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Archive for November, 2013
What’s in a name? Would ‘the pause’ by any other name help climate scientists communicate?
Posted by ClimateWire: Stephanie Paige Ogburn on November 2nd, 2013
ClimateWire: In a recent edition of NASA's "Ask a Climate Scientist" video series, scientist Joshua Willis stands in front of a black screen, makes a few goofy faces and gives a brief answer to what has become a common question about climate science.
"A lot of people ask me: 'Has there been a pause in global warming because, like, temperatures aren't increasing as fast as they were a decade ago?'" Willis says.
"And I always say, you know, paws are for kittens and puppies, because global warming is definitely...
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Comments Off on What’s in a name? Would ‘the pause’ by any other name help climate scientists communicate?Global food supply threatened by climate change
Posted by GMA: Kim Luces on November 2nd, 2013
GMA: Harvest time may not be quite as abundant as in previous years. The culprit? Climate change.
Scientists have concluded that global warming makes it more difficult for crops to thrive in many parts of the world, posing a very real threat to the overall food supply, a “New York Times” report said. While rising temperatures have beneficial effects on crops planted in a few locales, in the coming decades global production of crops may be reduced by as much as two percent each decade, for the...
Hurricane Sandy exposes New Jersey’s marsh mistakes
Posted by LiveScience: Becky Oskin on November 2nd, 2013
LiveScience: When Hurricane Sandy's powerful storm tide pummeled New Jersey, 70 percent of the state's old submerged marshes flooded, researchers reported Monday (Oct. 28) at the Geological Society of America's annual meeting in Denver.
About 25 percent of those marshes were developed, and two-thirds of that development took place between 1995 and 2007, said Joshua Galster, a geomorphologist at Montclair State University in New Jersey. "A lot of these areas were being developed when we really should have known...
Hurricane Sandy recovery, one year later
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 2nd, 2013
National Public Radio: A year after Hurricane Sandy, recovery efforts are still ongoing, and questions remain about how to rebuild and prepare the coastlines for the next storm. A group of experts discusses rebuilding and protective options — from sea walls to "oyster-tecture" — and considers calls for a "managed retreat" from the shore.
Animals could shrink with climate change
Posted by Scotsman: None Given on November 2nd, 2013
Scotsman: Global warming could lead to dwarfism in animals, according to new international research.
Fossil evidence shows many mammals became significantly smaller during ancient warming events, and now scientists are predicting the same thing could happen in response to climate change caused by humans.
Palaeontologists had long known that early ancestors of monkeys, horses and deer showed a dramatic decrease in size during a period of warming called the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), which...
Climate change to disrupt soil nutrients in drylands
Posted by SciDevNet: Jan Piotrowski on November 2nd, 2013
SciDevNet: The increased aridity expected this century as a result of change may disrupt the balance of key soil nutrients with a knock-on effect on soil fertility threatening livelihoods of more than two billion people, a study finds. The drop in nitrogen and carbon concentrations that occurs as soils become dryer could have serious effects on ecosystem services such as food, carbon storage and biodiversity, according to the Nature paper published today. Loss of nitrogen and carbon, which are the basic building...
The Financial Case for Divestment of Fossil Fuel Companies by Endowment Fiduciaries
Posted by Huffington Post: Bevis Longstreth on November 2nd, 2013
Huffington Post: 1. Background. Rising temperatures around the globe are a reality, and so too is the primary cause: Energy-related CO2 emissions caused by human-beings. Long term energy analysis by the highly respected International Energy Agency (IEA) shows the world traveling down an unsustainable track. Very unsustainable. In 2012, CO2 emissions grew by 1.4 percent to a record high. Looking ahead, in its 'business as usual' scenario, the IEA shows energy-related CO2 emissions growing 1/3rd by 2035 and doubling...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on The Financial Case for Divestment of Fossil Fuel Companies by Endowment Fiduciaries‘Frack Check’ Videos Blast Claims Made By Colorado Oil And Gas Industry
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 2nd, 2013
Huffington Post: An anti-fracking group in Colorado has released a series of ads blasting claims made by the oil and gas industry in the state as four communities prepare to vote on bans or moratoriums on drilling and fracking in their regions.
Fort Collins, Broomfield and Boulder voters all face ballot initiatives that would put a moratorium on fracking and drilling inside city limits for five years. Lafayette voters will consider a measure that, if passed, would amend the city charter with a community bill of...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on ‘Frack Check’ Videos Blast Claims Made By Colorado Oil And Gas IndustryTrees help at-risk species keep cool
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 2nd, 2013
BBC: Forests with dense canopies create a microclimate that protects a variety of cold-adapted plant species from warming air temperatures, a study has shown.
Researchers found plants that favoured cooler conditions fared better under dense canopies than in ones that were more open to the elements.
They added that these conditions could be a "critical mechanism" in the conservation of forest plant diversity.
The findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A team...
Obama Creates Interagency Council and Task Force on Climate
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on November 1st, 2013
Environment News Service: To prepare the United States for the impacts of climate change already being felt across the country, President Barack Obama today established an interagency Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, chaired by the White House and composed of more than 25 federal agencies.
In his Executive Order establishing the council, the President also created the State, Local, and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience to advise the administration and the new interagency council...
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