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Archive for January 27th, 2012
New York’s Fracking Deliberations Inch Along
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 27th, 2012
New York Times: In yet another sign that New York has slowed efforts to green-light fracking of natural gas, officials at the state Department of Environmental Conservation canceled a meeting of a drilling advisory panel this week for a second time.
Officials said they were delaying the meeting, which had been scheduled for Thursday, because the department`s staff was concentrating on sorting through more than 40,000 comments received on proposed state regulations and an environmental impact statement on high-volume...
New USDA plant zones clearly show climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Jason Samenow on January 27th, 2012
Washington Post: Plant hardiness zones, an indicator of the coldest winter temperature, have shifted north and northwest since 1990 around Washington, D.C. (USDA; Patterson Clark and Laris Karklis - The Washington Post) Planting zones are retreating north all over the country, but the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) won't state the obvious: the shift is a rock solid indicator of climate change.
On Wednesday, the USDA released a new plant hardiness zone map, which contours the nation according to...
India: Women farmers adapt to climate change
Posted by Deccan Herald: None Given on January 27th, 2012
Deccan Herald: The impact of climate change on farming activities in India has been significant. But with training, women farmers across the country are adapting to the change, and growing nutrition gardens and building seed banks, writes Aditi Kapoor
Innovative measures by women farmers across India are helping several poor families adapt better to climate change and keep hunger at bay. As Sursati from village Janakpur, district Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, explains, "Earlier, we could not produce enough food...
NASA Releases Stunning “Blue Marble” Image of Earth
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on January 27th, 2012
Climate Central: NASA released a new, high-resolution "Blue Marble" image of Earth this week, taken from instruments aboard the recently launched Suomi NPP satellite. The image is actually a composite of many pictures from Jan. 4, 2012 that were stitched together, and shows North America in stunning detail. One feature that is notably absent from the picture is snow cover, which is confined to parts of the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada.
In many parts of the country, snowfall has been running well below average...
Wide Variety of Threats Wiping Out World’s Big Trees, Expert Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 27th, 2012
Yale Environment 360: A litany of environmental threats, from forest fragmentation and logging to climate change and disease, are wiping out the world’s biggest trees, according to a published report. In forest ecosystems worldwide, research shows that giant trees have become particularly vulnerable to a changing environment, ecologist and tropical forest expert William Laurance writes in New Scientist magazine. Increased fragmentation has left big trees exposed to stronger winds, while dry conditions and warming temperatures...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Wide Variety of Threats Wiping Out World’s Big Trees, Expert SaysEU law enough for now to regulate shale gas: study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 27th, 2012
Reuters: EU law is enough for now to regulate shale gas exploration, although changes might be needed to protect the environment once Europe enters the development phase, a study commissioned by the EU has found.
Shale gas exploitation in the United States has transformed the global supply-demand balance.
In Europe, however, development is less advanced and EU member states Bulgaria and France have banned shale gas activity because of environmental concerns.
"The legal study confirms that there is...
China cadmium spill threatens drinking water for millions
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 27th, 2012
Reuters: A cancer-causing cadmium discharge from a mining company has polluted a long stretch of two rivers in southern China, and officials warned some 3.7 million people of Liuzhou in the Guangxi region to avoid drinking water from the river, state media reported on Friday.
Pollution of waterways by toxic run-offs from factories and farms is a pressing issue in China, prompting authorities to call for policy tightening, though the problem shows no sign of going away.
Officials opened sluices at four...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on China cadmium spill threatens drinking water for millionsRepeated drought in east Africa may prompt aid rethink
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 27th, 2012
New Scientist: RAINFALL patterns over east Africa have changed in a way that makes severe droughts more likely - and this means aid agencies need to rethink the way they operate.
Change is already on the cards for the aid response to drought and famine in east Africa. The region, which is racked by poverty, experienced its worst drought for 60 years in 2010 and 2011. A report released last week by Oxfam and Save the Children argued that the international relief effort was far too slow to get going, leading to...