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Archive for February 24th, 2011
Brewers Pledge to Cut Water Use
Posted by Inter Press Service: Timothy Spence on February 24th, 2011
Inter Press Service: Beer manufacturers sell nearly 548 million litres of brew each day, but with every bottle, they are using many times that amount of water on a planet facing mounting resource challenges.
Mindful of the impact on fragile freshwater sources in an industry heavily dependent on water, brewers are pledging significant cuts in freshwater use as the demand for their products grows. They are also forging alliances with conservation groups and international organisations to urge other industries to follow...
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Climate change halves Peru glacier: official
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 24th, 2011
Independent: A glacier on Peru's Huaytapallana Moutain shed half its surface ice in just 23 years, officials said Wednesday, reinforcing concerns of climate change's growing threat to fresh water resources.
"Recent scientific studies indicate that between June 1983 and August 2006, the glacier has lost 50 percent of its surface ice," Erasmo Meza, manager of natural resources and the environment in the central Andean region of Junin, told the official Andina news agency.
He said the five square kilometers...
Australia’s coral reefs threatened by climate change
Posted by News.com.au: None Given on February 24th, 2011
News.com.au: Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea near the Great Barrier Reef. Picture: Lindsay Moller Source: The Australian
SHOCKING evidence has been released claiming that nearly all of Australia's coral reefs are at risk of being wiped out in less than two decades.
The report by the World Resources Institute claims that by 2030, 90 per cent of Australia's reefs will suffer from the overwhelming effects of climate change like warmer seas and acidification.
It also outlines the threat to the rest of the world's...
Parks key to saving India’s great mammals from extinction
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 24th, 2011
Mongabay: Parks key to saving India's great mammals from extinction
An interview with Krithi Karanth, a part of our Interviews with Young Scientists series.
Krithi Karanth grew up amid India's great mammals--literally. Daughter of conservationist and scientist Dr. Ullas Karanth, she tells mongabay.com that she saw her first wild tigers and leopard at the age of two. Yet, the India Krithi Karanth grew up in may be gone in a century, according to a massive new study by Karanth which looked at the likelihood...
Ancient Catastrophic Drought Leads to Question: How Severe Can Climate Change Become?
Posted by National Science Foundation: None Given on February 24th, 2011
National Science Foundation: How severe can climate change become in a warming world?
Worse than anything we've seen in written history, according to results of a study appearing this week in the journal Science.
An international team of scientists led by Curt Stager of Paul Smith's College, New York, has compiled four dozen paleoclimate records from sediment cores in Lake Tanganyika and other locations in Africa.
The records show that one of the most widespread and intense droughts of the last 50,000 years or more...
Toxic water ‘threatens SA city’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 24th, 2011
BBC: Rapidly rising acidic water in the abandoned gold mines under Johannesburg in South Africa could leak out early next year, the water ministry warns.
Its report recommends building pumps and monitoring stations immediately.
The toxic liquid has been building up in mine shafts which were dug more than a century ago and stretch for many kilometres under the city.
Trevor Manuel, a minister in the president's office, reassured residents that there was no cause for panic.
The BBC's Milton Nkosi...
Salazar: Colorado River issue could push conservatives to face climate change
Posted by Las Vegas Sun: None Given on February 24th, 2011
Las Vegas Sun: Could Western conservatives push the GOP toward adopting a more friendly stance on climate change?
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar certainly seems to think so.
In comments he delivered at a symposium hosted by the progressive Center for American Progress Thursday morning, Salazar said the worsening situation with the Colorado River -- where the water level has dropped about 20 percent in the last decade -- is serving as a powerful wake-up call to conservatives to do something about climate...
Mega-drought threat to US Southwest
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 24th, 2011
Nature: The Dust Bowl -- the seven-year drought that devastated large swathes of US prairie land in the 1930s -- was the worst prolonged environmental disaster recorded for the country. But a study of the American Southwest's more distant climatic past reveals that the catastrophic drought was a mere dry spell compared to the 'mega-droughts' that were recurring long before humans began to settle the continent.
The findings, reported in a paper in Nature1 this week, add to concerns that the already arid...