http://www.fern.org/
http://www.wrm.org.uy/
http://www.sinkswatch.org/
Wild Earth Guardians
Groups Focusing on Forests, Climate, & Carbon Offsets
Ecosystem Protection/Preservation, & Restoration
THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE
Concerned scientists the world over have developed what is known as the Precautionary Principle. The Precautionary Principle states that, in the face of scientific uncertainty, humyns must take precautionary action. Shift the burden of proof onto the perpetrator. With any proposed course of action (or inaction) that may engender any possible harm to Life, 3 questions must be critically and thoroughly addressed:
-Is this harm preventable?
-Are there any alternatives?
-Do we know enough to act?
If these crucial questions cannot be definitively answered-then we should NOT move forward with the proposed action!
The mission of this working group is to join in all efforts everywhere to preserve, protect, and restore ecosystems and integrated complexes of ecosystems everywhere on Earth in an attempt to stabilize climate and mitigate the effects of climate change that are thus far unavoidable. Too little discussion has been forthcoming regarding the critical role that healthy, fully-functioning natural ecosystems play in influencing, stabilizing, and interacting with local, regional, continental-and ultimately global-climate regimes. Industrial/commercial roadbuilding, clearcutting, mining, drilling, livestock grazing, overharvesting, acid rain, paving, pollution, ozone depletion, urban sprawling-and the subsequent species extinctions-impact climate and weather on all spatial and temporal levels at least as much (if not more so than) “greenhouse gas” emissions. Many of the world’s women and Indigenous Peoples have recognized this fact for many decades (if not centuries)-and more recently so have many farmers, scientists, workers, and activists.
(more…)
Christianity’s Greatest Schism: Climate, Environment, Justice
Posted Jul 25th, 2008
——————————————-
“The religious right asked for my head on a platter.”
——————————————
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
July 23, 2008
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/371963_greenfaith24.html
Christians taking on role as environmentalists
Many believe humans must be Earth’s stewards
By JOHN IWASAKI
P-I REPORTER
Like shrinking ice caps, resistance among American Christians to
address the effects of global warming is diminishing, creating a
once-unlikely connection between the scientific and the spiritual,
representatives of national and local religious organizations said
Wednesday.
David Suzuki: Biodiversity Important for All of Us
Posted Jul 25th, 2008
Published on Monday, July 21, 2008 by the Times & Transcript (Canada)
Biodiversity Important for All of Us by David Suzuki with Dr. Faisal Moola
One of my proudest moments came in 1992 at the inaugural Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Along with UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (which in turn led to the Kyoto Protocol), a second key outcome of this international meeting was the signing of the Convention on Biological Diversity, a groundbreaking agreement founded on the principle that conserving biological diversity is “a common concern of all humankind”. Canada was the first of 189 countries to sign the agreement.B.C.’s Conservation Framework for protecting wildlife, released on July 9, made me realize, though, that all the agreements in the world won’t add up to much if they aren’t followed with action. For B.C., the stakes couldn’t be higher.
Hot Weather in Western States Threatens Trout Survival
Posted Jul 25th, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 23, 2008
12:36 PM
CONTACT: Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Jessica Lass, 310/434-2317 or 202/468-6718 (cell)
Hot Weather in Western States Threatens Trout Survival
Shrinking cold-water habitat jeopardizes billion dollar recreational fishing industry
HELENA, Montana - July 23 - Rivers and streams across the West are getting hotter and drier, making it increasingly difficult for trout to feed and spawn, according to a new report by fishing and conservation groups. The report says global warming is shrinking cold-water habitat, threatening the survival of trout and a billion dollar recreational fishing industry.
The states particularly at risk include Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, Utah and Wyoming.
New Report: Providing Water for Fish Is the Surest Way to Create Water Supply Reliability for California Farms and Cities
Posted Jul 25th, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 23, 2008
12:20 PM
CONTACT: Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)
Sharyn Stein, 202-572-3396, sstein@edf.org
Jennifer Witherspoon, 415-293-6067, jwitherspoon@edf.org
New Report: Providing Water for Fish Is the Surest Way to Create Water Supply Reliability for California Farms and Cities
SAN FRANCISCO - July 23 - California’s salmon are teetering on the edge of extinction and the salmon fishing industry is facing economic devastation, but a report released today establishes a framework to help address this crisis. The report concludes that providing a more reliable water supply for the San Francisco Bay Delta Estuary could help save fish, including salmon, while also helping to ensure adequate water for farms, cities, and the 25 million Californians who rely on the Bay-Delta’s water.
Nearly 900 New Species Discovered in Smokies
Posted Jul 23rd, 2008
Nearly 900 New Species Discovered in Smokies
NANCI BOMPEY
Published: 07.23.2008
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - A 10-year project designed to document all living creatures in Great Smoky Mountains National Park has led to the discovery of nearly 900 new species, researchers say.
The success of the 10-year-old All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory project, the largest natural history survey ever undertaken in the United States, was cited during a Senate subcommittee field hearing this week at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.
Do the World’s Forests Have a Chance?
Posted Jul 22nd, 2008
Rights and Resources Initiative
Public release date: 14-Jul-2008
Contact: Jeff Haskins
jhaskins@burnesscommunications.com
254-729-871-422
LONDON (14 July 2008) — Escalating global demand
for fuel, food and wood fibre will destroy the
world’s forests, if efforts to address climate
change and poverty fail to empower the
billion-plus forest-dependent poor, according to
two reports released today by the U.S.-based
Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), an
international coalition comprising the world’s
foremost organisations on forest governance and
conservation.
The studies were delivered today at an event in
the House of Commons hosted by Martin Horwood, MP
for Cheltenham. Sponsored by RRI and the UK-based
Forest Peoples Programme, speakers included
Gareth Thomas, the UK Minister for Trade and
Development; authors of the two reports; as well
as advocates for forest communities in Africa and
Asia.
