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Archive for February, 2016
Which Species Will Survive Climate Change?
Posted by Conversation: Regan Early on February 17th, 2016
Conversation: It’s mid-February and along Britain’s south coast gilt-head bream are drifting from the open sea into the estuaries. Meanwhile, thousands of little egrets are preparing to fly to continental Europe for breeding season, though a few hundred will remain in the UK.The Conversation
Across northern Europe, young wasp spiders will soon scamper out of their silky egg sacs. And this summer, countryside visitors throughout the south of England will catch sight of iridescent blue flashes as small red-eyed...
Better Water Use Can Cut Global Food Gap
Posted by Climate News Network: Paul Brown on February 17th, 2016
Climate News Network: Although growing human numbers, climate change and other crises threaten the world‘s ability to feed itself, researchers believe that if we used water more sensibly that would go a long way towards closing the global food gap.
Politicians and experts have simply underestimated what better water use can do to save millions of people from starvation, they say.
For the first time, scientists have assessed the global potential for growing more food with the same amount of water. They found that...
Nestlé Pumps Millions of Gallons for Free While Flint Residents Pays for Poisoned Water
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on February 17th, 2016
EcoWatch: As Flint residents are forced to drink, cook with and even bathe in bottled water, while still paying some of the highest water bills in the county for their poisoned water, we turn to a little-known story about the bottled water industry in Michigan. In 2001 and 2002, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality issued permits to Nestlé, the largest water bottling company in the world, to pump up to 400 gallons of water per minute from aquifers that feed Lake Michigan. This sparked a decade-long...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Nestlé Pumps Millions of Gallons for Free While Flint Residents Pays for Poisoned WaterReintroduction of Beavers Can Be Beneficial to the Environment, According to Scottish Study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 17th, 2016
Yale Environment 360: The reintroduction of beavers to Scotland has proven beneficial to the environment, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Stirling. Beaver dams increased the retention of organic matter by as much as seven times, and the level of aquatic plant life by 20-fold, researchers said. They also found that the levels of pollutants from agricultural runoff were reduced, with concentrations of phosphorus halved, and nitrate levels lowered by more than 40 percent. “Their dam building...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Reintroduction of Beavers Can Be Beneficial to the Environment, According to Scottish StudyClimate activists and pipeline protesters turn to civil disobedience in the Northeast
Posted by Grist: Ben Adler on February 17th, 2016
Grist: Nine climate activists are facing charges in New York state for an act of civil disobedience. One day in November, they blocked the entrance to a parking lot in Montrose, N.Y., where work is being done on a major natural gas pipeline expansion, the Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) Project. Now they plan to defend themselves in court on the grounds that their actions were necessary to protect humanity from climate disruption. Consider it a form of self-defense.
The Montrose 9, as they’re calling...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate activists and pipeline protesters turn to civil disobedience in the NortheastLawsuit Filed Over Oklahoma’s ‘Fracking’ Earthquakes as Its Third Largest Quake Is Felt in 7 Other States
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on February 17th, 2016
EcoWatch: The Sierra Club and the public interest law firm Public Justice have filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against three energy companies engaged in hydraulic fracturing, aka fracking, in Oklahoma.
The suit against New Dominion, Chesapeake Operating and Devon Energy Production Company alleges that wastewater from fracking and oil production have contributed to the state`s alarming spike in earthquake activity.
The lawsuit demands the companies, as a first step, to “reduce, immediately and substantially,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Lawsuit Filed Over Oklahoma’s ‘Fracking’ Earthquakes as Its Third Largest Quake Is Felt in 7 Other StatesThe heat goes on: Earth sets 9th straight monthly record
Posted by PhsOrg: Seth Borenstein on February 17th, 2016
PhsOrg: The January figures are in, and Earth's string of hottest-months-on-record has now reached nine in a row. But NASA said January stood out: The temperature was above normal by the highest margin of any month on record.
And January set another record: Arctic sea ice reached its lowest point for that ice-building winter month.
NASA said January 2016 was 2.03 degrees Fahrenheit (1.13 degrees Celsius) above normal. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which calculates temperatures...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on The heat goes on: Earth sets 9th straight monthly recordRadioactive Leak at Indian Point Nuclear Plant Shows ‘We Are Flirting With Catastrophe’
Posted by EcoWatch: Cole Mellino on February 17th, 2016
EcoWatch: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has called for Indian Point nuclear power plant to be shut down after officials discovered that a radioactive material known as tritium was leaking into the groundwater.
New York: Radiation Spikes 65,000% at #IndianPoint Nuclear Plant After Leak https://t.co/YRkULEyraO pic.twitter.com/ghACoq0UiA
-- Democracy Now! (@democracynow) February 9, 2016
On Feb. 6, Cuomo ordered an investigation into the leak after Entergy, the company that operates the plant, reported...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Radioactive Leak at Indian Point Nuclear Plant Shows ‘We Are Flirting With Catastrophe’Palestine to submit UN climate pledge mid-year
Posted by Climate Home: None Given on February 17th, 2016
Climate Home: Palestine aims to submit a climate plan to the UN by the middle of the year, its lead envoy has told Climate Home.
The state becomes a full party to the UN climate body in March, having been previously confined to an observer role.
It is gearing up to contribute to the global warming agreement struck in Paris last December, said representative Nedal Katbeh-Bader. “We have a clear vision.”
Nearly 190 countries have entered pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions and manage climate impacts....
Can climate change cause wars?
Posted by Grist: Clayton Aldern on February 17th, 2016
Grist: For decades, psychologists have studied the links between temperature and aggression. Whatever the mechanism, it seems to be the case that with spikes in heat come spikes in violence. How can we understand this effect, and what might it mean for the risk of larger scale conflicts like war? Check out the video above. After all, we’re living in a warming world.