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Archive for August 22nd, 2012
GM rice ‘thrives in poor soils’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 22nd, 2012
BBC: A gene from wild Indian rice plants can significantly raise the yield of common varieties in nutrient-poor soils.
Scientists from the International Rice Research Institute (Irri) identified a gene that helps uptake of phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium, and transferred it into commercial strains.
Their yield was about 60% above normal in phosphorus-poor soils, the team reports in the journal Nature.
Large swathes of Asia have soil that is phosporus-deficient.
The gene came from a variety...
Rain or Shine, Climate Change Pushes Farmers to the Brink
Posted by PBS: Rebecca Jacobson on August 22nd, 2012
PBS: Mother Nature been unkind to farmers this year. Last week, the NewsHour talked to cherry farmers in Michigan who lost 90 percent of their crops when an early spring warm-up meant trees were battered by frosts after blooming early. A drought sweeping the Corn Belt killed crops and raised food prices this summer, leaving farmers without profits and ranchers without feed for their livestock.
These are just some of the new normals for farmers around the world, said Jonathan Foley, director of the...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Rain or Shine, Climate Change Pushes Farmers to the BrinkHumans’ Role In Antarctic Ice Melt Is Unclear
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 22nd, 2012
National Public Radio: Ten years ago, a piece of ice the size of Rhode Island disintegrated and melted in the waters off Antarctica. Two other massive ice shelves along the Antarctic Peninsula had suffered similar fates a few years before. The events became poster children for the effects of global warming. But a new study finds that the story isn't quite so simple.
There's no question that unusually warm air triggered the final demise of these huge chunks of ice. But a lingering question is whether these events can...
Thousands being moved from China’s Three Gorges – again
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 22nd, 2012
Reuters: China relocated 1.3 million people during the 17 years it took to complete the Three Gorges dam. Even after finishing the $59 billion project last month, the threat of landslides along the dam's banks will force tens of thousands to move again.
It's a reminder of the social and environmental challenges that have dogged the world's largest hydroelectric project. While there has been little protest among residents who will be relocated a second time, the environmental fallout over other big investments...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Thousands being moved from China’s Three Gorges – againHuman society surpasses ‘nature’s budget’ today
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 22nd, 2012
Mongabay: As of today, August 22nd, humanity has overshot the world's annual ecological budget, according to the Global Footprint Network, which tracks global consumption related to resource availability and sustainability. The organization looks at a variety of data including the world's fisheries, forests, agriculture, mining, and greenhouse gas emissions, but not fresh water.
Since the 1970s, global society has been consuming resources at a faster rate than Earth's ecosystems can replenish them, leading...
Antarctic Peninsula started warming 600 years ago
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 22nd, 2012
Reuters: Temperatures in the Antarctic Peninsula started rising naturally 600 years ago, long before man-made climate changes further increased them, scientists said in a study on Wednesday that helps explain the recent collapses of vast ice shelves.
The study, reconstructing ancient temperatures to understand a region that is warming faster than anywhere else in the southern hemisphere, said a current warming rate of 2.6 degrees Celsius (4.7 Fahrenheit) per century was "unusual" but not unprecedented....
Drought Forces Ranchers Into Difficult Decisions
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 22nd, 2012
National Public Radio: This summer's brutal drought has put ranchers in a difficult position; water and feed are running low and ruinously expensive to replace. NPR's Neal Conan speaks to stricken ranchers and agricultural economist Norman Dalsted about how to deal with the drought, and what to expect in terms of food prices.
Why are so many forests on fire?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 22nd, 2012
Guardian: They may be an annual occurrence in California but "wildfires" seem particularly ubiquitous this summer, with big blazes everywhere from Spain to Sri Lanka, Bosnia and Greece.
"Wild" may be a misnomer. The malicious starting of fires is as old as the human fascination with flame and many of the fires may be directly or indirectly caused by humans.
In the dry west of the US, where forest fires are routine in late summer, a winter drought is the trigger for current outbreaks after several cooler,...
Flooded savannas in Latin America shrinking 3 times faster than rainforests
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 22nd, 2012
Mongabay: Flooded grasslands and savannas in Latin America are disappearing nearly three times faster than tropical rainforests in the region, finds a new study published in the journal Biotropica.
The research, led by Mitchell Aide of the University of Puerto Rico, used NASA satellite data to assess change in woody vegetation cover across 16,000 municipalities in Latin America and the Caribbean. It found that flooded grasslands and savannas - termed the "pantanal" biome – declined 5.3 percent from 229,696...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Flooded savannas in Latin America shrinking 3 times faster than rainforestsShowers seen giving minimal lift to stunted U.S. crops
Posted by Reuters: Sam Nelson on August 22nd, 2012
Reuters: Light showers late this week in the northern Midwest and heavier rainfall in most of the region early next week will provide little benefit to drought-stricken U.S. corn and soybeans since both crops are nearing the end of their growing season, an agricultural meteorologist said on Wednesday.
"It will help some of the later crops in the north such as in Wisconsin but not much elsewhere," said Andy Karst, a meteorologist for World Weather Inc.
Karst also said there would not be enough rain to...