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Archive for January, 2012
Climate study warns of snowless Czech winters, summer droughts
Posted by Czech Position: Chris Johnstone on January 10th, 2012
Czech Position: The Czech Republic will be warmer on average by around 4.0 degrees Celsius by the end of the century with the risk of serious droughts every other year and snow remaining for a long time only on the most mountainous areas.
That scenario is the result of climate change modeling put together by around 50 scientists from the Czech Meteorological Office (CHMÚ), Prague's Charles University, and the Czech Academy Of Sciences and publicized for the first time in Tuesday's edition of the Czech daily Hospodárské...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Climate study warns of snowless Czech winters, summer droughtsGlobal warming delays natural patterns of glaciation, researchers say
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 10th, 2012
Korea Herald: Unprecedented levels of greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are disrupting normal patterns of glaciation, scientists said.
The Earth's current warm period that began about 11,000 years ago should give way to another ice age within about 1,500 years, according to the study published online Jan. 8 in Nature Geoscience.
However, current levels of carbon dioxide are trapping too much heat in the atmosphere to allow the Earth to cool as it has in its prehistoric past in response to changes...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Global warming delays natural patterns of glaciation, researchers sayIsrael: ‘Higher temperatures, extreme weather coming’
Posted by Jerusalem Post: Haron Udasin on January 10th, 2012
Jerusalem Post: An Environmental Protection Ministry climate change report predicts that over the next decade, the country will see an annual decrease in rainfall, and increases in temperature, southern desertification, heat waves, periods of torrential rains and flooding.
“Global climate change is already here – that’s a fact,” Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan said in a statement released by his office. “We are all experiencing the manifestation of diminishing precipitation, heat waves, floods and...
Concern over seed dispersal risks
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 10th, 2012
BBC: Drivers of biodiversity loss, such as habitat fragmentation and climate change, are threatening seed dispersal around the globe, a study has warned.
Scientists said plant species that were unable to adapt were being driven "to the brink of extinction in most human-modified landscapes".
The way seeds were spread in landscapes had to be given more attention within conservation schemes, they added.
The findings have been published in the journal Biological Conservation.
"The global pollination...
Farmers bear brunt of climate change
Posted by NewsDay: Problem Masau on January 10th, 2012
NewsDay: Farmers across the country have been caught in a catch-22 situation as the summer agricultural season continues to change. Most farmers said in recent years, the decision when to plant has increasingly become a nightmare.
“Traditionally farmers start to plant their seeds in late October, but these years the seasons seem to have changed and the rains are starting to fall regularly in December. Crops which would have been planted in November will wilt because of the dry spell,” said Aaron Hombe,...
Texas Drought Threatens Endangered Whooping Cranes
Posted by Yahoo!: Rachel Bogart on January 9th, 2012
Yahoo!: According to the Associated Press, the devastating drought in Texas this past year is threatening the survival of an endangered species. Only about 300 whooping cranes remain in the wild and use Texas as their wintering grounds. But the drought has made food and water scarce and so far scientists have discovered at least one crane that has died, eliciting alarm since it abnormal to see dead birds this early in the season.
The lack of food is even more problematic on the way back to nest in Canada...
Canada: Oil sands pipeline battle turns ugly
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 9th, 2012
Guardian: Canada let loose an extraordinary rant against opponents of a controversial project to pump tar sands crude to Pacific Coast ports on Monday, accusing campaigners of colluding with foreign "radicals" and "jet-setting celebrities" to hijack the government.
The diatribe, which came as an open letter from the natural resources minister Joe Oliver, caused a furore in Canada.
It was seen as a sign of the conservative government's frustration at growing opposition to its efforts to find global markets...
Dueling Research: Fracked Shale Gas Worse For Climate Change Than Coal! Or, The Opposite!
Posted by Dallas Observer: Brantley Hargrove on January 9th, 2012
Dallas Observer: In the rarefied halls of Cornell, the atmospheric-science equivalent of the gauntlet has been thrown. At stake is nothing less than the suitability of one of the most plentiful, domestically producible forms of energy in North America to replace a fuel speeding climate change and emitting tons of known carcinogens.
The question: Is unconventional gas extracted from formations like the Barnett Shale of North Texas the cleaner-burning bridge fuel to a new, sustainable age? Or does its production...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Dueling Research: Fracked Shale Gas Worse For Climate Change Than Coal! Or, The Opposite!High court appears to back landowners in clean water cases
Posted by Reuters: James Vicini on January 9th, 2012
Reuters: The Supreme Court appeared to support giving companies and landowners the right to a court hearing before they must comply with an order under the clean water act, which could sharply curtail a key Environmental Protection Agency power.
During arguments on Monday, both conservative and liberal justices sharply questioned a U.S. government attorney who maintained that companies or individuals must first fail to comply with an EPA order and face potentially costly enforcement action before a court...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on High court appears to back landowners in clean water casesStudy needed on shale gas effects on health: group
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 9th, 2012
Reuters: The public health effects of shale gas development need to be rigorously studied as production rapidly spreads in the United States, public health professionals and advocates said on Monday.
Advances in the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, drilling technique have revolutionized the natural gas industry, but researchers said more must be done to evaluate what the shale boom means for the those living near wells.
Health groups have concerns including possible air and water pollution from fracking,...