Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Emission cuts, marine turtle hunt ban, fossil fuel free future and much more...

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Wednesday, January 23, 2008
News of Note

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's executive arm unveiled on Wednesday details on how to slash greenhouse gas emissions by a fifth in 2020, including mandatory targets to produce renewable energy and curb industrial emissions.

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Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that field mice have evolved a unique way of ensuring faster fertilisation, a phenomenon which could explain some cases of infertility in humans.

The team, in collaboration with Charles University, Prague, found that field mice sacrifice some of their immunity protection in favour of a more rapid fertilisation process. This occurs due to the absence of a protein, called CD46. Present in both animals and humans, it helps protect the body’s cells from attack by its immune system. Over time, field mice have lost the ability to produce this protein, resulting in instability of a cap-like structure, called the acrosome, present over the head of the sperm.

MEXICO CITY (23 January 2008)—At the end of January, more than 200,000 crop varieties from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East—drawn from vast seed collections maintained by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)—will be shipped to a remote island near the Arctic Circle, where they will be stored in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (SGSV), a facility capable of preserving their vitality for thousands of years.

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) reported last week record growth in wind power generation with 5,244 megawatts of capacity installed in 2007 — a 45% increase reflecting $9 billion in investment and 30% of all new power generating capacity in 2007.

Recent research by scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the University of California, Merced and the National Center for Atmospheric Research shows that California temperatures have jumped statewide by more than 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit between 1915 and 2000. This warming is likely related to human activities.

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HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba has banned the hunting of marine turtles endangered in the Caribbean by the illegal trade in shells used to make combs, an official said on Tuesday.

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At first glance, the red ship hardly looks like a herald of the future. Even its owner admits the hull needs a coat of paint and the interior some spit and polish.

But in a few weeks, the Elding -- Icelandic for "Lightning" -- will be transformed into the world's first hydrogen-equipped commercial vessel, the latest sign that Iceland is pushing hard to become the first nation to break free from the constraints of fossil fuel.

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Environmental group Greenpeace said on Wednesday it was optimistic Japan would stop hunting whales in the Southern Ocean.

Greenpeace has been trying to stop a six-ship Japanese fleet whaling in the Southern Ocean, and the bad publicity has opened a debate about whaling in Japan, Greenpeace Executive Director Gerd Leipold said.

BAODING, China (Reuters) - Dusty villages far from China's capital are paying their own price for the government's plan to stage a postcard-perfect Olympic Games, enduring shrunken crops, drained wells and contention over lost land and homes.

China is rushing to finish canals to pump 300 million cubic meters of "emergency" water to Beijing for its "green" Games, ensuring a lush, sparkling host city greets the world in August.

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Member Press Releases
By: the Center for Biological Diversity
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced January 17 that it will not prepare a recovery plan for the endangered jaguar and will not attempt to recover the species in the United States or throughout its range in North and South America. The decision was signed by Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dale Hall on January 7, 2008. By: International Fund for Animal Welfare
Environmental and animal welfare organizations applauded yesterday's decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to delay the Bush Administration's attempt to nullify protections for marine mammals from potentially lethal underwater sound blasts until a federal district court can review the decision. By: the International Fund for Animal Welfare
Today the International Fund for Animal Welfare released On Thin Ice: The Precarious State of Arctic Marine Mammals in the United States Due to Global Warming, a comprehensive report commissioned to gauge the effects of unprecedented climate change on polar bears and other ice-dependent marine mammals within the United States. By: the Center for Biological Diversity
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed six imperiled birds from around the world as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act Wednesday. Fourteen years after first determining these species warranted protection, the Service finally responded to a series of lawsuits by the Center for Biological Diversity and listed the black stilt (New Zealand), caerulean paradise-flycatcher (Indonesia), giant ibis (Laos, Cambodia), Gurney's pitta (Burma, Thailand), long-legged thicketbird (Fiji), and Socorro mockingbird (Mexico) as endangered species. By: National Wildlife Federation
As Congress considers legislation that seeks to reduce the nation's greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by mid-century, colleges and universities may hold the key. Campuses nationwide have launched climate-driven projects that are taking a significant bite out of emissions along with saving money, according to a new publication from the National Wildlife Federation, Higher Education in a Warming World: The Business Case for Climate Leadership on Campus. The report demonstrates how schools are stepping up efforts in response to the potential threats of global warming and how these institutions are reaping multiple rewards. By: Stockholm International Water Institute
Companies that have contributed to pollution elimination or reduced freshwater consumption through innovative programs, policies, processes or products now have the opportunity to be nominated for the prestigious 2008 Stockholm Industry Water Award. By: the Center for Biological Diversity
In a January 7, 2008, memo, Mike Lockhart, who retired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in frustration after 32 years - including the past eight years as the leader of the black-footed ferret recovery program - strongly criticized the agency's leadership for making back-room deals with the state of South Dakota and U.S. Forest Service that undermined the black-footed ferret recovery program by allowing poisoning of prairie dogs. Black-footed ferrets depend on prairie dog colonies for survival; prairie dogs are their primary prey, and prairie dog burrows are used as shelter and dens. By: the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment
The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) will present a Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Robert W. Corell, Global Change Program Director at The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment, and Senior Policy Fellow of the American Meteorological Society, on Thursday, January 17, 2008 in Washington, D.C. Given for a lifetime of leadership and achievement in advancing environmental science and its use in decision-making, the award will be presented during NCSE's 8th national conference, Climate Change: Science and Solutions, at a special ceremony at 5:30 p.m., at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.

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