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Archive for May, 2015
How people defend eating meat
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 19th, 2015
ScienceDaily: Meat eaters who justify their eating habits feel less guilty and are more tolerant of social inequality say researchers. An international team of researchers led by Dr Jared Piazza of Lancaster University examined the ways in which people defend eating meat. They found that the vast majority of omnivores defend consuming animals by rationalizing their behavior using one of four rationalizations, which they call the 4Ns. He said: "The relationships people have with animals are complicated. While...
Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to sign new climate change agreement
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 18th, 2015
LA Times: Gov. Jerry Brown will sign a new climate change agreement with "government leaders from around the world" on Tuesday, his office announced.
The agreement comes three weeks after the governor ordered new targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in California. He's also been pushing for more renewable energy, lower gasoline consumption and better efficiency in older buildings.
Even as Brown works to set a high bar for tackling climate change in California, he's been keenly aware of the need...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to sign new climate change agreementReshaping mountains human mind save species facing climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 18th, 2015
ScienceDaily: People commonly perceive mountain ranges as jumbles of pyramid-shaped masses that steadily narrow as they slope upward.
While that's certainly how they appear from a ground-level human viewpoint, new research shows that pyramid-shaped mountains are not only a minority in nature, but also that most ranges actually increase in area at higher elevations. Besides reshaping the mountains in our mind's eye, the findings could lead scientists to reconsider conservation strategies -- which are often based...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Reshaping mountains human mind save species facing climate changePeru eyes Amazon for one of world’s most powerful dams
Posted by Mongabay: Brittany Stewart on May 18th, 2015
Mongabay: Peru is proposing a huge hydroelectric dam in the Amazon that, if built, will be one of the most powerful on Earth, do significant harm to the environment, and flood the homes of thousands of people.
The proposed mega-dam would be constructed at the Pongo de Manseriche, a spectacular gorge on the free flowing Marañón River, the main source of the Amazon River.
The dam’s reservoir would flood as much as 5,470 square kilometers (2,111 square miles) and drown the town of Santa Maria de Nieva in...
Heat Waves: Exposure to Increase 4-Fold by 2050
Posted by Nature World: Jenna Iacurci on May 18th, 2015
Nature World: With climate change causing much of the world's hot extremes, heat waves are likely to become more common. Well, now new research shows that, at least in the United States, exposure to extreme heat could increase four- to six-fold by 2050, due to both a warming climate and a population that's growing especially fast in the hottest regions of the country. Surprisingly, extreme heat kills more people in the United States than any other weather-related event. And with blazing heat becoming the new...
China investment in Latin America taking toll on the environment, setting stage for conflict
Posted by Mongabay: Morgan Erickson-Davis on May 18th, 2015
Mongabay: China has been investing heavily in Latin America’s natural resources and crude oil. Recently, the country even pledged to invest $250 billion over the next decade to strengthen its presence in the region, and compete with the U.S. But this increasing Chinese trade and investment in Latin America is also increasing environmental and social conflict, finds a new report published by Boston University.
“The press is full of stories about what China’s rise to the world’s largest economy means for...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on China investment in Latin America taking toll on the environment, setting stage for conflictLower Ozone levels in Houston linked to climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 18th, 2015
ScienceDaily: Researchers at the University of Houston have determined that climate change -- in the form of a stronger sea breeze, the result of warmer soil temperatures -- contributed to the drop in high-ozone days in the Houston area.
Robert Talbot, professor of atmospheric chemistry, said that also should be true for coastal regions globally.
The researchers describe their findings in a paper published this week in the journal Atmosphere. In addition to Talbot, they include first author Lei Liu, a doctoral...
Studies: Climate change to bring more heat waves, stronger hurricanes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 18th, 2015
USA Today: Talk about your summer bummer.
The number of Americans sweltering through stifling heat waves could well quadruple over the next few decades, according to a study Monday in the British journal Nature Climate Change.
As if that weren't enough, a separate study in the same journal said hurricanes are likely to become more intense, even as their number declines.
In the heat wave study, researchers said people living in Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Tampa and San...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Studies: Climate change to bring more heat waves, stronger hurricanesClimate change threatens electric power supply in California, report warns
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 18th, 2015
Guardian: Californians may have to start rationing more than water, including how much they turn on their lights and how often they use their hairdryers.
By 2050, extended years of drought in the state could lead to an electricity shortage as well as a water shortage, according to a study published on Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.
In the study, Arizona State University authors Matthew Bartos and Mikhail Chester found that almost half (46%) of 978 electric power stations in the western...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change threatens electric power supply in California, report warnsClimate change’s future impact uncertain on U.S. Midwest water cycle
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 18th, 2015
ScienceDaily: Will climate change make the U.S. Midwest drier or wetter during the summer growing season? A new Dartmouth-led study finds that the answer remains uncertain. The findings are important given the Midwest's agricultural output is critical to the U.S. economy and global food security. The study appears in the journal Water Resources Research. The study included researchers from Dartmouth College, Columbia University, National University of Singapore and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A potential...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change’s future impact uncertain on U.S. Midwest water cycle