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Archive for November 22nd, 2012
SW Minn. effort to measure climate change effects on crops
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 22nd, 2012
Associated Press: Just south of Milroy is an acreage that has belonged to the Hicks family since 1885, but these days the field is wired with electronic instruments that transmit data in real time to the University of Minnesota Southwest Research and Outreach Center in Lamberton. The center is one of the partners in the five-year United States Department of Agriculture funded Sustainable Corn Project, the Independent of Marshall reported. "This field is part of a nine-state 40-scientist regional project," said Jeff...
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‘Erin Brockovitch’ Town Faces New Threat
Posted by National Public Radio: Gloria Hillard on November 22nd, 2012
National Public Radio: Hinkley, Calif., is the small town that battled toxic groundwater and inspired the 2000 film Erin Brockovich. Now residents say they are experiencing a sequel to their story.
A few years ago, people started talking about the water again. Residents developed strange rashes and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. - blamed for the town's groundwater pollution - was offering to buy homes again, this time in areas previously believed to be unaffected by the contamination.
'I Just Want To Leave'
There...
Floods and gales bring chaos and misery to UK
Posted by Guardian: Steve Morris on November 22nd, 2012
Guardian: Homes and businesses were flooded, tens of thousands of pounds of damage caused by high winds, and journeys by road and rail disrupted as the UK was battered again by rain and gales.
A band of heavy rain accompanied by winds of 70mph trundled across much of the country from the north-west, bringing with it chaos. Forecasters said on Thursday night that there was likely to be a reprieve on Friday before another weather front arrives at the weekend, this time from the south-west. Next week it is...
US politicians urged to seize the moment on climate change after Sandy
Posted by Guardian: Alexander Hotz on November 22nd, 2012
Guardian: Hurricane Sandy might be fresh in the American public's memory, but for advocates seeking action on climate change time is running out. At a recent event, engineering, disaster preparation and climate science professors at Columbia University urged lawmakers to take advantage of the public's post Hurricane Sandy interest in global warming and push through bold policies.
"Memory fades very fast," said civil engineering professor George Deodatis at the university event Monday. "The next six months...
Drought Puts Trees the World Over ‘At the Edge’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 22nd, 2012
Climate Central: As the climate warms, scientists expect an increase in droughts around the world, causing all sorts of problems for water supplies, agriculture, and energy production. Forests will be affected too, naturally, but a new study released Wednesday in Nature shows just how widespread the effects could be.
After looking at 226 tree species at 81 locations around the world, two dozen experts from around the world have determined that fully 70 percent of trees are likely to suffer if conditions get drier...
The race to stop a global killer
Posted by BBC: Katharine Sanderson on November 22nd, 2012
BBC: Scientific endeavour isn’t always as glamorous as crashing atoms into each other deep underground in Switzerland, or sending rovers to roam the surface of Mars looking for clues to life. For Dirk Schmeller, a researcher at the CNRS research centre in Moulis, southern France, there are more fundamental problems to deal with – like how to get a stubborn ass to shift.
Donkeys and mules may not be the most hi-tech option for lugging large volumes of water down a Pyrenees mountain, but it’s the most...
Lebanon: Unusually warm autumn raises climate change fears
Posted by Daily Star: Stephen Dockery on November 22nd, 2012
Daily Star: Autumn has been unusually hot this year, with October starting with three record-breaking highs of 37, 36 and 31 and the rest of the month soaring almost 6 degrees above the average monthly temperatures.
That heat wave plowed into November with temperatures last week soaring 10 degrees above usual levels, and for the month, the average is nearly 5 degrees higher than usual.
Those high autumn temperatures are likely to wreak havoc on the environment once winter arrives, climate experts say....
Trees worldwide a sip away from dehydration
Posted by Science News: Susan Milius on November 22nd, 2012
Science News: Trees in most forests, even wet ones, live perilously close to the limits of their inner plumbing systems, a global survey of forests finds.
Seventy percent of the 226 tree species in forests around the world routinely function near the point where a serious drought would stop water transport from their roots to their leaves, says plant physiologist Brendan Choat of the University of Western Sydney in Richmond, Australia. Trees even in moist, lush places operate with only a slim safety margin...
Scientists say new signs of global warming in Russian Arctic
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 22nd, 2012
Agence France-Presse: The Russian Arctic is losing ice cover and being inhabited by species from the south in the latest sign of climate change, according to a group of Russian scientists.
The scientists spent three months in the Arctic's Franz Josef Land.
"We have explored 42 of the archipelago's 191 islands and concluded a reduction of the ice sheet from the last Soviet expeditions in 1957," said head of the expedition Maria Gavrilo, an ornithologist.
Her group of eight scientists, including experts in paleography...
Making Waste Management a Sport in India
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 22nd, 2012
Inter Press Service: In a country notorious for the inability to deal with the waste it generates, municipal officials in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh are now resorting to making waste management a competitive sport, in their bid to cajole the entire nation to clean up.
The historic city of Warangal recently hosted 386 teams from 57 municipalities across the northern half of Andhra Pradesh -- the largest state in south India and the fourth largest in the country -- competing for the "˜best performance'...