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Archive for May, 2013
In the dark about the future, West Africa struggles to fill a climate gap
Posted by Daily Climate: Jori Lewis on May 13th, 2013
Daily Climate: Just two seasons exist here: the rainy and the dry. At the best of times, the temperamental rains come for three or four months and turn dusty plains into green pastures, forests and fields.
But in the late 1960s, the rains came later and ended earlier. A drought started. Crops failed across the region; freshwater rivers turned to saltwater.
In the Sahel, a semi-arid belt across West Africa south of the Sahara Desert, at least 100,000 people perished and millions of cattle died for want of...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on In the dark about the future, West Africa struggles to fill a climate gapFewer Rain Forests Mean Less Energy for Developing Nations, Study Finds
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 13th, 2013
New York Times: The loss of tropical rain forests is likely to reduce the energy output of hydroelectric projects in countries like Brazil that are investing billions of dollars to create power to support economic growth. That is the conclusion of a group of experts whose findings, released Monday, run counter to the conventional understanding of deforestation’s impact on watersheds. For years, scientists and engineers have noted an increase in river flows when the trees along streams are removed. The water...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Fewer Rain Forests Mean Less Energy for Developing Nations, Study FindsGlobal Temperature Increases Could Threaten Global Biodiversity
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 13th, 2013
RedOrbit: If global temperatures increase by more than two degrees Celsius, it could have a dramatic impact on the biodiversity of both plants and animals, according to new research published in the latest edition of the journal Nature Climate Change. In fact, according to BBC News Environment Correspondent Matt McGrath, the authors assert that more than half of common plant species and one-third of all animals could experience a serious decline in their habitat range because of global warming. However, they...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Global Temperature Increases Could Threaten Global BiodiversityThe battle for Drake’s Bay
Posted by Grist: None Given on May 13th, 2013
Grist: It`s springtime at the Point Reyes National Seashore, about an hour outside of San Francisco, and the cold wind whips off the sea and through the tall grass along the cliffs. Cows wander and graze along the fingers of land that reach out into the estuary’s tiny bays, an area altogether encompassing just over three square miles.
Beyond the estuary, at the outer edges of the seashore, seals sun themselves on the beaches, packed in tightly and squirming along the shoreline.
From March through...
Science proves what we all know: Nature is Good for your Health!
Posted by Ecologist: Richard J Dolesh on May 13th, 2013
Ecologist: A walk in the park can calm and restore you. This is something we take for granted in parks and recreation, because we have known it to be true ever since we started spending time in nature.
But new research reported in the British Journal of Sports Medicine now provides scientific proof that walking in nature and spending time under leafy shade trees causes electrochemical changes in the brain that can lead people to enter a highly beneficial state of "effortless attention.'
The UK researchers...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Science proves what we all know: Nature is Good for your Health!Cities need the resilience to face future Sandys
Posted by Bloomberg: Peter Orszag on May 13th, 2013
Bloomberg: Whether or not Hurricane Sandy had a connection to climate change, climate change will make future Hurricane Sandys more common, imposing enormous costs on cities.
Since we seem to lack the will to reduce this threat by cutting greenhouse-gas emissions, we should at least make ourselves more resilient to severe weather.
So it's encouraging to see cities and states worldwide work on better protecting themselves from storms. Rotterdam, for one, has set a goal of being "climate-proof" by 2025....
United Kingdom: Shipping chemical ‘unsafe for birds’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 13th, 2013
BBC: Wildlife charities are calling for tighter regulations to protect seabirds from a group of chemicals that caused hundreds of seabirds to be washed up off the south coast of England.
The number of seabirds affected by the recent spill of polyisobutene (PIB) has now reached 4,000, said the RSPB.
The sticky chemical is used as a lubricant in ships' engines.
It is also moved in large quantities, as it is used to make chewing gum, adhesive tape and sealants.
The organisations are appealing...
One-third of animal species will be hit by climate change, scientists warn
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 13th, 2013
Guardian: One-third of common land animals could see dramatic losses this century because of climate change, scientists predict.
More than half of plants could be hit the same way as habitats become unsuitable for numerous species.
The collapse of ecosystems would have major economic impacts on agriculture, air quality, clean water access, and tourism.
Global temperatures are set to rise 4C above preindustrial levels by 2100 if nothing is done to stem greenhouse gas emissions.
This could have a...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on One-third of animal species will be hit by climate change, scientists warnDalai Lama: Cultivate Inner Peace to Save the Planet
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on May 13th, 2013
Environment News Service: "The main thing is the oneness of humanity," His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, said during an environmental summit Saturday in Portland.
"In 1959 I came from Tibet and escaped to India. Now the whole world has some problems, but there is no other place to escape," he told an audience of 11,000 people. "Environmental protection, taking care of our world, is like taking care of our own home. This is our only home, so we have to take care, and not only for our generation."
The Dalai...
European shrub threatens US frogs
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 13th, 2013
BBC: An invasive shrub is disrupting US Mid-West ecosystems and threatening amphibian populations, say researchers. Buckthorn, listed as an invasive species in the US, is understood to release a chemical into the environment that reduces successful hatching. Since its introduction in the 19th Century as a hedgerow shrub, the plant has spread widely and is now found across two-thirds of the country. The results will appear in Natural Areas and the Journal of Herpetology. "What we are finding is a suppressed...