ENVIRONMENT

DIRTY GOLD: Protests at Canada’s Goldcorp Mines In Honduras and Guatemala

Stephen CANADA, developing world, ENVIRONMENT, Health, Mexico, News, Pollution and Toxics , ,

[update: May 2010: The mining company Entremares, subsidiary of the Canadian consortium Glamis Gold, (Goldcorp _Vancouver, Canada) will be charged with polluting the central valley of Siria and of hiding information from the authorities. — Tierramerica]

By Stephen Leahy

The Canadian mining giant Goldcorp, which runs the largest gold mine in Mexico, is racking up complaints about its environmental violations. In Honduras, officials are considering legal action.queensland-olf-goldmine.JPGOld gold mine Queensland Australia Copyright 2004 Renate Leahy

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Factory Farms, Bird Flu and Global Warming

Stephen BIRDS, CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, Global Issues and Perspectives, Health

Report Blames Factory Farms for Bird Flu
By Stephen Leahy

Feb 20 (IPS) – Factory farms are responsible for both the bird flu and emissions of greenhouse gases that now top those of cars and sport utility vehicles (SUVs), according to a report released Monday.

Sixty percent of global livestock production, including chicken and pig “confined animal feedlot operations” (CAFOs), now occur in the developing world. Unregulated zoning and subsidies that encourage these CAFOs or factory farms are moving closer to major urban areas in China, Bangladesh, India, and many countries in Africa, said the report, “Vital Signs 2007-2008” by the Worldwatch Institute.

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Using DNA “Barcodes” to Protect Biodiversity and Endangered Species

Stephen BIRDS, ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, WILDLIFE

DNA Bar-Coding Could Rewrite Book of LifeCassowary, Queensland, Australia - Copyright 2004 Renate Leahy
By Stephen Leahy

Feb 19 (IPS) – Fifteen new species of birds have been discovered in North America following the first ever genetic analysis of nearly all 690 known species. A similar DNA profiling or “bar-coding” of Guyana’s 87 bat species revealed an additional six genetically distinct bats.

These new species are nearly indistinguishable to human eyes and ears from known species but the analysis shows their DNA evolved along different paths millions of years previously, according research published Sunday in British journal Molecular Ecology Notes.

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Fish with Chips — Underwater Electronics to Revolutionize Fisheries Management

Stephen CANADA, ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, News, OCEAN

Scientists Put an Ear to the Ocean Floor

Photo courtesy of TOPP

By Stephen Leahy

Feb 14 (IPS) – Canada will spend 38 million dollars to install thousands of undersea listening posts along the continental shelves of North America, the Mediterranean, Gulf of Mexico and Australia.

Akin to military hydrophones used to detect the underwater passage of submarines, the receivers of the new Ocean Tracking Network will track movements of fish and marine mammals tagged with tiny acoustic transmitters.

And this too is a security issue — fish stock security.

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Capturing Carbon Crucial to Preventing Climate Catastrophe

Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, Global Issues and Perspectives, News

img_0510.JPG Recapturing Carbon Won’t Come Cheap
By Stephen Leahy

Feb 9 (IPS) – Putting climate-altering greenhouse gases back in the ground where they came from is an essential part of any global plan to avoid catastrophic climate change, scientists say.

Capturing carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants and pumping the global warming gas deep underground or under the sea “may well be the most critical challenge we face, at least for the next 100 years,” writes Daniel Schrag, director of Harvard University’s Centre for the Environment, in the journal Science Friday.

Coal is, and will continue to be, a major source of the world’s energy and emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), writes Schrag in the report “Preparing to Capture Carbon”.

“By the end of the century, coal could account for more than 80 percent” of all CO2 emissions — double the present level — he writes. Continue reading →

Climate Panel Report Called Too Conservative

Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, News

Climate Change, Yes – But How Fast?

By Stephen Leahy

Tierramérica (Feb 5) – The predictions in the new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which says the planet’s average temperatures could increase four degrees Celsius by 2100, are seen as solid forecasts by some scientists, while others say they fall short.

The IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report, running 1,600 pages and officially released in Paris Feb. 2, says the scientific data about global warming and humankind’s responsibility are now overwhelming.
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New Era of Spin in the War to Save Ourselves From Global Warming

Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, Global Issues and Perspectives, News , ,

No Getting Around Emissions Caps, Experts Saynigerian oil field

By Stephen Leahy

Feb 5 (IPS) – With the stark realisation that global warming is transforming our world, there will be crazy new era of “greenwashing”, desperate “geo-engineering” schemes, “grandfathering” of newly-built coal power plants and carbon-credit “profiteering”, environmentalists warn.

Welcome to the battle to save ourselves and future generations from the worst impacts of climate change, like increased floods, droughts and storms.
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IMPORTANT NOTICE: Your Input Needed for Special Global Warming Project

Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, Global Issues and Perspectives, News, Science/Tech

Over the years people have asked for explanations about various aspects of global warming or climate change (ie what’s the difference?). I’ve probably written close to 100 stories on climate change but it may be time to put the whole subject together in a format that is concise, accurate and easy to understand. So I’m considering putting together a very brief eBook as an PDF electronic download and offering it on the highly-regarded self-publishing site lulu.com or from me directly.

Before investing the time and effort to put this together – please remember my livelihood is independent environmental journalism – I would like to have at least 25 people send me an email (writersteve AT gmail . com) or a comment to let me know they support this idea and would consider purchasing it. (only $5.00 — see ad notice below)

Please pass this link on to anyone who might be interested — or you think should be:].

Cheers and thanks for your support — Stephen

 

——–Draft eBook Notice——–

 

 

Really Brief BUT Authoritative Guide to Global Warming
Global warming, the latest climate science (including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Feb 2 report) and how it is changing our world explained in less than 20 factual and easily understood pages by experienced science writer Stephen Leahy.

 

Includes loads of links to high-quality, authoritative websites for more detailed information and further exploration of the most important issue of the 21st century.

$5.00 as high-quality eBook as PDF electronic download. (Note: To be published only if enough people say they want it.)

Global Warming The Slow-Motion Train Wreck

Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, News

Paraphrase of the Day:

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) new report represents a major leap forward in the understanding of climate science. For me climate change is a slow-motion train wreck. — David Fahey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Earth System Research Laboratory.

Story now available here:  Climate Panel Report Called Too Conservative

Iraq’s Birds and Marshes Return Amid Bullets, Bombs and Violence

Stephen BIRDS, ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, News , ,

mesopotamian_marshes-nature_-iraq-sml Amid Sectarian Chaos, Bird Lovers Persevere


By Stephen Leahy

Jan 25 (IPS) – Can Iraqi dreams for a better future be glimpsed in the publication Thursday of the first-ever field guide to the country’s 387 bird species?

“For Iraq, a nation that has lost so much of its wildlife in the last 20 years, this book opens the door for the growing conservation movement in this country,” said Ali Douabul of Nature Iraq, an Iraqi NGO focused on the protection and restoration of the environment.

Published in Arabic, the “Field Guide to the Birds of Iraq” is a fully illustrated guide based on three years of surveys by mainly Iraqi and Jordanian birders and biologists.

Why a bird book for Iraq?
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