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Archive for March, 2013
Buzzkill? How Climate Change Could Eventually End Coffee
Posted by U.S. News and World Report: None Given on March 27th, 2013
U.S. News and World Report: Millions around the world wake up and brew a cup of coffee before they start their day. But for many involved in the industry, a caffeine buzz isn't keeping them up at night--instead, what's causing insomnia is the increasing difficulty that climate change causes coffee farmers.
Other than oil, coffee is the world's most traded commodity. Each year, more than $15 billion worth of coffee is exported from 52 countries--many of which are still developing and rely on the crop to buoy their economies....
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Buzzkill? How Climate Change Could Eventually End CoffeeNatural Gas Extraction Triggering More Earthquakes in Netherlands
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 27th, 2013
Yale Environment 360: Extraction of natural gas from the deep soil in a region of the Netherlands has triggered an increase in minor earthquakes, similar to seismic effects that have raised concerns about drilling operations, including hydraulic fracturing, in other countries. While the extraction of gas has occurred for decades in the northern Netherlands, including in the province of Groningen, quakes have become more frequent in the last few years, the New York Times reports. The region experienced as few as 20 quakes...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Natural Gas Extraction Triggering More Earthquakes in NetherlandsEPA: The nation’s rivers are in sad shape
Posted by Mother Nature Network: None Given on March 27th, 2013
Mother Nature Network: From the largest urban rivers to the tiniest undisturbed creeks, nearly 2,000 locations in rivers and streams across the country were sampled by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2008 and 2009. The findings, published in the National Rivers and Streams Assessment 2008–2009, paint a dismal picture of the state of the nation’s waterways. The study found that more than 55 percent of our rivers and streams are in poor condition, posing health risks to fish, other wildlife and humans. Meanwhile,...
Roadless Rule Survives Test of Time Saving 50+ Million Forested Acres
Posted by EcoWatch: Trip Van Noppen on March 27th, 2013
EcoWatch: Time has run out for the enemies of roadless wilderness. They spent 12 years trying to kill the national law protecting our forests, and Monday a federal district court said they couldn’t have a minute more--the statute of limitations had run out.
This means you better grab a compass when heading into a national forest because you can get lost amid all the trees saved by this law, known as the Roadless Rule.
The Rule, signed into existence by President Bill Clinton as he left office in 2001,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Roadless Rule Survives Test of Time Saving 50+ Million Forested AcresEPA Lets Pesticides on the Market Untested
Posted by OnEarth: None Given on March 27th, 2013
OnEarth: You probably wouldn’t expect to find pesticides in your toothpaste or your gym socks, but they might be in there all the same. And the vast majority of those pesticides have made it into everyday products without adequate oversight by the Environmental Protection Agency. That’s because they’ve been approved through a bureaucratic loophole known as "conditional registration," which means they haven’t been fully tested to ensure that they pose no threat to human health or the environment, as required...
What does spring look like? Snow blankets Canada, U.S
Posted by Mother Nature Network: Douglas Main on March 27th, 2013
Mother Nature Network: Springtime: the time for flowers, newborn animals … and snow. Nearly half of the United States is currently covered in snow, as is most of Canada, as can be seen in this image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That's the largest extent of snow cover at this point in the season in at least 10 years, according to NOAA. Much of the snow came from a massive spring blizzard that dropped snow throughout the Midwest and East Coast, breaking records in many cities. The town of...
Kansas House pushes for approval of Keystone XL pipeline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 27th, 2013
Associated Press: Kansas House members are pressing the White House and the U.S. State Department to approve a permit for construction of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to Texas. Related stories Fracking. Tight oil. Do you know your energy vocabulary? Think you know energy? Take our quiz. Cheapest way to heat your home? Four fuels compared. Ads by Google Ally Bank® Official Site Open an Online Savings Account at Ally Bank®, Member FDIC. Apply Now! www.Ally.com Subscribe Today to the Monitor Click...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Kansas House pushes for approval of Keystone XL pipelineArctic ice loss drives extreme weather patterns
Posted by LA Times: Monte Morin on March 27th, 2013
LA Times: Anyone forced to shovel their car out of a snowbank this winter might wonder just how it is a blizzard can occur in a warming climate.
The answer, climate scientists say, may have to do with record sea ice losses in the Arctic.
At a Tuesday news conference, several researchers said that warming conditions in the Arctic may be weakening jet stream currents and causing extreme weather systems to linger in northern mid-latitudes.
"Ironically ... as the ice pack retreats and the Arctic heats...
Protesters grab headlines, but American view of Keystone leans positive
Posted by Globe and Mail: Joanna Slater on March 27th, 2013
Globe and Mail: Randy Evans is neither an energy lobbyist nor an environmental activist. Like most ordinary Americans, the outcome of the Keystone XL pipeline project doesn't keep him up at night.
But earlier this month, Mr. Evans, the editorial page editor for the Des Moines Register in Iowa, decided it was time to weigh in on the controversy. In restrained Midwestern fashion, his newspaper came down in favour of the pipeline.
"Stopping the pipeline will not stop oil drilling or consumption," noted its editorial....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Protesters grab headlines, but American view of Keystone leans positiveBrazil moves to reduce disaster risk as severe rainfall worsens
Posted by AlertNet: Rafael Spuldar on March 27th, 2013
AlertNet: Increasingly heavy summer rainfall, linked to changing climate conditions, is taking a worsening toll on Brazil. Just this month, 30 people died when heavy rain caused landslides in Petrópolis, a city located in the highlands of Rio de Janeiro state.
Such cases are becoming more common around the country. In São Paulo, Brazil's largest city, at least two people died this summer due to urban flooding. And in January 2011, also in Rio de Janeiro state's highlands, more than 1,000 people were killed...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Brazil moves to reduce disaster risk as severe rainfall worsens