August
12,
2002 -
Of Bat Habits and Sick Forests
- By Louise Knapp, WiredNews,
Attaching small radio
transmitters onto bats to keep
tabs on their nocturnal routines
and daytime sleeping habits may
sound, well, a little batty, but
researchers from Mississippi
State University say it's a good
way to assess the health of a
forest. Their goal is to devise
ways in which timber companies
can better manage and harvest
tree crops, while not destroying
the habitats of bats and other
forest denizens in the
process...
August
21,
2002 -
A World Without Water -
Village Voice, by Ginger Adams
Otis,
Advocates Warn of Thirst and
Turmoil for a Parched Planet. In
1995 World Bankvice president
Ismail Serageldin made a much
quoted prediction for the new
millennium:
"If the wars of this century were
fought over oil, the wars of the
next century will be fought over
water." Serageldin has been
proven correct much faster than
he or anyone else thought. Two
years into the 21st century, the
global water wars are upon us...
August 26,
2002 -
Summit: OECD Energy Agency Urges Radical Changes - EcoISP,
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Some 1.6 billion people today have no
access to electricity, while 2.4 billion rely on primitive biomass for
cooking and heating. In the absence of "radical" new policies, 1.4
billion will still have no electricity in 30 years time, according to a
new study by the International Energy Agency released today at the
World Summit on Sustainable Development. The International Energy
Agency (IEA), based in Paris, is an autonomous agency linked with the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a group
of the world's industrialized nations. The study points to "enormous"
new investments needed to supply energy to growing economies...
August 12,
2002 -
Be It Ever So Humble: Trash Home - By Daithí Ó hAnluain,
WiredNews, Earthships, the funky home-architecture developed in the
United States, are witnessing a major surge in popularity among
homebuilders around the world -– and the grudging approval of
politicians. The United Kingdom is the latest country to catch on to
Earthship design, and the first country in Europe to build Earthship
dwellings with full planning approval. Planning authorities had
previously been loathe to approve a building made of trash: bottles,
cans and, primarily, old tires stuffed with dirt...
August 09,
2002 -
Engineered Genes Help Wild Weeds
Thrive - By Cat
Lazaroff, EcoISP, WASHINGTON,
DC, For the first time,
researchers have demonstrated
that foreign genes from a
genetically engineered crop
plant can migrate into wild
plants in a natural environment.
A study released Thursday shows
that wild weeds can incorporate
bioengineered genes, potentially
making the weeds stronger and
more resistant to pests.
Scientists from three
universities studied genetically
engineered sunflowers - those
modified with a gene that
produces a chemical toxic to
certain insects - to see what
happened when these foreign
genes, called transgenes, were
inadvertently passed along to
weedy relatives...
August 19,
2002 -
Zambia Finally Rejects
Transgenic Food Aid -
By Singy Hanyona, LUSAKA,
Zambia, The Zambian
government has made a decision
to reject a donation of
transgenic maize (corn) from the
United States after a protracted
national debate over safety of
the food. Zambian Information
and Broadcasting Minister
Newstead Zimba (Photo courtesy
Government of Zambia) Announcing
the decision on a national
television broadcast late
Friday, chief government
spokesman Newstead Zimba said
government will not allow
importation of genetically
modified (GM) maize despite the
current food shortage and hunger
in the country. "All genetically
modified foods, including the
maize grain already in the
country, should not and will not
be consumed or distributed,"
Zimba said...
August 19,
2002 -
Study: Power Lines Probably Risky - By Paul Boutin,
WiredNews, The final report of a contested eight-year, $7 million
study soon to be released by the California Department of Health
Services may be the most credible statement yet on the connection
between electric power lines and a variety of health problems. "To one
degree or another, all three of the DHS scientists are inclined to
believe that EMFs (electric and magnetic fields) can cause some degree
of increased risk of childhood leukemia, adult brain cancer, Lou
Gehrig's disease and miscarriage," states a leaked copy of the final
report from the California EMF Program, a study begun in 1993 on behalf
of the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC)...
Archive
of Environmental News - August
2002
