Northern senators in the Seventh Senate have resolved to push for the passage of a bill seeking to establish a commission that will check desert encroachment in the frontline states of the region, Chairman of the Northern Senators Forum, Senator Umaru Dahiru revealed at the weekend. (AllAfrica.com)
Neiker-Tecnalia (The Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development) has created an air-conditioned greenhouse using alternative energies that enable the reduction of energy costs, improvements in energy efficiency and an increase in crop yields. The novel system has a biomass boiler and thermodynamic solar panels, which reach an optimum temperature for the crop without using fuels derived from petroleum oil or gas. ScienceDaily
The increased frequency of drought observed in eastern Africa over the last 20 years is likely to continue as long as global temperatures continue to rise, according to new research published in Climate Dynamics. ScienceDaily
Using a common metal most famously found in self-cleaning ovens, Sossina Haile hopes to change our energy future. The metal is cerium oxide -- or ceria -- and it is the centerpiece of a promising new technology developed by Haile and her colleagues that concentrates solar energy and uses it to efficiently convert carbon dioxide and water into fuels. EurekaAlert
In the scorching summer heat of the Chihuahuan Desert in southwest Texas, air temperatures can hover around 97°F (36°C) while at the surface of the soil temperatures can exceed 158°F (70°C). Encountering these extreme temperatures, plants must utilize creative methods to not only survive but thrive under these difficult and potentially lethal conditions. Science DailyThe Alliance is the result of ten years of work, during which the Chihuahuan desert grasslands were identified as one of the priority regions for the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) and the Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands Conservation Strategy (ECOPAD) was developed. The Alliance is part of the CEC’s grasslands project, which will also deliver grassland bird monitoring results and updated priority conservation area maps for the grasslands region this year.
Representatives of nearly 30 institutions and entities from Canada, Mexico and the United States have joined efforts in creating the Regional Alliance for Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands Conservation.
“We will constantly seek to promote the design, implementation and evaluation of management plans, programs and projects oriented toward studying, conserving, rehabilitating and using this ecosystem in a sustainable manner. It is one of the most valuable but least appreciated ecosystems in the country. Our work will be based on coordinated actions by diverse stakeholders, and will also consider traditional, technical and scientific knowledge,” according to Dr. Juan Guzmán Aranda, coordinator for the Alliance.
Grasslands have significant economic importance due to their vital role as a strategic resource serving as the basis for North America’s livestock industry. The United States, Canada and Mexico are among the world’s 11 largest beef producers (US, fourth, with 9.7 percent; Mexico, eighth with 2.7 percent; and Canada, eleventh with 1.4 percent of the world’s production).
In addition, native grasslands offer invaluable ecological services such as the recharging of aquifers and providing habit for many resident and migratory bird and mammal species. Lastly, grasslands are an important tool in mitigating the effects of global climate change by storing carbon.
Nonetheless, grasslands are currently among the most threatened ecosystems in the world. During the last 50 years, between 50 and 70 percent of the original Chihuahuan desert grasslands has been lost or degraded, due to inadequate management, climate change, the presence of invasive species, agricultural expansion and urbanization.
“Having an Alliance of this type is significant because it brings together stakeholders in sectors that in the past viewed each other as antagonists. It also opens us to considering how beef, an emblematic product, can now be produced in a more sustainable manner,” commented Jürgen Hoth, of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Chihuahua Desert Program, a member of the Alliance. “This regional agreement can be the most important vehicle from the last 50 years for aligning efforts related to the well-being of a shared North America ecosystem,” he concluded.
Over 75 percent of the migratory grassland birds from the Northern Great Plains spend the winter in this region in the southern United States and northern Mexico, and this is a group of North American birds that has diminished considerably in numbers. Bird-monitoring studies conducted since the 1960s across North America reveal that the numbers of some particular species have been reduced by as much as 80 percent over the last four decades. The reasons for these diminishing numbers are not completely clear, but the loss of critical habitat in the Chihuahuan desert is probably a key factor.
“Acknowledgement of the environmental, economic and social values of grasslands, together with cross-border cooperation, make it possible, for the first time in Mexico, to establish strategic conservation schemes comparable to those in Canada and the United States, said Evan Lloyd, CEC executive director. “Sustainably managed grasslands are good for everyone and these conservation schemes aim to restore this important ecosystem.”
The Regional Alliance for Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands Conservation seeks to improve collaboration between environmentalists, livestock ranchers, specialists and governments and to secure strategic funding for specific projects aimed at the sustainability of the North American economy.
More information regarding this initiative can be found at: http://www.cec.org/grasslands
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) was established by Canada, Mexico and the United States to implement the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), the environmental side accord to NAFTA. The CEC supports cooperation among the NAFTA partners to address environmental issues of continental concern, including the environmental challenges and opportunities presented by continent-wide free trade.
