Environmental News Online

China and India endorse Copenhagen Climate Accord

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:58:00 +0000

China and India joined almost all other major greenhouse gas emitters Tuesday in signing up to the climate accord struck in Copenhagen, boosting a deal strongly favored by the United States. More than 100 nations have now endorsed the Copenhagen Accord, a non-binding agreement reached after two weeks of tortuous wrangling at a 194-nation summit in December

Excerpt from:
China and India endorse Copenhagen Climate Accord

Gowanus Canal goes Superfund

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:57:00 +0000

Last week, the Gowanus Canal, a 1.8-mile, 100-foot wide waterway in northwest Brooklyn which empties into Upper New York Bay, was added to the National Priorities List (NPL) otherwise known Superfund by the Environmental Protection Agency. The new designation means that the EPA will now move ahead to clean up this derelict canal and to compel PRP’s (principal responsible parties) to perform the cleanup or reimburse the government for EPA-led action. The EPA is now locked in to what may be a tough and perhaps a long dragged-out process of restoring the Gowanus, while forcing cooperation from PRP’s and catering to often sensitive local community interests.

Excerpt from:
Gowanus Canal goes Superfund

Amazon Droughts and Greening

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:01:00 +0000

The sensitivity of Amazon rain forests to dry season droughts is still poorly understood, with reports of enhanced tree mortality and forest fires on one hand, and excessive forest greening on the other. In a current story there is a report that previous conclusions of large scale greening of the Amazon as a result of drought are not reproducible

See more here:
Amazon Droughts and Greening

New Report Offers Little Hope for International Climate Agreement

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:46:00 +0000

It’s the big pink elephant in the room that few others wish to acknowledge, but a central theme in a new report by former climate negotiator Nigel Purvis: An international climate change treaty isn’t likely to be signed anytime soon. Purvis served as president Clinton’s chief UN climate negotiator, and in his report released today Purvis says that the United States and Europe should “accept reality” and take immediate practical steps to deal with global warming.

See more here:
New Report Offers Little Hope for International Climate Agreement

EPA defends plan to regulate Greenhouse gas emissions

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:31:00 +0000

The Environmental Protection Agency chief fought back on Monday against Senate attempts to challenge the agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, saying delaying action would be bad for the economy.

See the original post here:
EPA defends plan to regulate Greenhouse gas emissions

Impact of Ancient Indonesian Volcanic Eruption

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:05:00 +0000

The Toba super eruption occurred between 69,000 and 77,000 years ago at Lake Toba (present day Indonesia), and it is recognized as one of Earth’s largest known eruptions. The related catastrophe theory holds that this super volcanic event plunged the planet into a 6 to 10 year volcanic winter, which resulted in the world’s human population being reduced to 10,000 or even a mere 1,000 breeding pairs, creating a bottleneck in human evolution. Some researchers argue that the Toba eruption produced not only a catastrophic volcanic winter but also an additional 1,000 year cooling episode

View original post here:
Impact of Ancient Indonesian Volcanic Eruption

Neglected tropical diseases NEED to be studied

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:12:00 +0000

The ‘innovation gap’ for neglected tropical diseases is rapidly growing, say Sandeep P. Kishore and colleagues, but research universities in the United States could help close the gap.

Read the original post:
Neglected tropical diseases NEED to be studied

West Africa mangroves impacted by salt extraction

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:46:00 +0000

Salt is precious in poverty-stricken coastal West Africa, but conservation experts say efforts to extract it are laying waste to mangrove swamps, causing erosion and ravaging fish stocks.

Continued here:
West Africa mangroves impacted by salt extraction

China to develop new energy source - combustible ice

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:06:00 +0000

China’s western Qinghai Province, containing major deposits of the country’s “combustible ice,” will see increased explorations for this emerging clean energy, Provincial Governor Luo Huining said on Saturday. The plateau province plans to allow large energy companies along with researchers to tap this new source of energy while minimizing environmental threats, Luo said on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature.

Original post:
China to develop new energy source - combustible ice

The nuclear waste issue must be solved

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 11:46:00 +0000

U.S.