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Archive for September, 2015
Singapore’s Impressive Food Security
Posted by Diplomat: None Given on September 6th, 2015
Diplomat: In many parts of the world, food security is emerging as a serious threat. Increasing population, land and water constraints, changes in dietary habits with increasing affluence, the impact on global food production of floods and droughts in major food producing areas, falling food exports, and a rising number of importing countries – all are contributing to these uncertainties. The problem is likely to be compounded in the future by climate change. In the years to come, food security in most countries...
Maya Permanently Altered Environment to Respond to Climate Change, Study Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 4th, 2015
Yale Environment 360: Mayan activity more than 2,000 years ago contributed to the decline of Central America's tropical lowlands and continues to influence the land and environment today, say researchers at the University of Texas at Austin. Evidence shows that during the "Mayacene" — a period from 3,000 to 1,000 years ago when humans began greatly affecting the environment — the Maya's advanced urban and rural infrastructure altered tropical forest ecosystems. Clay and soil sequences indicate erosion and land-use changes,...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Maya Permanently Altered Environment to Respond to Climate Change, Study SaysMarine Waste: Cleanser Release 100,000 Micro-Beads
Posted by Nature World News: None Given on September 3rd, 2015
Nature World News: We've heard about plastic "microbeads" from cosmetics and pastes getting into streams and the ocean. In June 2014, Illinois became the first state to begin the process of banning the tiny beads, and some legislators are asking for a federal ban in the U.S. Other countries are discussing the beads too, as a recent study by researchers at the U.K.'s Plymouth University shows. That study found that a single use of a bead-containing product--which include hand cleansers, soaps, toothpaste, shaving cream,...
Study: Overlapping Droughts, Heat Waves Are Increasingly Common
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 3rd, 2015
Christian Science Monitor: Across much of the United States, regional droughts and heatwaves are appearing simultaneously more frequently, imposing more-extreme conditions than either would deliver separately, according to a new study. California's four-year drought is a case in point, says Amir AghaKouchak, a civil engineer at the University of California at Irvine and the new study's senior author. Looking only at 2014 and using precipitation as the indicator, "it is a serious drought, but it is not that extreme," he says....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Study: Overlapping Droughts, Heat Waves Are Increasingly CommonBill Nye Depressed by Tar Sands’ ‘Extraordinary Exploitation’ of Environment
Posted by EcoWatch: Lorraine Chow on September 3rd, 2015
EcoWatch: Bill Nye recently took a trip north to the Alberta tar sands while filming his new science documentary and he did not mince words about the state of Canada`s crude oil reservoir.
Thank you @BillNye & National Geographic for coming to see the #tarsands & its impacts and talk about #climatechange pic.twitter.com/2jjuzabsAm
-- Melina LM (@Melina_MLM) September 2, 2015
“Producing all this oil that’s producing all this carbon dioxide, that’s not good from a global stand point,” the children`s...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Bill Nye Depressed by Tar Sands’ ‘Extraordinary Exploitation’ of EnvironmentWatch Western Wildfires Burn After Years Drought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 3rd, 2015
National Geographic: Visiting Alaska on Tuesday to highlight the dangers of climate change, President Barack Obama summoned up powerful images of the hundreds of wildfires that have burned across the state this summer: "More than five million acres in Alaska have already been scorched by fire this year-that's an area about the size of Massachusetts."
The Alaska megafires have helped make this an unprecedented wildfire season. Fires raging across the American West have set records for size and property damage, badly...
Earth has 3 trillion trees. But is that enough?
Posted by Monitor: Annika Fredrikson on September 3rd, 2015
Monitor: When faced with deforestation statistics that seem daunting, the fact that there are 422 trees per person on Earth sounds a bit more reassuring. But is it?
On Wednesday, researchers published the most comprehensive assessment of global tree populations ever conducted, revealing findings that blew previous estimates out of the water. Prior to the Yale-led study, Earth was believed to be home to 400 billion trees, but the new estimate is nearly eight times higher – 3.04 trillion. Researchers arrived...
Droughts and Heat Waves Are Occurring Together
Posted by Clapway: Susan Xu on September 3rd, 2015
Clapway: Stories of extended droughts and heat waves have repeatedly been making news headlines. According to scientists, these climatic weather fluctuations are occurring much more frequently, further shedding light on the potentially devastating effects of climate change. To make matters even worse, a study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, now reports that these extremes are also more likely to occur together.
Droughts and Heat Waves: The Troublesome Duo
As...
Cities are finally treating water as a resource, not a nuisance
Posted by Ensia: None Given on September 2nd, 2015
Ensia: Memorial Day barbecues and parades were thwarted this year in Houston when a massive storm dumped more than 10 inches of rain in two days, creating a Waterworld of flooded freeways, cars, houses and businesses, leaving several people dead and hundreds in need of rescue.
But it was a predictable disaster. That’s because, thanks to a pro-development bent, the magnitude of stormwater runoff has increased dramatically as Houston has sprawled across 600 or so square miles of mud plain veined with rivers,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Cities are finally treating water as a resource, not a nuisanceA warmer North Pacific is staying warmer, with dramatic impact on marine life
Posted by InsideClimate: Naveena Sadasivam on September 2nd, 2015
InsideClimate: Warm sea temperatures are persisting in the North Pacific longer than at any other time on record, according to a new study published this week, and it is having a dramatic effect on distribution of marine life. In the last year and a half the northeastern part of the Pacific Ocean, between Hawaii and the mainland of North America, has been warmer than at any time since 1900, when such record-keeping began. Sea temperatures there are between 5 degrees to 9 degrees Fahrenheit higher than is typical...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on A warmer North Pacific is staying warmer, with dramatic impact on marine life