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The UN biodiversity talks in Nagoya are connecting some of the dots, but they're missing the big one
When the scientific and traditional worlds collide, they do so in the most surprising ways. Classical meteorological and plant science has, in the last century, assumed that dew can negatively affects plant life, leading to rot and fungus. But in some traditions, dew is most welcomed as an important source of vegetative and plant life, celebrated in poetry and prayer. ScienceDaily
New findings from Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) scientists could lead to environmentally-friendly sprays that help plants survive drought and other stresses in harsh environments to combat global food shortages. The study is a follow-up to findings published in Nature last year that were named among the top breakthroughs of 2009 by Science magazine. ScienceDaily
CHERYL PELLERIN, America.gov, September 21, 2010: The United Nations has designated 2010'2020 as the decade to raise public awareness of the threat posed by worsening drought and human mismanagement of drylands. Meanwhile, farmers around the world find new ways to salvage degraded lands that lead to desertification.
Researchers in the UK are looking into the use of urine as the ‘fuel’ for microbial fuel cells (MFCs), which use bacterial cultures to break down ‘food’ to create power. MFCs are a developing technology used to power autonomous robots. Science Daily
Researchers say our liquid waste not only promotes plant growth as well as industrial mineral fertilizers, but also would save energy used on sewage treatment. Scientific American
Chemical engineers at Purdue University have developed a new method to process agricultural waste and other biomass into biofuels, and they are proposing the creation of mobile processing plants that would rove the Midwest to produce the fuels. Purdue University
Cool off with SuChin Pak and Daniel Sieberg as they demonstrate how to create your own renewable air conditioning system. Planet Green
Dust from the Sahara desert can warm the atmosphere, increase the production of clouds, and prolong drought conditions. Now, researchers have found evidence that intensive farming is responsible for a significant portion of that dust. Experts are cautious, but the connection suggests that factoring in dust production could lead to better global climate models. Science
Exceptionally long heat waves and other hot events could become commonplace in the United States in the next 30 years, according to a new study by Stanford University climate scientists. "Those kinds of severe heat events also put enormous stress on major crops like corn, soybean, cotton and wine grapes, causing a significant reduction in yields," said Noah Diffenbaugh, an assistant professor of environmental Earth system science at Stanford and the lead author of the study. Physorg.com
Bamboo houses combat climate change, encourage economic growth and protect the poor from natural disaster. Why aren’t there more of them? Elizabeth Best, Miller-McCune
This gadget was created to solve a real problem with biogas – getting the dung to the system quickly and efficiently. Motorbikes are the taxi’s of Africa so why not? Before I tell you about the above gadget I just want to remind you about the problems we have been having to solve to get the biogas to work at home. AfriGadget
Two prominent climate experts, including one from the University of Arizona, are calling for a "no-regrets" strategy for planning for a hotter and drier western North America. Their advice: use water conservatively and continue developing ways to harness energy from the sun, wind and Earth. ScienceDaily
African leaders are meeting in Chad to push the idea of planting a tree belt across Africa from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east. The Great Green Wall project is backed by the African Union and is aimed at halting the advancing Sahara Desert. BBC News
While it used to be called the Gateway to the Mojave National Preserve, Nipton is being called something entirely different these days. The small historic desert town in California has a new, greener moniker - the “Most Solar Town in America.” With a population of 20 to 250, more or less, Nipton will soon generate about 85 percent of its electricity from solar power. Energy Boom
Centuries ago, a young Chinese emperor fled to Guangdong to escape the Mongols. Now China's most populous province is facing a different sort of enemy -- itself. 13.7 Billion Years
Weather-related catastrophes brought about by climate change are increasing, the top UN humanitarian official said Sunday as he warned of the possibility of "mega-disasters." Agence France-Presse
The Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) organized Land Day 2 on 5 June 2010, in parallel to the May/June Climate Change Talks in Bonn, Germany. The event sought to heighten the attention of policy- and decision-makers to the importance of land issues in the ongoing climate change negotiations, and to foster a dialogue that could strengthen an agreement regarding the post-2012 period for climate change policy. Climate-L.org
An old North Dakota farm has become a laboratory for growing food when water runs short. Frederick Kirschenmann, YES! Magazine 
In harsh and inhospitable environments, with hot days and cold nights, this invention creates a temperate and moist earthen nursery for protecting and nurturing seeds into trees with a self replenishing source of drip irrigation. Scientific American
The death toll is expected to rise as India faces record temperatures of up to 122F in the hottest summer in the country since records began in the late 1800s. London Guardian
Given humankind's lackadaisical response to climate change, a museum in Hamburg is presenting fanciful visions of how humans might adapt to disaster. "Climate Capsules," an exhibition starting Friday, imagines people of the future in oceangoing cities and other artificial, self-contained environments. Spiegel Online
