Wednesday, March 26, 2008

ENN: Arctic Shelf Collapse, Spain's Wind Power, Beat High Gas Prices and Much More


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Wednesday, March 26, 2008
News of Note

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Satellite images show that a large hunk of Antarctica's Wilkins Ice Shelf has started to collapse in a fast-warming region of the continent, scientists said on Tuesday.

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Wind power is breaking new records in Spain, accounting for just over 40 percent of all electricity consumed during a brief period last weekend. As heavy winds lashed Spain on Saturday evening wind parks generated 9,862 megawatts of power which translated to 40.8 percent of total consumption. Between Friday and Sunday wind power accounted for an average of 28 percent of all electricity demand in Spain. Spain's wind power generation equaled that of hydropower for the first time in 2007.

They are separated by a vast ocean and by millions of years, but tiny prehistoric bones found on an Australian farm have been directly linked to a strange and secretive little animal that lives today in the southern rainforests of South America. The fossilised ankle and ear bones are those of Australia's earliest known marsupial, Djarthia, a primitive mouse-like creature that lived 55 million years ago. It is a kind of Australian Eve, possibly the mother of all the continent's unusual pouched mammals, such as kangaroos, koalas, possums and wombats.

Pekanbaru, INDONESIA – In an investigative report published today by Eyes on the Forest, evidence shows that a new logging road in Riau Province -- strongly indicated as illegally built by companies connected to Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) -- is cutting into the heart of Sumatra's largest contiguous peatland forest, a rare hydrological ecosystem that acts as one of the planet's biggest carbon stores. The road would allow APP and affiliated companies to restart clearance of natural forest and destruction of deep peat soil at any time in a globally recognized conservation area, according to Eyes on the Forest, a coalition of local NGO network Jikalahari, Walhi Riau, and WWF-Indonesia.

With gas prices approaching $4 a gallon, there's never been a better time to conserve fuel. The following tips will help you save from $20-$50 a month at the pump. Added bonus? They'll protect the environment, too, since every gallon of gas burned generates the carbon equivalent of a 20-pound bag of charcoal briquettes!

ENN Spotlight

CHAY ARENG RIVER, Cambodia (Reuters) - Along the Chay Areng valley in Cambodia's remote Cardamom mountains, children still scamper barefoot through one of mainland southeast Asia's last remaining tracts of virgin jungle.

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Conservationists in the Melanesia area are mourning the death of Belgian-born botanist Henri Blaffart, swept away in by a flooded river in northern New Caledonia on March 21. "Henri Blaffart was an exceptional man, and an remarkably effective wildlife and wildlands conservation professional," said WWF New Caledonia Country Programme Director Ahab Downer, who survived the river crossing.

LONDON (Reuters) - The research arm of U.S. bank Merrill Lynch launched a global carbon index on Wednesday to track the international carbon markets, which were worth some $60 billion last year. Merrill Lynch said its MLCX Global CO2 Emissions Index will allow investors to participate in the world's carbon markets, including the European Union's emissions trading scheme and emissions markets under the United Nations' Kyoto Protocol.

OSLO (Reuters) - Winter sea ice around a Norwegian Arctic island has thinned to less than one meter (3 feet) since the 1960s, according to a study on Tuesday of a region that may be more attractive to oil firms because of climate change. The Norwegian Polar Institute said ice around Hopen island southeast of the Svalbard archipelago had become more than 40 cms (16 inches) thinner in the past 40 years, in what it called the first long-term study of ice thickness in the Barents Sea.

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Member Press Releases
By: The National Audubon Society
The National Audubon Society and Toyota today launched TogetherGreen, a nationwide Audubon program to fund conservation projects, train environmental leaders, and offer volunteer opportunities to significantly benefit the environment. By: Rainforest Alliance
A new Rainforest Alliance study has found that forest concessions managed in compliance with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification standards have seen fewer wildfires and less deforestation compared with protected and other areas within the Maya Biosphere Reserve, an area of tropical forest in Guatemala's northern Petén region that the government set aside to conserve its unique natural and cultural patrimony. By: Center for Biological Diversity
The Center for Biological Diversity notified the National Marine Fisheries Service Friday of its intent to file suit against the agency for missing the first deadline in the Endangered Species Act listing process for the ribbon seal, imperiled by global warming and the melting of its sea-ice habitat in the Bering Sea off Alaska. By: Low Impact Living, Inc.
LOS ANGELES (March 20, 2008)— Low Impact Living.com, the largest green home improvement site online, has launched a groundbreaking new Household Environmental Impact Calculator and rating system. These tools will help Americans understand their environmental impacts and chart a course to a more eco-friendly home and lifestyle. (Please see the calculator at www.lowimpactliving.com) By: African Wildlife Foundation
KENYA--The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is pleased to announce the opening of Satao Elerai Camp, a luxury lodge set on 5,000 acres of communally conserved lands in southern Kenya. The camp is owned by the Entonet/Elerai Maasai community, which planned and created the enterprise with strategic support from AWF. Southern Cross Safaris, a leading private company, will operate the lodge and the conservancy as a single high-quality, highly efficient enterprise. By: the Jane Goodall Institute
Dr. Jane Goodall is coming to Chicagoland to celebrate the first anniversary of the Roots & Shoots Great Lakes Regional Office and to laud the community service efforts of Roots & Shoots groups across the Great Lakes region. Attendees at the event will include local dignitaries, the principal of the Richard J. Daley Academy and local Roots & Shoots members from the Chicago area. By: The Fields of Green Team
Burnaby, British Columbia CANADA, March 18, 2008 – The Fields of Green Team, (http://www.fieldsofgreenteam.com) in response to the high price of fuel is pleased to announce the creation of the Business to Business master pack program featuring Ultimate ME2 eco-fuel saving product. By: AAMCO Transmissions, Inc
Hastings, Mn.—March 18, 2008—AAMCO Transmissions, Inc recently announced another of its centers has passed the rigorous 'Eco-Green' certification process. The AAMCO center, located at 460 Spiral Blvd. in Hastings, Mn. met a rigorous new standard established by AAMCO as part of a national effort to green the auto industry.

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