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Archive for February, 2010
Farmers’ changes bypass climate debate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 26th, 2010
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Many Australian farmers are accepting the variable nature of the weather and adapting their practices to deal with climate change, rather than getting caught up in the political debate on whether that change is natural or man-made. Farmers say the lack of water and unpredictable weather patterns over the last decade have already forced them to make major changes to their operations, a case of adapt or perish. Victorian dairy farmer Brendan Martin told ABC's Landline his ...
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Only crisis will convince climate deniers, audience told
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 26th, 2010
Lethbridge Herald: Crop failures and famine may ultimately convince people who still deny the world's climate is changing. But even then, a Lethbridge audience was warned Thursday, some leaders may refuse to act. But the longer politicians and the energy industry try to postpone real change, the higher the price to be paid by Canada's next generations. Students and experts at the University of Lethbridge debated "tipping points' during a mid-day forum, as part of the "Peak Week' examination of ...
Ireland: Rising temperatures bring threat of malaria deaths
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 26th, 2010
Independent: IRELAND can expect a rise in water- and food-borne deaths, particularly among the elderly, because of climate change. Nobel laureate John Sweeney, who is also a professor of geography at NUI Maynooth, told a conference yesterday that, as temperatures climbed, the number of people dying in the winter would fall -- but the numbers were likely to increase during summer, particularly in cities. Speaking at the Impact of Climate Change on Health conference in Dublin yesterday, Prof ...
Coffee hit by global warming say growers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 26th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: Coffee producers say they are getting hammered by global warming, with higher temperatures forcing growers to move to prized higher ground, putting the cash crop at risk. "There is already evidence of important changes" said Nestor Osorio, head of the International Coffee Organization (ICO), which represents 77 countries that export or import the beans. "In the last 25 years the temperature has risen half a degree in coffee producing countries, five times more than in the 25 ...
Italian oil slick reaches key farm center of Parma
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 25th, 2010
Associated Press: Sludge from an oil spill snaked down the Po River on Thursday to reach the province of Parma, raising fears that the home of Italy's famed prosciutto, parmesan cheese and other agricultural staples might be at risk of water contamination. Italian farm lobby Coldiretti insisted Italy's food chain was safe since the Po is not being used for irrigation these days. But another group of farm owners, Confagricultura, warned that the spring planting season -- particularly for water-intensive ...
Idea of restoring ‘natural systems’ misses mark as response to climate change challenges, expert argue
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 25th, 2010
ScienceDaily: The adage says that to discover the right solutions to a problem you first have to ask the right questions. As Arizona State University engineering professor Brad Allenby sees it, our search for technological solutions to large-scale environmental problems sometimes gets off on the wrong track largely because we're posing the wrong questions. Particularly in the debates about how to respond to atmospheric greenhouse gas buildup, climate change and humankind's impact on the ...
Ten things you can do to shrink your carbon footprint
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 25th, 2010
The Nation: Most environmentalists agree that government, with its power to regulate, is critical in finding and enforcing solutions to global warming. But consumers represent 70 percent of US economic activity--indeed, the average American's carbon footprint is twenty metric tons, five times the global average. Individuals can be a powerful engine for change by demanding green products and reducing consumption of fossil fuels. This can make you healthier and save you money too, says Mindy Pennybacker, ...
EPA Will Need Increased Climate Funding as Regs Ramp Up, Jackson Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 25th, 2010
New York Times: U.S. EPA will need increased funding for climate programs in future years as the agency moves forward on efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, Administrator Lisa Jackson said yesterday. "I would expect that the needs would continue to grow as we move into a world -- either through legislation, hopefully through legislation, but possibly also with regulation -- of increasing activity on climate change," Jackson told the House Interior and Environment Appropriations ...
Italy’s longest river at risk after ‘sabotage’ at oil depot
Posted by Water Conserve: Water Conservation RSS Newsfeed on February 25th, 2010
Independent (UK): Italian officials warned of an ecological disaster as they scrambled to contain an oil spill that reached the the Po river yesterday. Milan regional officials said the cause was certainly sabotage at a former refinery turned oil depot on the tributary Lambro river. While no arrests have been made, Italian news reports have noted that the depot owner had laid off several workers in recent months. There were varying accounts of the amount of oil released: officials in Milan said ...
Report: Contamination from coal ash waste is worse than EPA says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 24th, 2010
Christian Science Monitor: Coal ash waste contamination nationwide is far worse than indicated by a new Environmental Protection Agency tally, with dozens more ash-waste ponds and landfills also leaching toxins into streams and drinking water, a new study finds. At least 31 "new damage cases" not listed by the EPA in its end-of-the-year tally of 70 coal-ash pollution sites are identified and their pollution profiled in a report released Wednesday by the Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice ...