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Archive for October 18th, 2012
United Kingdom: Will climate change lead to more droughts?
Posted by Guardian: Duncan Clark on October 18th, 2012
Guardian: Although climate change is expected to lead to slightly more rainfall at the global level, the timing and distribution of that rain is likely to change, increasing the chance of drought in some regions. The details are very difficult to predict, however. This is partly because regional climate impacts are strongly dependent on large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns like the jet stream, which are hard to model in climate simulations. There is some indication from climate modelling that the Mediterranean,...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on United Kingdom: Will climate change lead to more droughts?Intercropping with nitrogen-fixing crops leads to increased maize yields, says study
Posted by Environmental News Network: Allison Winter on October 18th, 2012
Environmental News Network: Growing maize crops alongside legume trees has been shown to naturally fertilize fields and increase crop yields in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. As a region known for its extremely volatile climate and it's population facing global hunger issues, this discovery is extremely important for the future of agroforestry in the area.
In a study published in the Agronomy Journal by researchers at the World Agroforestry Center, researchers compared yield stability in three scenarios: maize intercropped...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Intercropping with nitrogen-fixing crops leads to increased maize yields, says studyScientists Solve Mystery Of Disappearing Salt Marshes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 18th, 2012
National Public Radio: Marshes along streams and estuaries protect land from storm surges. But they're disappearing fast and now scientists have discovered a previously unknown marsh killer: nutrients. Nitrogen from fertilizers and sewage makes marshes grow faster, but the roots grow smaller so the soil can't hold the bigger plants. That means soil banks collapse and marshes turn to mud.
Climate change means conservation ethics must change
Posted by Fort Worth Star Telegram: Rocky Barker on October 18th, 2012
Fort Worth Star Telegram: For decades environmentalists have been guided in their work by what became known as the "precautionary principle." This decision-making guide was first put forward in environmental terms by pioneering naturalist and biologist Aldo Leopold in his landmark 1940s essay "Round River."
His focus was the complexity of the environment.
"If the biota, in the course of aeons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every...
Clean Coal is a Hoax, Mr. President, So Drop it
Posted by EcoWatch: Jeff Biggers on October 18th, 2012
EcoWatch: Out of all the meaningless slogans bantered around this election season, President Obama`s clinging to the "clean coal" banner ranks as one of the most specious.
"Clean coal" is a hoax, and the president knows it, and outside of appeasing a few Midwestern Big Coal sycophants and his Duke Energy coal buddy Jim Rogers, who helped to underwrite the Democratic Convention this summer in Charlotte, Obama has little to gain from invoking the offensive phrase.
You`re offensive, President Obama, to...
Why I’m Standing Up to TransCanada’s Keystone XL Pipeline
Posted by EcoWatch: Daryl Hannah on October 18th, 2012
EcoWatch: On Oct. 4, in rural east Texas, a 78-year-old great-grandmother, Eleanor Fairchild, was arrested for trespassing on her own property … and I was arrested standing beside her, as we held our ground in the path of earth-moving excavators constructing TransCanada`s Keystone XL pipeline.
Seems there`s showdown in Texas--but, in fact, it`s a battle being waged all over the U.S. It`s being fought by ordinary citizens of all colors, economic strata and political persuasions--against the world`s wealthiest...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Why I’m Standing Up to TransCanada’s Keystone XL Pipeline