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Archive for August, 2012
U.N. body urges G20 action on food prices, waste
Posted by Reuters: Patrick Lannin on August 27th, 2012
Reuters: The world's top farm producers in the Group of 20 countries must agree coordinated action to ease worries about food prices, the head of the United Nations food agency said on Monday, as he and other experts bemoaned a huge global waste of food and water.
The third price surge in four years has come after drought in the United states and poor crops from Russia and the Black Sea bread basket region.
Senior figures from the G20 will discuss the food price rises this week, but any decisions on...
Why Your Weathercaster Doesn’t Mention Climate Change
Posted by Triple Pundit: Gina-Marie Cheeseman on August 27th, 2012
Triple Pundit: Call him one of the bravest weathercasters in the country. Broadcasting in South Carolina, a red state for sure, Jim Gandy is not afraid to link extreme weather events and patterns with climate change. Gandy does a segment called Climate Matters, a series that Grist describes as placing "weathercasts in the context of climate change." One Climate Matters broadcast looked at global warming and heat waves.
Just how common is it for weathercasters to even mention climate change? Unfortunately, not...
Philippines Floods Prompt Climate Action
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 27th, 2012
Inter Press Service: This year's floods, one of the worst in Philippine history, destroyed a staggering 57 million dollars worth of crops, pushing this climate vulnerable country to implement disaster risk reduction measures.
"We used to schedule our harvest season around the wet and dry months. But now you can never tell," says Teresita Duque, a rice farmer in the Nueva Ecija province of the Central Luzon region, the "˜rice granary' of the Philippines.
"The sky suddenly darkens, and the rains just fall," Duque,...
Hidden Cost of Hamburgers is Greater than Reported
Posted by Earth Island Journal: Robert Goodland on August 27th, 2012
Earth Island Journal: When the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) recently published a report on the hidden costs of meat, with a video and a transcript of its voice-over, readers and viewers had reason to believe that they could find in it some reliable information.
After all, CIR's report was supported by the Climate Desk, a collaborative effort among a number of media outlets that have worked to improve public awareness of climate change.
Indeed, if the world is to reverse climate change as needed, then...
Vietnam: Poor urban planning to blame for climate change affects
Posted by VietNamNet Bridge: None Given on August 27th, 2012
VietNamNet Bridge: Dr. Bach Tan Sinh from the Ministry of Science and Technology’s National Institute for Science and Technology Policy and Strategy Studies said that integrating climate change adaptation issues into urban planning remains a pressing issue in Vietnam.
“Many of Hanoi’s lakes have been filled in for real estate projects, which has resulted in flooding after heavy rain. This is due to human interference, it’s not a natural occurrence,” he added.
Over the past 50 years, up to 80% of the capital’s...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Vietnam: Poor urban planning to blame for climate change affectsGreen belt must be safeguarded, say campaigners
Posted by Guardian: Damien Pearse on August 27th, 2012
Guardian: Green belt land may be under threat from plans to build 81,000 new homes, according to the Campaign to Protect Rural England. Proposals to build houses, roads, industrial parks, mines and airport expansions, which are either out for consultation, have been submitted for planning permission or have already been approved, would cover protected land equivalent to a new town larger than Slough, the CPRE claims.
Plans include the expansion of Birmingham airport, proposals for freight terminals near...
Dozens of developments pose threat to sanctity of green belt
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 26th, 2012
Independent: The scale of the threat to the green belt is revealed today with a report highlighting more than 35 proposed developments on protected land.
Local authorities are under growing pressure to rip up countryside-planning rules by approving dozens of building projects including mines, industrial parks and 81,000 homes, according to the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).
Government policies requiring councils to allocate more than five years' worth of land for new housing is opening up large...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Dozens of developments pose threat to sanctity of green beltWeatherwatch: This summer cannot beat the wettest summer record in 1912
Posted by Guardian: Jeremy Plester on August 26th, 2012
Guardian: It may be some comfort to know that despite the earlier washout, this summer cannot beat 1912, the wettest summer on record. Gales, thunderstorms and horrendous downpours battered the country, and the weather actually grew worse, setting new records for the coldest, dullest and wettest August.
East Anglia was hit particularly hard. Incessant rains fell for days before a tremendous storm struck on 25 and 26 August. Over 7in (180mm) rain fell in a single day in Norwich: rivers burst their banks,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Weatherwatch: This summer cannot beat the wettest summer record in 1912Food shortages could force world into vegetarianism, warn scientists
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 26th, 2012
Guardian: Leading water scientists have issued one of the sternest warnings yet about global food supplies, saying that the world's population may have to switch almost completely to a vegetarian diet over the next 40 years to avoid catastrophic shortages.
Humans derive about 20% of their protein from animal-based products now, but this may need to drop to just 5% to feed the extra 2 billion people expected to be alive by 2050, according to research by some of the world's leading water scientists.
"There...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Food shortages could force world into vegetarianism, warn scientistsIs Humanity Pushing Earth Past a Tipping Point?
Posted by Wired: Brandon Keim Email Author on August 26th, 2012
Wired: Could human activity push Earth`s biological systems to a planet-wide tipping point, causing changes as radical as the Ice Age`s end - but with less pleasant results, and with billions of people along for a bumpy ride?
It`s by no means a settled scientific proposition, but many researchers say it`s worth considering - and not just as an apocalyptic warning or far-fetched speculation, but as a legitimate question raised by emerging science.
"There are some biological realities we can`t ignore,"...