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Archive for July, 2015
Groundwater from aquifers important factor in food security
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 8th, 2015
ScienceDaily: Thirsty cities, fields and livestock drink deeply from aquifers, natural sources of groundwater. But a study of three of the most-tapped aquifers in the United States shows that overdrawing from these resources could lead to difficult choices affecting not only domestic food security but also international markets. University of Illinois professors of civil and environmental engineering Ximing Cai and Megan Konar, along with graduate student Landon Marston and Lehigh University professor Tara Troy,...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Groundwater from aquifers important factor in food securityRecord Warmth Continues to Bake U.S. West
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on July 8th, 2015
Climate Central: The U.S. West is still baking. The temperatures for June are in and five Western states saw their warmest June ever (helping to make the month the second warmest June for the contiguous U.S.), and four continue to see their warmest year-to-date, just as 2015 hits the halfway mark. In drought-plagued California, “we’re beating the record set just last year” and “not by a razor thin margin,” Daniel Swain, a PhD student at Stanford University, said. The huge area of considerable warmth in the Pacific...
Two maps show Greenland’s sudden melt season onset
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 8th, 2015
Climate Central: After a cool spring kept Greenland's massive ice sheet mostly solid, a (comparatively) warm late June and early July have turned half the ice sheet's surface into liquid, well outside the range of normal for this time of year.
Despite the ice sheet's remote location, its slushy fingers reach across the globe, influencing sea levels and how fast the Gulf Stream current moves. As temperatures rise, its influence could grow larger as major summer melt events become regular occurrence. Recent warming...
Avoiding a Climate Inferno
Posted by New York Times: Andrew C. Revkin on July 7th, 2015
New York Times: The current issue of Science features a short, but forceful editorial by the journal’s editor in chief, the geophysicist Marcia K. McNutt, calling for humanity, after decades of delay, to get serious about cutting greenhouse-gas emissions linked to global warming. “The time for debate has ended,” she writes. “Action is urgently needed.” McNutt (who was just elected the next president of the National Academy of Sciences) points to studies showing that nations’ emissions-cutting pledges made ahead...
Pakistan’s climate policies are a ‘joke’, says Imran Khan
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 7th, 2015
Guardian: Pakistan’s commitment to tackling climate change is a “joke” lacking proper funding and support from government officials, says cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan.
In an exclusive interview with RTCC, Khan praised the creation of a national climate change ministry, but questioned the level of support allocated to it by prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s administration.
“They (the federal government) need to back it up with supportive funding and capacity, which are both missing,” he said. “The...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Pakistan’s climate policies are a ‘joke’, says Imran KhanScientists look to mosquito data to map spread of disease
Posted by SciDevNet: None Given on July 7th, 2015
SciDevNet: Mosquitoes that carry the dengue and chikungunya viruses are more widespread than ever, believe scientists mapping the global spread of the insects.
There are no treatments or vaccines for these diseases, so knowing where the mosquitoes that transmit them occur and thrive can help focus research and public health resources, the scientists say.
A study, published in the journal eLife last week (30 June), focuses on two species of mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, which carry the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Scientists look to mosquito data to map spread of diseaseWinds of climate change blast farmers’ hopes of sustaining a livelihood in Burkina Faso
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 7th, 2015
Guardian: One afternoon towards the end of May a violent wind howled through Bogandé, the main town in Gnagna province, in eastern Burkina Faso. Raising a storm of dust and sand, it plunged the streets into semi-darkness, driving roaming goats crazy. In villages across Gnagna people connect these extreme climate events with deteriorating living standards. They explain how these increasingly frequent “red” winds wreak havoc, burying their crops in sand, destroying their homes, and spreading disease among their...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Winds of climate change blast farmers’ hopes of sustaining a livelihood in Burkina FasoIvory Coast weather conditions threaten next season’s cocoa
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 6th, 2015
Reuters: Heavy rain and overcast conditions in the past week threaten to damage the early flowering for next season's cocoa main crop in some of Ivory Coast's growing regions, farmers said on Monday.
The world's top cocoa producer is currently harvesting its April-to-September mid-crop, and arrivals reached 1,575,000 tonnes by July 5, down from 1,605,000 tonnes in the same period of the previous season.
The flowers for next season's cocoa are beginning to appear on trees and farmers are turning their...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Ivory Coast weather conditions threaten next season’s cocoaScorching UK summers to become commonplace, says study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 6th, 2015
Guardian: Scorching summers are likely to become common in the UK by the end of the century while winters turn wetter and less chilly, according to new research.
Met Office researchers carried out a new analysis of long-range climate projections for the UK based on 30 year averages. It reveals that the chances of very cold British winters or soggy summers dwindle as the world warms, but could still occur in individual years.
The lead scientist, Dr David Sexton, and head of scenarios development at the...
To encourage Californians to conserve, a tweak in wording can help
Posted by LA Times: Chris Megerian on July 6th, 2015
LA Times: Fighting California's drought is a bit like running a political campaign, complete with carefully calibrated messages crafted with polling data.
Even details like colors are used for maximum impact.
Officials at the state's Save Our Water conservation program recently tweaked their "brown is the new green" message, advising instead that residents let their lawns "fade to gold."
The shift was the result of polling funded by the Assn. of California Water Agencies, which surveyed 800 voters...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on To encourage Californians to conserve, a tweak in wording can help