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Archive for March, 2014
Burmese villagers exiled from ancestral home as fate of dam remains unclear
Posted by Guardian: Peter Hadfield on March 4th, 2014
Guardian: Lapai Zoong kicks the red dirt outside his house and complains that nothing will grow. "The situation here is hopeless," he says. "In the old village we used to grow rice, fruit and vegetables. We were happy. Here they bulldozed the land and there's no soil. Everyone wants to go back to our old village."
But 70-year-old Lapai is not allowed back to his ancestral home just 12 miles to the north, even though the massive dam that was going to flood the village is now in limbo.
The Myitsone dam...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Burmese villagers exiled from ancestral home as fate of dam remains unclearReliance on fewer crops increase climate change food security threat
Posted by Blue and Green: Tom Revell on March 4th, 2014
Blue and Green: As people from all corners of the world are living off an increasingly similar diet, decreasing crop diversity is making the global food system more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, a new study has warned.
The study, which is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, claims to be the first to quantify the effects of a trend towards a unified international diet over the last 50 years.
"Over the past 50 years, we are...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Reliance on fewer crops increase climate change food security threatBoosting Green Transition Will Improve Food Security, UN Says On Africa Environment Day
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 4th, 2014
AllAfrica: Ensuring food security is one of the most pressing challenges in Africa, which is increasingly losing ground as a result of challenges from climate change to land degradation, the top United Nations environment official today said, urging a stronger emphasis on the continent's transition to a 'green economy.' "From plugging into solar power in Algeria and Tunisia to investing in green funds in South Africa, diverse pathways to greener and more-inclusive economies are being pursued across the continent,"...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Boosting Green Transition Will Improve Food Security, UN Says On Africa Environment DayAboriginal rights a threat to Canada’s resource agenda, documents reveal
Posted by Guardian: Martin Lukacs on March 4th, 2014
Guardian: The Canadian government is increasingly worried that the growing clout of aboriginal peoples’ rights could obstruct its aggressive resource development plans, documents reveal.
Since 2008, the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs has run a risk management program to evaluate and respond to “significant risks” to its agenda, including assertions of treaty rights, the rising expectations of aboriginal peoples, and new legal precedents at odds with the government’s policies.
Yearly government reports...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Aboriginal rights a threat to Canada’s resource agenda, documents revealWater, Water, Everywhere To Green our Deserts
Posted by Inter Press Service: Hazel Henderson on March 4th, 2014
Inter Press Service: Providing water for our still growing human population is reaching crisis levels. Water is vital for agriculture, energy production and industrial processes worldwide. Floods and droughts in Asia, Latin America, Europe and the United States accompanied unprecedented typhoons and winter storms. While none could be linked directly to climate change, the debate surfaced. Mainstream media started covering these issues more broadly.
The Earth's surface is largely covered with water. So, why has the...
Now you can link UK winter deluge to climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 4th, 2014
Guardian: “You can’t link climate change to specific weather events.” That is the accepted wisdom that has been trotted out repeatedly as the wettest winter in at least 250 years battered England and Wales. But the accepted wisdom is wrong: it is perfectly possible to make that link and, as of today, you can play a part in doing so.
A new citizen science project launched by climate researchers at the University of Oxford will determine in the next month or so whether global warming made this winter’s extreme...
Home computers help scientists assess climate role in UK’s wet winter
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 4th, 2014
Guardian: Citizen scientists can help to solve a critical question raised by England's wettest winter in at least 250 years: was climate change to blame?
Spare home computer time lent to researchers at the University of Oxford will allow an intensive modelling effort to determine whether global warming made the deluge more likely.
The role of climate change in the downpours, that resulted in at least £1bn of flood damage, has been fiercely debated. The prime minister, David Cameron, told parliament he...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Home computers help scientists assess climate role in UK’s wet winterUtility Cited for Violating Pollution Law in North Carolina
Posted by New York Times: Trip Gabriel on March 4th, 2014
New York Times: North Carolina regulators said Monday that five power plants owned by Duke Energy have been cited for violating water pollution laws, three days after announcing a similar action against Duke’s plant in Eden, N.C., where 39,000 tons of coal ash fouled the Dan River last month. The citations, which charge Duke with failing to obtain storm-water permits under federal law, could lead to fines of $25,000 per day for each of the six plants. The enforcement actions by the state’s Department of Environment...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Utility Cited for Violating Pollution Law in North CarolinaWaste crime ‘costing UK over £800m a year’
Posted by BusinessGreen: None Given on March 4th, 2014
BusinessGreen: Escalating waste crime could be costing the country over £800m each year as a "culture of criminality" in parts of the waste sector forces up costs for legitimate businesses.
That is the conclusion of a new report by the Environmental Services Association Education Trust (ESAET), which added up the costs of illegal waste sites, tax evasion by waste operators deliberately misclassifying waste to avoid higher rates of landfill tax, and the clean-up costs of fly-tipping.
Its top of the range estimate...
Climate forecast for Australia: hot days, higher fire risk, more severe droughts
Posted by Guardian: Paul Farrell on March 3rd, 2014
Guardian: Australia’s temperature will continue to warm leading to decreases in rainfall in southern Australia, increasing numbers of hot days and higher fire risks and more severe drought conditions, according to the 2014 State of the Climate report.
The report is a joint undertaking by the CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology, and found that Australia’s temperature is predicted to rise by 0.6C to 1.5C by 2030; in comparison, between 1910 and 1990 the temperature rose by 0.6C.
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate forecast for Australia: hot days, higher fire risk, more severe droughts