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Archive for June, 2015
Report highlights vulnerability of global food systems
Posted by Blue and Green: Nicky Stubbs on June 16th, 2015
Blue and Green: Global food systems are increasingly susceptible to acute disruption and systemic shocks could lead to food price rises, food riots and changes in stock market values.
The global food system is increasingly vulnerable to acute disruptions that have the potential to cause widespread economic, social and political implications, according to a new report by the insurance firm Lloyds.
It highlights that a combination of just three catastrophic weather events could lead to the quadrupling of Wheat,...
Pope Francis warns of ‘unprecedented destruction’ if climate change is not addressed
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on June 16th, 2015
Blue and Green: The Pope has warned that there will be “serious consequences” for all unless the world does more to tackle climate change, in a leaked copy of an eagerly anticipated encyclical.
The draft, which has been published by L’Espresso magazine, states, “If the current trend continues, this century could witness climate change [that leads to] unprecedented destruction of ecosystems, with serious consequences for us all.”
The letter points to rising sea levels as an example, noting that a quarter of...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Pope Francis warns of ‘unprecedented destruction’ if climate change is not addressedPope calls for action on climate change in draft encyclical
Posted by Reuters: Philip Pullella on June 15th, 2015
Reuters: Pope Francis makes an urgent call for protection of the planet and repeats his view that global warming is mostly man-made in his keenly awaited encyclical, according to a draft published by an Italian magazine on Monday.
The Vatican said the document, leaked in its Italian edition by the magazine l'Espresso, was not the final version, which would remain under embargo until its release on Thursday.
It was not clear how advanced in the writing process the leaked document was or how similar it...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Pope calls for action on climate change in draft encyclicalShell Arctic drilling rig departs Seattle surrounded by protesters
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 15th, 2015
Reuters: A Royal Dutch Shell PLC drilling rig that will search for oil in the Arctic left its temporary base in Seattle on Monday for the trip north to Alaska as dozens of activists in kayaks tried to stop it, authorities said.
Live television showed the rig being towed out of its terminal at the Port of Seattle with kayakers fanning out in an arc as it moved into the Puget Sound.
Twenty-five people were detained by the Coast Guard for violating a safety zone around the vessel and were fined $500 each,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Shell Arctic drilling rig departs Seattle surrounded by protestersBeyond the Perfect Drought: California Real Water Crisis
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 15th, 2015
Yale Environment 360: The current drought afflicting California is indeed historic, but not because of the low precipitation totals. In fact, in terms of overall precipitation and spring snowpack, the past three years are not record-breakers, according to weather data for the past century. Similarly, paleoclimate studies show that the current drought is not exceptional given the natural variations in precipitation of the past seven centuries. Nor can it be confidently said that the current drought bears the unequivocal...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Beyond the Perfect Drought: California Real Water CrisisCalifornia to cut water for farmers amid major drought
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on June 14th, 2015
Blue and Green: The US state is restricting water use for agriculture because of a devastating four-year drought, despite fears that the move could threaten the country’s food production.
The State Water Resources Control Board has announced that senior water right holders in California’s Sacramento, San Joaquin and delta watersheds won’t be allowed to pump water for agricultural use anymore, because of the drought.
According to the state’s water law, those holding water rights dating back to 1903 or later...
Storm on climate change awaits pope’s environment letter
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 14th, 2015
Reuters: Pope Francis will call on all people to be "stewards of creation" and address the hot-button topic of climate change on Thursday in the most feverishly awaited papal encyclical in decades.
By making environmental protection a moral imperative, his intervention could spur the world's 1.2 billion Catholics to lobby policymakers on ecology issues. Francis has already used his two-year-old papacy to lead in areas such as the resumption of diplomatic ties between Cuba and the United States, a deal...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Storm on climate change awaits pope’s environment letterSoftware tracks source of fecal pollution in water
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 14th, 2015
ScienceDaily: Spanish scientists have developed a new piece of software to predict the source of faecal pollution in seas, reservoirs and rivers. The system, called Ichnaea, uses the automatic learning and analysis of various biological indicators to make highly reliable predictions of this type of pollution, which poses a serious health risk. The team is now looking for funding to move the whole application to the cloud. Faecal pollution is increasingly more common in rivers and water reserves. The concentration...
NZ should expect more droughts – climate change issues minister
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 13th, 2015
New Zealand Herald: New Zealand can expect more droughts as climate change hits home, a government minister said this morning.
Tim Groser said it wasn't clear if the current North Canterbury drought was directly linked to carbon emissions but unless humanity solved the ongoing emissions crisis, such destructive weather events were likely to intensify in the years or decades to come.
"...The science is very clear on this. The prevalence of these droughts will increase," he told the Q&A programme on TV One.
Mr...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on NZ should expect more droughts – climate change issues ministerPope Francis to Explore Climate’s Effect on World’s Poor
Posted by New York Times: Jim Yardley on June 13th, 2015
New York Times: Ban Ki-moon arrived at the Vatican with his own college of cardinals. Mr. Ban, the United Nations secretary general, had brought the leaders of all his major agencies to see Pope Francis, a show of organizational muscle and respect for a meeting between two global institutions that had sometimes shared a bumpy past but now had a mutual interest.
The agenda was poverty, and Francis inveighed against the “economy of exclusion” as he addressed Mr. Ban’s delegation at the Apostolic Palace. But in...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Pope Francis to Explore Climate’s Effect on World’s Poor