RSS Feed
Archive for August, 2012
Environmental activism gains a foothold in China
Posted by Guardian: Harold Thibault on August 21st, 2012
Guardian: Li Wei, 18 (not her real name), doesn't seem like a dissident. She is more focused on her accounting studies, her friends on the social networks and chatting with her sister. Nevertheless, she took part in a demonstration last month in front of the Chinese Communist party offices that degenerated into violent clashes with police.
The demonstrators gathered at dawn in Qidong, a small coastal town north of Shanghai. By noon, the local government headquarters were occupied and files were being thrown...
Arctic ice set to hit record low
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 21st, 2012
BBC: Arctic sea ice looks set to hit a record low by the end of the month, according to satellite data.
Scientists at the US National Snow and Ice Data Center said data showed that the sea ice extent was tracking below the previous record low, set in 2007.
Latest figures show that on 13 August ice extent was 483,000 sq km (186,000 sq miles) below the previous record low for the same date five years ago.
The ice is expected to continue melting until mid- to late September.
"A new daily record......
India: Beating the Weather With Sustainable Crops
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 21st, 2012
Inter Press Service: Narrow, cobblestoned lanes separate the rows of mud houses with cool interiors and mud-smoothened patios, some with goats tethered to the wooden posts. This is Tajpura village, deep in this water-stressed, drought-prone region of northern India.
An area of stark beauty marked by deep ravines in central India, Bundelkhand spans the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The ruins of stone fortresses dotting the landscape betray a history of constant warfare just as the remnants of water courses...
Droughts cut Europe’s food output, raise fire risks
Posted by EurActiv: None Given on August 21st, 2012
EurActiv: Droughts in southern and eastern Europe are contributing to the global decline in grain production while also elevating concern about the long-term impact on freshwater supplies.
The European Commission, which has declared 2012 the Year of Water, is preparing a review some of Europe's water legislation partly with climate change and extreme weather events in mind.
Food security and how the EU safeguards its liquid resources are among the topics due to be discussed during World Water Week events...
Tanzanian herders get free cows to cope with drought
Posted by AlertNet: Kizito Makoye on August 21st, 2012
AlertNet: As recurring drought afflicts much of East Africa's drylands, the Tanzanian government is trying to save the livelihoods of traditional herders by giving them free animals.
The Cattle Replenishing Initiative aims to rebuild the stocks of herders who have lost thousands of cattle, goats, sheep and donkeys during the worst drought in the country's history, which began in 2008. Many experts believe increasingly erratic rainfall is linked to climate change.
President Jakaya Kikwete asserts that,...
How A Biofuel Dream Called Jatropha Came Crashing Down
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 21st, 2012
National Public Radio: From Congress to The Colbert Report, people are talking about the Midwestern drought and debating whether it makes sense to convert the country's shrinking corn supplies into ethanol to power our cars.
It's the latest installment of the long-running food vs. fuel battle.
But wouldn't it be lovely if somebody came up with a biofuel that didn't take food out of people's mouths?
A few years ago, some people thought they'd found it: A miracle tree called Jatropha. Unfortunately, the miracle...
Climate change: scientists ponder cloud brightening
Posted by Summit Voice: None Given on August 21st, 2012
Summit Voice: With international efforts to limit heat-trapping greenhouse gases faltering, some scientists say it`s worth at least exploring the concept of creating clouds that might reflect sunlight to counter global warming.
Geoengineering has always had a few proponents, as there are always some people who think that we can engineer our way out of any problem. But many of the ideas floated as possible solutions to global warming are just vague theories at best, with little evidence that they could work....
China: Shanghai tops ‘flood risk list’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 21st, 2012
BBC: Shanghai is the most vulnerable major city in the world to serious flooding, a study suggests.
Despite its economic wealth, the Chinese city is considered to be more exposed to the risk of flooding than much poorer cities such as Dhaka.
As well as evaluating a city's physical attributes, the study also considers social and economic factors when rating an area's vulnerability.
Details of the research appear in the journal Natural Hazards.
A team of scientists from the UK and the Netherlands...
How Some States Are Giving Oil and Gas Companies the Right to Take Your Land
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 21st, 2012
AlterNet: Eminent domain, the government’s right to condemn (or take) private land for “public use,” has at times been a highly contentious topic because it can displace people from their homes to make way for construction of different projects, like highways or roads, civic buildings and other types of public infrastructure. However, what some may not realize is that several states have granted eminent domain authority to certain private entities, including oil and gas companies. These companies are using...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on How Some States Are Giving Oil and Gas Companies the Right to Take Your LandMount Rainier’s avalanche lilies could teach us about climate change
Posted by Seattle Times: Lynda V. Mapes on August 21st, 2012
Seattle Times: University of Washington researcher Elinore Theobald is studying the relationship between flowers and their pollinators on Washington's highest mountain. And what she is finding so far - avalanche lilies at higher elevation set seed at one-third the rate of lilies elsewhere on the mountain - points to troubling questions.
Is it possible that the lilies are struggling because of a mismatch in their timing with their pollinators? And does that, in turn, point to trouble as the climate changes? ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Mount Rainier’s avalanche lilies could teach us about climate change