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Archive for October, 2014
Regreening program to restore one-sixth of Ethiopia’s land
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 30th, 2014
Guardian: Fifteen years years ago the villages around Abrha Weatsbha in northern Ethiopia were on the point of being abandoned. The hillsides were barren, the communities, plagued by floods and droughts, needed constant food aid, and the soil was being washed away. Today, Abrha Weatsbha in the Tigray region is unrecognisable and an environmental catastrophe has been averted following the planting of many millions of tree and bush seedlings. Wells that were dry have been recharged, the soil is in better shape,...
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China’s growth-obsessed officials ignoring green policies: parliament
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 30th, 2014
Reuters: Local officials determined to make their economies bigger at any cost are ignoring Beijing's push to cut hazardous air pollution, opting instead to expand heavy industries and cut clean energy from the grid, a Chinese parliamentary report said.
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's parliament, dispatched a team of inspectors to 10 cities and provinces from May to September to oversee the implementation of new pollution policies.
The team found some local officials...
Australia: Abbot Point: study on dumping spoil in wetlands not required, Hunt says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 29th, 2014
Guardian: The federal government has waived the need for a full environmental impact study into the dumping of dredging spoil onto sensitive wetlands under the plan to expand the Abbot Point coal port in Queensland.
The federal environment minister, Greg Hunt, has agreed to a request by Queensland’s deputy premier, Jeff Seeney, to assess the controversial project using only paperwork from a discredited original plan to dump spoil in Great Barrier Reef waters.
The Australian Greens and environmental groups...
Solving salt water contamination in Bangladesh
Posted by SciDevNet: None Given on October 29th, 2014
SciDevNet: Salt water has contaminated the drinking water in the Dacope district, a coastal region of Bangladesh. The increase in salinity, linked to rising sea levels associated with climate change, threatens the health of many people, particularly women and babies.
To deal with the problem, Bangladeshi and UK scientists are moving on two fronts. First, they are collecting more evidence on the links between climate change and water quality, and the resulting health impact. This kind of data might help promote...
Even Worldwide Pandemic Can’t Cull Unsustainable Human Population
Posted by Nature World: None Given on October 28th, 2014
Nature World: Environmental scientists for the most part agree that the human population is growing at an unsustainable rate, to the point that even fertility restrictions and a worldwide pandemic couldn't solve the problem, according to new research.
There are currently more than seven billion people on Earth. And despite the United Nation's (UN) belief that humanity would level off, so to speak, a report published just last month shows that the 21st century may get a lot more crowded than previously thought....
As Great Barrier Reef Ails, Australia Scrambles To Save It
Posted by National Public Radio: Steve Dorsey on October 28th, 2014
National Public Radio: The Great Barrier Reef has long been in trouble. One Australian government report in 2012 estimated the reef had lost more than half its coral since 1985.
Now it's in such bad shape that the United Nations has warned it could list the World Heritage site as "in danger" next year. The Australian government is considering a new 35-year plan to rescue the reef.
Nearly 2 million tourists travel to the reef each year. Many of them scuba dive to explore this expansive water world up close. It's what...
Melting Cave Ice Is Taking Ancient Climate Data with It
Posted by Scientific American: Lucas Laursen on October 28th, 2014
Scientific American: On a recent visit to Crystal Ice Cave in Idaho, climate and cave researchers had to wade through frigid, knee-deep water to reach the ice formations that give the cave its name. Cavers are good-humored about the hardships of underground exploration, but this water was chilling for more than one reason: it was carrying away some of the very clues they had come to study.
Ice is an invaluable source of information about the earth's past. Pollen trapped in ice from polar ice caps and mountaintop glaciers...
Artists, musicians, writers protest government plans for massive coal plant in the Sundarbans
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 28th, 2014
Mongabay: Over the weekend, Bangladeshi artists performed plays, sang songs, and recited poetry all in a bid to protect the Sundarbans-the world's biggest mangrove forest-from the threat of a massive coal plant. Construction is already under way on the hugely controversial Rampal coal plant, a 1,320 megawatt plant set just 14 kilometers from the edge of the Sundarbans.
"We have many alternatives to produce electricity but no alternative to Sundarbans," said Anu Muhammad at the cultural protest. A renowned...
With storms intensifying, Milwaukee braces for bigger floods
Posted by Daily Climate: Brian Bienkowski on October 28th, 2014
Daily Climate: Back when Pabst Blue Ribbon was for working folks -- not hipsters -- the brewery was a Milwaukee icon, bustling along the western edge of the city's central business district.
Hitting hard times, Pabst left town a couple decades ago. But now the site infamous for cheap lager has permeable roads, abundant gardens and an underground tunnel to catch excess rainwater.
It has re-emerged a symbol of how Milwaukee is greening to keep pace with a changing climate.
The site's developer, Joseph J....
Unsustainable population rise is unstoppable, scientists warn
Posted by Blue and Green: Tom Revell on October 28th, 2014
Blue and Green: Not even a global one-child policy or a devastating third world war would reduce the human population to sustainable levels, a study has found.
The paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, concludes that population controls or a global disaster cannot stop the global population reaching 10 billion or more by 2100.
A conflict on the scale of the first two world wars would barely register a blip on the population trajectory, while restrictions on the numbers of...