ECOLOGY

Pat Rasmussen | Cascades' Reddened Forests Signal Threat to Humans
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/082906EA.shtml
Forests in the West are dying. Pat Rasmussen says, "As I look around, I see
humans continuing life as usual, seemingly unaware that the planetary forests
that make life possible are more and more stressed, pushed toward death, by our
actions. We stand at the edge of a catastrophic precipice, where life as we know
it may no longer be possible."

Engineers Race to Steal Nature's Secrets
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/082906EB.shtml
A new generation of small green companies is emerging with radical but proven
ideas to revolutionize engineering and create anything from intelligent
refrigerators to colossal wind turbines moored at sea.


FIRST HALF OF 2006 HOTTEST ON RECORD

AP - The first half of the year was the warmest on record for the United
States. The government reported Friday that the average temperature for
the 48 contiguous United States from January through June was 51.8
degrees Fahrenheit, or 3.4 degrees above average for the 20th century.
That made it the warmest such period since recordkeeping began in 1895,
the National Climatic Data Center reported. No state was cooler than
average and five states Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri
experienced record warmth for the period. . . As of June, 45 percent of
the contiguous U.S. was in moderate-to-extreme drought, an increase of 6
percent from May. . . Worldwide, it was the sixth warmest year-to-date
since record keeping began in 1880.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2192795

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AMERICAN AGRIBUSINESS WRECKING THE AMAZON


DANIEL HOWDEN, INDEPENDENT UK - The scars are unmistakably man made.
Hard-edged squares and rectangles, hundreds of acres across, hacked and
burned out of the Amazon rainforest. The dark green of the canopy is
lacerated with thin red lines - the illegal dirt roads that stitch
together these giant clearings.

Seen from the air, this fearful symmetry marks out the battle lines of
an invasion that has seen the humble soya bean emerge as the greatest
threat to the world's most important rainforest.


On the ground, what was once a thriving ecosystem supporting at least
300 tree species for every hectare, is now a wasteland. Dead roots and
dry grass crunch underfoot and the breeze throws up dust from eroded
soil. . .

The Amazon basin is home to one in 10 of the world's mammals and 15 per
cent of the world's land-based plant species. It holds more than half of
the world's fresh water and its vast forests act as the largest carbon
sink on the planet, providing a vital check on the greenhouse effect. .
.

In the past three years, nearly 70,000 square kilometers of the Amazon
rainforest have been destroyed. The smoke from burning trees pushed
Brazil into the top four of global greenhouse gas producers in 2004.
Despite commitments from the government of President Lula da Silva, the
destruction of the Amazon rainforest continues.

http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1181617.ece

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SALT WATER MARSHES FADING IN NEW ENGLAND

CAROLYN Y. JOHNSON, BOSTON GLOBE - A puzzling, ominously named
phenomenon, sudden wetland dieback, is transforming salt marshes in the
region into barren mudflats, scientists say, and their best efforts have
failed to figure out why.
Across New England, researchers are poring over aerial photographs and
slogging into mucky marshes on the lookout for ailing marshes, in hope
of understanding its cause. "It appears to us we have a new phenomenon
we've never seen before," said Ron Rozsa, coastal ecologist at
Connecticut's Department of Environmental Protection. . . Over the past
five years, there have been reports of marshes that look as if they have
been mowed . There are 17 suspected dieback marshes on Cape Cod, and a
few other possible sites are on the North and South Shore, according to
the Wetland Restoration Program of the Massachusetts Office of Coastal
Zone Management. Rozsa says dead patches are also visible on about
two-thirds of Connecticut's shoreline. At least one report is from Rhode
Island.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/07/17/
cause_sought_as_marshes_turn_into_barren_flats?mode=PF


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SOUTH DAKOTA HITS 120 DEGREES

RAPID CITY JOURNAL - The National Weather Service in Rapid City received
reports of 120 degree temperatures in Usta in the northwest corner of
the state, but the reports had not been officially confirmed by Saturday
evening. If the reports are accurate, the temperature would tie the
state record for high temperatures set in Gann Valley in 1936.
NWS meteorologist Jeff Johnson in Rapid City said temperatures reached
111 degrees at Rapid City Regional Airport, beating the previous record
of 110 degrees set in 1989 and 1973.

