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Archive for January 13th, 2011
How can we feed 9 billion?
Posted by Telegraph: Clive Aslet on January 13th, 2011
Telegraph: Some friends had a memorable Christmas. They spent it with family in Belfast, where water could only be obtained by melting the snowman. Providentially they and the children had made a large one and it kept them going for two days, until the water supply returned.
They were of course infinitely better off than my relations in Brisbane, of whom I still anxiously await word. Both cases, however, illustrate how easily the life we all take for granted can be turned upside down. True, Queensland has...
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Climate change is a much closer reality in India now
Posted by Deccan Herald: Rajesh Deol on January 13th, 2011
Deccan Herald: Climate change projections for India have now been brought closer to foreseeable reality from the realm of an unfathomable future.
For the first time, a comprehensive assessment on what climate change would manifest in over the next two decades -- by 2030 -- has been made available to the country as compared to earlier scenarios that projected climate change far beyond 2050s.
Higher temperatures, heavier precipitation, rise in sea levels and adverse impacts on agriculture productivity and human...
GasLand – review
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 13th, 2011
Guardian: 1. GasLand 2. Production year: 2010 3. Country: USA 4. Runtime: 107 mins 5. Directors: Josh Fox 6. More on this film It hardly seems possible that former US vice-president Dick Cheney could be made to seem any more of a villain that he already is. But documentary-maker Josh Fox manages it with his film GasLand, executive-produced by Debra Winger. It is a grim study of how the current new push to drill for natural gas in the United States – to avoid what one legislator calls "being...
Climate Changes Linked to Fall of Roman Empire
Posted by Discovery News: Emily Sohn on January 13th, 2011
Discovery News: A prolonged period of wet weather spurred the spread of the Bubonic plague in medieval times, according to a new study. And a 300-year spell of unpredictable weather coincided with the decline of the Roman Empire.
Climate change wasn't necessarily the cause of these and other major historical events, researchers say. But the study, which pieced together a year-by-year history of temperature and precipitation in Western Europe, dating back 2,500 years, offers the most detailed picture yet of how...
Australia’s floods a glimpse of warmer future
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 13th, 2011
Associated Press: Though you can't make a direct link between Australia's killer floods and climate change, they do hold a warning for the future: Scientists predict such extreme weather events will increase both in intensity and frequency as the planet warms.
Raging floodwaters have swamped thousands of homes and businesses in Queensland, leaving at least 25 people dead and dozens more missing since late November. Rail lines and highways have been washed away in what is shaping up to become Australia's costliest...
Flooded Brisbane ‘like a war zone’
Posted by Associated Press: Karl Ritter on January 13th, 2011
Associated Press: The devastating floods that have killed at least 19 people in Queensland have left parts of Brisbane looking "like a war zone" that will require years of expensive reconstruction, the state premier has said.
Although the waters that have pummelled Australia's third-largest city this week peaked below the disastrous levels predicted, the torrent has flooded 12,000 homes in the city and left 118,000 buildings without power.
Officials have warned there could be further severe flooding in the coming...