Stories about Environment from March, 2010
Trinidad & Tobago: Drought – Stage 1
“A lot is happening each time a bushfire begins somewhere in Trinidad and Tobago, and it all leads to the dread spectre we hear of in other places – drought”: KnowTnT.com examines the different stages of drought.
Bangladesh: Air-Conditioners Banned During Evening To Tackle Energy Shortage
Tacitaeterno at In The Middle Of Nowhere informs that the Bangladesh government has imposed restrictions on the usage of air conditioners during evening to control the stifling electricity shortage in the capital.
Laos and the drying of Mekong River
Gretchen Kunze writes how the drying up of the Mekong River is affecting Laos, the only landlocked-country in Southeast Asia
Brazil: “Sao Paulo, shithole of world”
In a post called “Sao Paulo, shithole of world”, Adriano Cintra from the band CSS, publishes a set of amazing pictures showing what happens when it rains in the biggest Latin American city, portraying the chaos the population has lived with since the beginning of the year.
Arab World: Earth Hour Marked Across the Region
Earth Hour is an annual event celebrated on the last Saturday in March. Awareness of Earth Hour has been spreading throughout the world since its inception in Australia in 2007. In this post, Katharine Ganly takes a look at some of the initiatives celebrating Earth Hour in the Arab World.
India: Water Crisis Is Man Made
Muriel Kakani writes that India’s recent water crisis is “predominantly a man-made problem”. The blogger opines that ‘water harvesting from rainfalls’ can be a solution.
Bhutan: Facing Power Shortage?
Bhutan, a major producer of electricity in the sub-continent, exports surplus electricity to its neighbors. However, the country can face power shortage in recent years, opines Adhikari School of Thought.
Trinidad & Tobago: Food Prices
“The basket of items you bought in the grocery in Jan 2010 is just over three times the price of the same basket bought in Jan 2003…Is your salary today three times what you earned in Jan 2003? If not, then, at least for food, you're not winning”: KnowTnT.com looks...
Azerbaijan: DOTCOM arrives in Baku
Late last night, American participants of the U.S. State Department sponsored DOTCOM project to bring Armenian, Azerbaijani and American teenagers together to create socially conscious media arrived in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Tajikistan: Bargaining over dams and shipments
Tajik and Uzbek officials traded barbs during the security conference in Dushanbe. The argument concerned freight train shipments for Tajikistan that have been stalled on Uzbek territory, but as neweurasia’s Dushanbe explains, the real reason is the Roghun dam project.
Dominican Republic: Opposition to Barrick Gold Mining Operations
There is increased opposition to the Barrick Gold mining operations in the Dominican Republic because of the terms of the contract and benefits for the State, as well as concerns about environmental impacts.
Pakistan: Earth Hour 2010
Hina Safdar at Chowrangi urges Pakistanis to switch off lights in honor of earth hour tonight at 8:30 PM when hundreds of cities around the world will switch off the lights for 60 minutes.
Japan: Long life to bluefin tuna. The experts’ word.
With 68 countries voting against, CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species that regulates the international trade of wild animals and plants, rejected a ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna, that was slated for listing on Appendix One, i.e. a complete ban.
Japan: Cherry Blossom Viewing 101
Legonjapan made a video [en, ja] to explain the abc of Hanami, or flower viewing. The animation teaches the related terms and the etiquette to follow during the parties, usually held under the pink flowers in full bloom (around the end of March or the beginning of April).
Japan: A whale of a controversy
Only a few days after The Cove was awarded the Oscar as best documentary, drawing public and media attention around the world to the hunting of cetaceans issue, anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd’s leader Peter Bethune was arrested in Tokyo, re-igniting the controversy between Japan and Australia-New Zealand.
Trinidad & Tobago: Water Crisis
Trinidadian Keith Francis weighs in on the global water crisis, saying: “There's no sense complaining about WASA or the Government or the fact that we're in this situation. The fact is that we are all in this situation together, so let's make the best of it. Together.”
Barbados: Drought Continues
“Monday was world water day and it has brought home to many of us that we must not take this precious commodity for granted”: my rustic bajan garden blogs about “the ravages of drought”.
Sri Lanka: The Economics Of Being A Rice Farmer
Rajaratarala at Perceptions blog discusses the challenging economics of the production cost of a rice farmer in Sri Lanka and the price they get for their produces.
China and Japan: Expo Osaka and Expo Shanghai
Martin J Frid notices that the theme of Expo 2010 is loaded with a strong belief in “developmentalism” and “urbanism”. He then shares the experience of Expo Osaka in 1970 which helped setting up the global agenda of sustainable development.
Bangladesh: Disappearing Islands
Reacting on the news that disputed South Talpatti island in the Bay of Bengal has submerged due to sea level rise, Mohammad Farhan Husain writes about the bleak future of Bangladesh in the face of global warming.
Ghana: Blogging for World Water Day
World Water Day is a day observed on March 22 since 1993 when the United Nations General Assembly declared March, 22 as World Day for Water. Jemila Wunpini Abdulai, an active member of the Ghana Blogging Group suggested we make the day a Ghana Blogging Universal Day post.
