Peru’s Nazca people — famous for their huge line drawings on a desert plateau that are fully visible only from the air — set the stage for their collapse around 500 A.D. by deforesting the plain, allowing a flood free rein through the Rio Ica valley, researchers have found. “They died out because they destroyed their natural ecosystem,” said archaeologist...
PROSPECTS FOR a credible deal to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation – commonly known as REDD – were still unclear when the UN climate talks concluded yesterday, according to the Ecosystems Climate Alliance (ECA).
Barcelona, Spain FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Scientists and non-governmental organizations at the U.N. climate negotiations commented today on the percentage of global warming emissions that is due to tropical deforestation, in light of a new analysis published earlier this week in Nature Geoscience . The group, which included most of the leading experts on deforestation emissions, released the following...
In Maryland, a new study in the International Journal of Climatology – by researchers from the University of Maryland, Purdue University, and the University of Colorado in Boulder – found that “most land-use changes, especially urbanization, result in warming. A clear exception is conversion of land from other uses to agriculture, which produces relative cooling, [...] Paper in Climatology...
Without reinstatement of key provision, REDD could subsidize large-scale forest destruction REDD stands for “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation”. It is a policy solution being designed in which richer countries pay developing countries (and communities) for the carbon-absorbing services that their tropical and other forests provide to humanity. Deforestation accounts...
No Consensus about Anthropogenic Global Warming By S. Fred Singer There is a general impression, based on flawed analyses [Oreskes in Science 2004] that scientists support nearly unanimously the so-called scientific consensus on AGW. But more than 31,000 scientists and engineers disagree and have signed a petition that affirms their disbelief in AGW [for a listing of names see pp. 745-855, in Climate...
These posts are still relevant. Please comment! BEST: California Water Transfers -- some interesting details of the State Water Resources Board, an agency that many consider toothless and/or useless. Water and Business -- Cities that subsidize water to attract businesses are making several mistakes, and Corporate Footprinting is BS. Politics, Development and Corruption in San Diego (a continuing series...)...
Lightning's NOx-ious impact on pollution, climate Severe storm cuts of thousands in New South Wales Ida drenches Central America, forecast to enter Gulf - indeed, it now looks like Ida could be closing in on Florida Expanding cities contribute to global warming (well there's a surprise!) - the full paper - publicshed by the Royal Meteorological Society can be obtained via co-author Roger Pielke Sr's...
The Barcelona UN climate change talks, which is the last negotiating session before the historic UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, ended Friday night with too little progress on key issues to pave the way for a full-fledged agreement at Copenhagen. Speaking at the closing press conference in Barcelona, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said that progress on adaptation, technology...
Come along and take a tour of the ship. Tours will take place: London - Thames Quay, West India Docks Sat 21st November 10am – 5pm Sun 22nd November 10am – 5pm Edinburgh - Cruise Liner Berth, Ocean Terminal, Leith Docks Sat 28th November 10am – 5pm Sun 29th November 10am – 5pm Last tours start at 4.30pm at both locations. Please register online and let us know which day you'd...
Jeff Tollefson; cross-posted from In the Field Things are winding down here in Barcelona. The latest negotiating text is out, and everybody is waiting for the final plenary session. Negotiators seem to have coalesced on what needs to come out of Copenhagen, as opposed to what many would like to see. The basic idea, covered in a bit more detail in my last post, is that leaders could sign an agreement...
Filed under: Activism , Plants and Wildlife Sad but true: there are lots of endangered animals out there. Climate change, deforestation and habitat destruction are all powerful forces working against wild populations of, well, most wild animals. So you know it has to be pretty bad when the World Wildlife Fund singles out a species for particular attention . This week the conservation organization...
Remember this? I have acquired the original list of items planned for this sketch so thought it would be polite to share: Luxil Non-Bio Vivaldi Embalancing Bleach Ms Mimsy Feminoids (pack of 23) Cassandra Lemon-infused Comfort Mattress Xancilex (strap: 'kicks pain to death') Discreet Fruit Of The Jungle Moistened Wilmas St Tabitha's Essence (in a Holland and Barrett-style bottle) Harmonieve Secret...
"Developing nations could end up being paid billions of dollars to raze rainforests and build palm oil plantations in their place if the current text of the Copenhagen climate treaty sticks, a group of advocates warned at the United Nations climate talks on Tuesday. ... The 10-word provision - "safeguards against the conversion of natural forests to forest plantations" - was part of...
The world’s wetlands are big sources of greenhouse gases PEATY wetlands emit about 1.3 billion tonnes of CO2 a year as a result of human activity that drains them and thus exposes them to the oxidative effect of the atmosphere. This figure does not include the effect of fire on dried-up bogs, which can double the amount. That, at least, is the conclusion of a report published by Wetlands International,...
In the Imbabura province of Ecuador lies the beautiful Manduriacos Valley, a sub-tropical zone surrounded by primary forest and rich in bio-diversity. Life for the valley’s human inhabitants, however, hasn’t been easy. The continuing decline in farming income, poor infrastructure and limited economic resources have all had an impact on the 500 families that make up the area’s twelve communities. The
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