ECOLOGY

Billions Face Water Shortages
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/081606EB.shtml
A third of the world is facing water shortages because of poor management of
water resources and soaring water usage, driven mainly by agriculture. Globally,
water usage has increased by six times in the past 100 years and is set to
double again by 2050, according to the International Water Management Institute.

China Denies Plundering World's Rain Forests
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/081606EC.shtml
Environmental groups say that China is at the heart of a global trade for lumber
which it sells to markets in the United States and Europe, and that much of its
plywood exports come from illegal logging.

Evan Osnos | They Say It's Global Warming
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/082106EA.shtml
"First, their fathers noticed the palm trees that seemed to be inching toward
the water's edge.... Later, researchers came, scribbled measurements, and
offered a grim diagnosis: the sea is coming. There is not a power line or
factory or air conditioner within a day's walk of this village of 400 people in
the southwest Pacific, but these subsistence fishermen are no strangers to the
power of industrialization and climate change," writes Evan Osnos.

Conservation Groups Say Support for Whaling Has Declined
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/082106EB.shtml
Norway will not be able to fulfill its whaling quota this year in what
conservation groups are claiming is proof that the government should no longer
support the industry. Environmentalists say fewer whales have been hunted this
year because Norwegians' taste for the mammal has declined.

Scientists Call for Radical Action to Ease Water Scarcity
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/082106EC.shtml
Scientists on Monday called for radical action to improve global water
management. A new report released at the start of the World Water Week in
Stockholm said more efficient use of the world's water resources was needed to
reduce poverty and environmental damage.

Food, Biofuels Could Worsen Water Shortages
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/082206EB.shtml
Surging demand for irrigation to produce food and biofuels is likely to
aggravate scarcities of water, an international report said. Conquering hunger
and coping with an estimated 3 billion extra people by 2050 will result in an 80
percent increase in water use for agriculture.

Fixing Ozone Hole Raises Warming Concerns
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/082206EC.shtml
When more than two dozen countries undertook in 1989 to fix the ozone hole over
Antarctica, they began replacing chloroflourocarbons in refrigerators and air
conditioners. But they had little idea that using other gases that contain
chlorine or fluorine instead also would contribute greatly to global warming