Droughts in the late 20th century rival some of North Africa's major droughts of centuries past, reveals new research that peers back in time to the year 1179. The first multi-century drought reconstruction that includes Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia shows frequent and severe droughts during the 13th and 16th centuries and the latter part of the 20th century. An international team developed the tree-ring-based drought history. ScienceDaily
Construction is in the works for what China is calling “The Biggest Solar Energy Production Base in the Whole World,” or more simply, Solar Valley. The base will be a clean energy technology hub that China hopes will rival Silicon Valley in California. The ambitious plans for the park were launched by Himin Solar Energy, whose headquarters is located at the Sun-Moon Mansion, which is currently the largest solar powered office building in the world. The planned development outside of Dezhou, China is expected to cost $740 million and accommodate 100 tenants. Bridgette Meinhold, Inhabit
The quest to derive energy from wind may soon be getting some help from California Institute of Technology (Caltech) fluid-dynamics expert John Dabiri -- and a school of fish. As head of Caltech's Biological Propulsion Laboratory, Dabiri studies water- and wind-energy concepts that share the theme of bioinspiration: that is, identifying energy-related processes in biological systems that may provide insight into new approaches to -- in this case -- wind energy. ScienceDaily
Path to Freedom is a grassroots, family operated, original urban homestead located in the midst of Pasadena. Surrounded by urban sprawl and just a short distance from a freeway, the Dervaes Family have steadily worked at transforming this ordinary city lot into an organic and sustainable micro-farm. Path to Freedom Urban Homestead
Last month, NASA issued a report that predicted 2010 would likely end up as the warmest year on record, due to the combination of global warming and El Niño. Doyle Rice, USA Today
A team from Stanford University took the annual M.I.T. Clean Energy Prize, and $200,000, for coming up with a cheap, flexible photovoltaic electrode. Cynthia Graber, Scientific American
We must retrofit our corporate, globalized food system to produce healthful food for local communities. But where do we start? Last year, Tuula Rebhahn, food security advocate spent some time in India, and in this country -- which is stereotyped by the Western world as starving and impoverished -- discovered a traditional food system that might make “locavores” back home drool. Conducive
Average global temperatures, that have been rising for a century already, due to anthropogenic climate change, won't suddenly stop rising in 2100, say Australian and US scientists in a study just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Susan Kraemer, Scientific American
Algae is a promising source of renewable fuel, but producers often use greenhouse gas-producing fertilizers to feed their aquatic crops. Now researchers see a possibility for clean energy in dirty water. Bridget Macdonald, Living On Earth
Aerogel, AKA frozen smoke, at first sounds like something out of a science fiction book, but it has been around since 1931. The product was created by Samuel Stephens Kistler in an attempt to replace the liquid in jellies with gas without causing shrinkage. The material is comprised of 90-94% air with the rest made generally of silica (a non-toxic, environmentally-friendly compound), though other common types are from alumina or carbon [Source: CNET]. This allows the gel to not only be good at insulation but also has its use in cleaning oil spills. Jasmine Greene, Care2 News
Although it sounds like a contradiction in terms, using the power of the sun for refrigeration is proving to be an original energy concept. In Tunisia and Morocco, research scientists are using solar energy to keep perishable foodstuffs such as milk, wine and fruit fresh. ScienceDaily
Plant roots enmeshed in layers of discarded materials inside upright pipes can purify dirty water from a washing machine, making it fit for growing vegetables and flushing toilets, according to horticulturists. ScienceDaily
Forget expensive machinery, the best way to purify water could be hiding in a cactus. It turns out that an extract from the prickly pear cactus is effective at removing sediment and bacteria from dirty water. New Scientist
By the year 2050, 80% of the world will live in urban areas. But how will they eat? There's one cutting edge technology that could make the difference. Rolling fields of farmland spread out over acres and acres of land, but in urban areas, there's no place to go but up.
"The vertical farming idea is kind of a perfect storm because it's the solution for so many problems that we're facing in this country," says environmentalist Bobby Kennedy, Jr. WUSA-9
Students and researchers are constructing a house to run on solar power, as well as harness wind, rain and the building's wastes. Its also features include an edible wall. ScienceDaily
Morocco will invest $9 billion upfront to build 2 Gigawatts of solar power, distributed between 5 solar power plants, by 2020. Scientific American
Plus Minus Design, a team of innovative designers in the UK which look to have done some design work for the Solar Aid charity around the Solar Orb [PDF], now have another solar design idea unleashed centered around their new Plus Minus Solar mission of being “dedicated to the design and development of innovative humanitarian products for the developing world.” This one, being shown on one of the designer’s Flickr accounts, is called the Solar Pebble. EarthTechling
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