Incentives For Carbon Sequestration May Not Protect Species
Posted Jul 22nd, 2008
“The main thing we found is that if you want to
conserve species, that policy might not be
compatible with carbon sequestration,” said
co-author Andrew Plantinga, a professor in the
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
at Oregon State University. “On the other hand,
if you want to get carbon out of the atmosphere,
it’s not clear that will be good for species.”
———————–
Incentives For Carbon Sequestration May Not Protect Species
ScienceDaily (July 9, 2008) - Paying rural
landowners in Oregon’s Willamette Basin to
protect at-risk animals won’t necessarily mean
that their newly conserved trees and plants will
absorb more carbon from the atmosphere and vice
versa, a new study has found.
Climate Change, Development, and the Wolverine
Posted Jul 22nd, 2008
” … The wolverine is facing two powerful foes:
climate change … and increased winter
recreation in the Rocky Mountains.”
” Š over the last seven years the Fish and
Wildlife Service has become a hostile gatekeeper,
denying refuge to species that desperately need
the government’s full protection. That must
change.”
The New York Times
July 19, 2008
Editorial
Another Species in Danger
Many animals are said to define true wilderness,
but the best candidate is arguably the wolverine.
The reason isn’t so much its legendary ferocity
or even the remoteness of its habitat. It’s the
fact that the wolverine is so intolerant of human
disturbance.
About 20 Percent of EU Timber Illegal or Suspect
Posted Jul 22nd, 2008
About 20 Percent of EU Timber Illegal or Suspect: Report
Mon Jul 21, 2008 8:46pm EDT
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Nearly a fifth of wood imported into the European Union has been harvested illegally or comes from suspect sources, mostly in Russia, Indonesia and China, according to a report by environmental group WWF.
In all, 40 percent of wood-based products from southeast Asia, 30 percent from Latin America and over 36 percent of those from Africa originated from illegal or suspect sources, said the report on 2006 imports.
Destroying Wetlands Could Unleash “Carbon Bomb”
Posted Jul 22nd, 2008
Published on Monday, July 21, 2008 by Reuters
Destroying Wetlands Could Unleash “Carbon Bomb”
by Deborah Zabarenko
WASHINGTON - The world’s wetlands, threatened by development, dehydration and climate change, could release a planet-warming “carbon bomb” if they are destroyed, ecological scientists said on Sunday.
Wetlands contain 771 billion tons of greenhouse gases, one-fifth of all the carbon on Earth and about the same amount of carbon as is now in the atmosphere, the scientists said before an international conference linking wetlands and global warming.
Soil Database to Help Map CO2 Storage, Food Output
Posted Jul 22nd, 2008
Soil Database to Help Map CO2 Storage, Food Output
Mon Jul 21, 2008 3:21pm EDT
MILAN (Reuters) - New database of the world’s soils will help better map agricultural output and storage and sequestration of heat trapping carbon dioxide (CO2), one of its creators, the United Nations’ food agency FAO, said on Monday.
Using the database, UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization has also produced a global Carbon Gap Map to help identify areas with considerable soil carbon storage and degraded soils where billions of tons of CO2 could be sequestrated, it said.
“Soil information has often been the one missing information layer, the absence of which has added to the uncertainties of predicting the potential for and constraints to food and fiber production as well as the capacity of soils to hold carbon and to act as a sink,” FAO said in a statement.
The new worldwide database provides improved information about soils necessary for carbon trading and it can also help agronomists, farm experts and scientists to plan sustainable agricultural production and improve land management, it said.
(Reporting by Svetlana Kovalyova, editing by Anthony Barker)
——————————————————————————-
How John McCain Doomed Mount Graham
Posted Jul 22nd, 2008
How John McCain Doomed Mount Graham
Star Whores
By JEFFREY ST. CLAIR
We waited for a night when the moon was obscured by clouds. It sounded like a silly plan here in the heart of the Arizona desert, where Oregonians stream each year to worship the unrelenting sun.
But the wait was only two days. Then the sky clouded up, just as the Apaches predicted. These weren’t rain clouds, just a smoke-blue skein, thin as morning fog, but dense enough to dull the moonlight and shield our passage across forbidden ground.
We were going to see the scopes. The mountain was under lockdown. Armed guards, rented by the University of Arizona, blocked passage up the new road and patrolled the alpine forest on the crest of Mount Graham. Only certified astronomers and construction workers were permitted entry. And university donors. And Vatican priests.
But not environmentalists. And not Apaches. Not at night, anyway. Not any more.
Antarctic Icebergs Scouring Seabed are New Threat to Marine Life
Posted Jul 22nd, 2008
Published on Friday, July 18, 2008 by Telegraph/UK
Antarctic Icebergs Scouring Seabed are New Threat to Marine Life
Antarctic marine life is coming under increasing threat from icebergs that are scouring the seabed and destroying their habitat, a new study by the British Antarctic Survey has found.
Shrinking sea ice is significantly increasing the rate at which the icebergs scour the seabed and the study predicts that the Antarctic Peninsula is going to get hit more frequently.
Ocean Quest: The Race To Save The World’s Coral Reefs
Posted Jul 22nd, 2008
Published on Thursday, July 17, 2008 by The Independent/UK
Ocean Quest: The Race To Save The World’s Coral Reefs
Last week, scientists issued their latest, grim assessment of the world’s coral reefs. But as Steve Connor reports from Florida, extraordinary new ocean ‘reseeding’ techniques mean there may still be time to halt – or even reverse – the destruction of mother nature’s marine marvels
Coral reefs are often described as the tropical rainforests of the oceans. But marine biologists sometimes use another analogy: that of the canary in the coalmine. These birds were used by miners as an early warning for lethal gas; corals, too, are extraordinarily sensitive to environmental change. For Nancy Knowlton, a scientist at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, it’s an apt description: “If that’s the analogy, then the canary has passed out on the floor of the cage. Coral reefs are potentially immortal. They only have to die if we make them.”
