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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: deforestation

deforestation stories: 21 news summaries

1 - 20 of 21 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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Koalas Face Extinction by Climate, Chlamydia? 

Changing world strips diet-staple eucalyptus of nutrients

Nov 12, 09 10:28 AM CST
(Newser) - Australia's koalas face extinction as their population has been decimated by climate change and the loss of trees due to development and wildfires. Six years ago, they were thought to number more than 100,000; today, their count is as low as 43,000. Threats to their diet of eucalyptus... More »

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climate change • endangered species • Australia • extinction • deforestation • chlamydia • koala • eucalyptus

 Biofuel Laws Make No Sense: Scientists 

Kyoto Protocols actually encourage harming the environment

Oct 23, 09 10:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - Biofuel laws around the world actually encourage harming the environment, prominent scientists argue in the latest issue of Science. Under the Kyoto Treaty, in laws throughout Europe, and in the bill that passed the US House, biofuels count as carbon-neutral, on the theory that the plants the fuel is... More »

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climate change • environment • trees • biofuel • Kyoto Protocol • deforestation • carbon emissions

analysis

Let's Pay People 
Not to Cut Down Trees 

A deal could curb greenhouse gas emissions by 18%

Sep 25, 09 2:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - Deforestation releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, so how about paying people to keep trees standing? A pilot project in Brazil has paid families to do just that, and aroused the interest of world leaders who plan to negotiate a climate deal in Copenhagen in December, the Economist reports. But... More »

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global warming • deforestation • forests • Amazon rainforest • carbon emissions

Warming Earth Down to Its 'Last Chance': Charles

Prince warns of catastrophe if world continues to balk at taking action

May 28, 09 9:47 AM CDT
(Newser) - Prince Charles warned yesterday that the world's unwillingness to take action on climate change means disaster is looming, the Daily Telegraph reports. The prince, addressing the Nobel Laureates Symposium, said that although a "mercifully small—if vociferous—number" of people still reject the science of climate change, a far... More »

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climate change • environment • global warming • Prince Charles • rainforest • deforestation

 EPA Eyes Crackdown on 
 Not-So-Green Biofuels 

Turns out, it's greener to burn plants than to make ethanol

May 10, 09 4:24 PM CDT
(Newser) - Plants consume carbon dioxide, so growing corn to produce ethanol should be at worst a zero-sum game, emissions-wise, right? Wrong, says the EPA. There's another factor involved: Turning food crops into fuel drives up their prices, which raises demand for farmland worldwide. In places like Brazil, that means chopping down... More »

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ethanol • corn • biofuel • deforestation • EPA • Jay-ZTV

 Save the Rainforest? 
 Nature May Have It Covered 

New jungle in the tropics might outpace deforestation

Jan 30, 09 12:18 PM CST
(Newser) - With all the talk of how much primeval rainforest disappears every year, it might come as a surprise to hear that much more new forest is springing up to replace it. Although new jungle taking over abandoned or destroyed farms in tropical nations is good for the planet—the UN... More »

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endangered species • environment • conservation • Panama • rainforest • carbon sinks • deforestation • jungle • reforestation

opinion

Half of Amazon Could Be Gone in 20 Years

Lust for beef, ethanol drives deforestation; nations must act now

Jun 19, 08 6:58 PM CDT
(Newser) - An "unprecedented" combination of ills is threatening the Amazon, and if nothing is done to ease the pressure on the world’s largest rainforest, more than half of it could be gone or withered in 20 years, Rhett Butler writes for Yale Environment 360. After a three-year decline, forest... More »

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agriculture • greenhouse gases • global warming • Brazil • deforestation • logging • cattle industry • Amazon rainforest

ANALYSIS

 What Happened to
 the Paperless Office? 

Still, huge financial incentives to cut down have wheels in motion

May 28, 08 2:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - More than 30 years after Xerox guru George Pake predicted a "paperless office" by 1995, the dream is as elusive as ever. That's because the very computers that made paper theoretically obsolete, BusinessWeek notes, also brought us printers and copiers on practically every desktop. "The decision to print... More »

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trees • deforestation • Xerox • Xerox PARC • paperless office

 Organic Meat
 Is Climate Culprit 

Livestock raised indoors is better for environment, reports say

May 8, 08 10:29 AM CDT
(Newser) - The gas production, need for space, and food requirements required by organic and free-range livestock hurt the environment more than their traditional counterparts, the BBC reports. Organic poultry can heat the earth some 45% more than indoor poultry, one group said; and a UN division found that farm animals heat... More »

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organic food • carbon footprint • livestock • beef • methane • dairy • deforestation • poultry • animal • pork

 Brazil Targets Amazon Loggers 

Government cracks down as deforestation rises sharply

Mar 21, 08 9:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - Brazil is launching a new crackdown against the loggers who are destroying the Amazon rainforest at alarming rates, the Washington Post reports. After several years of decline, deforestation is surging as cattle ranchers clear land and loggers cut down trees for charcoal to fuel steel mills abroad. But Brazil will... More »

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cattle • Brazil • deforestation • logging • timber • Amazon rainforest

