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Archive for January 20th, 2011
Climate change assumption could need tinkering, study finds
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 20th, 2011
LA Times: A common assumption in models that game out what a warming planet will mean for plants and trees presumes they would migrate upward toward cooler mountain temperatures, such as the snowy peaks of California's Sierra Nevada. That has sparked concern that some species may die off when they cannot migrate higher.
It turns out that decades of old and new data show that many Sierra species have tended to migrate downhill over many decades, largely because of higher precipitation levels in central and...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Climate change assumption could need tinkering, study findsUnited States: Mountain plant communities moving down despite climate change, study finds
Posted by LA Times: Bettina Boxall on January 20th, 2011
LA Times: Predictions that climate change will drive trees and plants uphill, potentially slashing their range to perilous levels, may be wrong, suggests a new study that found vegetation in California actually crept downhill during the 20th century.
The research, published in the Jan. 21 issue of the journal Science, challenges widely held assumptions about the effect of rising temperatures on shrubs and trees that play a critical role in mountain environments.
Various studies in recent years have predicted...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United States: Mountain plant communities moving down despite climate change, study findsCan Europe benefit from shale gas?
Posted by BBC: Damian Kahya on January 20th, 2011
BBC: In a field near Kirkham, between Preston and Blackpool, they are preparing to drill a well that many say could change our energy outlook.
Up until recently, most economists had forecast gas prices rising sharply as supplies become scarce. Production in the North Sea is already falling fast.
But the recession saw prices fall and now the process of getting gas out of rocks , shale gas as it's known, could bring huge new supplies.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that "unconventional"...
United Kingdom: New Figures Confirm That 2010 Was a Hot Year
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 20th, 2011
New York Times: New figures issued on Thursday in Britain show that 2010 was the second-warmest year in the historical record. That comes on the heels of reports last week from two American agencies that 2010 was tied for the warmest year in the record books. All three sets of numbers come from scientific programs that conduct rigorous analysis of the surface temperature of the earth, using thermometers and other instruments distributed across the globe. Despite slight differences in the three reports, they all...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: New Figures Confirm That 2010 Was a Hot YearSri Lankan floods could leave 400,000 children without enough food
Posted by Guardian: Karen McVeigh on January 20th, 2011
Guardian: Up to 400,000 children in Sri Lanka are facing a food crisis caused by devastating floods, a children's charity warned as it launched a £1m appeal to help those in the worst-hit areas today.
As the floodwaters begin to recede, many of the 350,000 displaced people driven into temporary refugee camps are returning home only to find that their homes, schools, crops and livelihoods have been wiped out by the rains.
In the worst-affected part of the country, the Eastern Province, the damage to agricultural...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Sri Lankan floods could leave 400,000 children without enough foodNew climate data shows warming world – WMO
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 20th, 2011
Reuters: Last year tied for the hottest year on record, confirming a long-term warming trend which will continue unless greenhouse gas emissions are cut, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
A man rests during sunset after a long and hot summer day at Dubai's popular Jumeirah beach May 10, 2005. (REUTERS/Anwar Mirza/Files)
The first 10 years of the millennium proved to be the hottest decade since records began in the 19th century, it said.
"The main signal is that the warming...
South Africa: Floodwaters Rising Across Southern Africa
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 20th, 2011
Inter Press Service: As South Africa declares a national disaster due to flooding, other countries in the region hold their breath while water levels continue to rise.
With dozens dead and damages exceeding $50 million across eight of its nine provinces, South Africa is experiencing its heaviest floods in years. The Orange River, which runs 2,300 kilometres from Lesotho east to the Atlantic Ocean at the Namibian-South African, has reached its highest level in decades.
"The floods are earlier than previous years,"...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on South Africa: Floodwaters Rising Across Southern AfricaMozambique Prepares for Worst Floods in 10 Years
Posted by Inter Press Service: Johannes Myburgh on January 20th, 2011
Inter Press Service: Flood alert levels are on orange in parts of Mozambique as disaster management services mobilise to respond to flooding potentially as bad as the catastrophe in 2000.
Heavy downpours are steadily swelling the Southern African country's rivers, while authorities watch rainfall and water level indicators in countries upstream with a wary eye.
Some people living in the Limpopo Rver basin in the south of the country have started moving to safer ground after warnings that some 7,000 people could...
2010 sets record on global warmth
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 20th, 2011
BBC: 2010 was the warmest year since global temperature records began in 1850.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) concludes 2010 was 0.53C warmer than the average for the period 1961-90 - a period commonly used as a baseline.
It comes in just ahead of 1998 and 2005 - but the margins of uncertainty in measurements means the three years are statistically identical.
The WMO analysis combines data from three leading research agencies, and is regarded as the most authoritative.
The three...
Climate study had ‘significant error’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 20th, 2011
Agence France-Presse: Flawed science A climate change study that projected a 2.4°C increase in temperature and massive worldwide food shortages in the next decade was seriously flawed, say scientists.
The study was posted Tuesday on EurekAlert , an independent service for reporters set up by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and was written about by numerous international news agencies.
But AAAS later retracted the study as experts cited numerous errors in its approach.
"A reporter with...