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Archive for December, 2014
Clearing Rainforests Distorts Global Rainfall & Agriculture, Study Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 18th, 2014
Yale Environment 360: Clearing forests not only releases carbon into the atmosphere, it also triggers worldwide shifts in rainfall and temperatures that are just as potent as those caused by current carbon pollution and that pose great risk to future agricultural productivity, researchers report. Deforestation in South America, Southeast Asia, and Africa may alter growing conditions in agricultural areas as far away as the U.S. Midwest, Europe, and China, the study in Nature Climate Change finds. The researchers calculate...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Clearing Rainforests Distorts Global Rainfall & Agriculture, Study SaysWe can’t let climate change turn droughts, flash floods and mudslides into the new normal
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 18th, 2014
Guardian: Between power outages, deluging rains, flash floods, mudslides and record droughts, California is quickly becoming unrecognizable – all the bellwethers of an ecosystem out of whack. Thanks to a rapidly changing climate making wet regions wetter and dry regions drier, 2014 will be the hottest year on record – and, if we’re not careful, the Bay Area’s recent #HellaStorm will soon become the norm.
Everyone in the state knows the severity of the problem: we’re in the midst of our worst drought in...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on We can’t let climate change turn droughts, flash floods and mudslides into the new normalA Chat on New York’s Shale Gas Ban w/ Anti-Fracking Superhero Mark Ruffalo
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 18th, 2014
New York Times: On Twitter early this morning, I had a productive exchange about Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s decision to ban shale gas development in New York with Mark Ruffalo, the actor best known for playing the Marvel comic character Hulk.
Ruffalo, who lives near the Delaware River in the upstate New York region that was targeted for shale gas drilling, is one of many prominent public figures who pressed Cuomo long and hard to ban hydraulic fracturing, popularly known as fracking.
We both would love to see...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on A Chat on New York’s Shale Gas Ban w/ Anti-Fracking Superhero Mark RuffaloClimate change could cut world food output 18 percent by 2050
Posted by Reuters: Chris Arsenault on December 18th, 2014
Reuters: Global warming could cause an 18 percent drop in world food production by 2050, but investments in irrigation and infrastructure, and moving food output to different regions, could reduce the loss, a study published on Thursday said.
Globally, irrigation systems should be expanded by more than 25 percent to cope with changing rainfall patterns, the study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters said.
Where they should be expanded is difficult to model because of competing scenarios...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change could cut world food output 18 percent by 2050How will climate change transform agriculture?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 18th, 2014
PhysOrg: Climate change impacts will require major but very uncertain transformations of global agriculture systems by mid-century, according to new research from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. Climate change will require major transformations in agricultural systems, including increased irrigation and moving production from one region to another, according to the new study, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. However without careful planning for uncertain...
Tropical deforestation could disrupt rainfall globally
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 18th, 2014
Mongabay: Large-scale deforestation in the tropics could drive significant and widespread shifts in rainfall distribution and temperatures, potentially affecting agriculture both locally and far from where forest loss is occurring, concludes a study published today in Nature Climate Change.
The research, authored by Deborah Lawrence and Karen Vandecar of the University of Virginia, is based on a review of several studies that measured and modeled the impacts of tropical forest clearance in different geographies...
New York State to Ban Fracking: ‘Reckless to Proceed’
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on December 18th, 2014
Environment News Service: As of early next year, New York State will be permanently off-limits to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for oil and gas. The decision follows the release Wednesday of a long-awaited Department of Health report that details adverse health and environmental effects from exposure to the process. Fracking involves horizontal drilling and the fracturing of underground shale rock with pressurized water and chemicals to release deposits of gas and oil. New York lies over the Marcellus shale formation,...
Fracking Ban in New York Paves the Way for Other States
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on December 18th, 2014
EcoWatch: Fantastic news came from the state of New York this week when the Cuomo administration announced its decision to ban fracking in the state. This exciting decision is a tribute to everyone who has worked so hard in New York to protect the state from the ravages experiences elsewhere from fracking.
Here’s the full story: On Wednesday, the Governor convened a cabinet meeting where Acting Health Commissioner Howard Zucker presented the findings of the Department of Health’s review on fracking. He...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Fracking Ban in New York Paves the Way for Other StatesFront Yards Turn to Wetlands as Climate Change Takes Toll
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 18th, 2014
Bloomberg: Climate change is beginning to take a toll on real estate in Norfolk, about 80 miles southeast of Richmond, as insurance costs soar and residents resort to putting their homes on stilts or opening up space underneath for the water to flow through.
Amanda Armstrong schedules her life around the tides. For the past year and a half, she’s had to navigate rising waters that saturate the lawn of her red brick house in Norfolk, Virginia, and sometimes fill a puddle out front with crabs and fish.
“We...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Front Yards Turn to Wetlands as Climate Change Takes TollEnbridge Shuts Oil Pipeline to U.S. After Spill in Canada
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 18th, 2014
Bloomberg: Canadian oil supplies to the U.S. Midwest were disrupted after Enbridge Inc. (ENB) shut a pipeline because of a leak.
The company isolated its Line 4 pipe at the Regina terminal in Saskatchewan yesterday after about 1,350 barrels of oil were released within an on-site pumping station, according to a statement. The company is excavating the line around a pumphouse and hasn’t provided an estimate for how long repairs may take, Gerard Kay, deputy chief of operations at Regina Fire and Protective...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Enbridge Shuts Oil Pipeline to U.S. After Spill in Canada