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Archive for May, 2015
USDA allocates $21 million to help farmers, ranchers battle drought
Posted by LA Times: Matt Stevens on May 19th, 2015
LA Times: A branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide $21 million to help farmers and ranchers in California and other states install new irrigation systems, plant cover crops and implement other water conservation practices, officials said Monday.
The funds, made possible by the 2014 farm bill, will be distributed to the most severely drought-stricken areas of eight states, as determined by the U.S. Drought Monitor.
It is not clear how much of the money will go to California, but in...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on USDA allocates $21 million to help farmers, ranchers battle droughtAmericans likely six times more very hot days by 2100: Study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 19th, 2015
Reuters: Americans are likely to have six times more days above 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) by 2100, partly because of climate change, scientists said on Monday, with heat already linked to hundreds of deaths a year in the United States.
By the late 21st century, exposure to sweltering heat would leap to between 10 and 14 billion "person days" a year, a team led by Bryan Jones of the Baruch College School of Public Affairs in New York wrote in the journal Nature Climate Change.
There were 2.3...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Americans likely six times more very hot days by 2100: StudyMore Americans will feel high heat as global warming, population shifts combine, study finds
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 19th, 2015
Associated Press: The combination of global warming and shifting population means that by mid-century, there will be a huge increase in the number of Americans sweating through days that are extremely hot, a new study says. People are migrating into areas — especially in the Southeast — where the heat is likely to increase more, said the authors of a study published Monday by the journal Nature Climate Change. The study highlighted the Houston-Dallas-San Antonio and Atlanta-Charlotte-Raleigh corridors as the places...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on More Americans will feel high heat as global warming, population shifts combine, study findsStudy: Americans’ exposure heat extremes could rise six-fold by mid-century
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 19th, 2015
Washington Post: Vastly more Americans will be exposed to dangerous heat waves in future decades because of a combination of rising temperatures and rapid population growth in the South and West, scientists warned in a study published Monday.
The risk of exposure to extreme heat could be as much as six times higher for the average U.S. citizens by the year 2070, compared with levels experienced in the last century, researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the City University of New York...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Study: Americans’ exposure heat extremes could rise six-fold by mid-centuryTexas Gov. Abbott Signs Bill Restricting Local Fracking Regulations
Posted by Houston Chronicle: None Given on May 19th, 2015
Houston Chronicle: Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill to prevent communities from banning energy practices including fracking in their areas, cementing a victory for the oil and gas industry.
Abbott's signature is the culmination of a marker he set down in January, when he took aim at local regulations affecting not only fracking but tree cutting and plastic bags. He said local regulations were leading to Texas being the "California-ized."
Critics pointed out that Abbott and other top Republicans often take umbrage...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Texas Gov. Abbott Signs Bill Restricting Local Fracking RegulationsFossil Fuel Subsidies to Hit $5.3T in 2015, Says IMF Study
Posted by RTCC: None Given on May 19th, 2015
RTCC: Subsidies for fossil fuels that cause climate change have soared since 2013, a new study from the International Monetary Fund has revealed.
Oil, gas and coal costs will be subsidised to the tune of US$5.3 trillion a year in 2015. The last time the IMF ran the data it calculated they were worth $1.9 trillion.
Economists say the latest figures are more accurate as they represent the “true” cost of energy, which includes the environmental, health and climate impacts of burning fossil fuels.
“Over...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Fossil Fuel Subsidies to Hit $5.3T in 2015, Says IMF StudyTelescope Project Clashes with Culture
Posted by UT-San Diego: Shaffer Grubb on May 19th, 2015
UT-San Diego: For one astronomer, it’s “a spectacular window to the universe.” To many Hawaiians, it’s Wao Akua — the realm of the gods where people aren’t supposed to walk. On a map, it’s Mauna Kea, the highest point in Hawaii. In recent weeks, protesters have been arrested on this dormant volcano while trying to halt construction of what would be the largest telescope in the world. They believe the site needs preservation because it’s sacred, while astronomers involved with the telescope project — including...
El Niño 2015 Forecast to ‘Raise Global Temperatures’
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on May 19th, 2015
Environment News Service: Weather forecasting centers around the world have now declared that an El Niño, the most powerful fluctuation in Earth’s climate system, has begun in the tropical Pacific.
El Niño is a warming of the Pacific Ocean as part of a complex cycle linking atmosphere and ocean. An El Niño can raise global temperatures, says the UK’s Met Office.
A El Niño event brings a higher risk of more, and more severe, tropical cyclones. Impacts on the biosphere are expected, such as coral bleaching and widespread...
IMF: Fossil fuels receive $10m a minute subsidies
Posted by Blue and Green: Nicky Stubbs on May 19th, 2015
Blue and Green: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that in 2015, the fossil fuel industry will receive $5.3trn in subsidies, surpassing annual health spending for all the world’s governments.
Fossil fuel companies across the planet are set to receive the huge sum from public funds throughout 2015, equating to $10m per minute.
In a working paper published on Monday, the IMF described the figures as “shocking”, adding that the study is “extremely robust”. It says that the sum is owed largely to the...
They’re Going Door-To-Door In The Amazon To See Why People Get Sick
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 19th, 2015
National Public Radio: Is it the mercury or the malaria?
Or maybe it's something else entirely that's making people sick in the Peruvian Amazon.
Those questions are bedeviling researchers from Duke University, who've been studying gold mining in the region. Illegal mining has exploded in the area in the last decade. And the people living downriver have a variety of medical issues, from malaria to anemia to high blood pressure.
The researchers have documented that mercury used in illegal gold mining ends up hundreds...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on They’re Going Door-To-Door In The Amazon To See Why People Get Sick