Contact Skip Derra, skip.derra@asu.edu, 480-965-4823, Media Relations15 December 2011 Humans are having an effect on Earth’s ecosystems but it’s not just the depletion of resources and the warming of the planet we are causing. Now you can add an over-abundance of nitrogen as another “footprint” humans are leaving behind. The only question is how large […]
New Delhi, December 20 (UPI) – India’s rising population and economic growth are straining the country’s supply of water, a report from India’s Infrastructure Development Finance Co. warns. Of India’s 20 major river basins, 14 are considered water-stressed, the report from IDFC, an independent group, report said. Nearly 25 percent of the country’s population live […]
December 21 (AFP) – Ecologists have warned production of frankincense, one of the three gifts the Wise Men gave to the baby Jesus in a key part of the Nativity story celebrated at Christmas, is in dramatic decline. A research team from the Netherlands and Ethiopia says a new study has shown numbers of the […]
By NOAKI SCHWARTZ and GARANCE BURKE, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS8 November 2011 CADIZ, California – Off historic Route 66 in the heart of the California desert, the barren landscape of dry scrub and rock abruptly gives way to an oasis of tall green trees heavy with lemons and grape vines awaiting next month’s harvest. Some think […]
21,000 villagers are in “full revolt” against Communist authorities, for illegally selling farmland and pocketing the profits. Chinese Authorities Lose Control as Village Revolts Technorati Tags: China,Asia,conflict,corruption,agriculture
By Betsy Blaney, The Associated Press17 December 2011 LUBBOCK, Texas – The worst drought in Texas’ history has led to the largest-ever one-year decline in the leading cattle-state’s cow herd, raising the likelihood of increased beef prices as the number of animals decline and demand remains strong. Since Jan. 1, the number of cows in […]
By Rachel Cernansky16 December 2011 Over the last decade, more than 200 million hectares of land in developing countries have been sold off in large-scale land transactions that tend to benefit “national elites” while harming the world’s poor and rural populations, according to a new report from the International Land Coalition (ILC). The group calls […]
Contact: Sofia Holmgren, Department of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, Lund UniversityTel. +46 709 289778, Sofia.Holmgren@geol.lu.se 16 December 2011 Nitrogen from human activity has been polluting lakes in the northern hemisphere since the late 19th century. The clear signs of industrialisation can be found even in very remote lakes, thousands of kilometres from the nearest city. […]
[Longtime readers will recognize this as another artifact of China’s development bubble, which has produced ghost cities and dead malls.] By David Gray, Reuters 14 December 2011 Along the road to one of China’s most famous tourist landmarks – the Great Wall of China – sits what could potentially have been another such tourist destination, […]
It’s time for the yearly retrospectives on 2011, and we’re kicking them off with 2011’s most-viewed stories on Desdemona. It won’t surprise anyone to see that the triple meltdown at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant was the most popular event, with 9 of the top 20 stories. Most surprising is the continued popularity of a 2009 […]
