from near Beaudesert and Jimboomba.
"Very dangerous thunderstorms are forecast to affect Beenleigh, Logan City and Mount Cotton by 5.15pm and Cleveland, Wynnum and southern waters of Moreton Bay by 5.45pm," the Bureau...