Each Friday we’ll bring you a round-up of the week’s green news from around the web. Please drop us a line if you know of a story we should include in the next round-up.
Plan for huge wind farm moves forward
From Reuters on 13 March 2009
A $1 billion proposal to build the first massive U.S. offshore wind-power farm has moved a step closer to overcoming permit requirements in Massachusetts, where it faces opposition from some influential residents. The project, designed to power about 400,000 homes, won tentative approval by Massachusetts authorities for a certificate that combines nine state and local permits needed to build the turbines. [full article]
Oil ‘disaster’ hits prime Australian beaches
From The Independent on 13 March 2009
Dozens of beaches in southern Queensland, popular with tourists, were declared a disaster zone yesterday, with 40 miles of once-pristine sands fouled by an oil slick and local wildlife under threat. Worst affected are beaches on Bribie and Moreton Islands, just north of the state capital, Brisbane. Both are national parks, and home to a range of sea birds and marine life, including turtles, dolphins and pelicans. [full article]
Amazon could shrink by 85% due to climate change, scientists say
From The Guardian on 11 March 2009
Global warming will wreck attempts to save the Amazon rainforest, according to a devastating new study which predicts that one-third of its trees will be killed by even modest temperature rises. The research, by some of Britain’s leading experts on climate change, shows that even severe cuts in deforestation and carbon emissions will fail to save the emblematic South American jungle, the destruction of which has become a powerful symbol of human impact on the planet. [full article]
Sea levels rising twice as fast as predicted
From The Independent on 11 March 2009
Sea levels are predicted to rise twice as fast as was forecast by the United Nations only two years ago, threatening hundreds of millions of people with catastrophe, scientists said yesterday in a dramatic new warning about climate change. Rapidly melting ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are likely to push up sea levels by a metre or more by 2100, swamping coastal cities and obliterating the living space of 600 million people who live in deltas, low-lying areas and small island states. [full article]
Green protest at EU HQ, 350 arrested
From Reuters on 10 March 2009
Green protesters demanding more money to tackle climate change blocked the main entrance to European Union headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday and Belgian police said they arrested more than 350 of them. “Save the climate, bail out the planet,” chanted the group of Greenpeace activists, who chained themselves to the gates outside the EU Council, where ministers were discussing how much the bloc should contribute to a climate change fund. [full article]
CO2 levels thinning out ocean life
From ABC News on 09 March 2009
There is alarming evidence that increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are harming ocean-based animal life. When CO2 enters the atmosphere it is absorbed by the ocean, causing increased acidity in the water. A new study has found a link between this process and a decrease in the shell-making ability of microscopic marine organisms. [full article]
Ecosystems may buffer some species against climate change
From ScienceDaily on 08 March 2009
Although ecologists expect many species will be harmed by climate change, some species could be buffered by their potential to evolve or by changes in their surrounding ecosystems. Researchers are using a common agricultural insect pest to understand how ecological and evolutionary factors drive population shifts in the face of a changing environment. [full article]
Monoculture tree plantations negatively impact women’s lives
From Sustainablog on 08 March 2009
The World Rainforest Movement (WRM) and Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) have released three new case studies and a video on the impacts of monoculture tree plantations on women in Nigeria, Papua New Guinea and Brazil. These tree plantations provide rubber for car and bus tires, palm oil for processed foods and pulp for toilet paper – all items being used in the west. They are also destroying local communities according to WRM and FoEI. [full article]
Brazil gets $1.3 billion for environment
From EcoWordly on 07 March 2009
The World Bank approved a loan to the Brazilian government for the improvement of environmental management programs. Focus areas for the programs are forests, water conservation, and energy efficiency. Climate change will be addressed with an integrated approach that includes all aspects of the programs. For example, destruction of the Amazon rainforest causes biodiversity loss and contributes to climate change, so decreasing deforestation protects biodiversity and prevents additional global warming. [full article]
Torrential rain and flooding to get worse in Britain
From The Telegraph on 07 March 2009
Scientists predict that warmer air caused by climate change will lead to rain storms becoming more intense and more frequent during autumn, winter and spring. The quantity of rain which falls during extreme downpours will increase by up to 30 per cent by 2070. For some parts of the country this could mean up to 3.2 inches of rain falling in a day – nearly an inch more than the average rain fall currently experienced in severe storms. [full article]
Don’t forget to drop us a line if you know of a story we should include in the next round-up of green news.
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Please can you send me an email address so I can forward an email about solar powered holidays and the combination of eco-cultural tourism in Almeria, Spain, thanks Peter