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Archive for August 19th, 2012
Climate change puts Atlantic coastline in crosshairs
Posted by News Journal: Jeff Montgomery and Molly Murray on August 19th, 2012
News Journal: Inch by inch along parts of the Atlantic Coast, global climate change is running in what scientists warn is geology's version of fast-forward -- swamping and eroding beaches, wetlands and farm fields.
Shorelines from North Carolina to Boston are in a 'hotspot' for sea-level rise and will see water levels rise at double the rate of most places on the planet, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The doubling is largely because of a geologic double whammy.
The treasured lifestyle of residents...
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Europe Thinks Again About Food
Posted by Inter Press Service: Claudia Ciobanu on August 19th, 2012
Inter Press Service: Present day European farming is based on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which was created over six decades ago by countries emerging from severe food shortages that swept the continent during and after the Second World War.
But at a time of widespread famine, lingering droughts, and looming resource wars, experts warn that the logic behind the CAP`s theory of producing huge quantities of food, using largely industrial farming methods, needs reassessment.
For one thing, Europeans are...
Climate change described in dire terms
Posted by Delmarva Daily Times: None Given on August 19th, 2012
Delmarva Daily Times: Across the mid-Atlantic and around the nation, the vocabulary of climate change has taken on the tone of a coming siege.
Maryland describes its approach as "fighting climate change." New Jersey talks of resilience for those "in harm's way." Delaware considers "defenses, vulnerability, losses." All refer to adaptation and retreat, with sides bracing for battles over the rights of property owners threatened by rising water or by government action or inaction.
Planners are viewing models of future...
Fracking floors energy giants
Posted by Independent: Tom Bawden on August 19th, 2012
Independent: BHP Billiton is about to become the next victim of the latest asset bubble to burst – US shale gas, the rock-based hydrocarbon that is released via the controversial process of fracking.
A fortnight after writing $2.84bn (£1.84bn) off the value of its Fayetteville shale gas business in Arkansas, BHP is poised to reveal on Wednesday that the charge helped push down its profits by a massive 40 per cent – to $14.2bn – in the year to June 30.
The FTSE 100 mining giant was forced into the writedown...
Idaho resort town ordered to evacuate over wildfire
Posted by Reuters: Laura Zuckerman on August 19th, 2012
Reuters: Authorities on Saturday ordered the evacuation of a small mountain resort in Idaho as firefighters braced for the possibility that a wildfire that has charred 82,000 acres could reach the town of Featherville in the evening.
Smoke from the Trinity Ridge Fire in the Boise National Forest blanketed roadways leading to Featherville, raising health concerns and reducing visibility, said Gary Walker, spokesman for the Elmore County Sheriff's Office.
Featherville has fewer than 100 full-time residents...