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Archive for January, 2011
Yellowstone Has Bulged as Magma Pocket Swells
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 19th, 2011
National Geographic: to a centimeter a year or less. Still, since the start of the swelling, ground levels over the volcano have been raised by as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) in places. "It's an extraordinary uplift, because it covers such a large area and the rates are so high," said the University of Utah's Bob Smith, a longtime expert in Yellowstone's volcanism. Scientists think a swelling magma reservoir four to six miles (seven to ten kilometers) below the surface is driving the uplift. Fortunately, the...
Loss of reflectivity in the Arctic doubles estimate of climate models
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on January 19th, 2011
Science Centric: A new analysis of the Northern Hemisphere's 'albedo feedback' over a 30-year period concludes that the region's loss of reflectivity due to snow and sea ice decline is more than double what state-of-the-art climate models estimate.
The findings are important, researchers say, because they suggest that Arctic warming amplified by the loss of reflectivity could be even more significant than previously thought.
The study was published online this week in Nature Geoscience. It was funded primarily...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Loss of reflectivity in the Arctic doubles estimate of climate modelsShrinking snow and ice cover intensify global warming
Posted by Science Centric: None Given on January 19th, 2011
Science Centric: The decreases in Earth's snow and ice cover over the past 30 years have exacerbated global warming more than models predict they should have, on average, new research from the University of Michigan shows.
To conduct this study, Mark Flanner, assistant professor in the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, analysed satellite data showing snow and ice during the past three decades in the Northern Hemisphere, which holds the majority of the planet's frozen surface area. The research...
Report Questions Role of Shale Gas as Bridge to Low Carbon Future
Posted by Reuters: Stacy Feldman on January 19th, 2011
Reuters: Without a global carbon price, the expanding shale gas boom would exacerbate climate change and take money away from renewable energy projects, a new report said, calling for a worldwide pause until countries take steps necessary to lower the risks of the new wave of drilling. The report from the well-respected Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Manchester is one of the the first to try to measure the global warming implications of the shale gas drilling bonanza. The...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Report Questions Role of Shale Gas as Bridge to Low Carbon Future‘By 2020, world to be 2.4 degree C hotter, India to be hit the hardest’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 19th, 2011
Press Trust of India: The Earth will be 2.4 degree celsius warmer by 2020 if the world continues with the business-as-usual approach to climate change and India would be one of the hardest hit countries witnessing upto 30% reduction in crop yields, a new study has claimed.
The rising temperatures will adversely affect the world's food production and India would be the hardest hit, according to the analysis by the Universal Ecological Fund.
The report titled "The Food Gap "” The Impacts of Climate Change on Food...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on ‘By 2020, world to be 2.4 degree C hotter, India to be hit the hardest’Record Food Prices Causing Africa Riots Stoking U.S
Posted by Bloomberg: Alan Bjerga and Tony Dreibus on January 19th, 2011
Bloomberg: The same record food prices causing riots in Algeria and export bans in India are allowing President Barack Obama to combine the biggest-ever U.S. farm exports with the tamest inflation since the 1960s.
Global food costs jumped 25 percent last year to an all- time high in December, according to the United Nations. Countries probably spent at least $1 trillion on imports, with the poorest paying as much as 20 percent more than in 2009, the UN says. In the U.S., the largest exporter, retail food...
Climate change could raise food prices but also boost Canadian production: Report
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 18th, 2011
Postmedia News: Climate change could cause food prices to rise by 20 per cent by the end of the decade, and even lead to some popular items disappearing from grocery store shelves, says a new report to be released on Wednesday.
The study, released by the U.S.-based Universal Ecological Fund, predicts that -- if nothing is done to arrest or adapt to climate change -- global shifts in agriculture and demand will result in an increase of up to 10 per cent in Canadian production of wheat, corn and soybean. But the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change could raise food prices but also boost Canadian production: ReportJudge Allows Mountaintop-Removal Lawsuit to Proceed
Posted by Greenwire: Gabriel Nelson on January 18th, 2011
Greenwire: Mining companies can proceed with their challenge to U.S. EPA's new policies on mountaintop-removal coal mining, a federal judge has ruled in a preliminary decision that says EPA may have exceeded its legal authority.
It appears EPA changed the permitting process for coal mines without following the usual procedural steps, says the ruling (pdf), which was issued Friday by Judge Reggie Walton of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The National Mining Association (NMA) and other...
Dire Harvest: Climate Report Warns of Food Gap
Posted by LiveScience: Wynne Parry on January 18th, 2011
LiveScience: If emissions of greenhouse gases continue to increase unchecked, they could push the Earth's surface temperature up by at least 4.3 degrees Fahrenheit (2.4 degrees Celsius) by 2020, and have devastating ramifications for global food production in a more crowded world, according to a new report.
By the end of the next decade the global population is projected to increase by about 900 million. Meanwhile, the report projects a 14 percent gap between production and demand for wheat, meaning demand...
Experts predict climb in grizzly conflicts
Posted by Reuters: Laura Zuckerman on January 18th, 2011
Reuters: Conflicts between people and grizzlies in the Yellowstone National Park region are likely to rise this year as more bears try to recolonize areas now inhabited by people, wildlife managers said on Tuesday.
The news comes as federal and state agencies gather beginning on Wednesday in Montana to craft measures they hope will reduce the number of grizzlies they must kill in 2011 for threatening people and livestock.
Problems between Yellowstone area grizzlies and people reached unprecedented levels...