RSS Feed
Archive for September 13th, 2012
Australia: Changing climate means less rain: SEACI
Posted by Stock and Land: None Given on September 13th, 2012
Stock and Land: AUSTRALIA'S water resources can be better managed under a changing climate, thanks to research released today by the South Eastern Australian Climate Initiative (SEACI). The SEACI Phase 2 Synthesis Report, Climate and water availability in south-eastern Australia, to be launched at the initiative’s annual workshop in Canberra, addresses key science questions behind the causes of climate variability and change, and their impacts on water availability across the Murray–Darling Basin, Victoria and...
Posted in 
Study: Ice sheets can change quickly with climate shift
Posted by LiveScience: Becky Oskin on September 13th, 2012
LiveScience: Arctic glaciers grew rapidly in response to sudden climate change 8,200 years ago, a new study finds.
Only on NBCNews.com Bush administration received many pre-9/11 warnings Birdwatcher, 73, says she was raped in Central Park NBC News Despite dark past, Israelis seek new lives in Berlin NBC News After climbing ladder, family falling backward Study: Immigrant students do better than US-born kids Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center Modern medicine: Lab-grown genitals, spray-on skin Chicago parents...
Drought area expands in U.S., now most extensive this summer
Posted by Reuters: Carey Gillam on September 13th, 2012
Reuters: Hot and dry conditions continued to plague large parts of the U.S. Plains and southern states as the worst U.S. drought in over five decades expanded its grip on some key farming states.
At least "moderate" levels of drought have now enveloped more than 64 percent of the contiguous United States, up from 63.39 percent the week before, according to the Drought Monitor, a weekly compilation of data gathered by federal and academic scientists.
"This is the greatest extent of drought we've seen...
Starving polar bears a sign of warming Arctic
Posted by NBC: Miguel Llanos on September 13th, 2012
NBC: Wildlife biologist Ian Bullock is a seasoned visitor to the Arctic, but even he was surprised by what he saw last month: a thin female polar bear, shadowed by her cub, trying to challenge a much bigger, stronger male for food.
It wasn't much of a challenge, but it showed just how desperate she was, Bullock told NBC News on returning from his 10th straight summer cruise to the Arctic.
That desperation, he feels, stems from the fact that the Arctic's summer sea ice -- which polar bears using...
2012 U.S. Drought Hits New Highs; Southwest Gets Relief
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on September 13th, 2012
Climate Central: The severe drought across much of the U.S. proved stubborn once again during the past week as nearly four-fifths of the country was in some form of drought. And the area of the lower 48 states affected by moderate to exceptional drought expanded slightly, hitting a high for the year, according to data released Thursday morning.
The new U.S. Drought Monitor map shows that drought conditions have stayed the same or intensified in much of the southern Plains, with extreme to exceptional drought conditions...
Laissez-Faire Failing World’s Dwindling Water Resources
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 13th, 2012
Inter Press Service: Growing water shortages in many countries are a major threat to global security and development and should be a top priority at the U.N. Security Council, a panel of experts said in a new report.
However, that report ignores the biggest threat to water security: neoliberal policies of the free market economic system laying waste to the natural world and turning water into a commodity, activists counter.
China and India will not have enough fresh water to meet their needs before 2030, according...
In Himalaya Mountains, A Mixed Picture of Glacial Melting
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 13th, 2012
Yale Environment 360: A new study says that glaciers in the Himalayas are reacting to climate change in different ways, with glaciers in the eastern and central Himalayas retreating at accelerating rates, while glaciers in the western Himalaya and Hindu Kush region are more stable and possibly even growing in places. According to a report by the National Research Council, many of the glaciers of the Himalayan region are retreating at rates comparable to other parts of the world, but changes to glacial meltwater are not...
Humans and Nature: Can the Gulf Be Bridged?
Posted by New York Times: Lauren E. Oakes on September 13th, 2012
New York Times: Basking in a surprise dose of early morning sun, we sat together on a bench made from yellow-cedar at the Gustavus Forelands Preserve, a landscape of spruce and cottonwood forests and beaches overlooking the Icy Strait waters. We were staring at a diagram on a piece of paper I had handed to Hank Lentfer, a lifelong Alaskan and longtime resident of the tiny town of Gustavus.
The image before us was a series of circles in pairs, overlapping at varying degrees from just barely touching to completely...
Broward Adopts Climate Change Plan; Dumbasses Think It’s a UN Conspiracy
Posted by New Times Broward-Palm Beach: Stefan Kamph on September 13th, 2012
New Times Broward-Palm Beach: Broward has been out in front of the rest of the state, maybe the country, in terms of preparing for climate change and rising sea levels. The county commissioned a report showing that large parts of Lauderdale could be underwater 50 years from now. Over and over, experts say our low-lying areas are facing a huge problem. So some officials are trying to form a plan for how to face rising tides and changing weather.
At the County Commission meeting Tuesday night, county leaders moved to recognize...
Beyond Big Dams: Turning to Grass Roots Solutions on Water
Posted by Yale Environment 360: Fred Pearce on September 13th, 2012
Yale Environment 360: How will the world find the water to feed a growing population in an era of droughts and water shortages? The answer, a growing number of water experts are saying, is to forget big government-run irrigations projects with their mega-dams, giant canals, and often corrupt and indolent management. Farmers across the poor world, they say, are solving their water problems far more effectively with cheap Chinese-made pumps and other low-tech and off-the-shelf equipment. Researchers are concluding that...