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archive: Jul-Aug 2006
Encyclopedia of Alternative
Energy and Sustainable Living
Eco-news archive: July-August 2006
Melting ice dilutes northern seas
(Aug 30, 2006)
Freshwater pouring into northern oceans is slowly turning high-latitude
waters less salty. Shrinking ice sheets and melting glaciers are
partly responsible for the freshening effect, a review in the
journal Science has confirmed. If salinity levels continue to
drop, dramatic changes to the North Atlantic currents could occur.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Ozone hole stable, say scientists
(Aug 23, 2006)
Leading scientists in the United States say the hole in the ozone
layer of the Earth's atmosphere above the Antarctic appears to
have stopped widening. The ozone layer blocks the Sun's ultra-violet
rays, exposure to which is harmful to humans, animals and plants.
International agreements were reached to end the use of ozone-depleting
chemicals called CFCs after the hole was discovered in 1986.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Map details global water stress
(Aug 22, 2006)
The alarming extent of water scarcity across the world is detailed
in a map compiled by a leading environmental think tank. It shows
two key types of scarcity; water is said to be either physically
scarce or economically scarce. The map appears in a report by
the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) on the use
of water in agriculture.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
'More disasters' for warmer world
(Aug 15, 2006)
Rising temperatures will increase the risk of forest fires, droughts
and flooding over the next two centuries, UK climate scientists
have warned. Even if harmful emissions were cut now, many parts
of the world would face a greater risk of natural disasters, a
team from Bristol University said. The projections are based on
data from more than 50 climate models looking at the impact of
greenhouse gas emissions.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Greenland ice cap may be melting at
triple speed
(Aug 11, 2006)
The world's second largest ice cap may be melting three times
faster than indicated by previous measurements, according to newly
released gravity data collected by satellites. The Greenland Ice
Sheet shrank at a rate of about 239 cubic kilometres per year
from April 2002 to November 2005, a team from the University of
Texas at Austin found. In the last 18 months of the measurements,
ice melting has appeared to accelerate, particularly in southeastern
Greenland.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Sea-bed plan to store carbon
(Aug 9, 2006)
Storing carbon dioxide under the sea-bed could help to reduce
global warming, according to US scientists. The proposals involve
pumping the gas miles underground then injecting it under the
sea floor. There is enough space for almost unlimited carbon emissions,
a US team reports in the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Environmental 'crisis' in Lebanon
(Aug 1, 2006)
The United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) has expressed
its "grave concern" about oil pollution in Lebanese coastal waters.
An oil slick caused by Israeli bombing of the Jiyyeh power station
now covers 80km (50 miles) of coast. Local environmental groups
describe the slick as an "environmental disaster".
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Amazon rainforest 'could become a desert'
(Jul 23, 2006)
The vast Amazon rainforest is on the brink of being turned into
desert, with catastrophic consequences for the world's climate,
alarming research suggests. And the process, which would be irreversible,
could begin as early as next year. Studies by the blue-chip Woods
Hole Research Centre, carried out in Amazonia, have concluded
that the forest cannot withstand more than two consecutive years
of drought without breaking down.
Read
more. Source: Independent |
Earth facing 'catastrophic' loss of
species
(Jul 20, 2006)
The Earth is on the brink of "major biodiversity crisis" fuelled
by the steady destruction of ecosystems, a group of the world's
most distinguished scientists and policy experts warn today. Nineteen
leading specialists in the field of biodiversity, including Robert
Watson, chief scientist at the World Bank, and Professor Georgina
Mace, director of the Institute of Zoology, are calling for the
urgent creation of a global body of scientists to offer advice
and urge governments to halt what they call a potentially "catastrophic
loss of species".
Read
more. Source: Guardian |
First half of 2006 warmest on record
in U.S.
(Jul 18, 2006)
January through June was the warmest first half of any year in
the continental United States since records began in 1895, U.S.
government scientists reported Friday. The average January-June
temperature was 51.8 degrees Fahrenheit – 3.4 degrees above
the 20th century average, according to preliminary data reported
by scientists at the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville,
N.C.
Read
more. Source: MSNBC |
Extinction fear for black rhino
(Jul 11, 2006)
The West African black rhino appears to have become extinct, according
to the World Conservation Union (IUCN). A mission to their last
known habitat in northern Cameroon failed to find any rhinos or
signs of their existence. The sub-species has declined in recent
decades due primarily to poaching, which has also brought the
northern white rhino close to extinction.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Clarion call to save amphibians
(Jul 7, 2006)
Hundreds of amphibian species will become extinct unless a global
action plan is put into practice very soon, conservationists warn.
Campaigners are forming an Amphibian Survival Alliance, to raise
$400m and carry through a rescue strategy. More than a third of
all amphibian species are said to be in peril.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
A bright idea: How changing light bulbs
helps beat global warming
(Jul 3, 2006)
The simple use of current technology could have a dramatic impact
on global warming, if only we would adopt it. The low-energy light
bulb and other efficient lighting systems could prevent a cumulative
total of 16 billion tons of carbon from being added to the world's
atmosphere over the next 25 years, according to a report by the
International Energy Agency.
Read
more. Source: Independent |
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