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Archive for December 4th, 2010
United States: Raise a glass – while it’s still full – to Portland’s abundant water, law professor says
Posted by Oregonian: Eric Mortenson on December 4th, 2010
Oregonian: Given western Oregon's infamous rain and big rivers, we may take water for granted.
"We do so at our peril," said Janet Neuman, a Lewis & Clark College law professor and expert on water rights.
Share Tweet 7 Comments Speaking Friday at the Portland City Club's weekly public affairs forum, Neuman said there's much to consider when we absent-mindedly fill the glass, flush the toilet and water the roses.
An increasing population and specialized high-tech industries demand more water,...
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Heavier crudes, heavier footprints
Posted by ScienceNews: None Given on December 4th, 2010
ScienceNews: Relying on heavy oils and tar sands as the feedstock for liquid fuels will exaggerate the greenhouse-gas emissions associated with fossil-fuel use, a new study finds.
Light crudes are the easiest to work with. But as their biggest and most accessible reservoirs have been tapped -- and often tapped out -- the oil industry has increasingly been turning to what has been termed “unconventional” stocks. These are viscous, if not tarry, forms of petroleum. And as the upper graph below shows, the average...
American west’s forests face troubling carbon trend
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 4th, 2010
AFP: Crippled by drought, scorched by wildfires and dying from beetle infestations, forests in the American west are struggling and in some states they now exude more carbon than they absorb, experts say.
In an attempt to uncover what the future holds for these ancient pine forests, scientists are studying how trees recover and regrow, and what forest managers can do to help them respond to the modern stresses of climate change.
"These systems are changing, kind of underneath us. It is slower than...
‘A million climate change deaths each year’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 4th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: By 2030 climate change will cause nearly one million deaths a year, according to estimates / supplied Source: The Daily Telegraph
BY 2030, climate change will indirectly cause nearly one million deaths a year and inflict $US157 billion ($161.21 billion) in damage in terms of today's economy, according to estimates presented at UN talks.
The biggest misery will be heaped on more than 50 of the world's poorest countries, but the United States will pay the highest economic bill, it said.
"In...
Earth’s gravest challenge: Not enough food to go round
Posted by New Zealand Herald: Greg Ansley on December 4th, 2010
New Zealand Herald: As negotiators sat down this week for another hard round of bargaining at the climate change summit in Cancun, Mexico, new warnings emerged of potential catastrophe ahead. Researchers reported in Science magazine that almost every part of the world's oceans have been damaged by human activity, magnified by a significant rise in water temperatures and predicted more would come. Another study, by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, warned of a potential mass extinction as the number...