Articles in Environment News
Two Innovations to Revolutionize How People Get Around in Israel
Transportation issues may not be high on international media’s agenda when it comes to Israel, yet traffic jams are a common occurrence, especially in and around Tel Aviv, while the newly constructed Light Rail system in Jerusalem has been plagued by problems, including failed terrorist attacks, allegations of inappropriate fines imposed by overzealous ticket inspectors, and controversy surrounding competition with the bus company. But two innovations now explored in Israel may change all that and lead to improved transportation, reduced energy consumption, and decrease in air pollution.
Lithuanians Vote Against Building Nuclear Power Plant
While several posts in the main portion of GeoCurrents website deal with the results of the recent U.S. elections, a number of forthcoming news posts will cover recent elections elsewhere in the world. In mid-October, the citizens of Lithuania voted in the national legislative elections, as well as in a special advisory referendum on nuclear power. Energy independence—one of the key topics of the U.S. presidential race—is even more hotly debated in Lithuania.
The Advantages of Darkness in Northern Chile
In early October, the Noche Zero conference in the Atacama region of northern Chile will bring together lighting designers, urban planners, government officials, and astronomers concerned about the effects of “light pollution” and the resulting disappearance of stars from the night sky.
From Drought to Floods in South Asia
The all-important summer monsoon of South Asia has given weather and climate forecasters, as well as news reporters, a wild ride this year. In late June, Reuters hopefully reported that India’s crucial monsoon rains were “expected to be average in 2012, … helping to allay concern over farm output triggered by sparse rainfall in the last few weeks.” Such concerns, however, only deepened, and by late July, news sources were reporting that “with drought conditions prevailing in most parts of India, Monsoon 2012 is set to be the worst in the last 65 years.”
Khareef Season Draws Thousands to Southern Oman
Lush, verdant hillsides are not the type of landscape one would expect to find on the Arabian Peninsula. Indeed, most of the region is parched desert where plant life is extremely sparse without human intervention. During the summer monsoon season, however, parts of Oman and Yemen find themselves soaked in rain and wreathed by fog.
Environmental Problems in the Solomon Islands
The mostly rural and relatively poor Solomon Islands faces many environmental problems, which development of the country’s small mining sector may soon exacerbate. The expansion of human settlement, agriculture, and timber harvesting has led to deforestation, while blast fishing and the illegal exportation of exotic birds have frustrated conservation efforts.
Melting and Mining in Greenland
Reports of recent massive surface melting on Greenland’s central ice cap have circulated widely in the global media. According to NASA, the area exhibiting a surface thaw expanded from 40 percent of the ice sheet to 97 percent in a mere four-day period this July. As reported by Canada’s CBC News, “You literally had this wave of warm air wash over the Greenland ice sheet and melt it,” NASA ice scientist Tom Wagner said Tuesday.
Roads, Gas, and the Uncontacted People of the Peruvian Amazon
New roads and natural gas exploration in the Peruvian Amazon are making contact between hitherto isolated tribes and the outside world almost unavoidable.
A New Panama Canal? Or Two?
As traffic through the Panama Canal rises, Nicaragua and Costa Rica examine alternatives in a charged political atmosphere.
Potential Fishery Collapse in Lake Tanganyika
Africa’s ancient Lake Tanganyika faces a potential collapse of its fishing industry.
Flood and Political Conflicts in Northeastern India
Flooding in Northeastern India and its sometimes-fraught political backdrop.
Japan to Encourage Deer Hunting and Venison Eating?
The sika deer (Cervus nippon), once widespread across eastern Asia, has been eliminated from virtually its entire range. The animal is extinct in Korea and barely hangs on in China and far eastern Russia. In Japan, however, the deer population is exploding, resulting in major agricultural and forestry losses.
Utah Seeks to Annex Federal Lands
A recent political maneuver by the state government of Utah is stirring up intense of controversy. “Utah’s Nuttiest Idea of All,” reads a June 2 headline in the Salt Lake Tribune. A more recent opinion piece by geographer Eric C. Ewart in the same newspaper argues that that the move is blatantly unconstitutional and will “derail the largest single part of Utah’s economy: tourism.” Looking into the future, Ewart contends that tomorrow’s youth will be asking their elders, “Grandpa, why did you destroy Utah’s natural landscapes in search of quick profit?”
Turning Parking into Park in Ithaca, New York
Svante Myrick, the newly elected mayor of Ithaca, N.Y., a city that some 30,000 people call home, has made a splash in the news in several ways.
Australia’s “Devil Ark” Captive Breeding Program
The Tasmanian devil, a wolverine-like marsupial carnivore, has been reintroduced to mainland Australia, where it has been extinct for hundreds of years. The formidable animals are not roaming free in the outback, however, but are rather confined to the “Devil Ark” in a free-range captive breeding project: “Devils are kept in densely vegetated pens of between two and three football fields in size enclosed by a climb and burrow-proof fence, and their pen mates are chosen by experts from a genetic ‘stud book’ to optimise breeding.”
Terranova: The Black Petaltail - A Novel
Diversity Amid Globalization: World Regions, Environment, Development (5th Edition)
Globalization and Diversity: Geography of a Changing World (3rd Edition)
