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Archive for November, 2010
BP deep-cleaning Gulf beaches amid new worries
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 17th, 2010
Associated Press: What's typically a beautiful, quiet stretch of beach in the fall now resembles a construction site. Bulldozers and yellow dump trucks shake the ground; a giant sifting machine spits clean sand out one end, tar balls out another.
With its Macondo well dead and few visitors on the coast during the offseason, BP has launched its biggest push yet to deep-clean the tourist beaches that were coated with crude during the worst of the Gulf oil spill. Machines are digging down into the sand to remove buried...
Report: India faces major climate changes by 2030
Posted by Associated Press: Katy Daigle on November 17th, 2010
Associated Press: A new report says India could be 2 degrees Celsius (3.8 F) warmer than 1970s levels within 20 years - a change that would disrupt rain cycles and wreak havoc on the country's agriculture and freshwater supplies, experts said Wednesday.
More flooding, more drought and a spreading of malaria would occur, as the disease migrates northward into Kashmir and the Himalayas, according to the report by 220 Indian scientists and 120 research institutions.
The temperature rise, which could be even more...
Climate Change Could Mean Colder Winters
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 17th, 2010
redOrbit: According to a recent study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research, researchers suggest that climate change could be responsible for colder winters to come in the northern regions.
Vladimir Petoukhov, lead author of the study, said shrinking sea ice in the eastern Arctic has caused some regional warming of lower air levels and could possibly lead to anomalies in atmospheric airstreams, which may trigger an overall cooling of the northern continents.
“These anomalies could triple the...
Climate change set to cause migrant surge
Posted by CNN: Peter Wilkinson, on November 17th, 2010
CNN: The devastating effects of climate change and conflicts fought over ever-scarcer resources such as water could cause a surge in migration that experts fear the world is totally unprepared for. At least one billion people will be forced from their homes between now and 2050 by such forces, the international charity group Christian Aid predicted in a recent report. This forecast is backed up by a new report by British consultancy Maplecroft that says developing countries in Asia and Africa face the...
United States: Detroit’s urban farms could provide a majority of produce for local residents
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on November 17th, 2010
Science Centric: Transforming vacant urban lots into farms and community gardens could provide Detroit residents with a majority of their fruits and vegetables.
As city officials ponder proposals for urban farms, a Michigan State University study indicates that a combination of urban farms, community gardens, storage facilities and hoop houses - greenhouses used to extend the growing season - could supply local residents with more than 75 percent of their vegetables and more than 40 percent of their fruits.
The...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on United States: Detroit’s urban farms could provide a majority of produce for local residentsColder Winters Possible Due to Climate Change: Study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 17th, 2010
Reuter: Climate change could lead to colder winters in northern regions, according to a study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research on Tuesday.
Vladimir Petoukhov, lead author of the study, said a shrinking of sea ice in the eastern Arctic causes some regional warming of lower air levels and may lead to anomalies in atmospheric airstreams, triggering an overall cooling of the northern continents.
"These anomalies could triple the probability of cold winter extremes in Europe and northern...
Yemenis abandon farms, seek food security in city
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 16th, 2010
Reuters: As men and women pick corn and roll up the withered stalks in the fields of their tiny village near Sanaa, Humeid al-Masajidi says goodbye to a way of life his family will abandon forever.
"Starting next year there won't be any farmland here. This is the last time this land will be harvested. We've all sold the land," the 35-year-old farmer said, pointing to the fields around the village of Beit al-Masajidi, nestled beneath mountain peaks and dotted with scraggy sheep.
Yemen is grappling with...
Cockermouth, a year on from the floods
Posted by Guardian: Matthew Connolly on November 16th, 2010
Guardian: Society Communities Cockermouth, a year on from the floods
It is one year since floods devastated the Cumbrian town of Cockermouth. How has the community coped with the aftermath?
Cumbria's the wettest place in England. It's a standing joke, the rain. At least it was. It lashed the county so hard between 18 and 20 November 2009 that bridges collapsed and more than 1,300 homes were flooded. Thousands of people were evacuated, a policeman was swept to his death, and, in Cockermouth, water levels...
Innovative biodiesel plant set for northern Alberta
Posted by Edmonton Journal: Dave Cooper on November 16th, 2010
Edmonton Journal: Northern Alberta is likely to be the site of an innovative plant which will turn non-food-grade canola, and an easy to grow plant called pennycress, into high quality biodiesel.
Alberta’s new green fuel standards call for all diesel sold in the province to contain two per cent biodiesel by next year. But Alberta, which doesn’t produce any that is suitable for cold weather, will have to import the product.
And across the country, only 10 per cent of the demand will be filled by current Canadian...
Colombia: New frogs found in hunt for old
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 16th, 2010
BBC: A search for frogs believed to be extinct has instead led scientists to discover some new ones.
Three species hitherto unknown to science have been found in Colombia.
They include a poison-secreting rocket frog and two toads. All three are tiny and tend to be most active in daytime, which is unusual for amphibians.
However, the same expedition to Colombia failed to find the species it was hoping to rediscover, the Mesopotamia beaked toad.
The disappointment provoked by that non-discovery...