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Archive for June, 2015
Climate change causing a headache for Assam tea growers in India
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 12th, 2015
New Scientist: The blistering afternoon sun beats down on my face. Normally by this time of day in May, dark clouds would be gathering, preparing for an almighty downpour. But there are no clouds in sight.
The lush-green, perfectly manicured tea plants extend as far as my eyes can see. Women wearing woven bamboo hats are dotted around the plantation, plucking leaves and putting them in baskets attached to their backs. The work looks gruelling in this heat.
And there's trouble brewing in the plantations of...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Climate change causing a headache for Assam tea growers in IndiaEl Niño forecast brings California hope for drought relief
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 12th, 2015
Climate Central: El Niño is gaining steam in the Pacific Ocean and forecasters are now leaning towards it being a strong event, the first since the blockbuster El Niño of 1997-1998. That possibility is again raising the collective hopes of Californians that this winter may finally see some desperately needed precipitation to begin the slow climb out of a historic drought. “In California, all eyes are on the Pacific given the ongoing historic drought,” Daniel Swain, an atmospheric science Ph.D. student at Stanford...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on El Niño forecast brings California hope for drought reliefIn twist, Obama emissions plan satisfies industry, worries greens
Posted by Reuters: Valerie Volcovici on June 12th, 2015
Reuters: For two years, President Barack Obama has used his executive power to impose new rules to cut carbon emissions, targeting cars and power plants, buoying environmentalists and infuriating industry. His latest foray - regulating commercial aviation - had the opposite effect. On Wednesday, the administration took a first step toward cutting greenhouse gas emissions from the nation's fleet of aircraft, releasing a scientific finding that said emissions from plane engines pose a risk to human health...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on In twist, Obama emissions plan satisfies industry, worries greensAncient Ice Sheet Collapse Triggered Strong Climate Change
Posted by Nature World News: None Given on June 12th, 2015
Nature World News: With climate change already impacting various parts of the world, scientists have started looking into Earth's past in order to better predict how it will affect our future. To add to growing evidence, a new study has found that ice sheet collapse 135 million years ago triggered events of strong global climate change.
The Cretaceous period, 145 to 66 million years ago, was one of the warmest times in Earth's history - though some say it was interrupted with a significant cold snap. During this...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Ancient Ice Sheet Collapse Triggered Strong Climate ChangeNorth Carolina High Court Vacates ‘Immediate Action’ Order on Coal Ash
Posted by Charlotte Observer: None Given on June 12th, 2015
Charlotte Observer: North Carolina’s Supreme Court vacated Thursday a lower-court ruling that said state regulators could force “immediate action” to clean up the sources of groundwater contaminated by coal ash.
Coal ash legislation adopted last year superseded that ruling, the court ruled in a victory for Duke Energy and state regulators.
“We think the court’s ruling is appropriate, and we are pleased to close this issue so we can continue moving ahead with safely and permanently closing ash basins,” spokeswoman...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on North Carolina High Court Vacates ‘Immediate Action’ Order on Coal AshMaori and Hawaiians Unite Stop Desecration Ancestral Lands of Hawaii
Posted by Waatea: None Given on June 12th, 2015
Waatea: Maori women's collective, Te Wharepora Hou, today affirm solidarity with their Hawaiian brothers and sister's efforts to protect ancestral lands. 'Protectors of Mauna a Wakea' have been occupying Mauna a Wakea, a sacred ancestral mountain on the island of Hawaii during recent weeks to prevent the construction of the world's largest telescope; the planned Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) project.
"The TMT project is a direct attack on the physical, spiritual and cultural integrity of Mauna a Wakea....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Maori and Hawaiians Unite Stop Desecration Ancestral Lands of HawaiiUnderpinnings of drought tolerance in plants
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 12th, 2015
ScienceDaily: Regions all over the globe are suffering from severe drought, which threatens crop production worldwide. This is especially worrisome given the need to increase, not just maintain, crop yields to feed the increasing global population. Over the course of evolution, plants have developed mechanisms to adapt to periods of inadequate water, and as any gardener can tell you, some species are better able to handle drought than others. Accordingly, scientists have invested much effort to understand how...
Canada: Climate change fight will hamper oil sands returns: Statoil exec
Posted by Globe and Mail: Jeff Lewis on June 12th, 2015
Globe and Mail: Financial returns in the oil sands stand to weaken under the most sweeping efforts to fight global climate change, a top oil producer said Thursday, as some of the industry’s leading companies call for increased carbon fees. Statoil ASA’s chief economist said that high-cost projects in oil sands and ultra deepwater deposits would struggle to adapt should the industrialized world move aggressively to limit global warming by no more than 2 C above preindustrial levels. Eirik Waerness said such an...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada: Climate change fight will hamper oil sands returns: Statoil execChanging climate prompts boreal forest shift
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 12th, 2015
ScienceDaily: With warming summer temperatures across Alaska, white spruce tree growth in Interior Alaska has declined to record low levels, while the same species in Western Alaska is growing better than ever measured before. The findings are the result of a study led by University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Natural Resources and Extension researcher Glenn Juday, Claire Alix of the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne, and Tom Grant, formerly an adjunct faculty member at UAF. Their findings were recently...
The global warming conference where skeptics think they’re winning debate
Posted by Mashable: None Given on June 11th, 2015
Mashable: For two days this week, there is a place in Washington where down is up, and up is down. A place where the globe isn’t warming due to manmade emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, but where evil government-funded scientists are cooking the books to obtain more research grants.
It's a gathering where fossil fuels aren't something to be phased out, as G7 leaders decided to do this week, but rather something to be expanded in order to fight poverty.
This is the morally correct...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on The global warming conference where skeptics think they’re winning debate