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earthsystems.org news Volume 2 Issue 27
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ISSUE AND POLL OF THE WEEK:
Given the brevity of this week due to the 4th of July holiday, we are extending last
week's issue and poll until next week. The issue: The World's Water Supply, is it
in danger of drying up?
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FROM GRIST:
http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/gist
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THE DRY WALL OF CHINA
Desertification is spreading across northern China, caused by rampant
logging, overgrazing, and the cultivation of marginal lands for
farming, and exacerbated by drought. About a dozen severe sandstorms
hit Beijing this spring. The village of Longbaoshan outside Beijing
is threatened by a mountain of sand that's advancing at a rate of
about 30 feet a year, a phenomenon that's become known as the "Flying
Desert" and is beginning to attract tourists. To help address the
problem, the government has banned logging in many areas and offered
to give farmers free grain if they begin planting trees instead of
crops. To aid the drought-stricken north, the government is also
considering whether to revive a controversial decades-old plan to
divert water northward from the flood-prone Yangtze River basin,
despite concerns about the plan's feasibility, high cost, and
potential to cause pollution.
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Paul Eckert, 06.22.00
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=7216
straight to the source: MSNBC, Associated Press, Elaine Kurtenbach, 06.15.00
http://www.msnbc.com/news/421058.asp
GET ON THE BUS
The Los Angeles metro area made a national first on Friday by
adopting sweeping rules that will require new transit buses and
garbage trucks to be powered by electricity, fuel cells, or
relatively low-polluting fuels such as natural gas. The new rules,
intended to cut down on diesel emissions that foul the air and are
believed to cause cancer, could spur similar action in other U.S.
cities plagued by air pollution. The rules are a victory for
enviros, public health advocates, and community leaders who have been
fighting to curb diesel pollution in L.A.
straight to the source: Sacramento Bee, Chris Bowman, 06.17.00
http://www.sacbee.com/news/news/local03_20000617.html
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Jeffrey L. Rabin, 06.18.00
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environ/20000618/t000057720.html
BRAIN DE PALMA
Even as new roads are built into the Amazon and ranching, farming,
and logging continue to pose huge threats to the rainforest, some
business and political leaders in the region are increasingly
advocating environmentally friendly development. For example, the
government of Joao Capiberibe, the governor of Amapa, one of nine
states in the Brazilian Amazon, has prohibited wood cutting and
soybean farming and is encouraging the production of organic
hearts-of-palm. In the neighboring state of Para, the company
AgroPalma hopes to make Brazil a leading producer of palm oil, which
comes from trees that take well to land already degraded by farming
and ranching, removing an incentive to clear yet more rainforest for
cultivation. The World Wildlife Fund is helping to shepherd
small-scale environmentally friendly projects throughout the region.
straight to the source: New York Times, Simon Romero, 06.17.00
http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/061700brazil-drink.html
DON'T TAKE ME TO THE RIVER, DON'T DROP ME IN THE WATER
More than a dozen former members of an elite Israeli naval unit are
filing suit against the government for endangering their health by
requiring them to swim and dive in the horrendously polluted Kishon
River, and occasionally even drink the river's putrid water as
punishment. More than 30 of the naval commandos have been struck
with cancer and about 10 have died. Some of the living refuse to
come forward for fear of retribution from the government. Though
contaminants from the river sometimes took more than 40 minutes to
scrub off in the shower and some men lost consciousness under the
water, the military continued to require training dives in the
polluted river until the nation's largest newspaper drew attention to
the issue.
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Danielle Haas, 06.22.00
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=7215
BORDERING ON INSANE
Dozens of illegal immigrants each night enter the New River in
Mexicali, Mexico, and float north, hoping to elude U.S. Border Patrol
agents who usually avoid the river for fear of pollution. Mexicali
dumps 20 to 25 million gallons of raw sewage into the river daily,
according to the California Water Resources Control Board, and the
river also picks up agricultural and industrial wastes as it flows
north. By the time it reaches the border town of Calexico, Calif.,
it violates U.S. water quality standards by several hundred-fold and
contains nearly 30 viruses ranging from hepatitis A to polio, as well
as chemicals and heavy metals. Border agents who have dived in to
rescue drowning immigrants have contracted skin rashes and infections.
straight to the source: MSNBC, Eric Niiler, 06.22.00
http://www.msnbc.com/news/413973.asp
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