American Rivers Proposes Agenda to Overhaul Nation’s Flood Response
Posted Jul 22nd, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 16, 2008
2:32 PM
CONTACT: American Rivers
Amy Kober, 206-213-0330 x23
American Rivers Proposes Agenda to Overhaul Nation’s Flood Response
More Help for Today’s Victims, Prevent Tomorrow’s Victims
WASHINGTON - July 16 - As the Midwest continues to recover from June’s devastating floods, American Rivers, the nation’s leading river conservation organization, today released a national agenda for responding to the floods in a manner that both helps today’s victims and prevents tomorrow’s.
“This is the second “500-year flood” in less than two decades and the overwhelming scientific consensus is that climate change means more severe and more frequent storms, including more record-breaking floods,” said Rebecca Wodder, President of American Rivers. “Clearly business as usual won’t work for the communities struggling to recover from this year’s floods — and the communities at risk in the coming years.”
Sea Die-Out Blamed on Volcanoes
Posted Jul 22nd, 2008
Sea Die-Out Blamed on Volcanoes
Undersea volcanic activity has been blamed for a mass extinction in the seas 93 million years ago.
In the so-called “anoxic event” of the late Cretaceous Period, the ocean depths became starved of oxygen, wiping out swathes of marine organisms.
Researchers from the University of Alberta, Canada, found a tell-tale signature of underwater volcanism in rocks dating to the period.
Their findings have been published in the journal Nature.
Logging Industry Misleads on Climate and Forest Fire
Posted Jul 13th, 2008
I always knew this was coming…bet others of us did too.
ASW
http://www.leftinthewest.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1953
Logging Industry Misleads on Climate and Forest Fire
Tue Jul 08, 2008 at 10:57:29 AM MDT
By Chad Hanson, Ph.D.
Recent editorials by timber industry
spokespersons are a wildly misleading attempt to
promote increased logging of western U.S. forests
under the guise of reducing wildland fires and
mitigating climate change. The timber industry
fails to mention, however, that logging is one of
the major contributors to greenhouse gas
emissions (Schlesinger, “Biogeochemistry: an
analysis of global change”, Academic Press,
1997). A recent scientific study found that
completely protecting our national forests from
all commercial logging would significantly
increase carbon sequestration and reduce
greenhouse gases (forests “breath in” CO2 and
incorporate the carbon into new growth), while
increasing logging on our public lands would have
the opposite effect (Depro et al. 2008, Forest
Ecology and Management, Vol. 255).
HOT! Western Democrats, Western Ecology
Posted Jul 13th, 2008
Now i don’t spend too much time wrangling about in the 2-party system-but
this is an AWESOME READ! And i know some of these people & was involved w/
some of this history while it was happening (as is the case w/ many of U).
And i like the way eco & social-justice issues are linked here…
See U in Denver next month?
ASW
—————————- Original Message —————————-
Subject: Western Democrats, Western Environment
From: “Lance Olsen” <lance@wildrockies.org>
Date: Sun, July 13, 2008 7:13 am
To: “cmcr-outreach” <cmcr-outreach@vortex.wildrockies.org>
————————————————————————–
In the West, and particularly in the Rocky
Mountain West, environmentalists face the worst
possible politics. The 20th Century’s radical
Republicans don’t care because they don’t expect
the environmental vote, and the 20th Century’s
radically mainstream Democrats take the
environmental vote for granted.
The end result is that Democrats can get away
with damaging spaces and species if they are only
just a very little less damaging than the
Republicans. Year after year, decade after
decade, the Democrats can end up a dangerous to
wild spaces and species as any Republican, but
they do it too slowly for most people to notice.
USDA Rule Change May Lead To Crops on Conserved Land
Posted Jul 12th, 2008
USDA Rule Change May Lead To Crops on Conserved Land:
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/11/10290/
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Perspectives From the Thawing Icebox
Posted Jul 11th, 2008
funny on many levelsHow climate change sparked a Canadian gold rush
It's little more than an ice-bound collection of shacks besieged by hungry
polar bears. But climate change has sparked a gold rush in Churchill,
population 923. Within 10 years, this tiny Canadian port could be
transformed into a hub of world trade
Pope Brock
"Catch a wave and you're sittin' on top of the world." Maybe the Beach Boys
predicted it. Last summer, the Hawaiian surfing champs Garrett McNamara and
Kealii Mamala caught a wave on top of the planet, becoming the first people
ever to ride a tsunami made by an ice wall collapsing in the Arctic. For
about a minute they skimmed along in a hail of rock and ice. How would
McNamara rate this new form of extreme surfing? "I wouldn't recommend it,"
he said.
Continue Reading »
New Report From WWF Projects Stressed Water Resources in U.S. Southeast
Posted Jul 11th, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 10, 2008 1:37 PM
CONTACT: World Wildlife Fund
Joe Pouliot
joe.pouliot@wwwfus.org
202-778-9730
New Report From WWF Projects Stressed Water Resources
As Region Grapples With Second Consecutive Year Of Drought, New Findings Illustrate Significant Climate Vulnerability
WASHINGTON - July 10 - As the Southeast contends with the second consecutive year of exceptional drought, a new report commissioned by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) projects that climate change will increasingly stress water resources and affect water quality over a major portion of the region. The report, which was presented at a congressional briefing on Capitol Hill today, concludes that climate impacts on water resources are likely to be further exacerbated by population growth and land use changes. At risk are hundreds of unique, threatened, or endangered aquatic vertebrate species.
Maine Seeks Pre-Approval for Wetlands Destruction
Posted Jul 11th, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 10, 2008 10:33 AM
CONTACT: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)
Kyla Bennett (508) 230-9933;
Carol Goldberg (202) 265-7337
Maine Seeks Pre-Approval for Wetlands Destruction
Maine DOT ‘Umbrella Mitigation Bank’ Tries to Exploit Weakened Federal Policies
BOSTON - July 10 - One of the first state agencies to submit a plan under a new federal rule is seeking a sweeping grant of authority to pave over wetlands in return for use of mitigation banking, according to regulatory comments filed today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The Maine Department of Transportation (DOT) proposed “Umbrella Mitigation Bank Prospectus” would permit destruction of wetlands in exchange for preservation of other land or creation of new wetlands elsewhere in the state to replace what has been destroyed.
