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Archive for January, 2015
US Farmers Fighting Drought May Have Hope Yet
Posted by Nature World: Jenna Iacurci on January 17th, 2015
Nature World: US Farmers that are currently fighting ongoing drought, particularly in California, may have hope yet thanks to one man's ingenious invention.
Jon Dewey has developed several water devices for growing and gardening, including his Patented WaterStick that allows farmers to grow more food using 75 percent less water. For example, this method allowed him to successfully grow, on average, 150-200 pounds of tomatoes per plant using a mere half gallon of water, whereas normal growing methods would require...
Global Wheat Yield May Drop as Temperatures Rise
Posted by Nature World: None Given on January 17th, 2015
Nature World: As if they haven't heard enough bad news already, researchers are now letting farmers know that the world's wheat yields are excepted decline in the near future, with the world standing to lose six percent of its wheat crop for every degree Celsius that the annual global temperature increases.
That's at least according to a study recently published in the journal Nature Climate Change, which details how expected wheal loss could total up to one fourth of the annual global wheat trade, which reached...
Farms can be held liable for pollution from manure: U.S. court
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 17th, 2015
Reuters: A U.S. federal court has ruled for the first time that manure from livestock facilities can be regulated as solid waste, a decision hailed by environmentalists as opening the door to potential legal challenges against facilities across the country. A large dairy in Washington state, Cow Palace Dairy, polluted ground water by over applying manure to soil, ruled Judge Thomas Rice of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington on Wednesday. "The practices of this mega-dairy are...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Farms can be held liable for pollution from manure: U.S. courtBad Day for Climate Change Deniers … And the Planet
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 16th, 2015
Time: It`s not often that the climate change deniers get clobbered three times in just two days. But that`s what happened with the release of a trio of new studies that ought to serve as solid body blows to the fading but persistent fiction that human-mediated warming is somehow a hoax. Good news for the forces of reason, however, is bad news for the planet--especially the oceans.
"Today's news is a clear and undeniable warning for all of us that we need to cut climate pollution and prepare for what's...
2014 warmest year on record for the world
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 16th, 2015
Associated Press: For the third time in a decade, the globe sizzled to the hottest year on record, federal scientists announced Friday. Both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA calculated that in 2014 the world had its hottest year in 135 years of record keeping.
NOAA said 2014 averaged 58.24 degrees Fahrenheit, which is 1.24 degrees above the 20th-century average.
NASA, which calculates temperatures slightly differently, put 2014's average temperature at 58.42 degrees Fahrenheit, which...
New York fracking ban has Pennsylvania implications
Posted by Times-Tribune: None Given on January 16th, 2015
Times-Tribune: SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — As New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration finalizes a ban on high-volume hydraulic fracturing, New Yorkers will watch their southern neighbor continue its experiment with shale gas. New York has been under a fracking moratorium since 2008, and people on both sides of the shale gas debate see the state’s Dec. 17 announcement as a milestone in Pennsylvania’s experience with the gas drilling industry. It could have implications for the Delaware River Basin Commission, a multi-state...
Earth’s ‘Planetary Boundaries’ Disrupted by Human Activities
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on January 16th, 2015
Environment News Service: Human activities have "dangerously compromised" four of the nine processes that are crucial to maintaining the stability of the planet, warns an international team of researchers .
In a study published online today, the 18 authors, from universities and research institutes around the world, provide new evidence of changes to the systems which regulate the resilience of the Earth, placing current and future societies at risk.
Climate change, the loss of biosphere integrity, land-system change,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Earth’s ‘Planetary Boundaries’ Disrupted by Human ActivitiesLife on Earth now officially at risk, scientists say
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 16th, 2015
Guardian: Humans are “eating away at our own life support systems” at a rate unseen in the past 10,000 years by degrading land and freshwater systems, emitting greenhouse gases, and releasing vast amounts of agricultural chemicals into the environment, new research has found. Two major new studies by an international team of researchers have pinpointed the key factors that ensure a livable planet for humans, with stark results. Of nine worldwide processes that underpin life on Earth, four have exceeded “safe”...
2014 Confirmed as Hottest Year On Record, With Spike Ocean Temperatures
Posted by National Geographic: Craig Welch on January 16th, 2015
National Geographic: The year 2014 was the hottest since record-keeping began in 1880, according to independent reviews of temperature data released Friday by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Globally, land and ocean temperatures were 1.24°F (0.69°C) higher than the average for the 20th century-passing previous highs set in 2005 and 2010.
The announcement comes as international negotiators are still struggling to reach agreement to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions in the wake...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on 2014 Confirmed as Hottest Year On Record, With Spike Ocean TemperaturesU.S. scientists call 2014 Earth’s hottest year on record
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 16th, 2015
Reuters: Last year was Earth's hottest on record in new evidence that people are disrupting the climate by burning fossil fuels that release greenhouse gases into the air, two U.S. government agencies said on Friday.
The White House said the studies, by the U.S. space agency NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), showed climate change was happening now and that action was needed to cut rising world greenhouse gas emissions.
The 10 warmest years since records began in the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on U.S. scientists call 2014 Earth’s hottest year on record