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Lima Climate Talks Produce Weak Draft for Global Treaty
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on December 14th, 2014
Environment News Service: A climate deal reached late today by world governments at a UN conference in Lima keeps negotiations on track for a universal global climate treaty in Paris in 2015, but the weak text points to a tough year of talks ahead.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed the outcome of the UN-backed climate conference, praising delegates for setting the groundwork for a more conclusive agreement to be reached in Paris.
The UN Climate Change Conference, known also as Conference of the Parties...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Lima Climate Talks Produce Weak Draft for Global TreatyCanada: RCMP Arrest Protesters at Kinder Morgan Tar Sands Pipeline Expansion
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on November 23rd, 2014
Environment News Service: An 11-year-old girl was among those arrested Sunday as a crowd protested survey work by the Texas-based Kinder Morgan company for a tar sands pipeline expansion through the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby.
In late October, Canada`s National Energy Board granted Kinder Morgan access to begin work on their TransMountain tar sands pipeline expansion project in a designated conservation area on Burnaby Mountain.
In response, community members have established a camp and prevented Kinder Morgan from...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada: RCMP Arrest Protesters at Kinder Morgan Tar Sands Pipeline ExpansionSenate Defeats Keystone XL Pipeline Bill By One Vote
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on November 19th, 2014
Environment News Service: A measure to force approval of the Keystone tar sands pipeline was defeated in the U.S. Senate today by a vote of 59-41. Sixty votes were needed for passage of the bill.
All the Republican Senators and 11 Democrats voted for the bill. A similar measure sailed through the Republican-controlled House of Representatives last week.
When the new Congress convenes in January, with Republicans in control of both houses, the issue is certain to again be put up for a vote.
The bill, S. 2280, was...
Protected Areas Failing Earth Vulnerable Animals, Plants
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on November 5th, 2014
Environment News Service: The Wildlife Conservation Society, which manages New York City`s zoos and aquarium plus 200 million acres of protected lands around the world, today sounded the alarm that the world`s protected areas are not fully protecting the imperiled animals and plants within their borders due to lack of funding and political commitment.
In a new study, "The performance and potential of protected areas," published today in the journal "Nature," experts from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the University...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Protected Areas Failing Earth Vulnerable Animals, PlantsThe Planet Loses as Republicans Seize Control Congress
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on November 5th, 2014
Environment News Service: Voters gave Republicans control of the Senate in Tuesday’s midterm elections with a majority of 52 seats to the Democrats’ 48. The GOP also maintained control of the House of Representatives, making Congress entirely Republican. For the environment, this will mean fossil fuels such as coal and oil will receive congressional support, while renewable energy and environmental protections will be left behind. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell from the coal-producing state of Kentucky has often...
Monsoon Rains Decline as Humans Pollute the Atmosphere
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on October 3rd, 2014
Environment News Service: Emissions produced by human activities have caused annual monsoon rainfall to decline over the past 50 years, new research has found.
In the second half of the 20th century, the levels of rain recorded during the Northern Hemisphere`s summer monsoon fell by as much as 10 percent, according to researchers at the University of Edinburgh.
The scientists determined that emissions of tiny particles from human activities, known as anthropogenic aerosols, were the cause.
Levels of aerosol emissions...
Court Blocks West Virginia Mountaintop Removal Coal Mine
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on October 2nd, 2014
Environment News Service: A long court battle came to an end Tuesday when a federal judge upheld the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's denial of a permit for a large, contentious mountaintop removal coal mine in Appalachia, the Spruce No. 1 Mine.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found no merit in the coal industry's arguments that Mingo Logan coal company should be allowed to remove a West Virginia mountaintop to get at coal deposits and dump the waste soil and rock...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Court Blocks West Virginia Mountaintop Removal Coal MineRocky Mountain Forests Vanishing as Planet Heats Up
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on September 10th, 2014
Environment News Service: Climate change could kill up to 90 percent of the forests covering the Rocky Mountains, warned the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists today in a new study based in part on projections made by the U.S. Forest Service.
Extreme heat and drought, more and larger wildfires over a longer fire season, and beetle infestations have killed tens of millions of trees in the Rocky Mountains over the past 15 years, according to the study, "Rocky Mountain Forests at Risk."
Large wildfires, such as the...
Thousands Rescued From Deadly Flash Floods in India, Pakistan
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on September 10th, 2014
Environment News Service: Hundreds of people have lost their lives in the the heaviest monsoon rains to fall for 50 years in the Himalayan region of Jammu & Kashmir. Thousands are still trapped on rooftops, and a massive rescue and evacuation is in operation
After three days, thousands are still trapped on rooftops, and a massive rescue and evacuation operation by the National Disaster Response Force and the Indian Armed Forces in the flooded Kashmir valley is in full swing with more helicopters, boats and rescue materials...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Thousands Rescued From Deadly Flash Floods in India, PakistanChina Must Lift Trade Restrictions on Rare Earth Elements
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on August 13th, 2014
Environment News Service: In a decision that affects automakers around the world, the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organisation, WTO, has ruled that China's export duties and quotas on rare earth elements are not justified for reasons of environmental protection or conservation policy.
At least a thousand car parts use rare earth elements. For instance, they go into the permanent magnets, rechargeable batteries and regenerative braking systems for hybrid and electric vehicles, as well as the catalytic converters in...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on China Must Lift Trade Restrictions on Rare Earth Elements