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Last updated on September 3rd, 2010
| Forest fires in Madeira put future of Europe's rarest seabird under threat: Click here |
| Independent: Europe's rarest seabird, the Zino's Petrel, found only in Madeira, has suffered potentially devastating losses from a forest fire which struck the birds' breeding area on the Atlantic island. The fire on Madeira's central mountain massif killed 25 chicks -- 65 per cent of this year's young birds -- with only 13 fledglings found alive in their underground burrows. These remaining few will have to contend with the effects of severe soil erosion which the fire has caused. Three adult ... |
| Study Finds Commercial Organic Farms Have Better Fruit And Soil, Lower Environmental Impact: Click here |
| redOrbit: Side-by-side comparisons of organic and conventional strawberry farms and their fruit found the organic farms produced more flavorful and nutritious berries while leaving the soil healthier and more genetically diverse. "Our findings have global implications and advance what we know about the sustainability benefits of organic farming systems," said John Reganold, Washington State University Regents professor of soil science and lead author of a paper published today in the ... |
| India's elephants finally given same protection as tigers: Click here |
| Independent: The humble hardworking elephant is not an animal that usually likes to complain. But over the years, while higher-profile, more urgently threatened species have been the subject of widescale conservation efforts, elephant numbers have been allowed to dwindle. Perhaps worse, the gender ratio -- since only males have tusks, it is they who are sought by poachers -- has become perilously skewed. In an attempt to address these concerns, the Indian authorities have now decided to declare ... |
| Don't let the bed bugs bite: Click here |
| BBC: "Night night, sleep tight, don't let the bed-bugs bite"¦" It's long been a favourite rhyme to send children off to sleep. But with experts warning of a worldwide bedbug pandemic, will any of us be able to sleep once we've turned out the light?, asks Tom de Castella. Vampire fiction may be all the rage. But the true bloodsuckers after twilight are not charismatic updates of Dracula but tiny insects living in our mattresses, headboards and pillows. Yes, bed-bugs are back with a ... |
| Chinese traders fear new import restrictions on illegal timber: Click here |
| Mongabay: The China Timber and Wood Products Circulation Association (CTWPCA) is seeking to establish a body to help importers navigate new environmental regulations in the United States and Europe that restrict trade in illegally logged timber, reports the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). In its August 16-31 Tropical Timber Market Report, ITTO reports that Chinese importers fear failing to meet new U.S. and E.U. regulations governing the sourcing of timber products. The Lacey ... |
| VeraSun asking corn farmers for repayment: Click here |
| AP: Midwest farmers who sold corn to bankrupt ethanol producer VeraSun Energy Corp. have been receiving official letters asking for most of that money back. Although the request carries legal precedent, trade association groups say growers have a defense and should consult an attorney before sending any money. They do have to respond though -- and promptly, the groups advise. Shannon Hannappel, who farms 1,400 acres near Clarks, Neb., said Thursday she thought she was done dealing ... |
| Tibetan nomads struggle as grasslands disappear from the roof of the world: Click here |
| Guardian: Like generations of Tibetan nomads before him, Phuntsok Dorje makes a living raising yaks and other livestock on the vast alpine grasslands that provide a thatch on the roof of the world. But in recent years the vegetation around his home, the Tibetan plateau, has been destroyed by rising temperatures, excess livestock and plagues of insects and rodents. The high-altitude meadows are rarely mentioned in discussions of global warming, but the changes to this ground have a ... |
| New maize could prepare farmers for climate change: Click here |
| SciDev.Net: New varieties of drought-tolerant maize could deliver a US$1.5 billion gain in food and income in Sub-Saharan Africa as well as helping smallholders cope with the effects of climate change, according to a study carried out in 13 countries in the region. Researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Mexico, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Nigeria, said the varieties produce yields up to 50 per cent higher than commercial ... |
| World cannot afford worsening disasters, warns UN climate change chief: Click here |
| UN News Centre: The world cannot afford escalating disasters of the kind recently witnessed in Pakistan and Russia, the top United Nations climate change official said today, underscoring the need for governments to take swift action to lead the world towards a low-carbon future. Flooding in Pakistan and wildfires in Russia were ?so dramatic? that many other major weather disasters in other parts of the world ?were relegated as secondary news,? Christina Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN ... |
| Berkeley Debates the Demise of a Cougar: Click here |
