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Tag:

biodiversity

Scale and Extent of Dam Boom in China Detailed in Mapping Project

Scale and Extent of Dam Boom in China Detailed in Mapping Project

written by Yale Environment 360

China is planning to build at least 84 major dams in its southwest region, as shown in a map from the Wilson Center, eventually boosting its hydropower capacity by more than 160 gigawatts. By next year China’s capacity will surpass Europe’s, and by 2020 it’s projected to be larger than that of the U.S. and Europe combined.

China-dams-wilson-center-800

 

An interactive map shows the scale and number of major dams proposed, under construction, existing, and canceled. The dam rush is part of an ongoing effort by China to increase non-fossil energy sources to 11.4 percent of the country’s total energy consumption — a goal that has gained urgency due to severe air pollution in many northern Chinese cities. However, the hydropower push is not without its own major environmental consequences, the Wilson Center notes.

More than 70 of the dams planned or being constructed are located in so-called “biodiversity hotspots,” areas with rich species diversity that are threatened by development. The cascades of planned dams will submerge important corridors that connect tropical rainforests to the Tibetan Plateau and allow wildlife to migrate to cooler climates as temperatures rise.



April 20, 2014 1 comment
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Road to Environmental Destruction

Road to Environmental Destruction

written by Environmental News Network

Roads are considered connectors of human development providing opportunities for economic success and communication but the flip side of this network is that it has also brought enormous destruction to our fields and forests. With forest destruction comes increased human development and ecological degradation. Recent mapping and modeling has been done to document and measure forest destruction in an initiative by the Ames Research Center of NASA and ENN affiliate, Mongabay.

Using satellite imagery to detect deforestation as it is happening allows the opportunity to measure the deforestation and investigate it before it expands. Past satellite imagery has revealed the increased forest depletion in the proximity of new roads.

According to Kriton Arsenis, Greek Member in Parliament (MEP) of the European Parliament, “95% of forest loss occurs within 50 km of a road. Scientific reports and satellite imagery have demonstrated road building is a major driver of deforestation, from the Amazon to Indonesian and Congo Basin forests.”

Because of their ability to store carbon stores, their capacity to prevent floods, and protecting biodiversity, Arsenis believes that urgent measures are needed to curb the construction of roads in forested regions. Further, protection is critical to the preservation of the environment and the ongoing struggles with climate change. Arsenis says, “Keeping our last intact forests free of roads is a cost efficient way to protect the climate, halt biodiversity loss and keep illegal traffickers at bay.”

William Laurence, a professor at Australia’s James Cook University, sees roads as a gateway to the destruction of forestland.

“Roads are often fatal for forests and other native ecosystems,” he said. “They open up a Pandora’s Box of environmental problems, such as illegal deforestation, colonization, hunting, mining, and land speculation.”

Presently the European Union has several rules governing exploitation of forest resources including the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), which prohibits selling illegally harvested timber and its products, but regulations currently contain no road construction legislation in forests.

Roads are generally constructed to connect isolated communities with the remainder of the country or support economic development within a remote area. Juliette Ebélé, spokesperson for the International Road Transport Union, while admitting the sector’s impact on deforestation, says, “Road infrastructure and road transport are a major driver of economic and social development, granting access to rural or remote areas, hence bringing about agricultural, business, habitat opportunities, and so on.” Ebélé goes on to say that there should be policies to protect the environment in the construction of  roads through sensitive areas.

Read more at Euractive.com.



March 24, 2014 0 comment
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IBM Harnesses Crowdsourcing in the Amazon Rainforest to Educate and Conserve

written by Walter Wang

A year ago, we reported on an IBM effort called Water Watchers, an android app and portal that makes it possible for citizens to report water issues in South Africa. Now, IBM is at it again, harnessing its core competencies in big data and app development to solve social and environmental issues, while educating citizens and earning

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February 24, 2014 0 comment
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New Maps Highlight Tropical Corridors Important to Wildlife As Climate Changes

written by Yale Environment 360

A new set of maps highlights the importance of habitat corridors in helping wildlife deal with the effects of climate change and deforestation. The series of maps shows more than 16,000 habitat corridors — swaths of land that connect forests or protected areas and allow animals to move between them — in tropical regions of Africa, Southeast Asia, and

