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Archive for November, 2010
Arid Israel recycles waste water on grand scale
Posted by Reuters: Ari Rabinovitch on November 14th, 2010
Reuters: Arid Israel recycles waste water on grand scale
* Israel is world leader in water recycling
* Water technologies a large export market
Thirty years ago, Israeli farmers faced a daunting choice -- find a new water source or go under. Their solution was waste water recycling. Now climate change is presenting other nations with a similar choice.
With increased interest worldwide, Israel is marketing its waste water reuse technologies and has developed a billion-dollar industry by sharing...
Arab world among most vulnerable to climate change
Posted by Reuters: Alistair Lyon, on November 14th, 2010
Reuters: Arab world among most vulnerable to climate change
* Governments urged to act to protect against disasters
* Middle East already short of water
Dust storms scour Iraq. Freak floods wreak havoc in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Rising sea levels erode Egypt's coast. Hotter, drier weather worsens water scarcity in the Middle East, already the world's most water-short region.
The Arab world is already suffering impacts consistent with climate change predictions. Although scientists are wary of...
Indiana nears billion gallon ethanol goal
Posted by Star Press: Seth Slabaugh on November 14th, 2010
Star Press: In the wake of Indiana's ethanol boom -- and then bust -- 13 plants are standing, a dozen of which are running or soon will be.
And when the 13th plant is re-started next spring, it will give the state more than 1 billion gallons of ethanol production annually. Nearly a third of that is coming out of East Central Indiana.
"One billion gallons was one of Gov. Mitch Daniels' (agricultural) strategic goals," said Christopher Hurt, an economist at Purdue University. "So this is a pretty remarkable...
Unilever unveils ambitious long term sustainability programme
Posted by Guardian: Julia Finch on November 14th, 2010
Guardian: Consumer goods group Unilever will today unveil an ambitious new sustainability plan that aims to double sales and halve the environmental impact of its products over the next 10 years.
The initiative will cover not just Unilever's greenhouse gas emissions, waste and water use – but the impact caused by its suppliers and consumers, from agricultural growers to the packaging and waste water produced by consumers of Unilever brands, which include Dove, Persil, Bertolli, Flora and PG Tips.
"More...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Unilever unveils ambitious long term sustainability programmeCocoa genome ‘to save chocolate’
Posted by BBC: Jason Palmer on November 14th, 2010
BBC: The public release of the genome of the cacao tree - from which chocolate is made - will save the chocolate industry from collapse, a scientist has said.
Howard Yana-Shapiro, a researcher for Mars, said that without engineering higher-yielding cacao trees, demand would outstrip supply within 50 years.
Dr Yana-Shapiro said such strains will also help biodiversity and farmers' welfare in cacao-growing regions.
The genome's availability will likely lead to healthier, tastier chocolate.
The...
Climate change threatens Lebanon’s snow, cedars
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 14th, 2010
Reuters: Lebanon's ski resorts have survived civil war but now face an insidious threat from climate change expected to cut snow cover by 40 percent by 2040.
The effects of global warming are still a low priority for conflict-prone Lebanon, where environmental neglect rules.
Skiers and the tourist businesses that depend on them hope this year's warm winter and brief season was not a harbinger of the future for the Arab world's only snow playgrounds.
Christian Rizk, 47, manager of the Mzaar ski resort...
Climate change poses threat to Middle East
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 14th, 2010
Reuters: Climate change poses a graver threat to the water-stressed Middle East than to many other parts of the world. [ID:nLDE6A6050]
Here are some facts about climate change in the Middle East:
* The region's emissions of greenhouse gases are less than 5 percent of the world's total. But emissions from the Middle East and North Africa surged 88 percent from 1990 to 2004, the third-largest rise in the world and more than three times the world average, with which they are now roughly in line.
* Per...
Greenland: As glaciers melt, scientists seek new data on rising seas
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 14th, 2010
New York Times: With a tense pilot gripping the stick, the helicopter hovered above the water, a red speck of machinery lost in a wilderness of rock and ice. To the right, a great fjord stretched toward the sea, choked with icebergs. To the left loomed one of the immense glaciers that bring ice from the top of the Greenland ice sheet and dump it into the ocean. Hanging out the sides of the craft, two scientists sent a measuring device plunging into the water, between ice floes. Near the bottom, it reported a temperature...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Greenland: As glaciers melt, scientists seek new data on rising seasArab world among most vulnerable to climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 14th, 2010
Reuters: Dust storms scour Iraq. Freak floods wreak havoc in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Rising sea levels erode Egypt's coast. Hotter, drier weather worsens water scarcity in the Middle East, already the world's most water-short region.
The Arab world is already suffering impacts consistent with climate change predictions. Although scientists are wary of linking specific events to global warming, they are urging Arab governments to act now to protect against potential disasters.
There are huge variations...
Climate change threatens wheat crop, farmers fear
Posted by Associated Press: Charles J. Hanley on November 14th, 2010
Associated Press: In these volcanic valleys of central Mexico, on the Canadian prairie, across India's northern plain, they sow and they reap the golden grain that has fed us since the distant dawn of farming. But along with the wheat these days comes a harvest of worry. Yields aren't keeping up with a world growing hungrier. Crops are stunted in a world grown warmer. A devastating fungus, a wheat "rust," is spreading out of Africa, a grave threat to the food plant that covers more of the planet's surface than any...