| NYT: "California is the state with the highest number of humans coexisting with the highest number of mountain lions," said Tim Dunbar, executive director of the Mountain Lion Foundation. The appearance of a mountain lion Tuesday near downtown Berkeley, Calif., caused a stir in this animal-loving, environmentally conscious community, where residents may obsess about locally grown organic food but don`t expect to be on the menu. The mountain lion, a 100-pound female, was spotted ... |
| Nestle brews up $490m sustainable coffee plan: Click here |
| Business Green: Nestle has revealed that it is to invest CHF500m (£321m) over the next decade to reduce the environmental impact of its leading coffee brands, Nescafe and Nespresso. The Swiss food giant said the investment programme would build on the CHF200m spent on sustainable coffee projects over the past 10 years and would see CHF300m earmarked for its Nescafe plan and a further CHF150m invested in its Nespresso brand. Under the strategy, which was formally launched late last month, ... |
| Researchers study link between climate, wildfire: Click here |
| AP: Scientists from universities in Montana, Colorado and Idaho announced today the start of a 5-year, $3.85 million research project into how a changing climate will influence wildfires. The project is being pursued in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and researchers in Australia and New Zealand. The goal is to identify how human activities and climate change drive fires. "One thing is clear: The frequency and severity of fires have increased around and world and this is ... |
| Pakistan: Dr Samar warns of devastating floods every year: Click here |
| APP: Dr Samar Mubarakmand Wed-nesday warned that the country might experience unprecedented floods every year because of global warming, saying in case of not building more dams and adopting precautionary measures, it could prove more disastrous. In an exclusive interview, he said global warming and melting of glaciers was a main reason for the weather system, which forced heavy rains. Industrialised nations were responsible for environmental pollution as they burnt natural fuels in ... |
| Enbridge wants to work on Lake Michigan pipeline: Click here |
| AP: Enbridge Energy Partners, the company whose pipeline caused a major oil spill in the Kalamazoo River five weeks ago, said Wednesday its plan to reinforce its oil pipelines under Lake Michigan is part of a routine maintenance program. Enbridge has filed for a state permit that would allow the company to add more anchoring braces to two pipelines along the lake bottom in the Straits of Mackinac between Mackinac County in the Upper Peninsula and Emmet County in the Lower Peninsula. The ... |
| Environmental Protester Takes Hostages in Discovery Channel Building: Click here |
| ENS: Environmental Protester Takes Hostages in Discovery Channel Building Environment News Service (ENS) Environmental Protester Takes Hostages in Discovery Channel Building SILVER SPRING, Maryland, September 1, 2010 (ENS) - A man protesting the nature of the Discovery Channel's environmental programming is holding hostages inside the Discovery Building in Silver Spring. Montgomergy County Police have shut down all traffic in the surrounding area and are negotiating with ... |
| Hurricanes Could Carry Gulf "Oil" Inland: Click here |
| National Geographic: Could pollutants from the BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico end up as far north as New England? That could happen if a hurricane or tropical storm hits the Gulf region and moves northward. Siddhartha Mitra, Geochemist, East Carolina University "On land, no one's really though about the effect of material coming over from the ocean, marine areas onto land." Geochemist Sid Mitra, from East Carolina University, is studying how far hydrocarbons, released as the oil ... |
| Feds fail to use land for solar power: Click here |
| AP: Not a light bulb's worth of solar electricity has been produced on the millions of acres of public desert set aside for it. Not one project to build glimmering solar farms has even broken ground. Instead, five years after federal land managers opened up stretches of the Southwest to developers, vast tracts still sit idle. An Associated Press examination of U.S. Bureau of Land Management records and interviews with agency officials shows that the BLM operated a first-come, ... |
| Report: Climate Change Could Wipe Historic Jamestown Off the Map: Click here |
| AOL News: Jamestown, Va., the site of the first permanent English colony in what became the United States, could be wiped off the map by climate change, researchers warned today. As the polar ice caps melt, rising sea levels could completely swamp the historical location that has stood as an icon of American history for the past 400 years, according to a new study by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization. Adrin Snider, Newport News Daily ... |
| Mo., Premium Standard reach deal on hog odor issue: Click here |
| AP: Premium Standard Farms has been given a two-year extension to install technology at its hog confinements to reduce odors after it failed to meet a July 31 deadline established by a Jackson County court six years ago. As part of the deal between the company and the Missouri attorney general's office, the hog company has agreed to pay a total of $1 million, half of which will go to school districts in five counties and the other half to road funds in six counties. The Princeton, ... |
| Warmer temperatures in China to reduce crop yields: Click here |
