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Archive for September 27th, 2012
Interview: Using the Internet to Identify Millions of New Species
Posted by Yale Environment 360: Diane Toomey on September 27th, 2012
Yale Environment 360: Each year, about 18,000 new species of plants and animals are discovered and described by science. That may sound like a lot, but entomologist and taxonomist Quentin Wheeler thinks it is woefully inadequate. Wheeler is the founding director of the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University, and along with such renowned colleagues as E.O. Wilson and Peter Raven, he is calling for an intensive international effort in the next 50 years to discover the estimated 8 to...
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Livelihoods depend on the environment in the Western Ghats
Posted by Mongabay: Viraj Singh on September 27th, 2012
Mongabay: In the Uttar Kannada district of the Western Ghats, the livelihood of the average individual depends largely on the well being of the environment. Six months ago, before large-scale mangrove planting of the area, if someone were to walk through the banks of the mangroves in the Western Ghats he would see many fishermen casting their long nets and wires, time and time again noticing pieces of trash such as plastic grocery bags tangled in the nets.
Problems like plastic bags in the Western Ghats...
Canada needs flexible policy to cut carbon emissions
Posted by Globe and Mail: David Sawyer on September 27th, 2012
Globe and Mail: Rapid oil and gas development poses environmental challenges. Notably, the oil and gas sector's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been steadily rising since 2005, with IISD forecasting a 50 per cent increase by 2020 over 2005 levels. This means 25 per cent of Canada's total GHG emissions are likely to come from the oil and gas sector by 2020.
Recognizing that reducing oil and gas emissions is central to achieving Canada's GHG target of 17 per cent below 2005 levels, the federal government is...
Climate Change Kills 400000 a Year, New Report Reveals
Posted by Daily Beast: None Given on September 27th, 2012
Daily Beast: The Earth’s changing climate is costing the global economy $1.2 trillion a year and killing 1,000 children a day, according to a new study--and the U.N. warns the summer’s record heat and drought could trigger a catastrophe. Nearly 1,000 children a day are now dying because of climate change, according to a path-breaking study published Wednesday (PDF), and the annual death toll stands at 400,000 people worldwide. Climate change also is costing the world economy $1.2 trillion a year, the equivalent...
Salt marshes to absorb carbon to 2050, but emit it later
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 27th, 2012
Reuters: Salt marshes around the world's coasts will help slow climate change until about 2050 by soaking up greenhouse gases but then risk making the problem even worse as sea levels rise, a study showed on Wednesday.
Plants such as grasses and shrubs - which thrive in salt marshes found from India to the United States - absorb heat-trapping carbon from the air. Much of it then ends up buried in sediment where it no longer stokes global warming.
"The net impact of temperature warming and sea level...
Focus on climate change resilience of tuber crops
Posted by The Hindu: None Given on September 27th, 2012
The Hindu: Agricultural scientists across the country are joining hands in a research project to assess the potential of tuber crops like tapioca and yam to withstand climate change.
Scientists from 18 States are being equipped to take up the project. As many as 35 delegates representing different agricultural universities are participating in a training programme on germplasm conservation, climate change mitigation and e-networking which began at the Central Tuber Crop Research Institute (CTCRI) here on...
United Kingdom: Flood warnings remain in force as river levels continue to rise
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 27th, 2012
Guardian: Residents, businesses and emergency services in North Yorkshire were nervously watching river levels on Thursday as the after-effects of days of rain continued to threaten hundreds of properties.
Parts of York were underwater and flats on higher ground were cut off as the river Ouse through the city continued to rise, prompting fears that flood defences protecting other areas might be breached when flows peaked about mid-morning.
Fire and rescue services said the flooding was already the worst...
Volatile weather creates dramatic changes for California farmers
Posted by California Watch: Mark Schapiro on September 27th, 2012
California Watch: Ten miles outside of Modesto, in the farming town of Hughson just off Highway 99, the Duarte Nursery is at the front line of dramatic changes now under way in California's immense agriculture industry.
The family-run nursery, founded in 1976, is one of the largest in the United States, and there's a good chance the berries, nuts and citrus fruits eaten across the West began their journey to market as seedlings in Duarte's 30 acres of greenhouses, labs and breeding stations.
The nursery's owners...
Serbians Unite Against Nickel Extraction
Posted by Inter Press Service: Vesna Peric Zimonjic on September 27th, 2012
Inter Press Service: A popular Serbian proverb quips that when it comes to politics there are as many opinions as there are people in this central European country of seven million.
But the adage was turned on its head last week when the masses sent a strong collective message to the government: no nickel exploitation in the country.
The controversy began when mining minister Milan Bacevic announced earlier this month that Mokra Gora - a 10,813-square-kilometre state-protected national park - and other areas in...
Loss of species makes nature more sensitive to climate change, study finds
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 27th, 2012
ScienceDaily: When we wipe out the most sensitive species, human beings reduce the resilience of ecosystems to climate change, reveals a new study from biologists at the University of Gothenburg, published in the journal Ecology Letters.
High biodiversity acts as an insurance policy for nature and society alike as it increases the likelihood that at least some species will be sufficiently resilient to sustain important functions such as water purification and crop pollination in a changing environment.
"It's...