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Archive for September 17th, 2012
Voters must press both parties to address climate change
Posted by Morning Sentinel: Richard Thomas on September 17th, 2012
Morning Sentinel: This summer, flooding, hot spells, drought and firestorms are beginning to show us that climate change will be the defining issue of this century.
The drought in middle America already has caused a 10 percent rise in food prices.
Unfortunately, it appears that the impact of climate change will become much more extreme for a number of reasons. Individually, we have little control over this, but we do have a chance during the coming elections to push our government to face this issue more responsibly....
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El Salvador in battle against tide of climate change
Posted by Independent: Simeon Tegel on September 17th, 2012
Independent: The forest of towering, dead mangrove trees stretches along the beach as far as the eye can see. As the crashing waves rise and fall, short stumps emerge and vanish beneath the Pacific Ocean. Climate change has come early to the Bajo Lempa region of western El Salvador.
A tiny rise in the sea level has, according to local people, seen about 1,000ft of the mangroves on which they depend vanish beneath the ocean since 2005. Another 1,500ft remains between the Pacific and their village, La Tirana....
World shows prudence as drought boosts food prices: USDA
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 17th, 2012
Reuters: World leaders have shown prudence in the face of rising food prices by avoiding harmful steps such as export embargoes, the United States said on Monday after France called an emergency meeting of G20 farm ministers.
Scorching drought in the United States, the world's largest farm exporter, and in the wheat-exporting Black Sea region of Europe has driven commodity prices to record levels this summer. It was the third price surge since 2007. High prices pushed tens of millions of people into hunger...
Companies Calculate Their Debt to Planet Earth
Posted by Inter Press Service: Amantha Perera on September 17th, 2012
Inter Press Service: As ravenous consumers of natural resources, companies are beginning to recognise that they owe a monetary debt to the planet, and are sharpening their pencils to calculate it.
In 2004, when the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) held its four-yearly World Conservation Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, there were only two major business leaders attending it, recalled Peter Bakker, the current president of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
"In 2008,...
Why Is Governor Cuomo Letting a Climate Science Denier Regulate Fracking?
Posted by Huffington Post: Philip Radford on September 17th, 2012
Huffington Post: Governor Cuomo relies on Bradley J Field -- a climate skeptic -- to head New York's Department of Environmental Conservation's Division of Mineral Resources. Unfortunately, Mr. Field has proven to be out of sync with the scientific community on the environmental issue with the greatest scientific consensus -- climate change. And despite this, he is responsible for making sure that New York's regulation of fracking is based on good science.
I was deeply troubled to discover that Bradley Field signed...
Turtle knowledge in Africa shows significant gaps
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 17th, 2012
Mongabay: Sometimes turtles fall through the cracks: a new study in the open access journal Tropical Conservation Science, has uncovered a number of 'gap species' in the turtle families inhabiting Africa. 'Gap species' are those that are recorded in one country or another, but not in adjacent countries which could be due to a lack of data, a change in ecosystems, or human impacts.
"It is important to have detailed accounts of species occurrences by country, as these data are basic for many conservation...
What Drove Early Man Across Globe? Climate Change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 17th, 2012
National Public Radio: Anthropologists believe early humans evolved in Africa and then moved out from there in successive waves. However, what drove their migrations has been a matter of conjecture.
One new explanation is climate change.
Anthropologist Anders Erikkson of Cambridge University in England says the first few hardy humans who left Africa might've gone earlier but couldn't. Northeastern Africa - the only route to Asia and beyond - was literally a no man's land.
"The people couldn't really couldn't leave,"...
Globe Records Fourth Warmest August as Arctic Ice Melts
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on September 17th, 2012
Climate Central: August was the fourth warmest such month on record worldwide, marking the 330th straight month with a global temperature above the 20th century average, according to a report released Monday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In other words, the last time the globe saw a below average month, Ronald Reagan was just entering his second term in office. The last below average August occurred even further back in time, in 1976, when Gerald Ford was serving as U.S. President....
Climate change threat more real to those with perceived personal experience: study
Posted by Calgary Herald: Misty Harris on September 17th, 2012
Calgary Herald: A new study has found that a feeling of 'personally experiencing` global warming heightens people`s perception of risks related to the environmental phenomenon.
We have dramatically shrinking glaciers. We have compelling science. We have adorable polar bears treading water. But wouldn’t you know it, what really makes us fret over climate change is making it all about us.
A new study has found that a feeling of “personally experiencing” global warming heightens people’s perception of risks related...
Botswana: Climate change hits farmers hard
Posted by Monitor: Maranyane Ngwanaamotho on September 17th, 2012
Monitor: Some farmers tried to milk some answers from experts from the Department of Meteorological Services in Gaborone last week, but still went home unsatisfied with what they got. They needed a solution or answer to many of their questions and challenges but they were not convinced. The main questionwas the delayed onset of seasons and localised rains.
Farmers were complaining that though the department is mandated with providing the public with information of what to expect in a given season, they...