2007-08 La Nina to Continue Through the Spring

San Francisco Chronicle
Thursday, January 10, 2008

La Nina to Stay Through Spring
(01-10) 08:39 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) —

A moderate La Nina is expected to continue
through spring, bringing wet conditions to the
northern Rockies and continued dryness to the
Southeast, government climate experts said
Thursday.

La Nina is a cooling of the tropical Pacific
Ocean that can cause changes in weather patterns
around the world. It is the opposite of the
better-known El Nino, a periodic warming of the
same region.

The monthly update from the Climate Prediction
Center calls for the moderate La Nina to continue
into spring. Currently sea surface temperatures
range from 2 degrees to 3 degrees Fahrenheit
below normal in studied parts of the Pacific.
This reduces rainfall over the ocean, and there
are stronger-than-normal easterly winds blowing
at low levels.

That indicates the likelihood of above-average
precipitation over Indonesia and below-average
precipitation over the central and eastern
equatorial Pacific, forecasters said.

For the contiguous United States, potential
effects include above-average precipitation in
the northern Rockies, the Pacific Northwest, the
Ohio and Tennessee valleys, and parts of the
Great Lakes region. Below-average precipitation
is expected across most of the South,
particularly in the southeastern states.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/01/10/national/w083240S13.DTL
© 2008 Hearst Communications Inc.

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Climate Change, Corporate “Development,” and the Maine North Woods

Climate Change, Corporate “Development,” and the Maine North Woods

Many people are not aware that a respectably sized chunk of wild forest
ecosystem struggles for survival in northern Maine. The Maine North Woods
comprise part of the southeastern edge of the Great North Woods, which
stretch in an arc across the North American continent (mostly in Canada)
from the Atlantic Seaboard to the Great Plains. The Maine North Woods
encompass most of the northern half of the state and provide a home for
rare species—including wolves and Canada lynx. It is the largest wild,
undeveloped area east of the Mississippi River.

Seattle-based Plum Creek Real Estate Investment Corporation—the nation’s
largest private landowner—has proposed a massive development for the heart
of the Moosehead Lake region. It is the largest subdivision ever proposed
in Maine. An initial proposal submitted in April 2005 to Maine’s Land Use
Regulation Commission (LURC) was withdrawn after significant public
outcry. A revised proposal was submitted in April 2006 and withdrawn again
after further significant public outcry. The latest proposal was submitted
in April 2007 and amended in August and October 2007. Plum Creek Timber
Co. is one of the nation’s (indeed, the continent’s) largest private
landowners. Many people in the forest defense movement are depressingly
familiar with Plum Creek’s dismal forest management practices (such as in
Wisconsin, Montana, and Washington states), as well as its propensity
toward “developing” forested wildlands into extravagant, exclusive
playgrounds for those humans rich, white, and callous (or clueless) enough
to afford them. Now Plum Creek has set its sights on northern Maine’s
Moosehead Lake Region for another such resort complex. Fortunately for
this priceless ecosystem, Mainers are far from stupid and have been
tracking these plans very carefully for quite some time now.

Continue reading

Borneo Tribal Chief Murdered for Resisting Timber Beast

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“This is not the first time that Penans involved in anti-logging
activity have disappeared under mysterious circumstances.”

“More recently palm oil plantations have increased pressure
on the forests.”
——————

http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0103-borneo_hance.html

Rainforest chief killed in Borneo for his opposition to logging
Jeremy Hance, mongabay.com
January 3, 2008

Keleasu Naan, a Penan chieftain and longtime activist against
logging, disappeared in October while checking animal traps. His
tribes’ worst fears were confirmed when they found what they believed
to be Naan’s remains last month. According to the Associated Press,
the chieftain’s nephew, Michael Ipa, has stated that the body had
several broken bones, leading Ipa to believe that “he has been killed
by people involved in logging”.

Keleasu Naan had been one of the key figures in the Penan community’s
fight against logging. He was also a plaintiff and witness in a land
rights claim that has been awaiting trial since 1998.

One-hundred Penan villagers walked sixty miles this week to lodge a
report at the closest police station and demand an investigation into
Naan’s death. This is not the first time that Penans involved in
anti-logging activity have disappeared under mysterious
circumstances. Two activist Penans disappeared in the 1990s. In 2000,
Bruno Manser, a Swiss environmentalist and champion of Penan rights,
also disappeared in the jungle. No sign of him has been found, and
some believe he was assassinated.

Logging in Borneo has been rampant since the 1980’s. In 2005 just
over 50% of Borneo’s forest remained. More recently palm oil
plantations have increased pressure on the forests. Naan’s Penan
community had managed to keep logging out of what the villagers claim
is their ancestral land, but they now believe that several timber
companies plan to resume logging. Aboriginal peoples of the
Malaysia’s Sarawek region, the Penans number around 10,000. They
currently live in settlements, but have not completely abandoned
their traditional nomadic ways. They subsist off small gardens,
hunting, and gathering. Since so much of the Penan’s resources come
from the forest, its disappearance may mark their own.
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Want to wager a bet on the destruction of the planet?

ALSO SEE:www.ubs.com/greenhouse

UBS to launch “climate change derivatives” index

By Paul J Davies
Financial Times of London

The first derivatives index designed to track the greenhouse effect is set to be launched in coming days by UBS, allowing investors to bet on the combined impact of carbon emissions and rising global temperatures.

The index follows on from the Swiss bank’s launch of the first global warming index last year and adds to a growing number of products from banks aimed at encouraging a broader range of investors to bet on the effects of climate change.

Both retail and institutional investors will be able to buy exposure to, or short sell, the UBS Greenhouse Index in much the same way they would the FTSE or Dow Jones stock market indices.

The level of the index will rise as the price of carbon emissions credits and global temperatures rise. Continue reading