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Archive for January 29th, 2012
Japan finds water leaks at stricken nuclear plant
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 29th, 2012
Reuters: Japan's stricken nuclear power plant has leaked more than 600 liters of water, forcing it to briefly suspend cooling operations at a spent-fuel pond at the weekend, but none is thought to have escaped into the ocean, the plant's operator and domestic media said.
The Fukushima plant, on the coast north of Tokyo, was wrecked by a huge earthquake and tsunami in March last year, triggering the evacuation of around 80,000 people in the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.
The operator of the...
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Wheat will age prematurely in a warmer world
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 29th, 2012
New Scientist: It could be much more difficult than we thought to feed everyone in a warmer world. Satellite images of northern India have revealed that extreme temperatures are cutting wheat yields. What's more, models used to predict the effects of global warming on food supply may have underestimated the problem by a third.
In India's breadbasket, the Ganges plain, winter wheat is planted in November and harvested as temperatures rise in spring. David Lobell of Stanford University in California used nine...
Warm climate spells doom for bread basket
Posted by Deccan Herald: Kalyan Ray on January 29th, 2012
Deccan Herald: India's bread basket faces a serious threat from rising temperature due to climate change, according to a new study that suggests a sharp dip in wheat productivity in India if mercury goes north.
Extreme heat can accelerate wheat aging, an effect that reduces crop yields. The overall decline could be as much as 50 per cent with two degree increase in temperature and is way above than what has been anticipated in existing crop forecasting models.
The new research implies that climate warming...
Climate-driven heat peaks may shrink wheat crops
Posted by Physorg: Marlowe Hood on January 29th, 2012
Physorg: Current projections based on computer models underestimate the extent to which hotter weather in the future will accelerate this process, the researchers warned.
Wheat is harvested in temperate zones on more than 220 million hectares (545 million acres), making it the most widely grown crop on Earth.
In some nations, the grain accounts for up to 50 percent of calorie intake and 20 percent of protein nutrition, according to the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), near...
Extreme heat hurts wheat yields as world warms: study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 29th, 2012
Reuters: Extreme heat can cause wheat crops to age faster and reduce yields, a U.S.-led study shows, underscoring the challenge of feeding a rapidly growing population as the world warms.
Scientists and farmers have long known that high heat can hurt some crops and the Stanford University-led study, released on Monday, revealed how the damage is done by tracking rates of wheat ageing, or senescence.
Depending on the sowing date, the grain losses from rapid senescence could reach up to 20 percent, the...
Keystone to be linked to U.S. highway bill: Boehner
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 29th, 2012
Reuters: Republican lawmakers will try to force the Obama administration to approve the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline by attaching it to a highway bill that Congress will consider next month, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Sunday.
President Barack Obama earlier this month denied TransCanada's application for the oil sands pipeline, citing lack of time to review an alternative route within a 60-day window for action set by Congress.
Republicans have since been looking for...
United States: Southwest Turns Anxious Eye to Shrinking Lake Mead
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on January 29th, 2012
Climate Central: In a dramatic reversal of fortune compared to last year, an unusually dry winter is causing the level of Lake Mead, Nevada, to decline, making water managers increasingly anxious about supplying water to the thirsty Southwest.
The latest U.S. Drought Outlook shows continued dry conditions in the Southwest are likely for the rest of the winter.
During the past three years, the level of Lake Mead has followed a boom and bust cycle, dropping to a record low in 2010 during an intense drought, then...
Oil spill brings attention to delicate Gulf coast
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 29th, 2012
Associated Press: For decades, farmers and fishermen along the Gulf of Mexico watched as their sensitive ecosystem's waters slowly got dirtier and islands eroded, all while the country largely ignored the destruction.
It took BP PLC's well blowing out in the Gulf -- and the resulting environmental catastrophe when millions of gallons of oil spewed into the ocean and washed ashore -- for the nation to turn its attention to the slow, methodical ruin of an ecosystem vital to the U.S. economy. Last month, more than...
Louisiana scientists working on plan to save coastline, fight global warming
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 29th, 2012
Times-Picayune: A team of Louisiana scientists is laying the groundwork for creating a new carbon storage industry that could both reduce the effects of global warming and rebuild wetlands along the state`s coastline. Sarah Mack, founder of New Orleans-based Tierra Resources, and Louisiana State University wetlands scientists John W. Day and Robert Lane have come up with a method for measuring the molecules of carbon removed from the atmosphere by the soils and plants that are created with coastal restoration projects....
Britain’s canals and rivers get new lease of life with funding pledge
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 29th, 2012
Independent: Britain's waterways are about to receive a boost with an announcement next week by Richard Benyon, the Environment Minister, of a new 15-year funding settlement. It will help secure the financial future of the new Canal & River Trust, a "national trust" for canals and rivers which takes over from British Waterways in April. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has committed to provide a £460m property endowment and £390m of funding for the next 10 years, but next week's news is...