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Archive for May, 2014
As Waters Recede, Serbia’s Worries Turn to Disease
Posted by New York Times: Rick Lyman on May 21st, 2014
New York Times: For five days, as rain pelted the Balkans and the waters rose, Jovanka Sreckovic, 85, waited in bed in her tiny house, barely a hut, beside the Sava River. Ms. Sreckovic, unable to walk, had no food, no water, no medicine and no electricity, and felt herself sinking into sickness with nothing but a children’s book about Jesus to pass the time. And then, on Saturday, a squad of frantic police officers from neighboring Montenegro bashed in her front door and snatched her away so fast that she had...
Food quality to suffer as climate warms, report says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 21st, 2014
LA Times: Crops grown by many of the nation's farmers have a lower nutritional content than they once did, according to the report by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Research indicates that higher carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have reduced the protein content in wheat, for example. And the international Rice Research Institute has warned that the quality of rice available to consumers will decrease as temperatures rise, the report notes.
The U.S. should embrace research into animal biology...
Record rains turned Australia into a giant green global carbon sink
Posted by Guardian: Pep Canadell and Ben Poulter on May 21st, 2014
Guardian: Record-breaking rains triggered so much new growth across Australia that the continent turned into a giant green carbon sink to rival tropical rainforests including the Amazon, our new research shows.
Published in the international journal Nature, our study found that vegetation worldwide soaked up 4.1bn tonnes of carbon in 2011 – the equivalent of more than 40% of emissions from burning fossil fuels that year.
Unexpectedly, the largest carbon uptake occurred in the semi-arid landscapes of...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Record rains turned Australia into a giant green global carbon sinkGlobal Warming Shrinks China’s Tibetan Glaciers by 15% in 30yrs
Posted by Business Times: None Given on May 21st, 2014
Business Times: China's very own glaciers off in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau have shrunk by 15 per cent in the last 30 years because of global warming.
In a report, official state-run media Xinhua News said at least 8,000 square kilometres (3,089 square miles) of glaciers have thinned out in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau in western China. This plateau covers the Tibetan Autonomous Region and highland parts of neighbouring provinces.
From a total of 53,000 sq km, glaciers in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau are now only...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Global Warming Shrinks China’s Tibetan Glaciers by 15% in 30yrsWater Goes ‘Missing’ as More Rain, Less Snow Falls
Posted by Nature World: Jenna Iacurci on May 21st, 2014
Nature World: A new study finds that as temperatures rise, it will rain more and snow less, causing the total amount of water in rivers to decline.
Researchers compare in the journal Nature Climate Change areas of similar climate and precipitation, but with differing fractions of that precipitation falling as snow and as rain.
After examining the histories of 420 catchment basins in the US spanning the period 1948-2001, scientists discovered there is a significant difference in total streamflow if the fraction...
Minnesota Bans Anti-Bacterial Chemical From Soaps
Posted by Nature World News: Brian Stallard on May 21st, 2014
Nature World News: Minnesota will be the first US state to ban triclosan, an ingredient commonly found in soaps, toothpaste, and deodorants that some researchers have linked to health and environmental problems, including the increased prevalence of drug resistant bacteria.
Governor Mark Dayton of Minnesota signed a bill on Friday which prohibits the use of triclosan in most retail consumer hygiene products. According to the Associated Press, the bill was inspired by a growing pile of reports that link the ingredient...
BP mounts last ditch effort limit Gulf of Mexio oil spill settlement
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 21st, 2014
Guardian: BP last night mounted a last ditch attempt to limit the costs of its settlement for the victims of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill by lodging an appeal to the US supreme court to make a final ruling.
Earlier this week the British oil group lost an argument at the fifth circuit appeal court of New Orleans that compensation money was being spent on businesses not directly affected by the environmental damage caused by the Deepwater Horizon.
BP originally anticipated that it would have to pay...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on BP mounts last ditch effort limit Gulf of Mexio oil spill settlementWater goes ‘missing’ with snow loss
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 21st, 2014
BBC: A new study finds that if temperatures rise and more precipitation falls as rain rather than snow, it will reduce the total amount of water in rivers.
It is a surprising observation. One might expect the timing of water flow to change but not the overall volume.
But this is precisely what scientists discovered when they examined the histories of 420 catchment basins in the US spanning the period 1948-2001.
The researchers report their work in the journal Nature Climate Change.
The study...
The Climate Context for ‘Unprecedented’ Balkans Flooding
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on May 20th, 2014
Climate Central: The torrential rains and catastrophic floods that raged through parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Croatia were unprecedented in the historical record of the region, going back 120 years. But extreme weather events like this one are something communities may have to contend with more and more as the planet warms, experts say.
The flooding event began on May 13 when an area of low pressure developed as warm, moist air from over the Mediterranean Sea clashed with colder air from the north....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on The Climate Context for ‘Unprecedented’ Balkans FloodingU.N. warns of South Sudan famine as donors pledge more aid
Posted by Reuters: Gwladys Fouche on May 20th, 2014
Reuters: More than a third of South Sudan's population, or 4 million people, will be on the brink of starvation by the end of 2014 as fighting rages in the world's newest country, U.N. officials said on Tuesday.
"We are losing time. Farmers should be planting their crops right now," United Nations' aid chief Valerie Amos told a donors' conference in Oslo. "If they don't, and if livestock herders are not able to migrate to grazing areas, people will run out of food."
Clashes between rebels and government...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on U.N. warns of South Sudan famine as donors pledge more aid