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Archive for August 3rd, 2011
Plant Biologists Dissect Genetic Mechanism Enabling Plants To Overcome Environmental Challenge
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 3rd, 2011
redOrbit: When an animal gets too hot or too cold, or feels pangs of hunger or thirst, it tends to relocate – to where it’s cooler or hotter, or to the nearest place where food or water can be found. But what about vegetative life? What can a plant do under similar circumstances?
Plants can’t change the climate and they can’t uproot themselves to move to a more favorable spot. Yet they do respond successfully to changes in environmental conditions in diverse ways, many of which involve modifications of...
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Climate Change an Extra Burden for Native Americans, Study Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 3rd, 2011
New York Times: Because tribal lands are particularly prone to drought, flooding, wildfires and other weather extremes, American Indian tribes suffer disproportionately from the impacts of climate change, a new study from the National Wildlife Federation and other groups reported Wednesday.
American Indians and Alaska natives are more dependent than most other Americans on natural resources and on the bounty of oceans and rivers and thus are particularly at risk from the effects of a warming planet, according...
Protected areas not enough to save life on Earth
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 3rd, 2011
Mongabay: Since the creation of Yellowstone National Park in 1872 protected areas have spread across the world. Today, over 100,000 protected areas-national parks, wildlife refuges, game reserves, marine protected areas (MPAs), wildlife sanctuaries, etc.-cover some 7.3 million square miles (19 million kilometers), mostly on land, though conservation areas in the oceans are spreading. While there are a number of reasons behind the establishment of protected areas, one of the most important is the conservation...
Parasite Creating Deformed Frogs in Western U.S
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 3rd, 2011
National Geographic: Amphibians with "sick and twisted" deformities continue to be widespread in the western United States, new research says. ee more pictures of the deformed frogs.)
A flatworm parasite called Ribeiroia ondatrae infects several species of frogs just as they're developing their limbs, causing an assortment of defects such as no legs or even multiple legs that jut out at weird angles from the frogs' bodies scientists say.
The deformed frogs are often unable to move and either die or quickly get...
The Global Food Crisis, Mapped
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 3rd, 2011
New York Times: Oxfam, the anti-hunger group, has been running a campaign to call attention to the global food crisis, its consequences and its potential solutions. The Times outlined the challenge of future food security on a warming planet in this article several weeks ago, and this week my colleague Jeffrey Gettleman described the appalling famine unfolding in Somalia. The Somalia situation has a drought component, although the causes of the suffering seem to be primarily political. The people at Oxfam just...
As Famine Rises, So Do Political Hurdles
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 3rd, 2011
National Public Radio: During East Africa's worst drought in 60 years, tens of thousands have already died and millions urgently need food. The United Nations is warning that the crisis will worsen if aid is not increased. Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai says government systems have severely lagged in helping locals and solving environmental problems. She tells host Michel Martin what else should be done to bring relief to the region.
Canada: New Method Makes Tar Sands Removal Cheaper and Cleaner, Group Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 3rd, 2011
Yale Environment 360: A Canadian consortium says it has developed technology that could double the amount of oil that can be extracted from Alberta’s abundant tar sands and cut greenhouse gas emissions associated with the
Exploiting North America’s largest oil deposit has destroyed vast stretches of Canadian forest. Now opponents are battling the Keystone XL pipeline, which would pass through environmentally sensitive lands as it moves the oil to market.
Existing technologies to extract and process the sludgy bituminous...
Experts: La Niña, Climate Change Impact East African Drought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 3rd, 2011
Voice of America: More than 11 million people in the Horn of Africa are confronting the worst drought in decades.
Experts say the Pacific ocean phenomenon known as La Niña is partly to blame for the drought ravaging the Horn of Africa.
But while the latest La Niña episode has ended, climate scientists are concerned about what the next few months will bring and the intensifying effects of a changing global climate.
La Niña begins when eastern Pacific waters near the equator turn cooler than normal. A cascade...
Record Heat Unlikely to Cool Climate Change Debate
Posted by LiveScience.com: Stephanie Pappas on August 3rd, 2011
LiveScience.com: If this summer's record-breaking heat has you gulping iced tea while bemoaning the evils of climate change, you're probably not alone. But climate communications experts suggest that any extra interest in global warming triggered by the heat wave will be gone by the first winter snow.
July brought oppressive heat to much of the country, with all 50 states setting high temperature records. Climate scientists say that such heat waves will be the norm in the future if climate change continues unabated,...
Q&A: Preparedness key as climate shifts threaten more drought
Posted by AlertNet: Laurie Goering on August 3rd, 2011
AlertNet: The race by U.N. and aid agencies to respond to worsening drought and hunger in the Horn of Africa suggests how far the world still has to go to put in place effective measures to prevent droughts turning into disasters.
Finding solutions is particularly urgent as climate change brings more extreme and unpredictable weather, including more "slow-onset' disasters like droughts, warns Luc Gnacadja, executive director of the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification, a sister convention to the U.N....