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Archive for April, 2015
Why does water rationing in Calif exclude fracking and agribusiness?
Posted by Ecologist: Evan Blake on April 7th, 2015
Ecologist: California has responded to the drought by rationing water, with $500 fines for domestic 'water wasters', writes Evan Blake. But agribusiness and water-intensive industries like fracking remain untouched by the restrictions, even though they consume over 90% of the state's water.
There are immense water efficiencies to be gained, but any rational reorganization is blocked by the US financial oligarchy, which, controlling the entire political system, will not abide any impingement on its profits....
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Why does water rationing in Calif exclude fracking and agribusiness?Australia: Great Barrier Reef Can Be Saved
Posted by Nature World: Jenna Iacurci on April 7th, 2015
Nature World: Just after recent research warned that the world's most iconic ecosystems, including the Great Barrier Reef, may collapse under climate change, a new study is saying that this iconic site can in fact be saved.
Leading coral reef scientists say Australia could restore the Great Barrier Reef to its former glory through better policies that focus on science, protection and conservation. In the journal Nature Climate Change, the authors argue that all the stressors on the Reef need to be reduced in...
Top academics ask world’s universities divest from fossil fuels
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 7th, 2015
Guardian: It is both unethical and untenable for universities around the world to continue to invest in fossil fuel companies whose plans to prospect for more oil, coal and gas endanger future global prosperity, according to an influential group of academics.
That statement from, Academics Stand Against Poverty (Asap) – a global group of about 2,000 researchers who study poverty and development– urges universities to follow the lead of institutions like Stanford, Syracuse and Glasgow that have all committed...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Top academics ask world’s universities divest from fossil fuelsBark Beetles Are Decimating Our Forests. That Might Actually Be a Good Thing
Posted by Mother Jones: Maddie Oatman on April 7th, 2015
Mother Jones: There is an eerie feel to this grove of lodgepole pines that I can't quite put my finger on as entomologist Diana Six tromps ahead of me, hatchet in hand, scanning the southwestern Montana woods for her target. But as she digs the blade into a towering trunk, it finally hits me: the smell. There's no scent of pine needles, no sharp, minty note wafting through the brisk fall air.
Six hacks away hunks of bark until she reveals an inner layer riddled with wormy passageways. "Hey, looky!" she exclaims,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Bark Beetles Are Decimating Our Forests. That Might Actually Be a Good ThingEating Chicken, Not Beef, Yields Climate Benefits
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on April 7th, 2015
Environment News Service: Eating beef is one of the biggest climate villains, but a vegan diet is not necessary to reach climate goals, finds new research from Chalmers University of Technology. A poultry-based diet is a smart and inexpensive way to reduce our impact on the climate.
The trend all over the world is the same: an increasing number of people are eating an increasing amount of beef, although this trend runs counter to the goal of limiting the temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius as governments agree to...
Farmers back bill to subsidize biomass plants
Posted by Bakersfield Californian: John Cox on April 7th, 2015
Bakersfield Californian: Local farmers are adding their support to legislation that would divert revenue from California’s cap-and-trade program to biomass plants that generate power by burning agricultural and urban green waste. Last month the Kern County Farm Bureau co-hosted a meeting in Delano to raise awareness of Assembly Bill 590 and help an industry the group called “very important” to local growers, in that biomass plants take trimmings and old trees that would otherwise be more expensive for farmers to dispose...
Warming: Canada glaciers to shrink by 70pc by 2100
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 7th, 2015
Agence France-Presse: The glaciers of western Canada, one of the world's most picturesque mountain regions, are likely to largely melt away over just three generations, scientists said today. By 2100, the glaciers of Alberta and British Columbia are set to shrink by 75 per cent in area compared to 2005 levels, and by 70 per cent in volume, according to their predictions. But in two out of the three regions that were studied, the decline could be even more dramatic -- over 90 per cent. The loss will hit many sectors,...
How Western Canada glaciers will melt away
Posted by CBC: None Given on April 7th, 2015
CBC: Wonder what your favourite glacier to ski or hike will look like in 20 or 40 years? A new study makes detailed predictions about how the glaciers in B.C. and Alberta will melt and shrink between now and 2100.
Glaciers are melting rapidly around the world, including in Canada, and human-caused climate change is now considered to be the main driver.
Glacier melt worldwide now caused mainly by humans
Unprecedented B.C. glacier melt seeps into U.S. climate change concerns
Thousands of glaciers...
Modi says India strike own path in climate battle
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 7th, 2015
Reuters: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signaled on Monday he would not bow to foreign pressure to commit to cuts in carbon emissions, instead pledging to use more clean energy and traditional methods to lead the fight against climate change.
India, the world's No.3 emitter of greenhouse gases, has come under pressure to tackle its rapidly rising emissions since the United States and China committed last November to start cutting their own emissions after a "peak year".
United Nations climate talks...
Great Barrier Reef: New report slams government’s ‘weak’ recovery plan
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 7th, 2015
Guardian: The federal government’s plan to reverse the decline of the Great Barrier Reef is “weak” and requires greater action in six key areas, including climate change, according to a new report.
The set of recommendations, compiled by three of the reef’s most experienced scientists, warn that opening up huge new coalmines in Queensland is “too risky” for the Great Barrier Reef. They also say that it “will not be possible to develop and operate the largest coal ports in the world along the edge of the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Great Barrier Reef: New report slams government’s ‘weak’ recovery plan