Trees Are A Solution To Global Warming: Minister
by clydens on Aug.30, 2010, under Environment
Forest Minister Benoy Viswom has said that only trees can effectively counter global warming.
He was inaugurating ‘Bhoomigeetham 2010,’ an environmental convention for students, organised by the SNDP Yogam Vanitha Sangham, here on Sunday.
He warned that if environmental degradation were allowed to continue, people may soon have to buy air to even breathe. Twenty-five years ago, it was inconceivable that people in Kerala would buy bottled drinking water. But that had happened, he said.
Over the past 100 years, the temperature of the earth had gone up by 0.63 degrees Celsius. If environment destruction continued at the current rate, the temperature would soon rise by 6.34 degrees Celsius, he said, quoting scientific studies. But many species on earth, including man, would not be able to survive if the temperature rose by even 3 degrees Celsius, he said. (continue reading…)
UN Hopes Science Review Eases Climate Skepticism
by clydens on Aug.29, 2010, under Climate Change
A review due on Monday can help restore public faith in the U.N. panel of climate scientists and its finding that global warming is man-made despite errors in a 2007 report, the U.N.’s environment chief said.
Achim Steiner also told Reuters on Sunday that extreme weather in 2010 such as floods in Pakistan or Russia’s heat wave were a “stark warning””of the need to act to slow global warming — as outlined by the U.N. panel.
He said he would be surprised if Monday’s review, spurred by mistakes in a 2007 report such as an exaggeration of the thaw of the Himalayas, called for any radical overhaul of the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (continue reading…)
State Apple Growers To Take Hit From 20 Percent Mexican Tariff
by clydens on Aug.21, 2010, under Foods
Washington apple growers are going to take an estimated $44 million hit this year from a new Mexican tariff, another chapter in an ongoing trade dispute that has already hurt cherry and pear growers.
The 20 percent tariff took effect Thursday and affects all U.S. fresh apple sales to this state’s largest export market.
State apple marketers have sold almost 10 million boxes of apples to Mexico during the current 2009-10 marketing season, a slight decline from the same period a year earlier when the state harvested its largest crop to date.
The tariff takes effect as Washington state is preparing to harvest what could be a record crop. (continue reading…)
City Bees Get Richer Diet Than Bees From Farmlands: Study
by clydens on Aug.19, 2010, under Environment, Nature
A recent study has suggested that a richer and healthier diet is available for bees in urban and suburban settings as compared to the ones in farmland settings.
In an attempt to assess the link between bee health and diversity of pollen they encounter, honeybee hives from as many as 10 National Trust sites were studied.
The study found that the bees from farmlands had a noticeably narrower range of pollens than both urban and untouched “natural” settings.
Hives from Kensington Palace in London showed evidence of eucalyptus and elderberry, while suburban sites such as those around the University of Worcester – where the researchers who carried out the study work – showed a rich mix including lily, blackberry, rowan trees, and oilseed rape. (continue reading…)
Rescued King Cobra Released To Forest
by clydens on Aug.18, 2010, under Wildlife
Snake Sathish displaying the king cobra which he rescued. DH Photo Ironically when the real snake is found in the vicinity it is done to death by petrified bunch of people.
In Gonikoppa lives a herpetologist, who rescued an injured king cobra, treated it for over 60 days and released it to the woods. The herpetologist is snake Sathish, the warden of Coorg Public School of Gonikoppa who feels that even if he fails to turn to the holy shrine of snake gods to offer prayers on Panchami, the king cobra that he had rescued must be blessing him wherever it is.
A king cobra was fighting for life after being stuck in a machinery at a Mini Hydel Project at Karike near Bhagamandala. The personnel from the plant quickly informed Sathish about the situation. Following this, Sathish rushed to the spot to rescue the cobra. On reaching the spot, Sathish found that the cobra had entangled itself in the machinery and could not make its way out. (continue reading…)
Cow Vaccines Go Vroom
by clydens on Aug.17, 2010, under Livestock
In much of Africa, a herd of cattle is more than just cows. It’s a savings account, protein store, dowry, funeral fund, symbol of wealth, and hedge against drought. For many smallholder farmers, the loss of even a single cow to disease can spell ruin.
Yet a grievous number of cattle in sub-Saharan Africa get sick: one estimate puts annual losses from disease at $40 billion, some twenty-five percent of the total value of livestock production in the region.
John Barlow, professor of animal sciences at the University of Vermont, thinks the cows in the university’s research herd may be able to help.
“Many cattle diseases in sub-Saharan Africa might be prevented if we had better vaccines,” he says, “but the way we have traditionally created vaccines is expensive and takes a lot of time.” (continue reading…)
