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Archive for February, 2011
Climate Change, Food Safety Linked
Posted by U.S. News and World Report: Joel N. Shurkin on February 23rd, 2011
U.S. News and World Report: Global warming has the potential to make what we eat more dangerous and expensive, and the world already is feeling the effects, according to experts. Click here to find out more! A quartet of scientists reporting during the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington last weekend said the issues of food safety are poorly understood, but the inference from what is known is distressing. They fear that global warming would lead to increased levels of contamination...
Climate change drives (micro)evolution in Finland
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 23rd, 2011
Scientific American: For want of snow, the tawny owl of Finland has become more brown in the past half-century, according to new research published February 22 in Nature Communications. Finnish researchers scored tawny owls (Strix aluco)—a raptor common to all of Europe—on the color of their plumage, specifically how brown (dark) or gray (pale) their feathers were. (Scientific American is part of the Nature Publishing Group.)
Since the owls do not seem to show a sexual preference for either darker or lighter feathers,...
EU to tackle Canadian tar sands in new law: sources
Posted by Reuters: Pete Harrison and Juliane Von Reppert-Bismarck on February 23rd, 2011
Reuters: Europe's trade and climate chiefs are preparing to take a stand against imports of oil from Canada's polluting tar sands, despite fears the move might wreck a multi-billion dollar trade deal, according to EU sources and documents. European Union sources said this week that Canada had threatened to pull out of trade talks because of the clash, but Ottawa has denied that. Canada says draft EU standards to promote greener fuels will harm a possible future market for its oil sands -- tar-like oil that...
Global warming, extreme events and weird weather
Posted by Washington Post: Andrew Freedman on February 23rd, 2011
Washington Post: I've never been a fan of absolutes. People who espouse rigid beliefs - be they about climate change, religion, or politics (or a mix of all three) - instinctively make me question their evidence. As a reporter, I tend to see things in varying shades of gray, rather than black and white, and I gravitate towards stories that are full of nuance and complexity, where absolutes are rarely, if ever, to be found.
For this reason, the oft-made assertions that "global warming will make the weather more...
United Kingdom: Potato firm joins research into how farmers can use less water to grow their crops
Posted by This is Lincolnshire: None Given on February 23rd, 2011
This is Lincolnshire: PROBLEMS growing crops because of potential water shortages are being tackled by county experts.
The University of Lincoln and Branston Potatoes Ltd are taking part in a project that could influence the way potatoes and other crops are grown in the future.
This could help county farmers tackle the issues of climate change head on without losing crops or money.
The research will highlight future risks to the industry in what is one of the country's prime potato-growing areas.
It is currently...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on United Kingdom: Potato firm joins research into how farmers can use less water to grow their cropsRevealed: the cost of electricity from coal
Posted by West Cape News: None Given on February 23rd, 2011
West Cape News: The hidden costs of generating electricity from coal have been calculated in groundbreaking research by Harvard Medical School`s Centre for Health and Global Environment.The results of the study Full Cost Accounting for the Life Cycle of Coal released this week by co-author Dr Paul Epstein in Boston reveal that the health, environmental and other costs of using coal costs the United States are 500 billion dollars per year.
The study tracks the multiple health, environmental and climate change...
Vines spreading at trees’ expense in tropical forests, scientists say
Posted by LA Times: Amina Khan on February 23rd, 2011
LA Times: Vines may be proliferating at the expense of trees in tropical forests across the Americas, scientists have found. This shift in abundance could affect the water in the ecosystem and how carbon is stored in the plants, potentially drying out forests and resulting in more carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere.
The report, published online last week in the journal Ecology Letters, surveyed eight studies on the state of woody vines in tropical forests from the Savannah River system and the Congaree...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Vines spreading at trees’ expense in tropical forests, scientists sayEcuador: Legal tussle over alleged rain forest pollution turns to document disclosure
Posted by Philadelphia Daily News: Chris Mondics on February 23rd, 2011
Philadelphia Daily News: The epic battle over accusations that Chevron Corp. polluted a large expanse of the Amazon rain forest played out before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Tuesday as the energy giant sought the release of thousands of pages of confidential documents it said could shed light on improper tactics of plaintiffs' attorneys.
Lawyers representing Chevron asked the Third Circuit to uphold a lower-court opinion that records be released. They are being held by Philadelphia trial lawyer...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Ecuador: Legal tussle over alleged rain forest pollution turns to document disclosureClimate change to blame for protests?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 23rd, 2011
Reuters: Egyptian and Libyan protesters shout slogans against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi during a demonstration outside the Libyan Embassy in Cairo. Gaddafi is facing international pressure after reports of violent attacks against protesters in Tripoli.
London - A string of Arab uprisings are giving a foretaste of the likely havoc that climate change will cause without greater effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions, a British foreign ministry official warned.
Soaring food prices, stoked by Russia's...
New Zealand quake sends 30 mln tons of ice loose from glacier
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 23rd, 2011
Reuters: The 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck New Zealand on Tuesday, killing at least 75 people in Christchurch, also shook loose 30 million tons of ice from the nation's longest glacier, sending boulders of ice into a nearby lake.
Tour boat operators in the area said parts of the Tasman Glacier calved into the Tasman Lake immediately after the quake, breaking into smaller icebergs and causing 3.5 meter-high (11-foot) waves.
"It was approximately 30 million tons of ice, it's just a massive, massive,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on New Zealand quake sends 30 mln tons of ice loose from glacier