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Archive for July, 2015
Everyday access to nature improves quality of life in older adults
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 10th, 2015
ScienceDaily: Natural environments are known to promote physical, mental, and spiritual healing. People can attain health benefits by spending time outside, often in remote places to "get away from it all." Now research conducted by a University of Minnesota graduate student with a team in Vancouver, B.C., shows that green and "blue" spaces (environments with running or still water) are especially beneficial for healthy aging in seniors. Published in the journal Health and Place, the study -Therapeutic landscapes...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Everyday access to nature improves quality of life in older adultsEasing Alaska’s wildfire seasons means tackling climate change
Posted by Alaska Dispatch News: None Given on July 10th, 2015
Alaska Dispatch News: Alaska is burning. As of July 8 more than 300 fires are blazing across the state in an extreme and costly fire season that could last well into August. Firefighters and the resources they depend on are being pressed to the limits.
I know exactly what our front-line defenders are going through. I’ve been there.
During the summer of 1983, I was among a group of smokejumpers dispatched from western states to Alaska during a major “fire bust,” a relatively large number of fires started mostly by...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Easing Alaska’s wildfire seasons means tackling climate changeTropical peatland carbon losses from oil palm plantations may be underestimated
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 9th, 2015
ScienceDaily: Draining tropical peatlands for oil palm plantations may result in nearly twice as much carbon loss as official estimates, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment and the Union of Concerned Scientists in the journal Environmental Research Letters. Peatlands -- waterlogged, organic soils -- have developed over thousands of years as carbon storage systems. In Southeast Asia, peat swamp forests cover about 250,000 square kilometers, a land...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Tropical peatland carbon losses from oil palm plantations may be underestimatedBuzzkill: global warming shrinks range pollinating bumblebees
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 9th, 2015
Reuters: Global warming is shrinking the terrain where bumblebees live in North America and Europe, with these vital pollinators departing the southernmost and hottest parts of their ranges while failing to move north into cooler climes, scientists say.
Their study, published on Thursday, used records from 1901 to 2010 to track 67 bumblebee species, finding that the insects have surrendered about 185 miles (300 km) from the southern end of the regions they called home on both continents.
The researchers...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Buzzkill: global warming shrinks range pollinating bumblebeesSea Level Could Rise at Least 6 Meters
Posted by Climate Central: Brian Kahn on July 9th, 2015
Climate Central: Even if world manages to limit global warming to 2°C -- the target number for current climate negotiations -- sea levels may still rise at least 6 meters (20 feet) above their current heights, radically reshaping the world's coastline and affecting millions in the process.
That finding comes from a new paper published on Thursday in Science that shows how high sea levels rose the last time carbon dioxide levels were this high.
That was about 3 million years ago, when the globe was about 3-5°F...
Officials test for possible toxic algae in Oregon river
Posted by Reuters: Courtney Sherwood on July 9th, 2015
Reuters: Tests are underway to determine if a green film shimmering on the surface of Portland's Willamette River may mark the return of toxic blue-green algae that could be dangerous to both people and animals, officials in Oregon said on Thursday. The concerns come as dozens of people from across the country have signed up to participate in the 10.7 mile Portland Bridge Swim at the weekend, said Travis Williams, executive director of Willamette Riverkeeper, a nonprofit that reported algae concerns to public...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Officials test for possible toxic algae in Oregon riverHow 2°C of Warming Could Reshape the U.S
Posted by Climate Central: Benjamin Strauss on July 9th, 2015
Climate Central: If, as suggested by a comprehensive new review in the journal Science, 2°C of global warming would lock in at least 20 feet (6 meters) of eventual sea level rise, what would that warming mean for the future and heritage of the U.S.?
It would mean a map we don't recognize: Louisiana would shed its boot, the Eastern seaboard would seriously retract, and the Bay Area would grow a second inland bay -- as the nation would lose more than 48,000 square miles of land, home today to 23.4 million people....
Coastal Nations, Megacities Face 20 Feet of Sea Rise
Posted by Climate Central: Benjamin Strauss on July 9th, 2015
Climate Central: If, as suggested by a comprehensive new review in the journal Science, 2°C of global warming will lock in at least 20 feet (6 meters) of eventual sea level rise, what would 2°C of warming (3.6°F) mean for the future and heritage of global nations and cities?
It would mean a world we don't recognize, one losing more than 444,000 square miles of land, where more than 375 million people live today. China, the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is home to by far the largest share of those...
Tom Selleck Accused Of Stealing Water For California Ranch
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 9th, 2015
National Public Radio: KELLY MCEVERS, HOST: Now we bring you the story of an investigation. Cue the "Magnum, P.I." music... (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MAGNUM, P.I. THEME") MCEVERS: ...Because yes, this involves the famously mustachioed star of the '80s series, Tom Selleck. ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: Over a two-year period, trucks have been taking water from a hydrant outside Los Angeles to a sprawling property in Hidden Valley. MATT HAMILTON: Mr. Selleck, for the past three decades, has lived on a 60-acre ranch there, which...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Tom Selleck Accused Of Stealing Water For California RanchBumblebee Habitat Shrinking Due to Climate Change, Plus 12 Other Animals at Risk
Posted by Weather Channel: Michele Berger on July 9th, 2015
Weather Channel: Busy bees are at their busiest during summertime, cleaning the nest, foraging for food. They prefer the warm weather to colder seasons. But new research published in the July 10, 2015, Science reveals that for bumblebees in North America and Europe, suitable habitat to do this work is shrinking due to a warming climate, yet the bees aren’t moving.
“Bumblebee species are retreating from the extreme southern margin of their historic ranges and losing their populations there,” Leif Richardson, a...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Bumblebee Habitat Shrinking Due to Climate Change, Plus 12 Other Animals at Risk