Most Valencia forest threatened by desertification

[Google Translate] VALENCIA, 26 June (IRIN) – Viu Bosc platform, which includes virtually all environmental groups Valencia, has warned that almost all Valencia forest land is “threatened” by a “high risk” of desertification due to erosion – loss of topsoil, – “as a result of the elimination or degradation of vegetation cover,” according to a […]

Scientists warn that Malaysia is converting tropical forests to rubberwood plantations

By Jeremy Hance, www.mongabay.com June 24, 2010 The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) has condemned Malaysia’s booming practice of converting tropical forests into rubberwood plantations, arguing that the conversion threatens Malaysia’s biodiversity, endangered species, and releases significant greenhouse gas emissions. According to the resolution, rubberwood plantations in Malaysia have expanded nearly 30-fold in […]

Nitrogen emissions cause return of acid rain

  By Michael TennesenJune 21, 2010 The acid rain scourge of the ’70s and ’80s that killed trees and fish and even dissolved parts of statues on Washington, D.C.’s National Mall is back. But unlike the first round, in which sulfur emissions from power plants mixed with rain to create sulfuric acid, the current problem […]

Brazil rainforest logging increases malaria rates

June 17, 2010 (AFP) — Logging of tropical forests can boost the incidence of malaria in the surrounding area by nearly 50 per cent, according to new research tracking deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon. The study examined 2006 data tracking malaria rates in 54 Brazilian health districts and high-definition satellite imagery showing the extent of logging […]

Rainforest destruction continues in Madagascar despite ‘ban’ on timber exports

www.wildmadagascar.org June 21, 2010 New eyewitness reports indicate continued logging of Madagascar’s Masoala National Park for rosewood despite a government “moratorium” on logging and timber exports. A source near Marofinaritra, a town between Masoala and Antalaha, reports heavy night-time movement of trucks carrying illegally logged timber from the park. The wood is believed to be […]

The growing human footprint on coastal and open-ocean biogeochemistry

By Scott C. Doney Abstract: Climate change, rising atmospheric carbon dioxide, excess nutrient inputs, and pollution in its many forms are fundamentally altering the chemistry of the ocean, often on a global scale and, in some cases, at rates greatly exceeding those in the historical and recent geological record. Major observed trends include a shift […]

Indonesian government’s promise up in smoke: Fires rise by 59 percent

By Jeremy Hancewww.mongabay.com June 13, 2010 The Indonesian government failed to live up to its promises to reduce fires across the tropical nation last year. Instead a 2009 State Environment Report showed a 59 percent rise of fire hotspots from 19,192 in 2008 to 32,416 last year, as reported by The Jakarta Post. Officials say […]

‘Worrying’ slump in UK tree planting prompts fears of deforestation – New tree planting lowest in over 30 years

  By Cahal Milmo, Chief Reporter Friday, 11 June 2010 Planting of new trees has fallen to its lowest level in more than three decades across Britain, leading conservationists said yesterday. Efforts to replace woodland in the United Kingdom, once so densely forested that trees which have sustained human populations for 6,000 years covered 90 […]

Climate change made apes vanish in ancient Europe

By Katia Moskvitch Science reporter, BBC News Page last updated at 4:14 GMT, Monday, 7 June 2010 5:14 UK Great apes were wiped out in ancient Europe when their environment changed drastically some nine million years ago, scientists say. A study of fossil teeth from grazing animals sheds light on what Europe was like during […]

Amazon up in smoke, even when deforestation slows

By Alister Doyle, Environment CorrespondentOSLOThu Jun 3, 2010 2:03pm EDT OSLO (Reuters) – Brazilian farmers are setting more fires in parts of the Amazon where deforestation has slowed, according to a study on Thursday that shows weaknesses in a U.N. plan for slowing climate change. Big fires, set by farmers to clear land for agriculture, […]

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