Deforestation rises in the Amazon

Deforestation rises in the Amazon

For the third month in a row, Brazil’s early-warning system for monitoring deforestation in the Amazon has found higher-than-usual levels of cleared forest area. The LANDSAT satellite data, from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research or INPE, shows a total clearing of 267.9 square kilometers in May. The same month last year showed a clearing of 109.6 square kilometers, which means a 144% increase.

Science societies offer services to assess chemical risk

Eight scientific societies have voiced their concern over people’s exposure to chemicals, especially ones that mimic hormones, in the environment and their often-untested effects on public health in a letter in the journal Science published today.

Malaysian university establishes ambitious biofuels research program

Malaysia has grand plans for its biofuels sector, with its massive palm oil industry currently producing 1,065 megawatts of electricity and 270 megawatts of biogas. The country is now reportedly aiming to become the hub of Asia’s research into green energy generation using biomass.

US carbon storage project chooses new ground

The Department of Energy (DOE)’s ambitious but troubled flagship program to capture and bury carbon dioxide emissions, FutureGen, has picked the area where it will inject captured greenhouse gas underground: at Morgan County, Illinois. The choice of burial place, revealed yesterday, is a small step forward for the project; it still needs environmental review and permits before carbon dioxide sequestration can go ahead.

Fight against cereal killer receives $40 million boost

Fight against cereal killer receives $40 million boost

A serious killer is stalking the world’s wheat crops, placing millions at risk of famine. Now, in a renewed commitment toward eliminating the wheat stem rust pathogen called Ug99, the UK’s Department of International Development (DFID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have $40 million to Cornell University’s plant research program.

Cutting soot, ozone will keep climate change in check, says UN

Cutting soot, ozone will keep climate change in check, says UN

The simplest way to address climate change in the short term may be to reduce soot, methane, and ground level ozone emissions, according to a United Nations Environment Program report discussed today in Nairobi, Kenya.

Curbing emissions of these could reduce projected climate warming by 0.5 degrees Celsius by 2070, states the report. The cuts could be achieved using existing technology and current policies, and they would help protect climate, public health, water and food security, and ecosystems.

Green economy will promote growth, says UN

Investing $1.3 trillion – or 2% of global GDP – in “green” initiatives in 10 key sectors will spur significant economic growth in the long run, according to a report released today by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

The report, released today in Nairobi, Kenya at the annual meeting of UNEP’s governing council, says there will be some short-term pain – jobs lost, and GDP dropping – in transitioning to a ‘green’ economy, which favours low-carbon activities that use over-exploited natural resources (such as water and forests) more efficiently. But in the end such changes would be “far less disruptive than a world running low on drinking water and productive land, set against the backdrop of climate change, extreme weather events and rising natural resource scarcities,” it says.

Like a pruned plant, this pared-back sustainable economy would eventually blossom, boosting GDP growth rates beyond business-as-usual levels within 5-10 years.

The report is meant as a primer for policy makers in the lead up to the fourth Earth Summit, called Rio+20, to be held in Rio de Janeiro in 2012, which intends to focus on establishing a green economy.

Walrus must wait for endangered species protection

Walrus must wait for endangered species protection

Environmental groups are not happy with the Department of Interior’s decision to place the Pacific Walrus in the legal waiting room of the Endangered Species List, called the “warranted but precluded” list. There, it will join other animals caught in legal limbo such as the sage grouse and wolverines.