Fish & Wildlife Service Hiding Influence of Refuge Driller
Posted Jul 11th, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 10, 2008 10:11 AM
CONTACT: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)
Ceal Smith [Citizens for San Luis Valley Water Protection Coalition] (719) 256-5780;
Travis Stills [Energy Minerals Law Center] (970) 375-9231;
Jeff Ruch [PEER] 202-265-7337
Fish & Wildlife Service Hiding Influence of Refuge Driller
Federal Court Asked to Force Government to Release Records
ALAMOSA, Colorado - July 10 - The federal government is refusing to release documents that could show whether a Canadian company that wants to drill in the Baca National Wildlife Refuge had inappropriate influence over a study of the project’s impacts.
Records of emails between Lexam Explorations Inc., a Canadian “wildcatter,” and a Department of Interior lawyer indicate that the company was repeatedly invited to review and comment on internal drafts of an environmental assessment that was being prepared to evaluate the impact of drilling on the San Luis Valley refuge. Other documents suggest the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service relied on the oil and gas company to compile data on wildlife in the nation’s newest wildlife refuge.
Suit Filed To Stop Four Timber Sales on Largest National Forest
Posted Jul 11th, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 10, 2008 12:40 PM
CONTACT: Greenpeace
Larry Edwards, Greenpeace (Sitka). (907) 747-7557 (O) Gabe Scott, Cascadia Wildlands Project (Cordova), (907) 424-3835 Chris Winter. Crag Law Center (Portland), 503-525-2725
Suit Filed To Stop Four Timber Sales on Largest National Forest
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - July 10 - Environmental groups sued the U.S. Forest Service in federal court today arguing that the agency has concealed impacts of old-growth logging to the environment and to subsistence hunting in four Tongass National Forest timber projects. At issue is whether environmental impact statements have thoroughly evaluated the effect of the projects on Sitka black-tailed deer – a species that is key to viability of the “Islands Wolf” (Alexander Archipelago wolf) and is among the most important subsistence foods in the area. he plaintiffs are Greenpeace and Cascadia Wildlands Project, both of which have offices in Alaska. They say the Forest Service has violated bedrock environmental laws by deliberately ignoring their legitimate criticisms of how impacts to deer were assessed in the decision process and not providing a “full and fair discussion” of their concerns. While not a plaintiff in the suit, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game has repeatedly challenged these same flaws.
Statement on The Bureau of Land Management’s Assessment of Grazing Impacts in Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument
Posted Jul 11th, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 10, 2008 12:06 PM
CONTACT: Center for Biological Diversity
Amy Atwood, cell: (541) 914-8372; atwood@biologicaldiversity.org
Statement on The Bureau of Land Management’s Assessment of Grazing Impacts in Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument
Agency’s Findings Confirm Grazing’s Environmentally Destructive Impacts
TUSCON, Ariz. - July 10 - Today the Bureau of Land Management released assessments of the impacts of livestock grazing on the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, which add to a growing body of scientific evidence to confirm that livestock grazing is fundamentally incompatible with protecting the rare plants, fish, and wildlife the monument was created eight years ago to protect.
Congressional Briefing on Vulnerability of Southeast Watersheds to Climate Change
Posted Jul 10th, 2008
WWF Briefing to Examine Impacts of Climate Change on Southeast US Watersheds
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 9, 2008
2:15 PM
CONTACT: World Wildlife Fund
Joe Pouliot
joe.pouliot@wwfus.org
202-476-9919
WWF Briefing to Examine Impacts of Climate Change on Southeast US Watersheds
25 Gulf Coast Students to Participate in Hill Event
WASHINGTON - July 9 -
WHAT: Congressional briefing on vulnerability of Southeast watersheds to
climate change
WHEN: 10:00 – 11:15 a.m.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
WHERE: 210 Cannon House Office Building
Bush Sporting Council Identifies Administration Policies as Highest Hunting Hurdles
Posted Jul 10th, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 9, 2008
10:48 AM
CONTACT: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)
Daniel Patterson (520) 906-2159;
Carol Goldberg (202) 265-7337
We Have Met the Enemy…and He is Us
Bush Sporting Council Identifies Administration Polices as Highest Hunting Hurdles
NEW YORK - July 9 - The iconic cartoonist Walt Kelly first penned “We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us” for an Earth Day poster in 1970. In an ironic echo of these words from his puckish possum Pogo, a Bush-appointed sporting panel convened to promote hunting has identified an array of administration policies as the biggest threats facing wildlife, according to a series of official “White Papers” released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
Ag Secretary Urged to Reject Early Release of Land in Conservation Reserve Program
Posted Jul 10th, 2008
Ag Secretary Urged to Reject Early Release of Land in Conservation Reserve
Program:
http://www.commondreams.org/news2008/0709-13.htm
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Oil Prices and Unsustainable Industrial Fishing
Posted Jul 10th, 2008
Published on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 by The Guardian/UK
Trawlermen Cling on as Oceans Empty of Fish - And the Ecosystem Is Gasping
Europe is propping up an unsustainable industry in an extreme example of short-termism that our children will pay for
by George Monbiot
All over the world, protesters are engaged in a heroic battle with reality. They block roads, picket fuel depots, throw missiles and turn over cars in an effort to hold it at bay. The oil is running out and governments, they insist, must do something about it. When they’ve sorted it out, what about the fact that the days are getting shorter? What do we pay our taxes for?
The latest people to join these surreal protests are the world’s fishermen. They are on strike in Italy, Spain, Portugal, France and Japan, and demonstrating in scores of maritime countries. Last month in Brussels they threw rocks and flares at the police, who have been conspiring with the world’s sedimentary basins to keep the price of oil high. The fishermen warn that if something isn’t done to help them, thousands could be forced to scrap their boats and hang up their nets. It’s an appalling prospect, which we should greet with heartfelt indifference.
