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Archive for December, 2012
United States: Resorts sound off on perils of climate change
Posted by Aspen Times: Scott Condon on December 24th, 2012
Aspen Times: An opinion piece about climate change by the head of Vail Resorts has Aspen Skiing Co.'s point man on environmental issues scratching his head.
Rob Katz, chairman and CEO of Vail Resorts Inc., wrote an opinion piece on climate change that appeared Friday in The Denver Post.
Katz criticizes the efforts of some unnamed folks to use last winter's lack of snow and this winter's slow start as proof of global warming. The head of the country's largest ski-resort operator said the ski industry must...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on United States: Resorts sound off on perils of climate changeLots of grandstanding on energy, little action
Posted by Chemical and Engineering News: Jeff Johnson, Cheryl Hogue on December 24th, 2012
Chemical and Engineering News: Over the past year, Congress has accomplished little to influence the nation`s use of energy resources. Although key House of Representatives and Senate committees have held hearings and press conferences and issued statements and even passed bills, the committees cleared little legislation that had much of a real possibility of becoming law.
Instead, in the Republican-controlled House, committees focused primarily on oversight hearings and passed legislation with a political goal of attacking...
West Antarctic Warming Faster Than Thought, Study Finds
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 24th, 2012
New York Times: West Antarctica has warmed much more than scientists had thought over the last half century, new research suggests, an ominous finding given that the huge ice sheet there may be vulnerable to long-term collapse, with potentially drastic effects on sea levels. A paper released Sunday by the journal Nature Geoscience reports that the temperature at a research station in the middle of West Antarctica has warmed by 4.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1958. That is roughly twice as much as scientists previously...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on West Antarctic Warming Faster Than Thought, Study FindsClimate change offers pros, cons for grain supply
Posted by China Daily: None Given on December 24th, 2012
China Daily: Changes in rainfall and a concentration of greenhouse gases triggered by climate change may lead to an increase in China's grain yields in per-unit production over the next few decades.
But negative effects of climate change, including extreme weather, plant diseases and a rising number of insects, will pose a threat to grain supply security, experts said.
They added a rising population and arable land loss will also pose greater potential risks to the country's aims to ensure adequate food...
Antarctic Temperatures Are Rising Twice As Fast As Previously Predicted
Posted by Forbes: Alex Knapp on December 24th, 2012
Forbes: West Antarctic temperatures are rising twice as fast as previously estimated, according to new research published in Nature Geoscience. Temperature records compiled from the Byrd Research Station show that since 1958, the region has seen average temperature increases of 2.4 degrees Celsius (4.3 degrees Fahrenheit). That poses a danger of causing sea levels to rise even faster than previously predicted.
“Our record suggests that continued summer warming in West Antarctica could upset the surface...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Antarctic Temperatures Are Rising Twice As Fast As Previously PredictedSevere drought has lasting effects on Amazon
Posted by Nature: Hannah Hoag on December 24th, 2012
Nature: A study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences1 sheds light on the long-term effects of drought on the Amazon rainforest -- giving clues about how the rainforest might be affected by global warming in the future. The researchers report that the severe drought that hit the rainforest in 2005 had lasting effects on the forest canopy, such that it remained damaged at least four years later.
The effects of the 2005 drought have been debated since 2007, when researchers...
Boosting galactan sugars could boost biofuel production
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 23rd, 2012
ScienceDaily: Galactan is a polymer of galactose, a six-carbon sugar that can be readily fermented by yeast into ethanol and is a target of interest for researchers in advanced biofuels produced from cellulosic biomass. Now an international collaboration led by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) has identified the first enzyme capable of substantially boosting the amount of galactan in plant cell walls.
Unlike ethanol, advanced biofuels synthesized from the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Boosting galactan sugars could boost biofuel productionNew Zealand: Study of effect of climate change on kauri trees
Posted by Radio New Zealand: None Given on December 23rd, 2012
Radio New Zealand: An Auckland University scientist is studying what impact climate change will have on kauri trees. Kauri are considered a taonga to many Maori and were an important resource for early Maori who burned kauri gum as an insecticide, used their resin to make ink for moko and felled trees to make giant waka. Dr Cate Macinnis-Ngreceived a grant of $345,000 from the Marsden Fund to research the effects of climate change on kauri. Dr Macinnis-Ng said it is unclear how vulnerable kauri are to the more frequent...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on New Zealand: Study of effect of climate change on kauri treesAntarctic warming concern rises
Posted by BBC: Matt McGrath on December 23rd, 2012
BBC: A new analysis of temperature records indicates that the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet is warming nearly twice as fast as previously thought.
US researchers say they found the first evidence of warming during the southern hemisphere's summer months.
They are worried that the increased melting of ice as a result of warmer temperatures could contribute to sea-level rise.
The study has been published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
The scientists compiled data from records kept at Byrd station,...
Maya Civilization Provides A Real Apocalyptic Lesson
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 23rd, 2012
Scientific American: You survived the Mayan apocalypse, or at least transitioned to the next baktun, number 14 according to the Mayan calendar. But what real lessons does this ancient culture hold?
First and foremost, the Maya are a case study in adaptation. Their complex civilization of powerful city-states collapsed, and the jungle retook those urban centers. But the Mayan people endured, today being the principle ethnic population of parts of Mexico, Guatemala and Belize.
European invaders did not end the era...