Rainforests Still Fall
at Shocking Rates

Summit proposes financial rewards for conservation efforts

Feb 3, 08 5:45 PM CST
(Newser) - Rainforests continue to vanish at "alarming" rates worldwide despite decades of scientific warnings, experts say. Tropical trees are falling at 60 acres per minute—up 10 from a generation ago—accounting for roughly 20% of Earth's carbon emissions. Environmental leaders plan to preserve forests with a carbon trading system,... More »

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climate change • environment • United Nations • rainforest • carbon • deforestation

Despite Laws, Amazon Jungle Disappearing

Even president's tough new measures may not halt rapid deforestation

Jan 27, 08 6:29 AM CST
(Newser) - The deforestation of the Amazon jungle is speeding up, and Brazil may be unable to stop it, Time magazine reports. Over the last five months an estimated 2,700 square miles of forest have been cleared—more than twice the size of Rhode Island. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva... More »

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climate change • global warming • Brazil • Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva • deforestation • rain forest • Amazon rainforest • Amazon.com

Climate Reps at Odds Over Deforestation

Rich countries balk at paying poorer nations to stop hacking trees

Dec 8, 07 5:37 PM CST
(Newser) - The triumph of the Bali summit may be its plan to stop deforestation, but rich and poor nations are still clashing over details, the Washington Post reports. A dozen developing countries want incentives to stop tree-cutting, but some developed nations wince at paying them for actions not taken. "The... More »

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United Nations • greenhouse gases • carbon dioxide • global warming • Kyoto Protocol • deforestation • developing countries • Bali • developed countries • tropical rain forests

Katrina
Death Toll: 320M Trees

Hurricane's impact on forests leads to massive CO2 release

Nov 16, 07 12:53 PM CST
(Newser) - Hurricane Katrina killed 320 million trees in Mississippi and Louisiana, and the die-off is affecting the atmosphere as well as the landscape. Decaying trees will release about 367 million tons of carbon dioxide, equal to the amount released in a whole season of US forest fires, the LA Times reports.... More »

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climate change • Hurricane Katrina • New Orleans • Louisiana • carbon • deforestation • Mississippi • Gulf Coast

75% of Bear Species at Risk

Asia's sun bear now the fifth of eight bear species endangered worldwide

Nov 12, 07 7:15 PM CST
(Newser) - Southeast Asia's sun bear is now the sixth of eight bear species facing extinction worldwide, the Telegraph reports. Experts admit they know little about the bear, but blame deforestation, hunting, and fearful villagers for menacing the species. "We estimate that sun bears have declined by at least 30 per... More »

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endangered species • endangered species list • extinction • deforestation • polar bear • panda • species • sun bear • grizzly bear

UN Report Paints Grim Portrait of Planet's Future

Environmental decline spurs poverty, disease

Oct 25, 07 4:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - A major UN report says the health and wealth of millions of people around the world are at risk because of worsening environmental problems, BBC reports. The UN report cited deforestation, overfishing, shortages of drinking water, and rising greenhouse gas levels among the biggest problems. And it criticized a "... More »

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climate change • environment • United Nations • deforestation

Indian Activists Seek 'Green' Funeral Pyres 

Hindu cremation rites consume 50 million trees a year

Sep 3, 07 12:49 PM CDT
(Newser) - Indian environmental activists are taking aim at the traditional Hindu funeral pyre, which can burn over 800 pounds of wood while mourners watch the rite that is believed to free soul from body. Now a nonprofit group is peddling a "green cremation system," which uses a raised metal... More »

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India • cremation • environmentalism • deforestation • Hindu • funeral pyre • funeral • carbon emissions

Deserts Eat
Up China's Usable Land

In arid provinces, farms and families feel pinch of policy gone awry

Aug 16, 07 5:03 PM CDT
(Newser) - With China's deserts spreading another 950 square miles each year, the government is evicting families and replanting farms to stem the tide, the Christian Science Monitor reports from Gansu province. With 20% of the world's population but 7% of its arable land, China's decades-old problem has worsened due to overfarming,... More »

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China • climate change • environment • farming • global warming • deforestation • desert

World Bank Will Pay Countries
to Spare Trees

$250M pilot program will reward "avoided deforestation"

Jun 11, 07 10:04 AM CDT
(Newser) - The World Bank is planning a $250-million fund to pay countries to refrain from cutting down tropical forests. The plan, which won approval at the G-8 summit last week, depends on companies to contribute to the fund, but that's not likely to happen unless rules governing carbon emissions credits are... More »

MORE ABOUT:
climate change • environment • global warming • World Bank • G8 summit • Kyoto Protocol • deforestation • carbon emissions

Burning Forests Heat Globe

Rainforests absorbe CO2, but burning them pumps out 25% of all greenhouse gasses

May 14, 07 8:56 AM CDT
(Newser) - Destruction of rainforests is a bigger source of global warming than all the planes, cars and factories in the world, concludes a study reported today in the Independent. It's not just the loss of forests, which absorb CO2, that's the problem. It's the rampant burning of those forests that actually... More »

MORE ABOUT:
climate change • environment • Indonesia • greenhouse gases • global warming • Brazil • rainforest • deforestation • carbon emissions

1 - 20 of 21 Stories | 1 2 Next >>


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