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Archive for November, 2010
Climate change and the family farm
Posted by Star Tribune: Jack Hedin on November 30th, 2010
Star Tribune: The news from this Midwestern farm is not good. The past four years of heavy rains and flash flooding here in southern Minnesota have left me worried about the future of agriculture in America's grain belt. For some time, computer models of climate change have been predicting just these kinds of weather patterns, but seeing them unfold on our farm has been harrowing.
My family and I produce vegetables, hay and grain on 250 acres in one of the richest agricultural areas in the world. While our...
Oregon Climate Change: Less Water, More Wildfires
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 30th, 2010
KTVZ: In the not-too-distant future, Oregon will face summer water shortages, an increase in wildfire risk, more extreme weather events, new environmental responses to climate change and myriad economic challenges – and opportunities, according to the first Oregon Climate Assessment Report, released Tuesday.
Written by some 70 authors from universities, state and federal agencies and other groups, the report was produced by the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute, an Oregon University System entity...
economic recovery ‘poses threat to environment’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 30th, 2010
Guardian: UK economic recovery 'poses threat to environment'
Any emergence from recession may erode shift towards more sustainable lifestyles, warns EU report
The hoped-for emergence of the UK from its economic crisis might erode a shift towards more sustainable lifestyles, according to an EU report published today.
A growing population, coupled with demand for more and larger homes, is threatening the UK's security of water supplies and wildlife, said the European Environment Agency (EEA).
There...
Amazon’s thirst alarming for Earth
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 30th, 2010
Reuters: The river loops low past its bleached-white banks, where caimans bask in the fierce morning sun and stranded houseboats tilt precariously. Nearby sits a beached barge with its load of eight trucks and a crane. Its owners were caught out by the speed of the river's decline.
This is what it looks like when the world's greatest rainforest is thirsty. If climate scientists are right, parched Amazon scenes like this will become more common in the coming decades, possibly threatening the survival of...
First the Rain, Then the Rain of Insects
Posted by New York Times: Brian Fisher on November 30th, 2010
New York Times: Thursday, Nov. 25
This is no ordinary place. From above, the Makay looks like fractals drawn on a barren landscape. On the ground, it is a maze of steep and narrow canyons. It’s a place where you want to keep exploring to see what is up the next canyon or waterfall. Narrow canyon passages open into secret valleys of gallery forest and lakes, lakes formed by avalanches of rocks that block the canyon. This place is biologically interesting because of the steep water and temperature gradients imposed...
Global warming destroyed rainforests 300 million years ago
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 30th, 2010
Telegraph: Researchers believe the destruction of the rainforests kicked off an evolutionary burst amongst reptiles and inadvertently paved the way for the rise of dinosaurs 100 million years later.
And the scientists at Royal Holloway, University of London, and Bristol University warned that the discovery is a chilling message that humanity could be wiped off the face of the earth if today's Amazon rainforest is allowed to disappear.
The event happened during the Carboniferous Period when Europe and...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Global warming destroyed rainforests 300 million years agoIndonesia: Pulp plantations destroying Sumatra’s rainforests
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 30th, 2010
Mongabay: Indonesia's push to become the world's largest supplier of palm oil and a major pulp and paper exporter has taken a heavy toll on the rainforests and peatlands of Sumatra, reveals a new assessment of the island's forest cover by WWF.
The assessment, based on analysis of satellite imagery, shows Sumatra has lost nearly half of its natural forest cover since 1985. The island's forests were cleared and converted at a rate of 542,000 hectares, or 2.1 percent, per year. More than 80 percent of forest...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Indonesia: Pulp plantations destroying Sumatra’s rainforestsDemand on EU resources ‘too high’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 30th, 2010
BBC: The growing global demand for natural resources risks undermining Europe's economy, a report has warned.
The outlook, produced by the European Environment Agency, said the increases were driven by a need to satisfy changes in global consumption patterns.
The agency said there were no "quick fixes" but called on businesses, individuals and policymakers to work together to become more efficient.
It added that Europe had made progress on emissions, but more had to be done.
"We are consuming...
Will a Flood of Tiny Sensors Help Us Cut Emissions?
Posted by ClimateWire: Saqib Rahim on November 29th, 2010
ClimateWire: Advances in information technology have some companies dreaming of a world abuzz with sensors, some of which could reduce carbon emissions.
Companies such as IBM, Intel and Hewlett-Packard describe a future world "smarter" than today's, where cars don't crash, planes run on time and cell phones can "smell" bacteria in food. The companies see this "smart" movement also showing up in the power industry, factories and public infrastructure.
They call it "sensor networking," and it's being driven...
Greenpeace Sues Chemical Makers, Alleging Spy Effort
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 29th, 2010
New York Times: Contractors working for Dow Chemical and Sasol North America, a chemical manufacturer, hired private investigators to conduct a two-year corporate espionage campaign against the environmental group Greenpeace, according to a lawsuit filed on Monday in federal district court in Washington.
The investigators stole documents from locked trash bins, tapped phones and hacked into computer networks, and operatives posing as activists infiltrated Greenpeace offices and meetings, the suit claims.
The...