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2006/07/16/news/local/news02.txt

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POISON IVY, OTHER VINES, LIKE CLIMATE CHANGE

ELIZABETH WILLIAMSON WASHINGTON POST - Vines -- poison ivy, Japanese
honeysuckle, kudzu -- snake through the back yard, girdling trees and
strangling shrubs, thriving, scientists say, on the same pollution they
blame for global warming.
From backyard gardens to the Amazon rain forest, vines are growing
faster, stronger and, in the case of poison ivy, more poisonous on the
heavy doses of carbon dioxide that come from burning such fossil fuels
as gasoline and coal.

Complaints about vine infestation have increased tenfold in a decade,
said Carole Bergmann, forest ecologist for the Maryland-National Capital
Parks and Planning Commission. . . Vines have choked gardens, ruined
brickwork, disrupted bird habitat and clogged paths, ponds and air
conditioning and electronic equipment. "The woods they used to know have
just changed character," Bergmann said. "They're covered with vines. The
trees are being weakened and falling over -- or strangled." That leaves
scientists worried that the forest of the future could become a weedy
tangle of hyper-vines choking off the trees, which absorb more carbon
dioxide. . .

"Fifteen years ago, kudzu" -- known as the vine that ate the South --
"would not survive in the D.C. area," Bergmann said, because the climate
was too cold. "Now it survives even up in New York."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/14/
AR2006071401793.html

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HOW ONE CITY REDUCED ITS ABUSE OF NATURE

SALT LAKE CITY MAYOR ROCKY ANDERSON, ARIZONA DAILY STAR - I committed
our city in 2001 to meet, in our municipal operations, the emissions
reduction target of the Kyoto protocol. While some may disparage that
sort of commitment as a public relations exercise, we acted aggressively
and, seven years early, exceeded our goal, reducing emissions more than
21 percent, and we have only just begun.

We started in city hall, converting light bulbs to compact fluorescents.
The change saves us about $33,000 every year in electricity costs. We
applied some of the savings to purchasing wind-generated electricity.
These two simple measures saved taxpayers money and reduced
carbon-dioxide emissions by 1,100 tons each year.

We converted our traffic lights to high-efficiency LEDs, saving huge
amounts of electricity and money.

We capture methane - which has 21 times the warming effect of carbon
dioxide - at our wastewater treatment facility and use it to fuel a
cogeneration plant that meets half the electricity needs there, further
reducing the amount of electricity needed from coal-burning power
plants.

We have converted our fleet, using more fuel-efficient cars and trucks,
as well as alternative fuel vehicles.

Every resident enjoys curbside recycling, our city forestry program
(which helps sequester greenhouse gases) has been enhanced, and I have
issued an executive order requiring all city-owned buildings be designed
according to high-energy-performance standards.

If every governmental entity, business and individual in the United
States took these sorts of measures, we would be far along in meeting
the challenge before us. But we're not going to get there with a
can't-do attitude and a failure of leadership.

Corporations, cities, states and other nations have profited from
reducing global warming pollution. Dupont reduced global warming
pollution by 67 percent since 1990 and saved $2 billion. BP - which used
to be "British Petroleum," but now is marketed as "Beyond Petroleum" -
invested $20 million in reducing emissions by 20 percent and saved $650
million. IBM reduced its greenhouse gas emissions 38 percent and saved
$791 million through energy efficiencies. Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels led
his city's utility to achieve zero net emissions.

Between 1990 and 2003, while electricity use climbed 5 percent, Germany
created 120,000 jobs in its renewable energy sector while cutting global
warming emissions from power generation by 13 percent. Denmark now
generates 20 percent of its energy from wind. . .

Our individual actions may seem small, but the combined impact of
everyone working together will make a huge difference

ARIZONA DAILY STAR
http://www.azstarnet.com/opinion/138594

ROCKY ANDERSON
rocky.anderson@slcgov.com

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RICHARD BLACK, BBC - Diversity in bees and wild flowers is declining
together, at least in Britain and the Netherlands, research shows.
Scientists . . . write in the journal Science that habitat alterations,
climate change and modern industrial farming are possible factors in the
linked decline. There is a chance, they say, that the decline in
pollinating bees could have detrimental effects on food production. . .
While declines in Britain and the Netherlands might not indicate a
global trend, the team says, it is an issue deserving serious future
research.