Environmental News Network

Indonesia pledges new cash as mud engulfs more land
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia plans to set aside an additional 700 billion rupiah ($77 million) to compensate thousands more people whose homes are threatened by a mud volcano in East Java province, a minister said on Wednesday. Thousands of homes and factories have already been submerged by the hot mud since it first started to erupt in May 2006, forcing about 15,000 people to abandon their homes. >> Read the Full Article
Beijing says torch can stay alight atop Everest
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese scientists have expressed full confidence that the Olympic relay torch can scale Mount Everest without sputtering out, a newspaper said on Wednesday. The torch relay, ahead of the Games which start in Beijing on August 8, will include a climb to the top of the world's highest mountain, which spans Nepal and the Chinese region of Tibet. >> Read the Full Article
Arctic seed vault opens doors for 100 million seeds
LONGYEARBYEN, NORWAY (26 FEBRUARY 2008) â€“ The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened today on a remote island in the Arctic Circle, receiving inaugural shipments of 100 million seeds that originated in over 100 countries. With the deposits ranging from unique varieties of major African and Asian food staples such as maize, rice, wheat, cowpea, and sorghum to European and South American varieties of eggplant, lettuce, barley, and potato, the first deposits into the seed vault represent the most comprehensive and diverse collection of food crop seeds being held anywhere in the world. >> Read the Full Article
Fish species found in old outback uranium mine
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian scientists announced the discovery of a new species of freshwater fish on Tuesday, two decades after it was sighted in a disused uranium mine in the outback Northern Territory. The Barraway's carp gudgeon, or Hypseleotris barrawayi, was found by a biologist in a uranium pit in the Kakadu National Park in 1988, but was only recently declared a new species after extensive studies. >> Read the Full Article
Dust in West up 500 percent in past 2 centuries
The West has become 500 percent dustier in the past two centuries due to westward U.S. expansion and accompanying human activity beginning in the 1800s, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder. Sediment records from dust blown into alpine lakes in southwest Colorado's San Juan Mountains over millennia indicates the sharp rise in dust deposits coincided with railroad, ranching and livestock activity in the middle of the last century, said geological sciences Assistant Professor Jason Neff, lead author on the study. The results have implications ranging from ecosystem alteration to human health, he said. >> Read the Full Article
Butterfly fish 'may face extinction'
A beautiful black, white and yellow butterflyfish, much admired by eco-tourists, divers and aquarium keepers alike, may be at risk of extinction, scientists have warned. The case of the Chevroned Butterflyfish is a stark example of how human pressure on the worldâ€™s coral reefs is confronting certain species with â€˜blind alleysâ€™ from which they may be unable to escape, says Dr Morgan Pratchett of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies Media Release and James Cook University. >> Read the Full Article
Mining sets off earthquake in west Germany
BERLIN (Reuters) - A mild earthquake caused by coal mining shook the western German state of Saarland on Saturday, causing damage to buildings but no injuries. A police spokesman in the Saarlouis region on the French border said the earthquake measured 4.0 on the Richter scale, the strongest on record in the area, and had knocked over chimneys and caused electricity outages. >> Read the Full Article
Kenyan wildlife park bush fire rages for second day
NAKURU, Kenya (Reuters) - Using branches to beat back flames, Kenyan rangers and residents struggled for a second day on Saturday to control bush fires that have engulfed a third of one of the nation's best-known wildlife parks. At least 100 local citizens joined wildlife officials to help put out the fire, which was accidentally started in a nearby village and has already destroyed large patches of the 188 square km Lake Nakuru National Park. >> Read the Full Article
Can Japan Convince International Community to Support â€œSustainableâ€ Whaling?
The International Whaling Commissionâ€™s 78 members are meeting in London next month in an effort to reach agreement on whale conservation rules. Meanwhile, global whale hunting continues to increase. The March 6â€“8 gathering, titled â€œThe Future of the IWC,â€ will prepare IWC member states for their annual meeting in Chile this June. Delegates at the June conference will likely face considerable pressure to produce an agreement on the future of whaling, particularly in light of rising catches by Japan and other countries. >> Read the Full Article
Traces of unapproved GMO trait found in U.S. corn
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Traces of an unapproved genetically modified trait were found in U.S. corn planted in 2006 and 2007 but the grain poses no threat to food or feed safety, said the U.S Agriculture Department on Friday. The 2008 corn crop will not be affected when it is planted this spring across the United States, the world's largest corn exporter. >> Read the Full Article