Global Water Partnership (GWP) announced that Dr Jerome Delli Priscoli is the new GWP Technical Committee Chair, effective April 4, 2016. The appointment is made by the GWP Steering Committee. “I am happy to welcome Dr Priscoli in our midst,”…
Category: Environment
Monkey hunting could drive these species extinct
Hunting on Equatorial Guinea’s Bioko Island threatens red colobus monkeys, which hover on the brink of extinction. It’s hard to ignore a red colobus monkey in the forests of Equatorial Guinea’s Bioko Island, off the coast of Cameroon. The shaggy,…
Satellites key to monitoring harmful emissions: space agencies
Satellite technology plays a crucial role in measuring greenhouse gas emissions globally, the heads of several space agencies agreed Sunday as they vowed to work together to develop a coordinated monitoring system. The pledge comes after a landmark climate accord…
Is the mighty Ganga drying up?
Last month, the NTPC plant near Farakka barrage was shut down after flow dipped. The Ganga that has nourished the Indian civilisation for centuries has recorded a historically low inflow in its lower reaches this year, going by the evidence…
Parched fields force Thailand to look beyond rice
Thailand has long served as one of the globe’s main rice bowls, but chronic water shortages are pushing the country to move away from a grain that dominates its fields and has defined a way of life for generations. Laddawan…
Another six months needed to relocate tanneries, say owners
Dhaka – Though the government has stopped rawhide supply to Dhaka’s Hazaribagh tanneries to force the entrepreneurs to shift their units to the designated industrial park in Savar, the industry insiders observed that it will take at least 5-6 more…
Rawhide supply to Hazaribagh tanneries ‘stopped’
Dhaka – Police on Friday stopped rawhide supply to the city’s Hazaribagh areas as the tannery owners ignored the deadline to shift their factories to the designated estate in Savar, UNB news agency reported. “We stopped rawhide supply to Hazaribagh…
14 fire incidents at Chandpai of Sundarbans in 12 years
Bagerhat – The only Chandpai Range of the Sundarbans saw 14 incidents of fire in the last 12 years, raging through some 40 acres of forest and causing damage to its unique ecosystem, say officials.Forest Department data show that the…
Water reservoir can mitigate drought condition in Barind area
More water reservoirs in the drought-prone Barind area could be effective means of lessening its gradually mounting pressure on groundwater table coupled with mitigating its water-stress condition. Researchers and scientists concerned revealed this while talking to BSS,they said water reservoir…
Snowpack 97% of average in California’s Northern Sierra
New spring survey shows some drought relief but more conservation is needed to ensure adequate water supply. California’s Sierra Nevada mountains are a key source of much of the state’s water. California’s five-year drought isn’t over yet, but the state’s…
Dubai’s Taqdeer Award an excellent model in labour practices: ILO official
Taqdeer Award is an outstanding initiative to encourage employers to improve their employment practices and the award can well be a model for countries in the area to enhance their labour welfare steps, said asenior official from the International Labour…
Antarctica may lift seas a meter by 2100
Melting ice from Antarctica could raise oceans by a metre before 2100 at current rates of greenhouse gas emissions, doubling previous forecasts for sea level rise, according to a study released Wednesday.Such an abrupt change would spell disaster for major…
Air pollution: 25pc city children suffer lung abnormality
Dhaka – One in every four children of the city faces abnormal lung functioning due to ambient air pollution, says a new study, UNB news agency has reported. Collecting 500 samples from four different age groups, mostly from the 10-20…
Rivers turn to dust as drought bites Somalia
Somalia’s bread basket has become a dust bowl as the life-giving waters of the mighty Shabelle river run dry amid intense drought in the war-torn country.River-fed farmlands have become parched playgrounds for children who kick footballs beneath a cloudless sky,…
Rivers turn to dust as drought bites Somalia
Somalia’s bread basket has become a dust bowl as the life-giving waters of the mighty Shabelle river run dry amid intense drought in the war-torn country.River-fed farmlands have become parched playgrounds for children who kick footballs beneath a cloudless sky,…
