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Archive for January 11th, 2013
Keeping a growing Austin green — and weird — is no easy task
Posted by Grist: None Given on January 11th, 2013
Grist: A few months ago, an Austin writer took to the pages of the New York Times to fret about the fate of his city. Austin, it seems, is getting too big for its famously weird britches. Not too long ago, an older gentleman fond of wearing high heels and a thong in public ran for mayor three times, Richard Parker wrote. Now, Austin has a Grand Prix racing track, restaurants teeming with celebrities, and yuppies crowding out families.
“[I]n the wake of the Armstrong debacle, it’s hard not to think that...
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Diverse forestry stands better than monocultures, finds study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 11th, 2013
Mongabay: Growing a diverse array of tree species for timber production contributes a broader array of valuable ecosystem services compared to industrial monocultures, reports a new study based on field work in Sweden.
The Nature Communications study, conducted by researchers at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Future Forests, looked six different ecosystem services afforded by forests (tree growth, carbon storage, berry production, food for wildlife, occurrence of dead wood, and biological...
As Australia burns, attitudes are changing. But is it too late?
Posted by Guardian: Tim Flannery on January 11th, 2013
Guardian: This summer, life in Australia resembles a compulsory and very unpleasant game of Russian roulette. A pool of hot air more than 1,000 miles wide has formed across the inland. It covers much of the continent, and has proved astonishingly persistent. Periodically, low pressure systems spill the heat towards the coast, where most Australians live. At Christmas it was Perth. Then the heat struck Adelaide, followed by Tasmania, Victoria, and southern New South Wales and Canberra. Over this weekend, it's...
South Africa: Rhino poaching hits new record in 2012
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 11th, 2013
Mongabay: 668 rhinos were killed in South Africa during 2012 according to new figures released by the South African government. The total, which represents a 49 percent rise over the 448 killed in 2011, reveals the heavy toll the black market trade in rhino horn is taking on one of Africa's best known and most endangered animals. The figures show that 425 rhino deaths occurred in Kruger National Park, South Africa’s top safari destination. South Africa is home to about three-quarters of the world's 28,000...
How E-Waste Is Becoming a Big, Global Problem
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 11th, 2013
National Public Radio: According to the EPA, more than 2.5 million tons of electronic waste, or e-waste, is produced each year in the U.S. Derek Markham, a contributing writer for Treehugger.com, discusses the global impacts, and why you should think twice before discarding your old cell phone.
Treaty ‘insufficient’ to reduce global mercury levels
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 11th, 2013
Guardian: Even as government negotiators from around the world prepare to gather next week for a final round of talks on a new international treaty limiting the use of mercury, scientists and activists are warning that the draft treaty is both too weak and too limited in scope to have a major impact.
"Based on what's happened so far, based on the draft text, we have strong doubts that the treaty will actually be sufficient to reduce global levels of mercury in fish and seafood," Joe DiGangi, a science and...
Imagine NY Without Fracking
Posted by EcoWatch: Yoko Ono on January 11th, 2013
EcoWatch: My husband, John Lennon, and I bought a beautiful farm in rural New York more than 30 years ago. We loved the tranquility and beauty of the area. Our son, Sean, spent many precious days there growing up. Our family still enjoys it now.
Like the rest of our state, this peaceful farming community is threatened by fracking for gas. Giant pipelines, thousands of tractor-trailer trucks ripping up roads, loud air compressors, air pollution--and most of all, the certainty of poisoned drinking water....
Impact of climate change hitting home, U.S. report finds
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 11th, 2013
Reuters: The consequences of climate change are now hitting the United States on several fronts, including health, infrastructure, water supply, agriculture and especially more frequent severe weather, a congressionally mandated study has concluded.
A draft of the U.S. National Climate Assessment, released on Friday, said observable change to the climate in the past half-century "is due primarily to human activities, predominantly the burning of fossil fuel," and that no areas of the United States were...
Water grabbing occurring at ‘alarming rates’
Posted by SciDevNet: Cecilia Rosen on January 11th, 2013
SciDevNet: Deals in which rich foreign corporations and countries buy or lease agricultural land abroad result in nearly half a trillion cubic metres of fresh water also being grabbed each year -- often enough to grow sufficient food to abate undernourishment in the 'grabbed countries', a paper reveals. The majority of land grabbing takes place in Africa and Asia, and the amount of grabbed water per capita often exceeds the water requirements needed to provide a balanced diet to residents in the grabbed nations,...
USDA Declares Winter Wheat Belt Drought Disaster Area
Posted by Climate Central: Daniel Yawitz on January 11th, 2013
Climate Central: On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) declared 597 counties across 14 states natural disaster areas as a result of the ongoing drought that threatens the winter wheat crop. These are the first drought-related natural disaster declarations of the year, and mark the second year in a row that such measures were necessary due to the drought event, which is the worst such event since the 1950s. Overall drought impacts across the continental U.S. improved slightly this week, due to mild...