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Archive for April 20th, 2010
Japan: Scientists plan algae ‘alchemy’ to turn paddies into oil fields
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 20th, 2010
Bloomberg: As Japan's rice fields turn fallow and its farming communities decline, a new army of workers is preparing to make the countryside fertile again. This time the crop is motor fuel and the laborers are microscopic algae. At least 75 developers globally are studying algae, which has the potential to generate more energy per hectare than any other crop used for making fuel, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The technology has attracted the U.S. Department of Energy and big oil ...
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Calculating Water Use, Direct and Indirect
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 20th, 2010
New York Times: Your household water meter only tells part of the story -- what was directly used for washing, cooking and other tasks. But what about the water that was used to grow the food you ate for dinner? Or to manufacture the book you bought or the gasoline your car burned? Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have estimated this kind of direct and indirect water use -- not for households, but for American industries. Their goal was to create a tool for better assessing the impact on ...
Frogspawn study revels climate change dangers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 20th, 2010
Press Association: A study of thousands of records of when UK frogs spawn revealed the amphibians are closely adapted to local conditions - which could put them at risk as the climate changes. More than 50,000 records of frogspawn, including contributions from the public and BBC Springwatch viewers, were used to see how common frogs responded to temperature across different parts of the UK. Frogs spawn earlier in warmer years, which provides a longer period for tadpoles to develop, potentially ...
Obama causes contrast with Bush-era policies on climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 20th, 2010
Gannett: For eight years, environmentalists cried foul as President George W. Bush used executive power to weaken air and water regulations, open public lands to increased oil drilling and block action to fight climate change. Now, President Barack Obama is using the same authority to reverse course. "Under the Bush administration, it was good news for polluters, bad news for the public," said Anna Aurilio of Environment America. "Under the Obama administration, it is good news for ...
Spring comes 10 days earlier in changed US climate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 20th, 2010
Reuters: Spring comes about 10 days earlier in the United States than it did two decades ago, a consequence of climate change that favors invasive species over indigenous ones, scientists said on Tuesday. The phenomenon known as "spring creep" has put various species of U.S. wildlife out of balance with their traditional habitats, from the rabbit-like American pika in the West to the roses and lilies in New England, the environmental experts said in a telephone news briefing. "The ...
Hong Kong’s rising conservationists fight to save pink dolphins
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 20th, 2010
Christian Science Monitor: The triangle of busy, brackish water that separates Hong Kong from the industrial belt of southern China seems an unlikely place to look for rare wildlife. But every week conservationist Janet Walker brings tourists out among the tall ships and container terminals, the refineries and one of the world's busiest airports, to get a glimpse of some unique creatures: bubblegum-pink dolphins. Few in Hong Kong knew of their existence here till the early 1990s when the government started ...
India: Irrigation interfering with monsoons, says study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 20th, 2010
SciDev.Net: Agricultural intensification and irrigation may decrease the Indian monsoon rains over the long term, a Purdue University and Indian Space Research Organisation study has found -- suggesting regional land surface feedbacks play an important role in climate change. The study analysed Indian Meteorological Department rainfall data of more than 50 years and tracked land use change using satellite imagery. Using a set of statistical tools, the researchers attempted to co-relate and then ...