Coral Reefs Under Threat: 2 Stories
Posted Jul 10th, 2008
U.S. Coral Reefs Under Threat, Report Finds:
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN0743512120080707
——————————————————————————————————————————————–
Corals Collapsing in More Acid Oceans:
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/09/10227/
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
Fire and the American West: 3 Scientific Societies
Posted Jul 10th, 2008
—————————————————————
“Climate change has created desert-like conditions across much of the
central and western U.S., causing fires to burn larger and hotter and
amplifying negative effects on soil quality and ecosystem services.”
—————————————————————————-
Ecological Society of America
ESANEWS
MEDIA ADVISORY: For Immediate Release
July 7, 2008
Ecology, Soil and Economics Societies to Hold Briefings on Post-Wildfire
Resource Management
WASHINGTON-Three prominent scientific societies will present briefings
on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, July 9, to inform lawmakers about how to
manage natural areas after they have been consumed by wildfires. Jointly
sponsored by the Ecological Society of America (ESA), the Soil Science
Society of America (SSSA) and the Council on Food, Agricultural and
Resource Economics (C-FARE), the briefings will comprise three experts
in the fields of forest ecology, forest soil science and resource
economics.
Biodiversity Loses at UN Convention on Biodiversity
Posted Jul 10th, 2008
In the July-August 2008 edition of Z Magazine:
One Leap Backwards for Biodiversity, One Giant Step Forward for Industry
Biodiversity loses at UN convention on biodiversity
By Anne Petermann and Orin Langelle; photos by Langelle
[Note: IPOs stand for Indigenous Peoples Organizations]
The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) emerged, along with its cousin
the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC), out of the Rio Earth
Summit in 1992. Its mission is ostensibly to recommend solutions to the
escalating biodiversity crisis, which is manifesting in the extinctions of
hundreds of species every day and which threatens the existence of entire races
of people.
CO2, H20, and Plant Physiology
Posted Jul 10th, 2008
The world’s first mathematical formula for
weather forecasting included “leaf surface area.”
Early climate models were criticized for lack of
vegetation variables.
Lance
——————————————-
“Because water perspiration is closely linked to how plants absorb CO2,
the findings could help researchers learn about past climates by studying
the patterns of veins found on fossilized leaves.”
————————————————————-
Science News
June 30th, 2008
Plant leaf plumbing designed to move water fast
Optimizing leafy networks
By Davide Castelvecchi
Using an artificial model of a leaf, scientists
have unveiled a mathematical principle underlying
how leaf veins are arranged to enable water to
perspire as fast as possible.
Because water perspiration is closely linked to
how plants absorb CO2, the findings could help
researchers learn about past climates by studying
the patterns of veins found on fossilized leaves.
Water evaporation helps leaves stay cool and
provides the pull that lets plants lift nutrients
from the soil. But during photosynthesis, when
plants open up the pores on the underside of
leaves to absorb CO2, water escapes from those
pores at an accelerated pace. “The same membranes
that let CO2 inside also let water outside,” says
Maciej Zwieniecki of Harvard University’s Arnold
Arboretum. Leaves then need abundant water flow
to avoid dehydration. And the more CO2 a plant
absorbs, the more energy it can take in from the
sun through photosynthesis, and the more it can
grow. Evolution should thus favor a distribution
of veins that can carry water through the leaves
at a fast pace.
Zwieniecki and his collaborators write in the
July 8 Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences that, on average, the distance
separating the veins that pump water through
leaves is about the same as the distance
separating the veins from the leaves’ surface.
This finely tuned geometry keeps water flowing
quickly through the leaves, the team has found.
Within species, leaf veins follow very uniform
patterns, Zwieniecki says, suggesting that the
geometry is a feature optimized through many
generations of evolution.
The team’s results are “fascinating,” comments
Lawren Sack, a biologist at the University of
California, Los Angeles. “The finding implies
that leaves are optimized during evolution by
adjusting not only the length of vein per area
[vein density], but also the thickness of
tissues.”
The research could help scientists study past
climate clues found in fossil leaves, Sack adds.
“Venation patterns are often preserved,” he says,
and could help reconstruct patterns of rainfall
and availability of sunshine. The rate of
evaporation from leaves is affected by humidity,
and the amount of sunshine determines the energy
available for photosynthesis.
The patterns could also inspire engineers to
design better irrigation systems, he says.
Zwieniecki and his collaborators built a model of
a leaf’s circulatory system by embedding a system
of parallel microscopic channels into a layer of
silicone. The researchers then let water
circulate and measured the rate at which the
water perspired from the material and evaporated
through microscopic pores in the silicone.
The team repeated the experiment, changing the
distance between channels and the thickness of
the artificial leaf. Packing the channels closer
together let water evaporate faster. But the rate
of evaporation reached a plateau when the
distance between channels was about the same as
their distance from the outside surface.
Zwieniecki says that, at that point, the channels
become virtually indistinguishable and increasing
their density would offered advantage.
The experiments suggest that for thin leaves, the
vein density can be increased a great deal and
still allow greater flow through the whole
system. However, for thick leaves, increasing the
vein density quickly loses any benefit for
increasing flow.
The team confirmed its hypothesis by measuring
the geometry of vein systems in the leaves of 32
plant species, ranging from thick-leaf succulents
such as the Jade plant (Crassula ovata) to common
trees with thin leaves, such as the red maple.
© Society for Science & the Public 2000 - 2008 All rights reserved.
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Map Reveals Extent of Deforestation in Tropical Countries
Posted Jul 10th, 2008
Map Reveals Extent of Deforestation in Tropical Countries:
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/01/10019/
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Update: Climate and Species Refugees
Posted Jul 10th, 2008
—————————- Original Message —————————-
Subject: Update: Climate and species refugees
From: “Lance Olsen” <lance@wildrockies.org>
Date: Sat, June 28, 2008 6:23 am
To: “cmcr-outreach” <cmcr-outreach@vortex.wildrockies.org>
————————————————————————–
Among other things, an article in this week’s
issue of Science underscores Rule #1 for anyone
who leads nature walks for public education
purposes: What you see is not what you’ll get –
especially, community composition/habitat types
cannot remain as we see them now, because these
eggs are already being scrambled.
Here’s how Scientific American reviewed the
Science article. (I have the article as pdf. Feel
free to ask.)
Lance
——————————————
“The researchers found that grasses, herbs and
other short-lived species that had been through
many generations shifted the most in search of
perfect temperatures, whereas long-lived trees
stayed largely in place. According to the
authors, this is changing the composition of the
forest-mixing formerly low-altitude grasses with
high-altitude trees-which could potentially
affect the entire ecosystem, particularly the
animals that rely on specific plants to survive.”
North Pole Ice Free in 2008?
Posted Jul 10th, 2008
No Ice At The North Pole: Polar Scientists Reveal Dramatic New
Evidence of Climate Change:
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/06/27/9920/
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New Climate Regime Lethal to African Lions
Posted Jul 10th, 2008
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Public release date: 2-Jul-2008
Contact: Dr. Karen Terio
kterio@illinois.edu
708-216-6183
Instances of mass die-offs in wild lions
precipitated by extreme climate change
An international research team has published the first clear example
of how climate extremes can create conditions in which diseases that
are normally tolerated singly may converge and bring about mass
die-offs in wildlife.
Forest Service Sued for Rampant Clearcutting in Montana
Posted Jul 10th, 2008
Conservation Groups file lawsuit in Federal District Court to stop
cleacutting in the Fleecer Mountains.
Contact Michael Garrity, Executive Director, Alliance for the Wild
Rockies 406 459-5936
Two conservation groups, the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Native
Ecosystems Council filed a lawsuit yesterday afternoon in Federal
District Court in Missoula against the U.S. Forest Service and
Regional Forester Tom Tidwell to stop the Beaverhead-Deerlodge
National Forest’s Price Powder Timber Sale which authorizes
clearcutting 133 acres in the Fleecer Mountains, near the continental
divide approximately 10 miles southwest of Butte. The groups contend
the Forest Service is violating the Forest Plan requirements for big
game, old growth and snags.
Take a Tar Sands Vacation-Go Now and Circulate
Posted Jul 10th, 2008
Here’s a very cool project from friends up in Alberta… Check it out, and help
spread the word!
-Matt
www.travelingalberta.com
Dear friends,
What comes to mind when you think about Alberta,Canada? Vast forests and
wilderness, toweringmountains and ski hills, rodeos and cowboys? That might have
been true once, but not any more. Albertais now home to the largest and most
environmentally destructive project on theplanet, as revealed in a new site
dedicated to dispelling Alberta’s clean image.
Traveling Alberta (www.travelingalberta.com)is a mock travel site that pulls back
the curtain on tar sands development andshows the world what the province is
desperately trying to hide: pools oftoxic, deadly water It tells the realstory of
what travelers will find in Alberta: massive CO2 emissions,toxic water and the
planet’s dirtiest oil.
But waging a battle against Big Oil and exposing the world’slargest and most toxic
industrial project is no small task, and we need yourhelp. We need you to visit this
site (the more hits the better!!!!), to tell your friends and to spread the word. We
need to get our message to theCanadian and Albertan governments that the world will
not accept dirty oilextracted at the risk of environmental, social and economic
health. And we needto do it now.
The tar sands are the dirtiest source of oil known to man.Unlike conventional oil
operations, the tar sands are extracted by buildinghuge strip mines or deep
in-situwells. While the rest of the planet is finding solutions to decrease
theircarbon footprint, Albertais making ours bigger. Already, greenhouse gases from
the tar sands are roughlyequal to the emissions of all the cars on the road today in
Canada. Andthey’re growing.
Water used from the tar sands is so contaminated with toxicchemicals it must be
stored in huge “tailings ponds” that are visible fromouter space. A city of two
million people uses an amount of water equivalent tothe tar sands annually. And just
this past week, about 500 birds perished afterthey came in contact with the toxic
water. They are typically scared away byair cannons!
More than 147,000 square kilometers – an area the size of Florida – is at risk totar
sands development. Yet instead of slowing down development, this governmenthas
approved every single tar sandsproposal that has come across its desk.
This is the dirty image Alberta’sPremier will try to address as he travels
throughout the United States and Europe, spending $25 million dollars to beautify
Alberta’simage. We need your help to send a clear message to Premier Ed Stelmach:
Stopthe Tar Sands and clean up your own backyard.
If you want to tell the Premier and Prime Minister StephenHarper that it doesn’t
have to be this way. If you want to tell them to clean up their act and make Alberta
a great place tovisit again. If you want to have yourvoice heard as loud as big oil
companies who are destroying the environment,visit www.travelingalberta.comand tell
a friend.
Do your part to Stop the Tar Sands today.
www.travelingalberta.com
No-Fishing Zones Studied for Ecosystem Protection
Posted Jun 26th, 2008
No-fishing zones studied for ecosystem protection
BRIAN SKOLOFF Published: 06.26.2008
DRY TORTUGAS NATIONAL PARK, Fla. - Reeling in a 45-pound grouper used to be just an average day on the water in the Florida Keys.
The abundance of behemoth fish attracted anglers from around the world in the early 1900s, including adventurers such as Ernest Hemingway and Zane Grey, who pulled in monsters from the clear, warm depths off Key West.
But as Florida’s population boomed, the attraction that drew them began to vanish. Anglers were snapping up the larger fish by the thousands. An average grouper caught in the Keys now is about eight pounds.
“We were starting to look like a Third World nation in regards to having blitzed our resources,” said University of Miami marine biologist Jerald Ault.
Ault and others are studying whether putting large tracts of ocean off-limits to fishing in the Keys can help species rebound — and prove a way to help reverse the effects of overfishing worldwide.
Federal and state scientists, along with University of Miami researchers, wrapped up a 20-day study on June 9, after 1,710 dives in the region, surveying fish sizes and abundance, in an effort to determine whether it’s working.