| Reuters: With the climate set to get warmer from greenhouse gases, Chinese scientists predicted on Thursday that freshwater for agriculture will shrink further in China, reducing crop yields in the years ahead. In a paper published in Nature, they said the temperature in China had gone up by 1.2 degrees Celsius since 1960 and will increase by another 1 to 5 degrees Celsius by 2100. "Such a pronounced summer warming would inevitably enhance evapo-transpiration, increasing the risk of ... |
| GM potatoes beating killer blight: Click here |
| BBC: Researchers working on trials of genetically modified crops in Norfolk have grown potatoes which resist disease. The scientists at the John Innes Centre in Norwich say they could be just five years away from a commercial product. |
| Facial cancer hits Tasmanian devil Cedric: Click here |
| BBC: A Tasmanian Devil who scientists hoped was immune to a facial cancer that threatens his species has been euthanised after developing tumours. The marsupial, named Cedric, was believed to have a natural immunity to the disease that he could pass on to future generations. But two weeks ago researchers found untreatable tumours. His death is a blow to scientists, who say Tasmanian Devils could be extinct in the wild within 20 years. Animals with the facial cancer ... |
| Poultry waste to power California egg farm: Click here |
| LA Times: An egg farm just south of Stockton is planning to use methane gas from more than 1 million pounds of poultry waste a week to help power its operations, reducing both its electricity bills and waste disposal costs. The Olivera Egg Ranch in French Camp will install a 1.4-megawatt fuel cell that will produce enough power to run the facility. The system may also help ease relations with neighbors who have sued over noxious ammonia emissions from Olivera's manure lagoons, which the farm ... |
| Drilling for shale gas unearths environmental risks, Ottawa warned: Click here |
| Canada East: The risks are outlined in briefing notes prepared last spring for Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis. The documents, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, focus on the potential of shale-gas development in Quebec. They also highlight the promise and perils of tapping the many large reserves found across Canada. "Canada has significant shale gas resources and industry is aggressively exploring and developing them," the briefing ... |
| New Rainforest Alliance Standard Targets Cattle Farming: Click here |
| GreenBiz.com: The Rainforest Alliance has launched a new certification aimed at helping cattle farms improve their environmental and social performance. The new certification standard from RA and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) aims to help farmers mitigate a slew of environmental problems associated with cattle production, such as deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. It is targeted specifically at farms where cattle have access to pasture and are ... |
| Portugal's Forests Losing Ability to Capture Carbon: Click here |
| Inter Press Service: Environmentalists are alarmed: fires have destroyed close to 100,000 hectares of forest in Portugal this summer, releasing one million tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Worst of all, the forests are losing their ability to absorb carbon. Experts say the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted is not a major concern, compared to emissions in 2008 -- the latest year for which official statistics are available -- but stress that the fact that the forested area of the country ... |
| Could camera traps save wildlife worldwide?: Click here |
| Mongabay: It's safe to say that the humble camera trap has revolutionized wildlife conservation. This simple contraption--an automated digital camera that takes a flash photo whenever an animal triggers an infrared sensor--has allowed scientists to collect photographic evidence of rarely seen, and often globally endangered species, with little expense and relative ease--at least compared to tromping through tropical forests and swamps looking for endangered rhino scat . Now researchers with the ... |
| China raises alarm over Yangtze environmental damage: Click here |
| AFP: China will spend billions of dollars treating sewage and planting forests to arrest massive environmental degradation along the Yangtze river and its Three Gorges reservoir, officials said Tuesday. "Generally speaking, the ecological state (of the river) is still far from what the Communist Party and people are demanding," forestry minister Jia Zhibang told journalists. "For numerous reasons, the forests on both sides of the river have been seriously degraded, leading to bare ... |
| Maize disease threatens to devastate East Africa: Click here |
| SciDev.Net: A new maize disease, not previously reported in Africa, will threaten food security and the livelihoods of millions of people on the continent, scientists have said. Rough dwarf maize disease was identified early this year in Masindi district and Namulonge in western and central Uganda, according to Godfrey Asea, head plant breeder for the cereals research programme at Uganda's National Crops Resources Research Institute (NACRRI). The disease has not yet been fully analysed to ... |
| Biofuels don't threaten food security - study: Click here |
| EastAfrican: Production of biofuels does not necessarily constitute a threat to food security, a new study has concluded. "Crops can be produced for bioenergy on a significant scale in West, East and Southern Africa without affecting food production or natural habitats," said the joint report by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, Imperial College London, and Camco International. The study was released at the 5th African Agriculture Science Week in Burkina Faso a fortnight ... |
