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Archive for October 13th, 2011
India and Pakistan at odds over shrinking Indus River
Posted by National Geographic: William Wheeler on October 13th, 2011
National Geographic: Nearly 30 percent of the world's cotton supply comes from India and Pakistan, much of that from the Indus River Valley. On average, about 737 billion gallons are withdrawn from the Indus River annually to grow cotton--enough to provide Delhi residents with household water for more than two years.
"Pakistan's entire economy is driven by the textile industry," said Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. "The problem with Pakistan's economy...
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Pakistan faces threat of water scarcity
Posted by Dawn: Amin Ahmed on October 13th, 2011
Dawn: The United Nations has placed Pakistan among the ‘water hotspots’ of Asia-Pacific region, saying that the country is facing major threats of increasing water scarcity, high water utilisation, deteriorating water quality and climate change risk. Changes in weather patterns across the world have increased occurrences and intensities of extreme events of rain, floods, droughts and cyclones, such as those afflicting Australia, China, Myanmar and Pakistan, according to the Statistical Yearbook for Asia...
Cloud seeding by trees could alter precipitation, climate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 13th, 2011
ScienceNews: Pollen grains from birch, pine and juniper -- those with the best ice fostering prowess -- show no similarity in surface shape, a feature scientists suspected might play a role in pollen's ability to seed clouds. Instead, new data indicate water-soluble surface chemicals are responsible.B.G. Pummer/Vienna Univ. of Tech.
Bees and their nectar-loving friends aren’t the only means of transportation for pollen. Water molecules grab some wind-strewn pollen types and whisk them up to the clouds, where...
Facing planetary enemy No. 1: Agriculture
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 13th, 2011
National Public Radio: For the past 200 years, ever since Thomas Malthus published his Essay on the Principle of Population, big thinkers have been wondering whether Earth-dwellers will eventually run out of food.
Today, a global group of scientists released a fresh look at the question. They add a different, environmental twist to it. Can we feed the world without destroying the environment?
It's a good question, because agriculture is probably the single most destructive thing that humans do to the earth.
Consider:...
Revisiting Population Growth: The Impact of Ecological Limits
Posted by Yale Environment 360: Robert Engelman on October 13th, 2011
Yale Environment 360: The hard part about predicting the future, someone once said, is that it hasn’t happened yet. So it’s a bit curious that so few experts question the received demographic wisdom that the Earth will be home to roughly 9 billion people in 2050 and a stable 10 billion at the century’s end. Demographers seem comfortable projecting that life expectancy will keep rising while birth rates drift steadily downward, until human numbers hold steady with 3 billion more people than are alive today.
What’s odd...
If big countries want to help Tuvalu, they must curb their CO2 emissions
Posted by Guardian: Redina Auina on October 13th, 2011
Guardian: Experts say the past 12 months have been the second driest since records began in Funafuti, the capital of Tuvalu, 78 years ago. No one is claiming climate change is solely to blame, but the line between normal climatic variation and what might be extremes resulting from accelerated climate change has undoubtedly become blurred. This is particularly true of the hydrological cycle, which is sensitive to even subtle variations in the global climate, often results in either too much water or, as in...
United Kingdom: Solar heating ‘can provide over half of households’ hot water’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 13th, 2011
Guardian: Solar heating systems can provide over half of households' hot water needs, according to the largest ever field trial of the green energy devices.
But the year-long study, undertaken at 88 homes by the Energy Saving Trust, also reveals that the solar water heating systems will save most owners just £55 a year despite costing between £3,000-5,000, prompting calls from green campaigners for clarity on government subsidies for them.
Residential payment levels under the government's £860m renewable...
Bangkok strengthens defenses as floods close in
Posted by Reuters: Panarat Thepgumpanat on October 13th, 2011
Reuters: Workers and soldiers raced to finish defensive walls around inner Bangkok on Thursday as floodwater that has covered about a third of Thailand threatened the capital.
At least 283 people have been killed around the country by heavy monsoon rain, floods and mudslides since late July and in the past week industrial zones north of Bangkok have been inundated, adding to the damage to the economy.
After a meeting with ministers, army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters that flood barriers in...
BP faces up to $45m in fines over Gulf oil spill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 13th, 2011
Guardian: BP and its partners on the doomed Deepwater Horizon oil rig face fines of up to $45m after receiving formal notice of a series of safety violations leading up to the Gulf of Mexico disaster.
In a first step of a long legal battle, the interior department said BP, rig operator Transocean and contractor Halliburton between them broke 15 rules governing offshore drilling ahead of the 20 April 2010 explosion.
Eleven workers were killed and 4.9m barrels of oil were pumped into the Gulf of Mexico...