Reuters: Four environmental groups have sued the European Union’s executive for withholding documents they say will add to a growing dossier of evidence that biofuels harm the environment and push up food prices. The lawsuit, lodged with the EU’s General Court, the bloc’s second highest court, alleges several violations of European laws on transparency and democracy. But the European Commission countered that the action was premature as it had not formally refused access and had already …

Source: Rainforest Portal RSS Newsfeed | 9 Mar 2010 | 7:00 pm

Reuters: Farm experts plan to track down wild relatives of crops such as rice or wheat with traits that make them able to resist global warming in a project costing perhaps $50 million, a leading expert said on Tuesday. "The wild relatives of cultivated crops … are largely uncollected or conserved in gene banks," said Cary Fowler, head of the Rome-based Global Crop Diversity Trust which co-manages a "doomsday" seed vault on an Arctic island north of Norway. "We’re at the early stages" …

Source: Rainforest Portal RSS Newsfeed | 9 Mar 2010 | 7:00 pm

Business Green: European biofuel developers are facing fresh uncertainty about the future of the industry, after four environmental groups yesterday launched legal action against the European Union, accusing it of withholding evidence that allegedly shows that current biofuel policies harm the environment and push up food prices. The lawsuit, filed on Monday by ClientEarth, Transport & Environment, the European Environmental Bureau and BirdLife International, will result in further investment …

Source: Rainforest Portal RSS Newsfeed | 9 Mar 2010 | 7:00 pm

Extinctions are currently outpacing the capacity for new species to evolve, according to Simon Stuart, chair of the Species Survival Commission for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Source: Mongabay.com News | 9 Mar 2010 | 1:53 am

A research camp with environmental organization Save the Elephants (STE) in Samburu National Reserve in Kenya fell victim to a flash flood last week, after the Ewaso Ng’iro River broke its banks. Fortunately, none of the researchers or employees were hurt, but the camp lost most of the equipment—including tents, food, computers, and collars—and data in the flood.

Source: Mongabay.com News | 8 Mar 2010 | 8:57 pm

Over a third of the greenhouse gas emissions related to the consumption of goods in wealthy nations actually occur in developing countries, according to a new analysis by researchers with the Carnegie Institution. Annually, each person if the United States outsources 2.5 tons of carbon due to consumption habits, most frequently in China. In Europe the figure of ‘outsourced’ emissions rises to 4 tons per person.

Source: Mongabay.com News | 8 Mar 2010 | 7:50 pm

In a new study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), every single fish tested from 291 freshwater streams across the United States was found to be contaminated with mercury.

“This study shows just how widespread mercury pollution has become in our air, watersheds and many of our fish in freshwater streams,” said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

Source: Sustainable Ecosystems and Community News – ENN | 5 Mar 2010 | 11:51 am

While the world sees Iran up to nuclear arms, Qatar and Iran have signed a memorandum of understanding regarding helping to preserve the environment. Qatar’s Gulf Times reported that a memorandum of understanding was signed on February 22 by Qatar’s Minister for the Environment, Abdullah bin Mubarak bin Aboud al-Midhadhi, and by Iran’s environment head Mohamed Javad Mohamedi Zadeh. In the understanding, the two countries agree to be involved together in a number of environmental areas:

Managing green reserves, green spaces, plant growth and animal husbandry, in addition to the environmental management of coastal areas, desertification control and the exchange of experiences and expertise between the two countries.

Source: Sustainable Ecosystems and Community News – ENN | 4 Mar 2010 | 10:16 pm

Covering about 70 percent of our planet’s surface, the ocean acts as a global thermostat, storing energy from the sun, keeping Earth’s temperature changes moderate and keeping climate change gradual. In fact, the ocean can store as much heat in its top 10 feet as the entire atmosphere does.

What happens in the atmosphere has usually the most effect on where humanity lives but the ocean really controls the world’s climate more.

Source: Sustainable Ecosystems and Community News – ENN | 4 Mar 2010 | 8:06 pm