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Archive for September, 2012
Deforestation reduces rainfall in tropics, says study
Posted by SciDev.Net: Paula Leighton on September 6th, 2012
SciDev.Net: Large-scale deforestation in tropical rainforests can dramatically reduce rainfall rates both locally and thousands of kilometres away, according to a study published in Nature yesterday (5 September). This could have a potentially devastating impact on communities living in or close to the Amazon and Congo rainforests.
This drop occurs because deforestation reduces the natural recycling of moisture from soils, through vegetation, and into the atmosphere, from where it returns as rainfall.
When...
Drought Withers U.S. Corn Crop, Heats Debate on Ethanol
Posted by National Geographic: Bret Schulte on September 6th, 2012
National Geographic: Ethanol has been good to Galva, Iowa. This kernel of a community has grown almost 20 percent since the 2000 census, to 434 people-a growth spurt that locals attribute to a new golden age for corn and their very own ethanol plant, which opened in 2002.
The Galva plant has been a windfall to the area, thanks in part to the Renewable Fuel Standard that was adopted by the U.S. Congress in 2005 and expanded in 2007. The standard mandates that oil refiners blend 13.2 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Drought Withers U.S. Corn Crop, Heats Debate on EthanolRains From Isaac Don’t Put Much Dent in U.S. Drought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 6th, 2012
Climate Central: Despite locally drenching rains from the remnants of Hurricane Isaac, the worst drought in more than 50 years is still firmly entrenched across much of the U.S.
According to the new U.S. Drought Monitor, released Thursday, the numbers didn't change dramatically across the country, but the locations of the worst drought conditions did shift.
The remnants of Isaac eased the dryness dramatically in Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Louisiana, while rains also moistened states in the mid-Atlantic...
Lebanon’s cedar trees threatened by climate change
Posted by Guardian: Alasdair Soussi on September 6th, 2012
Guardian: King Solomon used them in the construction of the temple that would bear his name, the Phoenicians used them to build their merchant ships and the ancient Egyptians used their resin in the mummification process. But now Lebanon's cedar trees (Cedrus libani), described in the Scriptures as "the glory of Lebanon" and by the 19th-century French Romantic poet, Alphonse de Lamartine, as "the most famous natural monuments in the world", face a new threat in the form of climate change.
Emblazoned on...
For Farms in the West, Oil Wells Are Thirsty Rivals
Posted by New York Times: Jack Healy on September 6th, 2012
New York Times: A new race for water is rippling through the drought-scorched heartland, pitting farmers against oil and gas interests, driven by new drilling techniques that use powerful streams of water, sand and chemicals to crack the ground and release stores of oil and gas. A single such well can require five million gallons of water, and energy companies are flocking to water auctions, farm ponds, irrigation ditches and municipal fire hydrants to get what they need. That thirst is helping to drive an explosion...
Canada: Shell approves $1.36bn oil sands carbon capture project for Alberta site
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 6th, 2012
Reuters: Shell has approved its planned $1.36bn Quest carbon capture and storage (CCS) project to cut emissions at an oil sands site near Edmonton, Alberta, by more than one-third.
The company said the facility will capture more than 1m tonnes of carbon dioxide annually and inject it 1.2 miles underground.
The project would be the first of its kind for the oil sands, the world's third-largest crude reserve after Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.
Oil sands projects, particularly upgraders such as this one...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada: Shell approves $1.36bn oil sands carbon capture project for Alberta siteIncreasing demand and urbanisation challenge global food systems
Posted by AlertNet: Lisa Anderson on September 6th, 2012
AlertNet: With most of the world's arable land already in use, more efficient and sustainable methods of food production that provide higher yields are essential to feed an increasingly urban global population expected to reach nearly 10 billion by 2050, according to experts in food security.
"The way we produce food now is literally unsustainable,' said Charles Godfray, professor of zoology and director of the Martin Programme on the Future of Food at the University of Oxford.
Moreover, he said, the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Increasing demand and urbanisation challenge global food systemsCanada: Will carbon capture clean up tar sands?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 6th, 2012
New Scientist: ARE tar sands becoming a bit cleaner? For the first time, a carbon capture and storage (CCS) plant is going to lock away some of the carbon dioxide produced by refining the dirty oil. However, the oil will still lead to more emissions than conventional crude oil.
Tar sands contain bitumen, which is difficult to extract and must then be processed to produce crude. This means tar sands release about 17 per cent more greenhouse-gas emissions overall than conventional oil (Environmental Research Letters,...
Current state of food market differs from 2008: FAO head
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 6th, 2012
Reuters: The situation in the food market is different from the crisis of 2008 with little sign of the speculation seen four years ago and no panic buying, the head of the UN's food agency said on Thursday.
"In 2008 there was a substantial inflow of funds, and we don't see speculation playing a major role at moment," FAO director general Jose Graziano da Silva told a news conference in Rome.
"In 2008, there was a lot of panic buying, we don't see this at the moment," he said.
Earlier, the agency...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Current state of food market differs from 2008: FAO headPakistan: Climate Adaptation Troubles Karachi’s Planners
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 6th, 2012
Inter Press Service: Climate proofing this bustling port city is a daunting task for planners who must consider factors ranging from proneness to flooding and administrative malaise to the fact that 60 percent of its 18 million people live in slums.
The Economist Intelligence Unit in its latest global survey of living conditions released in August rated Karachi as the seventh least liveable city, placing it 134th in the world out of a list of 140 countries.
Farhan Anwar, an engineer and urban planner, argues that...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Pakistan: Climate Adaptation Troubles Karachi’s Planners