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Archive for January 28th, 2012
Climate Insurance to Protect Our Food Supply?
Posted by Common Dreams: Julia Olmstead on January 28th, 2012
Common Dreams: I feel uneasy sleeping in a house without functioning smoke detectors. I lock my doors at night. I salt my sidewalk when it's icy. I always wear my seatbelt. Like most people, I prefer to minimize my chances of getting hurt or wrecking my car or house, despite the fact that my house, my car, and my health are all (thankfully) insured.
When it comes to agriculture and climate change, I'd like to see our nation take the same approach. Even though most farmers have crop insurance, we should make...
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United States: A flaky winter in Yosemite
Posted by LA Times: Diana Marcum on January 28th, 2012
LA Times: Reporting from Yosemite National Park -- Winter in the high country is usually a season of icy quiet. Birds leave, bears hibernate, and only a few hardy people on skis or snowshoes pass through en route to snow-covered granite domes.
But Christmas and New Year's Day came and went, then Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, and still only auburn pine needles covered the ground. Chattering squirrels, normally tucked away in their winter nests, perched on top of "Snow Play Area" signs, with no snow...
Zimbabwe farmers turn back to tradition as rainfall changes
Posted by AlertNet: Madalitso Mwando on January 28th, 2012
AlertNet: Whether rotating her crops, sowing seed from previous harvests or gathering rainwater, Susan Gama is pulling out all the stops in an attempt to keep her livelihood going.
Subsistence farmers like Gama in this southern African nation are reverting to traditional farming knowledge and local experimentation to cope with the challenges of poor and unpredictable rainfall, which experts believe is linked to climate change.
That is producing mixed results -- and considerable frustration for government...
Internet Criticism Pushes China to Act on Pollution
Posted by New York Times: Sharon LaFRANIERE on January 28th, 2012
New York Times: Weary of waiting for the authorities to alert residents to the city’s most pernicious air pollutant, citizen activists last May took matters here into their own hands: they bought their own $4,000 air-quality monitor and posted its daily readings on the Internet. That began a chain reaction. Volunteers in Shanghai and Guangzhou purchased monitors in December, followed by citizens in Wenzhou, who are selling oranges to finance their device. Wenzhou donated $50 to volunteers in Wuhan, 140 miles inland....