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Archive for June 11th, 2012
Resource depletion: Opportunity or looming catastrophe?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 11th, 2012
BBC: Imagine a world of spiralling food prices, water shortages and soaring energy costs.
For many living in the world today, this nightmare scenario is already a reality. Even for the well-off living in developed economies, it is becoming all too familiar.
And on current projections, it's going to get a whole lot worse. Short-term fluctuations in supply and demand aside, a global population explosion combined with finite resources means the planet cannot sustain ever-increasing levels of consumption...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Resource depletion: Opportunity or looming catastrophe?Biofuels Viability
Posted by Environmental News Network: Andy Soos on June 11th, 2012
Environmental News Network: What is green? What is a viable economic alternative? What is reasonable and will do more bad than good? Welcome to Biofuels. Two scientists are challenging the currently accepted norms of biofuel production. A commentary published today in GCB Bioenergy reveals that calculations of greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions from bioenergy production are neglecting crucial information that has led to the overestimation of the benefits of biofuels compared to fossil fuels.
A biofuel is a type of fuel whose...
The Heat is On: U.S. Temperature Trends
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 11th, 2012
Climate Central: Report Summary
Global warming isn't uniform. The continental U.S. has warmed by about 1.3°F over the past 100 years, but the temperature increase hasn't been the same everywhere: some places have warmed more than others, some less, and some not much at all. Natural variability explains some of the differences, and air pollution with fine aerosols screening incoming solar radiation could also be a factor.
Our state-by-state analysis of warming over the past 100 years shows where it warmed the...
Climate Change Threatens Arctic Alaska Village’s Fish Stock, Drinking Water
Posted by Alaska Dispatch: Alex DeMarban on June 11th, 2012
Alaska Dispatch: Melting ice cellars and rotting whale meat, the arrival of beaver fever in a once-pristine land, and water supplies that might go dry are just a few of the health risks posed by climate change in the Arctic.
Now, in a newly released fifth report examining looming threats to villages, the Center for Climate and Health at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium zeroes in on the Arctic Alaska village of Selawik, population 830, about 70 miles southeast of Kotzebue that's said to be sinking as...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate Change Threatens Arctic Alaska Village’s Fish Stock, Drinking WaterMore people, more environmental stress
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 11th, 2012
ScienceDaily: Although it's long been suspected that human activity has greatly contributed to environmental stress, it's only recently that science has begun to show just how great a role that activity is playing.
In an article published in the journal Nature Climate Change, Michigan State University's Thomas Dietz and his colleague, Eugene Rosa of Washington State University, take a critical look at the various factors that have long been prime climate-change suspects. One in particular: The role of population...
Q&A: “Today’s Food System Is Failing Small Farmers”
Posted by Inter Press Service: TerraViva Interviews Kanayo F. Nwanze, President Of The International Fund For A on June 11th, 2012
Inter Press Service: With heads of state from more than 120 nations and tens of thousands of civil society and international development experts gathering for the U.N. Summit on Sustainable Development next week, it is accepted wisdom that rethinking agriculture is one of most critical issues facing this and future generations.
TerraViva spoke with Kanayo F. Nwanze, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, a U.N. agency that focuses on eradicating rural poverty in developing countries through...
U.S. Gulf coast communities struggle amid record flooding
Posted by Reuters: Kelli Dugan on June 11th, 2012
Reuters: After a weekend that included navigating streets in kayaks and canoes, residents in parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast sought alternate routes and emergency shelter on Monday as the work week got under way.
With nearly 2 feet of rain reported in some areas since Thursday, flooding has racked up millions of dollars in damage and left thousands without power. Many have been forced into shelters in the face of what some are calling an unprecedented June deluge.
"We've probably seen the worst of the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on U.S. Gulf coast communities struggle amid record floodingWill Water Dry Up at Summit on Sustainable Development?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 11th, 2012
Inter Press Service: The headline in a New York newspaper last March captured the essence of a future potential threat to political stability the world over: "U.S. Report Sees Tensions Over Water."
The study, a collective vision of the U.S. intelligence community, warned that during the next 10 years, many countries important to the United States will "almost certainly experience water problems - shortages, poor water quality or floods - that will contribute to the risk of instability and state failure, and increase...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Will Water Dry Up at Summit on Sustainable Development?Mexico: Yearly Floods the New Reality for Rural Women
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 11th, 2012
Inter Press Service: Year after year, women in rural areas of the southeastern Mexican state of Tabasco have to get ready for floods that threaten their homes, crops and livestock.
"We have adapted. Now we build our houses on stilts," Celia Hernández, who works for an indigenous tourism project in Centla, 857 km south of Mexico City, told IPS.
"Every year in June," she said, "the women start putting things away and preparing the older people and children," in case there is flooding and everyone has to evacuate...
Hundreds flee wildfires in Colorado, New Mexico
Posted by Associated Press: Thomas Peipert on June 11th, 2012
Associated Press: Authorities on Monday were ramping up the fight against large wildfires burning out of control in northern Colorado and southern New Mexico.
Ten air tankers and 400 firefighters were at a fire burning nearly 60 square miles in a mountainous area about 15 miles west of Fort Collins. Fire authorities have conceded they could use more help but haven't said what they need.
One person remains missing in the Colorado fire, which has spread smoke as far as central Nebraska, western Kansas and Texas....