| Wind farms feel the heat from small-scale solar: Click here |
| Sydney Morning Herald: WIND farm investment is suffering from a ''bust'' due to complex policy changes and uncertainty over government responses to climate change, says Infigen Energy. The company's shares have lost a quarter of their value since June but it is confident this will become a ''boom'' within a few years, as power retailers are forced to obtain a growing share of their electricity from renewable sources. The country's biggest specialist wind developer yesterday reported a $73.5 million ... |
| Santa Cruz Mountains lure cash for trapping carbon: Click here |
| Santa Cruz: PG&E is handing over tens of thousands of dollars to the nonprofit Sempervirens Fund to protect a 425-acre stand of redwoods once slated for logging deep in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The deal, expected to be completed next month, is part of the utility's efforts to combat greenhouse gas emissions, in this case safeguarding trees for carbon absorption, and is helping to drive a new marketplace where people and business are offered an incentive to offset pollution. "We're finding ... |
| Zimbabwe: Climate change reality dawns on rural farmers: Click here |
| AllAfrica: Rural folk across Zimbabwe are beginning to experience the effects of climate change, with crop yields declining as prolonged droughts and erratic rains start taking their toll. The changing climatic patterns have resulted in food insecurity in some areas as the hectarage of land under the staple maize crop declines. This has prompted Government and its partners to go on campaigns encouraging planting of drought-resistant varieties such as small grains, in addition to adopting ... |
| Exelon to acquire John Deere Renewables in $860m wind mega-deal: Click here |
| Business Green: US utility Exelon has stepped up its push into the renewable energy sector, announcing that has agreed to shell out $860m to acquire John Deere Renewables, the wind energy subsidiary of engineering firm Deere & Co. The Chicago-based company said the deal, which is expected to close before the end of the year, would give it control of 735MW of wind energy capacity, as well as an further 230MW that are in advanced stages of development. The acquisition is valued at around ... |
| Exelon to buy Deere's wind power unit for $860 million: Click here |
| Reuters: Electric utility Exelon Corp said it will buy Deere & Co's wind power business for about $860 million, expanding its portfolio of carbon-free electricity generation. Exelon, the largest U.S. nuclear power operator, said the acquisition of John Deere Renewables will add 735 operating megawatts (MW) of clean energy to its portfolio, which currently includes about 1,000 MW of renewable power. The deal includes a provision for an additional payment of $40 million for ... |
| Windfarms bring renewable energy and good fortune to Romania: Click here |
| Guardian: Exiled to the shores of the Black Sea 2,000 years ago, the Roman poet Ovid discovered the powerful winds that blew across that eastern border of the empire. To this day the wind continues to blow inland as far as Fantanele, a Romanian village located a few dozen kilometres from the coast. "That's why we call it the Black Sea," said Constantin Stanciu, a farmer in Fantanele. "It's a rough sea and when it's angry, which is often, it blows this far inland." The wind is the only certainty ... |
| Fighting Global Warming by Saving British Columbia's Old Growth Forests: Click here |
| Huffington Post: Seven western states and four Canadian provinces have joined forces in a plan to limit greenhouse gas emissions. An entire new source of long-term revenue is available to British Columbia's government, which will enable protecting massive tracks of old growth forests and fresh water supplies. The Western Climate Initiative includes: Arizona, California, Montana, New Mexico, Washington, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, and they have agreed to cut the region's carbon ... |
| Canada: New Findings on Toxic Pollutants and Oil Sands Mining: Click here |
| NYT: Native Canadians living downstream from the oil sands mines in Alberta have long contended that their high cancer rates were related to the expanding excavation of bitumen for the production of synthetic crude. Their assertions have been disputed by the reports of a joint oil industry-government research panel that concluded that natural causes -- and not mining -- were responsible for the high levels of various metals in the sub-Arctic Athabasca River. But now a new study in the ... |
| Activists ready to sabotage French bird-hunters: Click here |
| Independent (UK): French ornithologists are waging an increasingly sophisticated war against the hunting of the ortolan, a songbird which is regarded by gastronomes -- when eaten beak, bones and all -- as the ultimate in sinful pleasure. Over the next two weeks, bird lovers in south-west France will be systematically springing "live" traps set to capture the tiny ortolan buntings as they migrate from northern Europe to Africa. Although the capture of the ortolan has been illegal in France for more than ... |
| Oil sands polluting Alberta river system: study: Click here |
