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| New satellite image analyses show that Papua New Guinea is losing 1.4 per cent of its rainforest (about 362,400 ha) every year. Scientists predict that in 12 years more than half the country's remaining forests will either be completely cleared or badly degraded, speeding up local climate change, unless logging is dramatically checked. |
Farmers can get localized weather information now. The Indian Meteorological
Department has for the first time launched district-level advisory service. Bhopal survivors launched a hunger strike in Delhi on June 10 demanding legal
action against Union Carbide and Dow Chemical. Fearing a mad cow disease outbreak, South Koreans staged protests between
May 27 and June 7 against the relaxation of a ban on us beef import. They could not make the government
relent. eu fishers protested in Brussels in the first week of
June. They wanted financial aid and a relaxation of fishing quotas that will help them offset high fuel costs. Amazonian Indians protested in Altamira, Brazil, on May 23 against Belo Monte
dam on Xingu river. It promises 6.3 per cent of Brazil's power needs but will flood 2,500 ha of rainforest and affect 14 tribes. Indonesia, now reduced to the status of a marginal oil exporter, plans to pull out of
the international oil cartel, opec, by 2008 end. Tamil Nadu received 346 tmc ft of Cauveri water
this irrigation year, 141 tmc ft more than the Cauveri water disputes tribunal's award, due to good monsoon. Alaska plans to sue the us government for listing
polar bear as "threatened". The move, it says, will cripple the state's oil and gas development, affecting its economy. Humpback whale population jumped to 18,000, says the us
national oceanic and atmospheric administration. Dubbed vulnerable by iucn, it was at 1,500 in 1966
when its whaling was banned. New Zealand will ban commercial fishing near its coast and set up marine
reserves to protect the 'critically endangered' Hector's dolphins, only 7,400 of which remain, down from 29,000 in 1970. Fruits, vegetables, fish and healthy fats like olive oil may ward off diabetes. Spanish
researchers recommend traditional Mediterranean diet. Potato has become a subject of dispute among Chile, Peru and Bolivia, with each
claiming it as its 'original'. "Bubble gum" should be taxed at 10 per cent, since it is neither sweetmeat nor
confectionery but, a "mouth freshener", said the Supreme Court of India. The us has criticized the eu
for levying taxes on certain electronic items categorizing them as 'products with innovations', and accused it of contravening the
Information Technology Agreement, 1996. An ancient mud fortress has been unearthed in Egypt's Sinai peninsula. It was the
headquarters of a pharaonic army that guarded the city of Tharu during 1500-1300 BC. Environmentalists and farmers are miffed over the us
agriculture department's plan to stop publishing the Agricultural Chemical Usage Report citing fund crunch. The report tracks pesticides
used in farmlands. Home Minister Shivraj Patil allayed fears of industrialists, assuring industries
adequate security in naxal-hit areas. Health workers in the uk have rejected a government
pay deal offering 8 per cent hike over three years. nasa's Phoenix Mars Lander has taken pictures of
Martian soil that show bright specks, which scientists believe could be salt or ice. Carbon allowance for individuals and households might be the best way to bring
behavioural changes and help the country meet its emissions target, uk's environmental audit committee
suggested.| HEAT EXCHANGE |
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G8 environment ministers at a recent meeting in Kobe, Japan, endorsed halving
greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 but failed to agree on reduction targets for 2020, as recommended by ipcc. International climate conference, to hammer out a successor to Kyoto Protocol
expiring in 2012, began at Bonn, Germany, on June 2. us Senate blocked the climate change bill after a
long debate over its cost and impact. Bush said the bill, aimed to reduce 65 per cent of ghg emissions by 2050,
would cost us $6 trillion. Wallace Broecker, the scientist who coined "global warming", suggests to build
millions of plastic trees, 50 ft tall, 8 ft wide, to absorb liquefied CO2 pumped underground. Likely
location for them is deserts, he says. Exxon Mobil plans to pull contributions to several public policy research groups that
have downplayed the risks of ghg emissions leading to global warming. Rare 100-year-old giant tortoises on the Galapagos islands off Ecuador have
survived a volcanic eruption in the last week of May. Astronauts have fixed the only toilet at the international space station with a pump
delivered by the shuttle Discovery, a week after its urine disposal system broke. Storms and floods battered the us Midwest in early
June affecting 29 counties, while the east coast experienced a sweltering heat wave. We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.
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