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Archive for June, 2015
Evidence of key ingredient during dawn of life
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 19th, 2015
ScienceDaily: Before there were cells on Earth, simple, tiny catalysts most likely evolved the ability to speed up and synchronize the chemical reactions necessary for life to rise from the primordial soup. But what those catalysts were, how they appeared at the same time, and how they evolved into the two modern superfamilies of enzymes that translate our genetic code have not been understood. In the Journal of Biological Chemistry, scientists from the UNC School of Medicine provide the first direct experimental...
Bee health complexity requires scientific solutions
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 19th, 2015
ScienceDaily: A lifelong beekeeper and Mississippi State University Extension Service apiculture specialist offers an unusual list of reasons for bee colony death. "My top three reasons for bee colony death are Varroa mites, Varroa mites and Varroa mites," said bee expert Jeff Harris. "This is my sarcastic response to the heavy emphasis in the press on the effects of insecticides and other pesticides on honey bees. "Please don't misunderstand me. Insecticides and other pesticides kill honey bees, either acutely...
Microalgae, produced on a commercial scale
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 19th, 2015
ScienceDaily: Many products, including food supplements, cosmetics and biodiesel, are made from substances derived from microalgae. A fully automated pilot plant operated by Fraunhofer in Leuna is capable of producing microalgae on pilot scale. The concentration of algae in its reactors is five times higher than in conventional closed reactors. The researchers who designed the plant will be exhibiting it at the ACHEMA 2015 show in Frankfurt am Main from June 15 to 19.
Microalgae are highly versatile organisms....
Warm water causes concern on Carson River watershed
Posted by Nevada Appeal: None Given on June 19th, 2015
Nevada Appeal: The Carson River watershed is in hot water.
That's what happens when the Sierra Nevada snowpack that normally feeds the system is way below normal - just 7 percent of average this year with peak spring runoff finished two months early.
"The water is low and slow and warm," said Duane Petite, Carson River project director, The Nature Conservancy.
Petite spoke at the conservancy's 805-acre River Fork Ranch near Genoa, one of the stops on a two-day tour of the Carson River watershed hosted...
GOP-run Senate panel takes on Obama environmental rules
Posted by Associated Press: Andrew Taylor on June 19th, 2015
Associated Press: Republicans controlling a powerful Senate committee moved Thursday to block Obama administration initiatives to curb global warming, issue new clean water rules and regulate hydraulic fracturing on federal land. The vote by the Senate Appropriations Committee represents a sweeping attack on the president's ambitious environmental agenda. Republicans say the rules themselves are an assault on the coal industry, farmers and western landowners. The battle played out on a $31 billion spending bill...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on GOP-run Senate panel takes on Obama environmental rulesExcerpts from Pope Francis encyclical on the environment
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 19th, 2015
Reuters: Pope Francis on Thursday issued a major encyclical on the environment, called "Laudato Si (Praise Be), On the Care of Our Common Home". Here are some key excerpts from the official English version:
ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS CAUSES
"In recent decades this warming has been accompanied by a constant rise in the sea level and, it would appear, by an increase of extreme weather events, even if a scientifically determinable cause cannot be assigned to each particular phenomenon. Humanity is called...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Excerpts from Pope Francis encyclical on the environment2015 is likely to beat 2014 as the warmest year on record
Posted by Mashable: None Given on June 19th, 2015
Mashable: The Earth just had its warmest May on record, hottest spring and mildest year-to-date, according to new data released Thursday. The climate statistics indicate the year is on course to set another milestone for the warmest year on record, surpassing the previous warmest year, set in 2014.
The data, released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), also bolsters the clarion call for climate action released by Pope Francis, since they are a sign of longterm warming caused by...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on 2015 is likely to beat 2014 as the warmest year on recordWill Pope Francis’s climate message break through where others have failed?
Posted by Science: Marianne Lavelle on June 19th, 2015
Science: The leader of the world's largest Christian faith might succeed in doing something that many experts have failed to achieve: communicating the urgency of global warming. That’s one reaction Pope Francis’s encyclical on climate change and the environment, Laudato Si ("Praised Be"), released today. It includes a call for "a new dialogue" on the planet's future, an accessible summary of climate science, a stinging critique of international talks that have produced ineffectual environmental agreements,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Will Pope Francis’s climate message break through where others have failed?Senate panel advances $30B bill that targets EPA rules
Posted by Hill: Rebecca Shabad on June 19th, 2015
Hill: The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday advanced a $30.01 billion spending bill that takes aim at President Obama’s environmental regulations.
The bill would fund the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Interior Department for fiscal 2016, which begins Oct. 1, by $400 million below the level Congress enacted for 2015 and $2.2 billion less than Obama’s request.
Lawmakers voted 16-14 to advance the bill to the Senate floor. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), the ranking member on the...
Drought devastates cherry crop, puts some growers out of business
Posted by LA Times: Louis Sahagun on June 19th, 2015
LA Times: A winter heat wave, late frosts and mandatory water restrictions devastated this year's Leona Valley cherry crop.
A winter heat wave, late frosts and mandatory water restrictions devastated this year's Leona Valley cherry crop.
Dave Shields started the engine of his tractor on a recent weekday and began toppling the hundreds of drought-stricken cherry trees he and his wife planted 15 years ago in this north Los Angeles County foothills community.
A winter heat wave, late frosts and marauding...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Drought devastates cherry crop, puts some growers out of business