Archive for October 2nd, 2011

Putting people to work: restoring our ecosystems, sequestering carbon

Mongabay: President Obama's sole focus of his September 8th speech to the United States Congress was job creation. He closed his speech by summoning an earlier time of promise: "President Kennedy once said, ' Our problems are man-made-therefore they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants.' These are difficult years for our country. But we are Americans. We are tougher than the times we live in, and we are bigger than our politics have been. So let's meet the moment. Let's get to work..." Inspiration...

Climate change blamed for storms, flooding, drought

Philippine Daily Inquirer: Officials have warned Filipinos to brace against the inconvenient truth of devastating storms, flooding and drought unless policies and projects are put in place to mitigate climate change. Undersecretary Graciano Yumul of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said that in the next 20 to 50 years, the Philippines would find “the dry seasons drier and the wet seasons wetter.” “With the climate change scenario, we will see more of this as a frequent reality,” Yumul said in an interview....

United Kingdom: Indian summers to become more frequent – though this one is about to end in rain

Telegraph: A study by the University of Nottingham in collaboration with the Met Office said that it was "very likely' heatwaves will become more frequent and hotter in future. In the South East of England this would mean sweltering summers and unseasonally hot autumns. Even the north of the country will experience warmer temperatures - though it is unlikely to be as hot as down south because of more unsettled weather patterns. The recent 86F (29.9C) spell, that broke the record for October, gives...

Making a Big Bet on the Future of Algae

New York Times: Just off a dirt road in northwest Austin stand hundreds of 12-foot-tall tubes filled with green liquid. Nearly 15,000 gallons of algae grow inside the tubes, which are housed in a massive structure called a shadehouse. Lab workers have to climb ladders to peek inside and tend to the tiny organisms. For decades, scientists have been trying to find ways to mass-produce algae as a viable source of fuel for vehicles. High costs and environmental factors have created insurmountable roadblocks. Now,...