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Archive for February, 2015
NASA Predicts ‘Megadroughts’ Due To Climate Change
Posted by Newsy: Kate Grumke , Jasmine Bailey on February 14th, 2015
Newsy: A new NASA study found that parts of the U.S. are at risk for Megadroughts during the second half of this century because of climate change.
These droughts would hit the American southwest and great plains, and would be the worst the country has seen in the past 1,000 years.
Over the past four years, droughts in California and the southwest have cost the area billions of dollars in agricultural losses, fire damage and lost jobs.
NASA climate scientist Ben Cook says these naturally occurring...
NASA Researchers forecast decades long mega-drought to hit Southwest of the US
Posted by Westside Story: None Given on February 14th, 2015
Westside Story: A decades-long mega-droughts is likely to hit the U.S. Southwest and Central Plains regions during the second half of this century, if climate change issues go unattended – forecasts researchers from NASA, Columbia and Cornell universities. The study findings are published in the journal Science Advances. The new forecast is based on models of continued climate change and considers the lagging pace of many countries in mitigating the output of greenhouse gases. The study findings reveal that there...
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Comments Off on NASA Researchers forecast decades long mega-drought to hit Southwest of the USGrowing Valentine’s Day roses harming Kenya’s ecological site
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 14th, 2015
Guardian: Consumer appetite for cut-price Kenyan roses for Valentine's Day is "bleeding the country dry" by threatening the region's precarious ecology.
University of Leicester ecology and conservation biologist, Dr David Harper, warned. Harper has spent over 30 years researching wetland conservation at Kenya's Lake Naivasha and said the growth of the flowers is draining the valuable water supply.
Seventy per cent of roses sold in European supermarkets come from Kenya, most from Naivasha. Harper called...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Growing Valentine’s Day roses harming Kenya’s ecological siteGermany moves to legalise fracking
Posted by Guardian: Arthur Neslen on February 14th, 2015
Guardian: Germany has proposed a draft law that would allow commercial shale gas fracking at depths of over 3,000 metres, overturning a de facto moratorium that has been in place since the start of the decade. A new six-person expert panel would also be empowered to allow fracks at shallower levels Shale gas industry groups welcomed the proposal for its potential to crack open the German shale gas market, but it has sparked outrage among environmentalists who view it as the thin edge of a fossil fuel wedge....
Every politician should tell us what they think about evolution and climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Puneet Kollipara on February 14th, 2015
Washington Post: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker probably wasn’t expecting a science quiz while he was on a trade-related trip in the United Kingdom. But when you’re considering seeking your party’s nomination for president, you can’t rule out any questions.
At a question-and-answer session in London, after Walker had already dodged other, non-science questions, he was asked whether he accepts evolution. His response: “I’m going to punt on that one as well.”
In recent years, Republicans in particular have sought...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Every politician should tell us what they think about evolution and climate change‘Megadroughts’ and why we ask politicians about evolution
Posted by Washington Post: James Downie on February 14th, 2015
Washington Post: Another week, another alarming report about the potential effects of climate change. Researchers from NASA and Columbia and Cornell universities released a paper Thursday that projects “unprecedented” risk of drought in the coming decades for the southwest and central United States. The increasing likelihood of “megadroughts” that could last decades is “an unprecedented fundamental climate shift with respect to the last millennium.”
This report, of course, is far from the first paper pointing...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on ‘Megadroughts’ and why we ask politicians about evolutionUS should prepare for ‘unprecedented drought conditions’ unlike anything past 1,000 years
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 14th, 2015
Independent: Since the turn of this century, the US south-west has spent more than a decade in drought. Last year was the warmest on record in California, which is in the middle of its driest spell for more than 400 years. But according to a new scientific study, that's nothing compared to what comes next.
In the paper, published by the journal Science Advances, researchers from Nasa and Columbia and Cornell universities warn that a vast swathe of the US, including the south-west states and the central plains,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on US should prepare for ‘unprecedented drought conditions’ unlike anything past 1,000 yearsJudge dismisses Louisiana wetlands suit against big oil firms
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 14th, 2015
Reuters: A federal judge in Louisiana threw out a lawsuit Friday against more than 90 oil, gas and pipeline companies accused of collectively damaging the state's coastline, according to court records.
The suit was filed in 2013 by the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East, accused the companies of destroying the state's fragile wetlands that protect the greater New Orleans area from catastrophic flooding, such as that which occurs during hurricanes.
The suit says the companies cut at...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Judge dismisses Louisiana wetlands suit against big oil firmsKeeping Food Security on Table at U.N. Climate Talks
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 13th, 2015
Inter Press Service: Food security has become a key issue of the U.N. climate negotiations this week in Geneva as a number of countries and observers raised concerns that recent advances in Lima are in jeopardy.
While food security is a core objective of the U.N. climate convention, it has traditionally been discussed in relation to adaptation."If we succeed in having food security within mitigation, we can say that one of the biggest concerns of Southern countries will have been taken into account." -- Ali Abdou...
Harvard is Buying Up Vineyards in Drought-Ridden California Wine Country
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 13th, 2015
Mother Jones: I recently wrote a piece about growing interest in California farmland by massive investment funds. But almonds and other tree nuts, the main focus of my article, aren't the only commodities drawing interest from the smart-money crowd. From what I can tell, a successful California farmland investment requires these two conditions: 1) a sought-after commodity, preferably one with a booming export market; and 2) access to water for irrigation--increasingly important as California's drought lurches...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Harvard is Buying Up Vineyards in Drought-Ridden California Wine Country