Drought and ‘systematic degradation’ doom wetlands in New South Wales

By BEN CUBBY, ENVIRONMENT EDITORMay 4, 2010 THE state’s biggest inland bird-breeding sanctuary is nearing collapse due to lack of water, and the bird population is undergoing ”dramatic upheavals” as some species are pushed out, a new report has found. The Macquarie Marshes – a vast, tangled sprawl of creeks and swamps between Nyngan and […]

River Jordan could die by 2011

By Staff WritersAlumot, Israel (AFP) May 3, 2010 The once mighty Jordan River, where Christians believe Jesus was baptised, is now little more than a polluted stream that could die next year unless the decay is halted, environmentalists said on Monday. The famed river “has been reduced to a trickle south of the Sea of […]

Fire spreads through Vietnam forests as heat wave lingers

By staff writers – Translated by Hai MienWednesday, Apr 28,2010, Posted at: 13:26(GMT+7) Forest fires are worse as several new infernos flared up at different zones of Tram Chim National Park in Dong Thap Province. The national park, which is located in the Mekong Delta province’s Tam Nong District, catched fires on April 25 and […]

UK rivers at risk of drying out

With climate change increasingly affecting supplies, and the growing population demanding more water than ever, Britain’s rivers are under serious threat. Our new report highlights the urgent action needed. All the water we use is taken from the natural environment. Many UK rivers are below their usual levels for the time of year – and […]

Bolivia villagers want compensation as glaciers melt

By Andres SchipaniBBC News, Khapi For the Incas, and most of the Andean civilisations, snow-capped mountains were divinities to be honoured, as they supplied water. But now it seems those gods are losing their powers. Researchers say that the glaciers are in dramatic retreat across the Andes due to rising temperatures. In the small village […]

Australia drought improves, but farmers still desperate

By JESSICA MAHARApril 21, 2010 THE rain dances must have worked, with NSW suffering less drought than at any time in the past nine years – this month, just 7.3 per cent of the state is drought declared. The Primary Industries Minister, Steve Whan, said he hoped the figures marked a turning point for the […]

Industry experts call for water privatization and higher global water price

Private water suppliers poised to grow as demand set to surge By Juliette Jowit in Pariswww.guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 28 April 2010 14.47 BST Private companies are poised for a surge in demand to take over water supplies, despite widespread opposition to privatisation of what is seen as a life-giving public service. Global Water Intelligence analysts expect […]

Food crisis in Niger occurring ‘out of the public eye’

By Jeremy Hance, www.mongabay.comApril 26, 2010 The West African nation of Niger is facing an increasingly alarming food crisis as the UN announced it would double the number of people it was feeding today despite continuing budget shortfalls in its World Food Program (WFP). Failing rains have caused crop yields in Niger to decline, while […]

In Venezuela savanna, clash of science and fire

By SIMON ROMERO; Maria Eugenia Díaz contributed reporting from CaracasPublished: April 22, 2010 YUNÉK, Venezuela — The mist-shrouded mountains rising out of the forest here form one of the world’s most beguiling frontiers of exploration and research, inspiring Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1912 fantasy novel “The Lost World” and teams of biologists who still mount expeditions […]

Study links stream pollution from coal mining to higher cancer rates

By Ken Ward Jr., Staff writerApril 21, 2010 CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginians who live near streams polluted by coal mining are more likely to die of cancer, according to a first-of-its kind study published by researchers at West Virginia University and Virginia Tech. The study provides the first peer-reviewed look at the relationship between […]

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