| Reuters: Oil sands operations are polluting the Athabasca River system, researchers said on Monday, contradicting the Alberta government's assertions that toxins in the watershed are naturally occurring. In a study likely to add more fuel to the environmental battle over oil sands development, researchers said mercury, arsenic, lead and cadmium are among the toxins being released into the Athabasca, which flows north through the region's major oil sands operations. The findings of the ... |
| Bad weather delays retrieval BP blowout preventer: US gov't: Click here |
| Reuters: BP Plc delayed retrieval of the failed blowout preventer atop its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well this week because of bad weather, the top U.S. official overseeing the oil spill said on Monday. "We are in a weather hold right now," Retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, noting seas were 6 to 6 feet high at the site of the Macondo well. He said bad weather is expected to last two to three days. The blowout preventer retrieval had been slated for Tuesday or Wednesday. |
| U.N. says 270,000 at risk as floods loom in Ethiopia: Click here |
| Reuters: More than a quarter of a million Ethiopians are at risk from severe flooding next month when heavy rain is expected in the country, according to government estimates issued by the United Nations on Monday. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 19 people were killed in mudslides after flooding last week and nearly 12,000 people had been displaced since then. "Some 270,000 people could be affected by flooding in the (Amhara region)," OCHA said ... |
| Pakistan floods: Thousands return to historic city as levees keep water at bay: Click here |
| AP: Thousands of people returned to the historic southern city of Thatta in Pakistan today after levees built from clay and stone held back the floodwaters that have ravaged large areas of the country. Thousands who fled as the floods inundated nearby towns complained about a shortage of food and water as they camped in a graveyard on a hill near the city. People ran after vehicles distributing food and water near the graveyard – a chaotic distribution system that left many flood ... |
| Biofuel demand driving Africa land grab - report: Click here |
| Reuters: Biofuel demand is driving a new "land grab" in Africa, with at least 5 million hectares (19,300 sq miles) acquired by foreign firms to grow crops in 11 countries, a study by an environmental group said on Monday. The contracts by European and Asian companies for land to grow sugar cane, jatropha and palm oil to be turned into fuel will involve clearing forests and vegetation, taking land that could be used for food and creating conflicts with local communities, Friends of the Earth ... |
| Kangaroo Valley winning the carbon challenge: Click here |
| Australian Broadcasting Corporation: A community in New South Wales is aiming to become one of the most eco-friendly tourist destinations in the world. Three years ago tourist operators in Kangaroo Valley, 150 kilometres south of Sydney, agreed to lower their carbon footprint and the latest figures show they are on track. Geoff Fearon runs a trail-riding business and accommodation on 230 acres backing onto the Morton National Park. He says one of the biggest issues for his business is dealing with the ... |
| Biofuels firms buy up African land, cause deforestation, food output loss: Click here |
| Bloomberg: Biofuels companies from the U.K. to Brazil and China are buying up large swaths of Africa, causing deforestation and diverting land from food to fuel production, the environmental group Friends of the Earth said. Across the continent almost 5 million hectares of land, an area bigger than the Netherlands, have been sold to cultivate crops for biofuels since 2006, Friends of the Earth's Brussels- based European division said today in a 36-page study. European companies including ... |
| China, Russia boost efforts to save tigers: Click here |
| AFP: China and Russia have agreed to set up the first cross-border protection zone for Siberian tigers, as they try to boost efforts to save the endangered species, state media reported Monday. The zone will straddle China's northeastern province of Jilin and Russia's Primorsky Krai region, and authorities in both countries will launch an anti-poaching campaign along the border, the China Daily newspaper said. They will also adopt identical monitoring systems for Siberian tigers and ... |
| Sun bear cub born in Indonesia: Click here |
| Guardian |
| DEVELOPMENT: South-east Asian Highway Hits Roadblock in Burma: Click here |
| Inter Press Service: With its thick forest cover and abundant wildlife, the Dawna mountain range in south-eastern Burma is coming in the way of a flagship highway project being pushed by one of Asia's premier financiers of roads. The still-to-be-built 40-kilometre stretch to go across the mountain in military-ruled Burma is key to making the Asian Development Bank's (AsDB) East-West Corridor a reality. It is part of the Manila-based bank's 1,450-km long highway, billed to facilitate easier transport of ... |
| Egg farmers respond to the salmonella recall crisis: Click here |
| Y! Green: Yesterday, major newspapers ran a full-page ad from "America`s Egg Farmers" (I saw it in USA Today and in the New York Times). The ad displays an egg and text on a white background, nothing more. The text is spare and notable more for what it does not say than for what it does. Here it is, with my translations in italics. A message from America`s Egg Farmers. (We want you to think that we are down home farmers of small flocks of hens in a lovely bucolic settings. We ... |