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Archive for February, 2012
Rainfall calms storms
Posted by Nature: Philip Ball on February 23rd, 2012
Nature: Rainfall soothes the atmosphere, atmospheric scientists have found. They calculate that a substantial portion of the energy that drives wind and air circulation in the atmosphere is dissipated as friction by raindrops falling through the air.
The atmosphere acts like a heat engine, generating mechanical energy by moving heat from Earth’s surface, where air has been warmed by the Sun, to the colder air above. Some of that becomes kinetic energy of air, driving movements ranging from large-scale...
India: Sacred natural sites and climate change threat
Posted by Hindustan Times: Utpal Parashar on February 23rd, 2012
Hindustan Times: Sacred natural sites are areas of land or water having special spiritual significance. And the Eastern Himalayas is home to many such sites like Mount Kailash (Tibet), Lumbini (Nepal), Taksang (Bhutan), Gosaikunda (Nepal), Gurudongmar Lake (Sikkim). These sites besides having spiritual and religious significance also have biodiversity conservation value due to restrictions on cutting of trees and desecration of environment around them. Surveys have found high level of biodiversity in these areas....
Judge’s Ruling Complicates Hydrofracking Issue in New York
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 23rd, 2012
New York Times: A state judge’s decision this week supporting the rights of individual towns to determine whether to allow hydraulic fracturing has added a new wrinkle to the fight over the natural gas drilling process in New York. Parties on all sides are trying to figure out what the ruling will mean, but a consensus emerged on Wednesday that there will be further court challenges and delays over when, how and where the process, known as hydrofracking, will be allowed in the state, and by whom. Officials of...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Judge’s Ruling Complicates Hydrofracking Issue in New YorkRoyal Society oilsands report went easy on industry: Analysis
Posted by Vancouver Sun: Mike De Souza on February 23rd, 2012
Vancouver Sun: A key section in a high-profile Royal Society of Canada report that cast doubt on potential environmental and health impacts of oilsands development in Alberta was plagued by "misinformation" and "out of date" data, says a new analysis to be released Friday by Alberta scientist Kevin Timoney.
"Although the RSC report was an ambitious attempt to provide a comprehensive review, it suffered in its execution," Timoney wrote in the commentary published by Environmental Science and Technology, an Iowa-based...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Royal Society oilsands report went easy on industry: AnalysisEncroaching deserts threaten life along Tibet’s longest river
Posted by AlertNet: Teresa Rehman on February 22nd, 2012
AlertNet: Rising temperatures, reduced rainfall and excessive numbers of grazing animals are worsening desertification and drying up grasslands in western Tibet, says a Chinese geologist who has explored one of the region's uncharted rivers.
Yang Yong said he had observed desertification in parts of the upper reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, and believes this could be caused by climate change as well as human activity.
The Yarlung Zangbo (also called the Yarlung Tsangpo) is Tibet's largest river,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Encroaching deserts threaten life along Tibet’s longest riverHow to engage with farmers over GM crops
Posted by SciDev.Net: Obidimma Ezezika and Justin Mabeya on February 22nd, 2012
SciDev.Net: Farmers are more likely to use GM crops if they are involved in crop development in the right way, say Obidimma Ezezika and Justin Mabeya. The rapid uptake of genetically modified (GM) crops in developing countries poses a dilemma for agri-biotech programmes: when and how should researchers engage farmers in the process of developing crops? If farmers are engaged too early, they are likely to develop high expectations that the projects may not be able to meet. Engaging them too late may lead to...
Species data to go online in open access initiative
Posted by SciDev.Net: Rachel Mundy on February 22nd, 2012
SciDev.Net: Research on new species from biodiversity hotspots in the developing world, published in a range of journals, may soon become freely available online as soon as they are published, thanks to a project launched last week.
The project is a joint initiative between Pensoft Publishers in Bulgaria, and the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) -- a free and collaborative website that aims to document every living species on the planet.
Pensoft has developed software that extracts information about individual...
Russian Heatwave Made More Likely by Climate Change
Posted by Guardian: Suzanne Rosier on February 22nd, 2012
Guardian: The extreme Russian heatwave of 2010 was made three times more likely because of man-made climate change, according to a study led by climate scientists and number-crunched by home PC users. But the size of the event was mostly within natural limits, said the scientists, laying to rest a controversy last year over whether the extreme weather was natural or human-induced.
A woman digs out potatoes from her former garden, ravaged by one of the hundreds of wildfires sparked during the 2010 Russian...
United Kingdom: Farmers warn food prices could go up because of drought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 22nd, 2012
Telegraph: Peter Kendall, President of the National Farmers Union, said ongoing drought in the South East and Anglia, the "bread basket of Britain', will cut yields and force up prices.
"As sure as night follows day if it doesn't rain, food prices will go up. I can guarantee you that,' he said. "If there is less water across bigger areas of northern Europe food will cost more money.'
Drought-afflicted areas need 120 per cent of normal rainfall between now and March to avoid drought but the Met Office...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: Farmers warn food prices could go up because of droughtPredator-prey relationships make possible the rich biodiversity of complex ecosystems
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 22nd, 2012
ScienceDaily: As scientists warn that Earth is on the brink of a period of mass extinctions, they are struggling to identify ecosystem responses to environmental change. But to truly understand these responses, more information is needed about how Earth's staggering diversity of species originated.
Curiously, a vexing modeling mystery has stymied research on this topic: mathematical models have told us that complex ecosystems, such as jungles, deserts and coral reefs, in which species coexist and interact with...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Predator-prey relationships make possible the rich biodiversity of complex ecosystems