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Archive for February, 2013
The top 10 hardest-hit states for crop damage
Posted by Climate Central: Alyson Kenward on February 15th, 2013
Climate Central: The searing U.S. drought of 2012 devastated the nation's corn crop, pushing yields down in some states to their lowest levels in nearly 30 years. According to recently-released numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Missouri, Illinois and Indiana were among the hardest hit Corn Belt states, with yields at 28-, 26-, and 22-year lows, respectively.
To put the severity and impact of the 2012 U.S. drought in context, the top 10 hardest-hit states for crop damage are illustrated in...
Reptiles face risk of extinction
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2013
BBC: Almost a fifth of the world's reptile species are at risk of extinction, according to scientists.
Research led by the Zoological Society of London found that the future of 19% of the world's reptiles are threatened.
Conservation experts also confirmed that 47% are vulnerable and highlighted the possible extinction of three species.
The figures are based on a random sample of 1,500 of the world's reptile species.
"It's essentially an election poll set up - using this sample to give an...
Climate Change’s Links to Conflict Draws UN Attention
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2013
Bloomberg: Imagine India in 2033. It has overtaken China as the most populous nation. Yet with 1.5 billion citizens to feed, it’s been three years since the last monsoon. Without rain, crops die and people starve.
The seeds of conflict take root.
This is one of the scenarios Joachim Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, will present today to members of the United Nations Security Council in New York to show the connection between climate change and global security...
Ex-IPCC head: Prepare for 5°C warmer world
Posted by Climate News Network: Alex Kirby on February 15th, 2013
Climate News Network: The world has missed the chance to keep greenhouse gas emissions below the level needed to prevent the temperature climbing above 2°C, according to the British scientist who used to chair the IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The scientist, Professor Sir Robert Watson, chaired the Panel from 1997 until 2002, when he was ousted after US pressure for his removal. Professor Watson says there is a 50-50 chance of preventing global average temperatures rising more than 3°C above their...
RFK Jr. arrested: Celebs, enviros arrested at Keystone pipeline protest
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2013
Christian Science Monitor: Celebrities and environmental activists, including lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and civil rights leader Julian Bond, were arrested Wednesday after tying themselves to the White House gate to protest the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada.
Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune also was arrested -- the first time in the group's 120-year history that a club leader was arrested in an act of civil disobedience. The club's board of directors approved the action as a sign of its opposition to...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on RFK Jr. arrested: Celebs, enviros arrested at Keystone pipeline protestSweden: Perch exposed to human anti-anxiety drugs become isolated, aggressive – study
Posted by Reuters: Irene Klotz on February 15th, 2013
Reuters: Wild perch living in water tainted with a commonly prescribed human anti-anxiety drug aggressively feed, shun other fish and become careless, according to the results of a study presented at a meeting of scientists on Thursday.
"We knew there was a pharmaceutical that was present in the environment that had behavioral-changing capabilities in humans, but what could this do to fish?" said chemist Jerker Fick of Umea University in Sweden.
The findings highlighted the potential ecological implications...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Sweden: Perch exposed to human anti-anxiety drugs become isolated, aggressive – studySweden: Drugs Leaked Into Rivers Make Fish Antisocial
Posted by LiveScience: Douglas Main on February 14th, 2013
LiveScience: Drugs taken by humans can have unintended side effects -- on fish, in the natural environment. Turns out, fish fed extremely low concentrations of an antianxiety drug eat more quickly, and act bolder and more antisocial than their un-medicated peers, a new study finds.
"We can see profound effects at the low levels that we find in surface water. Exposed fish are more bold," Jerker Fick, a co-author and researcher at Umea University in Sweden, said at a news conference here at the annual meeting...
Amphibian Biodiversity Makes Entire Ecosystem More Robust
Posted by redOrbit: April Flowers on February 14th, 2013
RedOrbit: A new study from the University of Colorado, Boulder shows that the richer the biodiversity of amphibian species living in a pond, the more protection that ecosystem has against parasitic infections.
The finding of the study support the broader theory that greater biodiversity in large-scale ecosystems such as forests or grasslands may also provide greater protection against diseases, including those that attack humans. A larger number of mammals in an area, for example, may curb cases of Lyme...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Amphibian Biodiversity Makes Entire Ecosystem More RobustStudy Says Wetland Trees Significant Source Of Greenhouse Gas Methane
Posted by redOrbit: Lee Rannals on February 14th, 2013
RedOrbit: While wetlands represent an enormous source of atmospheric methane, researchers taking measurements of the gas at ground level in these regions have noticed a significant drop in methane levels compared to what they have measured in the air around tropical areas.
The team of scientists studied both swamps and flooded forests in the tropics. After taking ground-based measurements of methane, they found that levels of the simple organic gas have fallen short of the quantities detected in tropical...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Study Says Wetland Trees Significant Source Of Greenhouse Gas MethaneNOAA: February 2012 to January 2013 Warmest on Record
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 14th, 2013
Climate Central: January was warmer and wetter than average in the contiguous U.S., despite the persistent drought in the nation's heartland, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday.
The average temperature in the lower 48 states reached 32.0°F last month. At 1.6°F above the 20th century average, January 2013 ties 1958 as the 39th-warmest January on record.
That was still warm enough to make February 2012-to-January 2013 the warmest February-to-January period since record-keeping began...