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Archive for February 7th, 2013
The Scary Truth About How Much Climate Change is Costing You
Posted by National Journal: None Given on February 7th, 2013
National Journal: Jimmy Strickland can tell you exactly how much money rising sea levels have cost his business. In 1989, he opened his accounting firm in a one-story brick building near Norfolk’s historic cobblestoned Hague district, which surrounds one of this low-lying city’s many tidal rivers.
Dressed in pinstripes and a large, gold class ring, the white-haired Strickland is a consummate Southern gentleman--and also a consummate small-business owner. In his soft coastal accent, he tells the story of how the...
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Florida’s big python hunt going out with a whimper
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 7th, 2013
Reuters: A nearly month-long hunt for Burmese pythons in Florida's Everglades was wrapping up this week with little to show for the efforts of more than 1,500 would-be snake slayers armed with everything from clubs and machetes to firearms and spears.
A spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which organized the hunt, known as the Python Challenge, said on Thursday that only 50 Burmese pythons had been reported captured or killed as part of the event.
That means the hunt,...
Threat Of Upcoming Blizzard Seen Through 6 Images
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on February 7th, 2013
Climate Central: The blockbuster snowstorm headed for southern New England beginning on Friday is expected to unleash a potentially crippling amount of snow in some areas, perhaps more than 2 feet. Due to the combination of high winds and heavy snow, blizzard warnings have been issued from Maine to Long Island, including Boston, Hartford, Providence, and New York City. The worst of the weather is expected to come on Friday night into Saturday, when snow could fall at rates of 2-to-4 inches per hour in some areas,...
Animal Magnetism: How Salmon Find Their Way Back Home
Posted by National Public Radio: Sarah Zielinski on February 7th, 2013
National Public Radio: Before they end up filleted and sautéed on your dinner plate, salmon lead some pretty extraordinary, globe-trotting lives. After hatching in a freshwater stream, young salmon make a break for the ocean, where they hang out for years, covering thousands of miles before deciding its time to settle down and lay eggs in the same stream they were born. So how do these fish find their way back to their home river? According to one theory, it's all about magnetism. When salmon are young, the theory goes,...
U.S. Missing Goal on Critical Emission Cuts
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 7th, 2013
Inter Press Service: Environmentalists here are warning that the United States is not on track to meet a target of a 17-percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2020, despite President Barack Obama's stated commitment.
Yet, according to a new report by the World Resources Institute (WRI), a Washington-based environment think tank, the country can still meet that goal by using existing federal laws and state action, and investing in renewable energy sources.
"Even without Congressional involvement or new technologies,...
New England eyes potentially record-setting blizzard
Posted by Reuters: Scott Malone on February 7th, 2013
Reuters: New England braced on Thursday for a possibly record-setting winter storm, with forecasts of up to two feet of snow prompting local officials to urge residents to prepare.
The storm was blowing in from the Midwest where it was expected to begin dropping snow on the Chicago area on Thursday afternoon. It was due to bring light snow to the northeastern United States on Friday morning before ramping up to blizzard conditions by afternoon.
In Boston, which was expected to see some of the heaviest...
New Era of Food Scarcity Echoes Collapsed Civilisations
Posted by Inter Press Service: Lester R. Brown on February 7th, 2013
Inter Press Service: The world is in transition from an era of food abundance to one of scarcity. Over the last decade, world grain reserves have fallen by one third. World food prices have more than doubled, triggering a worldwide land rush and ushering in a new geopolitics of food.
Food is the new oil. Land is the new gold.
This new era is one of rising food prices and spreading hunger. On the demand side of the food equation, population growth, rising affluence, and the conversion of food into fuel for cars...
Fishers Fight Over Dwindling Catch
Posted by Inter Press Service: Edgardo Ayala on February 7th, 2013
Inter Press Service: Boats were tying up at the jetty and there was a bustle of activity as vendors cried their wares, offering shellfish to potential buyers, while young people, sharp knives in hand, filleted sea bass and red snapper. Meanwhile, on the promenade, octogenarian musicians played old-style cumbias and boleros for restaurant patrons.
But the lighthearted atmosphere belied a sombre reality here in Puerto de la Libertad, a small town on the Pacific coast in the southwest of El Salvador.
Standing next...
Investors beware: global land grabbing ends in ‘financial damage’ and human rights violations
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 7th, 2013
Mongabay: Investing in companies that flout local community rights in developing countries often leads to severe economic losses, according to a new report from the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI). A rising trend in "land grabbing" from Africa to South America by corporations and even foreign governments results in social instability, which can lead to large-scale protests, violence, and even murder, delaying and sometimes derailing projects. Such instability poses massive risk to any investor, not to...
Climate Change Set to Batter U.S. Agriculture, Forests
Posted by Climate Central: Lauren Morello on February 7th, 2013
Climate Central: Climate change is likely to transform U.S. agriculture by mid-century, reducing yields of many staple crops and the productivity of livestock operations, according to a new government analysis.
Rising temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns will also harm the nation's forests, increasing their vulnerability to fires, insect infestations and disease.
Those are some of the dramatic projections outlined in a pair of analyses released Tuesday by the Agriculture Department. The documents,...