Spain Importing Drinking Water; Reservoirs Drying, Ruins Emerging

Medieval church re-emerges as Spain ships in water
Wed May 14, 2008 11:14am EDT

Barcelona ships in water supplies

By Martin Roberts

BARCELONA (Reuters) – Perhaps the most striking image of Spain’s drought, so severe it has forced Barcelona to ship in water, has been that of the underwater church which emerged from a drying dam.

For most of the past four decades, all that has been visible of the village of Sant Roma has been the belltower of its stone church, peeping above the water beside forested hills from a valley flooded in the 1960s to provide water for the Catalonia region.

This year, receding waters have exposed the 11th-century church completely, attracting crowds of tourists who stand gazing around it on the dusty bed of the reservoir.

Neighboring Vilanova de Sau is enjoying a tourist boom, its mayor Joan Riera says.

Continue reading

International Paper Threatens to Violate Own Policy by Expanding Into Indonesian Rainforest

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 12, 2008  5:40 PM

CONTACT: Rainforest Action Network
Sam Haswell, Communications Director
(415) 659-0519
Cameron Scott, Communications Manager
(415) 659-0541
Nell Greenberg, Communications Manager
(415) 659-0557
media@ran.org

International Paper Threatens to Violate Own Policy by Expanding Into Indonesian Rainforest

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – May 12 – Rainforest Action Network and ForestEthics today condemned a proposal by U.S.-based International Paper to build a pulp mill and establish 1.2 million acres of plantation forest in the heart of the Indonesian rainforest. The groups urged International Paper, which is holding its Annual General Meeting today, to not violate its own paper policy and to abandon its plans to expand into Indonesia, a global warming and biodiversity hot spot.

Continue reading

Global Atmospheric CO2 at Record High

—————————————
“The figures, published by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) on its website, also confirm that carbon dioxide,
the chief greenhouse gas, is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than
expected.”
———–

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/12/climatechange.carbonemissions
Monday May 12 2008

World CO2 levels at record high, scientists warn
David Adam

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has reached a
record high, according to new figures that renew fears that climate
change could begin to slide out of control.

Scientists at the Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii say that CO2 levels in
the atmosphere now stand at 387 parts per million (ppm), up almost 40%
since the industrial revolution and the highest for at least the last
650,000 years.

Continue reading