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February 7, 2014 0 comment
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Damming the Congo

written by Walter Wang

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is looking to capture the more of powers of the Congo River in what will be the largest and most powerful hydroelectric dam in the world. The Grand Inga Hydropower Project will produce up to 40,000 megawatts of electricity, doubling current dam champion, Three Gorges in China. The dam will

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December 19, 2013 0 comment
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Conservation Now, Apocalypse Postponed

written by Walter Wang

Talking about wildlife conservation these days can bring about a certain amount of gloom. Poachers are killing off elephants for their tusks faster than you can say fire back. Habitats are being decimated to meet new demands generated by the spread of consumer culture. Everywhere you look, some of the world’s most majestic creatures are being wiped out by

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May 29, 2013 0 comment
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Earth Unlikely to Face an Ecological Tipping Point, Study Says

written by Yale Environment 360

A team of international scientists has rejected the idea that the planet could face a sudden and irreversible ecological shift as a result of largely human-driven pressures, suggesting that such global transformations are more likely to occur over a long period of time.

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March 4, 2013 1 comment
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Climate Already Altering U.S. Ecosystems and Biodiversity, Report Says

written by Yale Environment 360

Climate change is causing plant and animal species across the U.S. to shift their geographic ranges and life events — from flowering to migration — are being transformed at a faster rate than observed even a few years ago, a new analysis by 60 scientists says.

According to the report, “Climate Change on

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December 20, 2012 0 comment
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Value of Conserving Habitats Could be Worth $500B Annually to World’s Poor

written by Yale Environment 360

A new study says that compensating the world’s poorest communities for helping conserve the planet’s most vital habitats would help solve two major challenges: biodiversity loss and poverty.

In fact, if global leaders were to put an economic value on the preservation of the world’s biodiversity

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January 23, 2012 0 comment
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What is the Downside to Environmentalism?

written by Walter Wang

I was in a four-hour-long meeting this morning, learning about a new approach to energy storage. I can’t talk about the technology (which, frankly, I think is sketchy) but that’s not the point.

The point is this: I sat at a table with a bunch of smart

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December 8, 2011 3 comments
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A Huge Oil Palm Plantation Puts African Rainforest at Risk

written by Yale Environment 360

As global agricultural companies turn to Africa, a U.S. firm is planning a massive oil palm plantation in Cameroon that it says will benefit local villagers. But critics argue that the project would destroy some of the key remaining forests in the West African nation and threaten species-rich reserves.

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September 13, 2011 0 comment
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NSF Funds $434 Million Study of Climate Change in Eco-Regions

written by Walter Wang

In the vacuum left by the U.S. Congress’ inability/unwillingness to pass climate change legislation, and in light of a looming budgetary squeeze for all federal agencies, including/especially those researching and developing systems to the environment and natural resources, one might think that any federal money

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September 6, 2011 0 comment
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New Database of Plant Traits Emerges as Tool in Climate Studies

written by Yale Environment 360

A consortium of scientists has compiled a database that categorizes millions of traits for nearly a quarter of the world’s plant species, a resource they say will help researchers more accurately model the effects of climate change in different environments.

The project, known as TRY, has so far compiled

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July 5, 2011 0 comment
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Iceland Tops Environment List As U.S., China and India Lag Behind

written by Yale Environment 360

A ranking of 163 nations based on environmental public health and the vitality of their ecosystems places Iceland, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Sweden, and Norway in the top five, with the U.S. trailing in 61st place and China and India ranking 121st and 123rd respectively.

The Environmental Performance Index, compiled by researchers at Yale and Columbia universities, ranks countries based on 10 main categories such as environmental health, air quality, water management, biodiversity and habitat, forestry, and climate change. Iceland ranked at the top because of its excellent environmental public health and reliance on renewable sources of energy such as geothermal and hydropower.

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January 29, 2010 0 comment
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