Critics assert that it isn’t. They say limiting size and catch quantities, not fencing off the seas, will help restore ocean life.
The fierce debate has raged between scientists and anglers for years. Some studies suggest the outcome could mean life or death for not only commercial and sport fishing, but for mass seafood consumption as it exists today.
Florida has the largest contiguous “no-take” zone in the continental U.S. — about 140 square miles are off limits to fishing in and around Dry Tortugas National Park, a cluster of seven sandy islands about 70 miles west off Key West amid the sparkling blue-green waters that teem with tropical marine life. Nearby, another 60 square miles are also off limits.
The region is home to some 300 fish species and lies within a crucial coral reef habitat at the convergence of the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
Fish larvae produced here can be swept on ocean currents as far north as the Carolinas.
Ault fondly calls the area “Florida’s Yellowstone,” loaded with tropical fish, endangered sea turtles and sharks.
It’s been about seven years since the first portion of this no-fishing zone was created in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
While Ault and others say there are clear signs of a resurgence — that grouper, snapper and other reef fish are now being found in greater numbers and are growing larger — they acknowledge definitive answers may be years away.
“It’s way too early to make those kinds of pronouncements,” said James Bohnsack, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who also is working on the study. “The only way we’re going to confirm this is to follow it through time.” Bohnsack said it could be 15 years before scientific data fully verifies the theory.
But he said the premise is based on simple logic.
Coral reefs serve as crucial breeding grounds for some of the world’s most popular fished species. Keeping anglers away, scientists believe, will create havens where fish can feed, grow and spawn, then migrate to areas that have been overfished.
The larger a fish grows, the more eggs it can produce. If anglers continue to snap up all the big ones, eventually, Bohnsack warned, the entire system could collapse.
Overfishing has cut deeply into the world’s fish populations.
A 2006 report in the journal Science warned that nearly a third of the world’s seafood species have declined by 90 percent or more and all populations of fished species could collapse by 2048 if current fishing and pollution trends continue.
Bohnsack and Ault hope to prove that by closing critical breeding grounds, such a catastrophe can be averted. But others aren’t convinced.
Ted Forsgren, executive director of the Coastal Conservation Association Florida — a nonprofit group that represents anglers — said he has seen no indication that fish from the protected areas are replenishing the seas where fishing is allowed.
Forsgren vigorously opposes no-take zones, and says limiting catch size and quantity is a better approach.
“There’s evidence that shows that if you create a no-take zone you’ll end up with more fish in there, and that’s true,” Forsgren said. “But we haven’t seen any of these no-fishing zones that have provided replenishment to adjacent waters.”
A state and federal study released in February on a network of no-fishing zones around California’s Channel Islands found that since those preserves were created five years ago, the population and size of spiny lobsters and other species have increased.
Still, the study’s findings only “suggest” that since lobsters in the protected areas are growing bigger, it is “likely” they could “spill over” into unprotected areas.
Even so, many in the scientific community insist the concept will pay off.
No-take zones around the world operate under just that theory, although many allow limited fishing for research and indigenous groups.
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park has the world’s largest network of no-take areas, with more than 44,000 square miles off limits to fishing.
The United States’ largest no-take marine reserve is a 1,547-square-mile network within Hawaii’s remote Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, according to NOAA.
Limited sustenance and research fishing and a few small commercial operations are currently allowed within much of the remainder of the monument’s 140,000 square miles, but all commercial fishing there will be phased out by 2011.
Mike Hirshfield, chief scientist at Oceana, a sea life advocacy group, said that if current fishing trends continue without added protections, anglers could fish themselves out of business. He compared reef habitat breeding grounds to investment banks.
“Once you liquidate the capital, you can’t live off the interest anymore,” he said.
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Hansen: Climate, Tipping Points, and U.S. Politics
Posted Jun 25th, 2008
Published on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 by The Toronto Star
Earth Near Tipping Point, Climatologist Warns by Tim Harper
WASHINGTON-James Hansen returned to Capitol Hill a hero yesterday, but certainly not a conquering hero.
The soft-spoken scientist, hailed as the “whistle-blower for the planet,” tried to quiet a standing ovation from environmentalists here with a typically blunt admonition.
“It is not a time to celebrate,” said Hansen, 20 years to the day since he became the first leading scientist to warn of the dangers of global warming before a congressional committee.
He returned not to bask in any adulation, but to warn that the Earth is nearing a tipping point, to call for a national carbon tax and to say that CEOs of energy companies may be guilty of crimes against humanity and nature.
Global Warming Moves Costa Rica Coffee Land HigherGlobal Warming Moves Costa Rica Coffee Land Higher
Posted Jun 25th, 2008
Global Warming Moves Costa Rica Coffee Land Higher
Tue Jun 24, 2008 7:22pm EDT By John McPhaul
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Reuters) - Costa Rican coffee farmers are facing threats from climate change but the rising temperatures are also expanding high-altitude regions where the country’s most prized beans are grown.
Human emissions of greenhouse gases could cause the earth’s surface temperature to rise anywhere between one and six degrees Celsius (1.8 and 10.8 degrees Fahrenheit) over the next 100 years, according to the United Nations, forcing growers of all crops to adapt to new weather conditions.
*Stop Black Mesa Project! DEIS Comment Period Deadline July 7, 2008*
Posted Jun 23rd, 2008
—————————- Original Message —————————-
Subject: *Stop Black Mesa Project! DEIS Comment Period Deadline July 7, 2008*
From: “Black Mesa Support” <blackmesais@riseup.net>
Date: Mon, June 23, 2008 10:53 am
To: “support, Black Mesa Indigenous Support” <blackmesais@riseup.net>
————————————————————————–
The following action alert is from The Black Mesa Water Coalition:
Dear friends and relatives,
Please take a few minutes to read and hopefully respond! We have
being trying our best to handle the railroading tactics of Peabody,
the Office of Surface Mining and its desire mine more coal!
Best, BMWC
www.blackmesawatercoalition.org
Black Mesa Project permitting process Re-opened! Deadline for
commenting: July 7, 2008
Coal is the liver of Mother Earth, keep it in the ground, keep her
alive and healthy!