Worst bleaching on record for Great Barrier Reef: scientists
AFP , Sydney – Aerial surveys of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef have revealed the worst bleaching on record in the icon’s pristine north, scientists said Tuesday, with few corals escaping damage. Researchers said the view was devastating after surveying some…
Tests find trees tolerant to olive tree killer pathogen
Tests suggests some varieties of olive trees appear to be resistant to an invasive pathogen posing a serious risk to Europe’s olive industry.The findings came to light during a study into the host range of the bacteria, which reached Europe…
World’s nations gather to rescue ocean life
AFP, Paris – It took a decade to get to the negotiating table, and it could easily take another to finish the job, but UN talks in New York to safeguard life in the high seas finally begin in earnest…
Upscaling community seed banks, upholding farmers’ rights
The global seed market has grown considerably in the last decades into a multibillion-dollar industry, largely due to more farmers purchasing seeds. Despite the growth in the commercial seed sector, the majority of farmers in the developing world still depend…
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef hit by ‘worst’ bleaching
Evidence that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is experiencing its worst coral bleaching on record has renewed calls for the UN to list it as “in-danger”.The National Coral Bleaching Taskforce says 95% of reefs from Cairns to Papua New Guinea are…
Massive tree farms may be a really bad climate idea
World-wide tree plantations, soil modification or bioenergy crops could add to the planetary harm of global warming, scientist warns. A worker lays out biochar to dry in the sun before it is packed at the Eco Fuel Africa factory in…
Sundarbans fire extinguished
Dhaka – The fire that broke out on Sunday evening at Shikdar Bari Shila in Chandpai Range of the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest, was doused on Monday afternoon. Station officer of Dhansagar in Chandpai Range, Sultan Mahmud, said…
Palau declares state of emergency over drought
Palau became the latest Pacific island nation to declare a state of emergency Wednesday, as the region struggles with an extreme drought that forecasters warn will not ease for months. President Tommy Remengesau said rainfall in the capital Koror over…
Northwesterly ‘Kalbaishakhi’ squalls, hailstorm forecast
Dhaka – River ports in several districts across the country have been asked to hoist ‘riverine warning signal no. 2’ amid forecast of temporary west or north-westerly squalls.
Fire in Sundarbans Chandpai range now under control
Dhaka – A fire broke out at Shikdar Bari Shila in Chandpai Range of the Sundarbans on Sunday evening UNB news agency reported from Bagerhat. The Station officer of Dhansagar in Chandpai Range, Sultan Mahmud, said forest officials saw some…
Bangladesh minister says Teesta deal with India matter of time
Water Resources Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud has rejected any notion of “mistrust” of India and said “it is a matter of time” now before the Teesta water-sharing deal is inked. “It must happen,” he said speaking at a conference on…
3 Bangladeshis among 4 killed in Libya clash
Dhaka – Four people, including three Bangladeshis, were shot dead when unidentified gunmen fired shots on them in Benghazi, the second largest city of Libya, on Friday evening, said an official on Sunday.
Plants adapt to climate change better than many thought
Plants respond a bit better to global warming than scientists had thought, according to a new study that suggests their potential contribution to worsening global warming is not likely as bad as researcher believed.When it gets hotter, plants breathe harder.…
Coral bleaching at Barrier Reef ‘severe’: Australia
Australian authorities said Sunday coral bleaching occurring in the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef had become “severe”, the highest alert level, as sea temperatures warm.Australian Environment Minister Greg Hunt said while the bleaching at this stage was not as severe…
How to Track a Brutal Cereal Killer: Extreme Weather
It’s no surprise that wildly swinging temperatures, droughts, and floods aren’t exactly good for crops. California’s drought cost the state’s thirsty agricultural sector $1.84 billion in 2015 alone, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that a warming climate…