Contact: Eleni Kanavasekanavas@utsc.utoronto.ca416-208-5103University of Toronto (University of Toronto) The levels of contamination to water and sediment in Frenchman’s Bay in Pickering, Ontario, greatly exceed provincial water quality standards, in some cases by as much as 250 per cent, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Toronto, Scarborough. This is largely due […]
Trends in drought: Is drought becoming more extreme? Meteorological drought (Temperature, Precipitation including snow) Hydrological drought (groundwater, river flow) Timing of minimum flow (earlier, later…)About 600 small, undisturbed basins Period: 1962-2004Significant negative trends: 8.7%Significant positive trends: 0.4% Lanen, H.A.J. van; Mysiak, J.; Harding, R., Drought: Key Achievements and Challenges, Brussels, Belgium : 2009 Invited presentation […]
By Dan Whitcomb (Additional reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Eric Walsh)LOS ANGELESFri Feb 26, 2010 4:33pm EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Drought-stricken farmers and cities across California were granted a measure of relief on Friday when federal and state officials said they expected to supply significantly more water this year than last. The announcements […]
By BARNEY ZWARTZFebruary 27, 2010 Environmental vandalism by loggers in Papua New Guinea is destroying the nation and its people while Australia makes futile promises to try to influence logging policy, according to a former missionary and a landowner. Brother Jim Coucher worked in and near Vanimo on the north-west coast of PNG for 43 […]
By Staff WritersHanoi (AFP) Feb 26, 2010 Water levels in the northern Mekong River are at record-low levels, posing a threat to water supply, navigation and irrigation along a stretch of water that is home to millions, a regional official said. Northern Thailand, northern Laos and southern China have all been affected, Jeremy Bird, chief […]
By Denene Erasmus, 25 Feb 2010 More than 2 000 ostriches have died in the Klein Karoo, as temperatures soared to more than 50°C in February. This follows the announcement that ostrich farmers in the drought-stricken southern Cape would not be benefiting from the R26,9 million in drought relief made available by the National Treasury for embattled […]
By Staff WritersShanghai (AFP) Feb 23, 2010 Authorities in eastern China have said they will release 20 million algae-eating fish into one of the nation’s most scenic lakes that has been ravaged by pollution. Taihu Lake, which straddles Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, has been severely polluted by sewage as well as industrial and agricultural […]
By Luc Gnacadja, UNCCD Executive SecretarySpecial for the Herald Climate change, food security, migration, poverty and peace. Nowadays, it seems that not a day goes by without a news report on one or all of these issues. These issues are also a big part of the current international political agenda. The question that almost always […]
Report for the UN into the activities of the world’s 3,000 biggest companies estimates one-third of profits would be lost if firms were forced to pay for use, loss and damage of environment [UPDATE: Fixed broken link to Stern review – thanks to the good folks at LearnStuff.] By Juliette Jowitwww.guardian.co.uk, Thursday 18 February […]
By PETER KERFebruary 22, 2010 Close to 300 kilometres of the Murray River has been declared off limits to humans and animals, as a toxic algal bloom worsened yesterday. As the river between Wodonga and Echuca was elevated to ”red alert” for algal bloom, there were concerns the risks to human health were not being […]