3 Reports: Major Impacts to U.S. From Coming Climate Changes
Posted Jun 21st, 2008
Extreme floods, storms seen increasing in North America
Fri Jun 20, 2008 4:34pm EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Floods, droughts and severe storms are likely to ravage North America more frequently as emissions of planet-warming gases rise, according to a U.S. government study.
Extreme weather events, “could seriously affect” human health, agricultural production, and the availability and quality of water in the future, according to the report, issued by the Climate Change Science Program on Thursday.
Test Biomass Harvests Yield Important Lessons
Posted Jun 20th, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 19, 2008
10:00 AM
CONTACT: Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP)
Ben Lilliston, 612-870-3416,
ben@iatp.org
Test Biomass Harvests Yield Important Lessons
MINNEAPOLIS - June 19 - A series of test forest biomass harvests from the Superior National Forest in northeastern Minnesota indicate that such harvests could reduce the cost of fire prevention management while providing work for loggers and fuel for renewable energy facilities.
The findings were released today in the study, “Harvesting Fuel: Cutting Costs and Reducing Forest Fire Hazards Through Biomass Harvest,” coauthored by Don Arnosti (Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy), Dr. Dalia Abbas (University of Minnesota) and Dr. Michael Demchik (University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point). Biomass is material in the forest not traditionally utilized in pulpwood or sawtimber markets, such as shrubs, small-diameter trees, tree branches, and coarse woody debris.
Retreating Antarctic Sea Ice Threatens Southern Whales
Posted Jun 20th, 2008
Retreating Antarctic sea ice threatens southern whales
Thu Jun 19, 2008 4:04pm EDT By Jeremy Lovell
LONDON (Reuters) - The retreat of Antarctic sea ice because of global warming will threaten already endangered migratory whales by reducing their feeding areas, the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) said on Thursday.
The report, “Ice Breaker - Pushing the boundaries for Whales” says winter sea ice will retreat by up to 30 percent in some places, making the whales travel up to 500 km (310 miles) further south in search of food.
Iowa Flooding Likely Worsened by Human Land Use Patterns
Posted Jun 20th, 2008
Iowa Flooding May Have Been Worsened By Man
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/06/19/9741/
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Please Help Bear Butte: Bars, Mufflers, Helicopters-& Sacred Sites
Posted Jun 19th, 2008
—————————- Original Message —————————-
Subject: FW: Please Help Bear Butte: Bars, Mufflers, Helicopters
and……Sacred Sites
From: “wsdp” <wsdp@igc.org>
Date: Thu, June 19, 2008 9:37 am
To: wsdp@igc.org
————————————————————————–
—–Original Message—–
From: tamra@protectsacredsites.org [mailto:tamra@protectsacredsites.org]
Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 9:01 PM
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
Subject: Bars, Mufflers, Helicopters and……Sacred Sites
Hello everyone,
We still need YOUR help and support for our petition to Protect Bear
Butte. We are currently at 859 signatures, which is great, however we
need to keep it going. Thank you to everyone that signed so far, your
support is greatly appreciated!
Oceans Warming, Rising Faster
Posted Jun 19th, 2008
Scientific sleuths find seas warming, rising faster
Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:01am EDT By David Fogarty
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Scientific detective work has uncovered a decades-old glitch in ocean temperature measurements and revealed that the world’s seas are warming and rising faster than previously reported.
An international team of scientists, reporting their findings on Thursday in the journal Nature, looked at millions of ship-based measurements taken since 1950, but particularly from 1960, and revealed an error in data from a common probe called an XBT.
Brazil Backs Amazon Soy Ban
Posted Jun 18th, 2008
Brazil throws weight behind Amazon soy ban
Wed Jun 18, 2008 1:20am EDT By Ana Nicolaci da Costa
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil’s new environment minister reached an agreement with the grain processing industry to ban purchases of soy from deforested Amazon until July 2009, winning praise from environmentalists.
“This same initiative will be extended to two other sectors — the timber sector and the beef sector,” Environment Minister Carlos Minc said while praising the grain industry and non-governmental organizations for a “pioneering” initiative.
Australia in Grip of Tenacious Drought: 2 Stories
Posted Jun 18th, 2008
Australian rivers ‘face disaster’
By Nick Bryant BBC News, Sydney
Australia is facing is worst drought in a century
Parts of Australia’s vital Murray-Darling river basin will be beyond the point of recovery unless they receive water by October.
That is the verdict of an expert panel whose leaked report warns of dire consequences like the loss of wetlands, vegetation and some fish species.
The Green party has hit out at the government for deferring consideration of the report until November.
New Salmon Plan Fails to Address Effects of Dams, Global Warming
Posted Jun 18th, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2008 2:48 PM
CONTACT: American Rivers
Michael Garrity, 206-852-5583 (cell)
New Salmon Plan Fails to Address Effects of Dams, Global Warming
American Rivers Urges Judge Redden to Give New Administration a Chance to Get it Right
WASHINGTON, DC - June 17 - Today a coalition of environmental and fishing organizations, including American Rivers, sued the National Marine Fisheries Service over the 2008 Biological Opinion, or Salmon Plan, on the Columbia and Snake river dams. The new Salmon Plan is the third attempt by NMFS in eight years to submit a plan that passes legal muster.
Oil Companies Given Clearance to Harass, Annoy, Endanger Polar Bears
Posted Jun 16th, 2008
Published on Sunday, June 15, 2008 by Associated Press
Oil Companies Get OK To Annoy Bears by Dina Cappiello
WASHINGTON - Less than a month after declaring polar bears a threatened species because of global warming, the Bush administration is giving oil companies permission to annoy and potentially harm them in the pursuit of oil and natural gas.
The Fish and Wildlife Service issued regulations last week providing legal protection to seven oil companies planning to search for oil and gas in the Chukchi Sea off the northwestern coast of Alaska if small numbers of polar bears or Pacific walruses are incidentally harmed by their activities over the next five years.