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Archive for June, 2015
Why Heat is Accelerating the California Drought
Posted by Environmental News Network: Usgs Newsroom on June 4th, 2015
Environmental News Network: Although record low precipitation has been the main driver of one of the worst droughts in California history, abnormally high temperatures have also played an important role in amplifying its adverse effects, according to a recent study by the U.S. Geological Survey and university partners.
Experiments with a hydrologic model for the period Oct. 2013-Sept. 2014 showed that if the air temperatures had been cooler, similar to the 1916-2012 average, there would have been an 86% chance that the winter...
Seven new miniaturized frog species found Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 4th, 2015
ScienceDaily: Following nearly 5 years of exploration in mountainous areas of the southern Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest, a team of researchers has uncovered seven new species of a highly miniaturized, brightly colored frog genus known as Brachycephalus. Each species is remarkably endemic, being restricted to cloud forests in one or a few adjacent mountaintops, thus making them highly vulnerable to extinction, particularly due to shifts in the distribution of cloud forest due to climate change.
The Atlantic...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Seven new miniaturized frog species found Brazilian Atlantic RainforestDrought-hit Indian village looks to ‘water wives’ to quench thirst
Posted by Reuters: Danish Siddiqui on June 4th, 2015
Reuters: In the parched village of Denganmal, in western India, there are no taps. The only drinking water comes from two wells at the foot of a nearby rocky hill, a spot so crowded that the sweltering walk and wait can take hours. For Sakharam Bhagat, as for many others in the hamlet some 140 km (85 miles) from Mumbai, the answer was a 'water wife'. Bhagat, 66, now has three wives, two of whom he married solely to ensure that his household has water to drink and cook. ADVERTISING "I had to have someone...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Drought-hit Indian village looks to ‘water wives’ to quench thirstGanga water quality impacting health, feel people
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 4th, 2015
Times of India: A survey report of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) says that 80% of Varanasi respondents feel that water quality of the Ganga has an impact on their health.
The TERI Environmental Survey 2015 was released on Wednesday and aims to gauge the perception, awareness, opinion and behavior of people towards environment in seven Indian cities, including Varanasi.
TERI is an independent, not-for-profit research institute focused on energy, environment, and sustainable development and devoted...
I have seen the future, and it looks like Mad Max
Posted by High Country News: None Given on June 4th, 2015
High Country News: Last Thursday, I emerged from a movie theatre weak-kneed and sweaty-pitted, nerves fried and brain buzzing, simultaneously terrified and exhilarated by the sight of my own car in the parking lot. I had just seen Mad Max: Fury Road, George Miller’s deranged ode to vehicles, explosions, and maybe, just maybe, the importance of environmental advocacy.
Most of the commentary around Mad Max, including some ranting from the delusional “men’s rights” movement, has focused on the film’s feminist leanings....
Climate context for India deadly heat wave
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on June 4th, 2015
Climate Central: The broiling heat wave that suffocated parts of India with temperatures regularly above 110°F at the end of May -- and killed around 2,000 people in just a few days according to estimates -- has finally waned. But the deadly episode has focused world attention on the plight of vulnerable populations during such extreme events and raised questions about how to better prepare for such disasters when the climate could be tipping toward more of them.
While India is no stranger to heat waves this time...
Agriculture losses drought set jump 23% this year, economy coping
Posted by ClimateWire: Niina Heikkinen on June 4th, 2015
ClimateWire: This year, California farmers will likely experience worse drought conditions than they did in 2014, but a preliminary report suggests the economic impacts won't be as severe as some researchers had anticipated.
According to data collected by researchers at the University of California, Davis, the amount of available surface water supply will be about 33 percent less on average.
While the reduced water level is significant, increased groundwater pumping is expected to help buffer the agricultural...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Agriculture losses drought set jump 23% this year, economy copingSenate considers legislation West store & conserve water
Posted by High Country News: None Given on June 4th, 2015
High Country News: Cannon Michael, a 6th generation farmer in California’s Central Valley, this week told U.S. senators about the “disturbing time” he and his family are experiencing because of his state’s multi-year drought. Because of water shortages, they'd already decided not to plant a quarter of their 10,000 acres. Then, just a few days before he testified in a Senate hearing, Michael learned that much of the tomatoes, melons and corn he did plant are in jeopardy too. The deal between state and federal officials...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Senate considers legislation West store & conserve waterEl Niño to disrupt rains, cut Africa, E Asia harvests, scientists say
Posted by Reuters: Chris Arsenault on June 4th, 2015
Reuters: Farmers in Africa and East Asia are expected to suffer crop losses as extreme weather linked to the El Nino phenomenon alters rainfall patterns, scientists told a conference on climate change in Bonn on Wednesday. The rainy season has been delayed in several African nations, and it is difficult to predict exactly how large the crop losses will be, said Sonja Vermeulen, a University of Copenhagen scientist. "Peanut farmers in Gambia, for example, have already been hit this year," Vermeulen told...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on El Niño to disrupt rains, cut Africa, E Asia harvests, scientists sayUS researchers uncover secret of Greenland’s vanishing lakes
Posted by Reuters: Richard Valdmanis on June 4th, 2015
Reuters: Scientists were baffled last year after meltwater lakes atop Greenland's ice sheet suddenly drained out at rates rivaling Niagara Falls. Now a team of U.S. researchers says it has figured out the bizarre phenomenon and that could help them forecast global sea-level rise. Vertical shafts in the ice sheet, called moulins, can funnel melt water beneath parts of the glacier and lift them up. This causes cracks beneath the so-called supragalcial lakes that can empty them in days, according to scientists...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on US researchers uncover secret of Greenland’s vanishing lakes