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Archive for May, 2013
Sugarcane production impacting local climate in Brazil
Posted by Mongabay: Thomas Handley on May 1st, 2013
Mongabay: Intensification of Brazil's sugarcane industry in response to rising demand for sugar-based ethanol could have impacts on the regional climate reports a new study by researchers from Arizona State University, Stanford University and the Carnegie Institution for Science.
Following the conversion of cerrado grasslands into sugarcane in Brazil, a recent study in Geophysical Research Letters found local cooling that approached 1 degree Celsius during the growing season and maximum local warming near...
Better wheat varieties in the future? Wheat genome shows resistance genes easy to access
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 1st, 2013
ScienceDaily: It's hard to go anywhere without a map -- especially into the deep and complex world of genetics. Now, Kansas State University researcher Bikram Gill and an international team of researchers have developed a physical map of wheat's wild ancestor, Aegilops tauschii, commonly called goatgrass, as they take the first huge step toward sequencing the wheat genome -- a complete look at wheat's genetic matter.
A physical map of a genome shows the physical locations of genes and other DNA sequences of...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Better wheat varieties in the future? Wheat genome shows resistance genes easy to accessWhatever you think of fracking, this isn’t the way forward
Posted by Guardian: Michael Hanlon on May 1st, 2013
Guardian: Serious countries, with serious governments, have equally serious energy policies to keep the lights on. This means developing long-term strategic plans, making sure that you create as mixed a basket of energy sources as possible. It means taking steps to ensure that if the supply of a particular energy source becomes scarce or prohibitively expensive, then there are alternatives that can be brought on stream quickly.
That is the sort of thing a serious country does. What it does not do is come...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Whatever you think of fracking, this isn’t the way forwardIllinois Ranks As Worst Rogue Coal State
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on May 1st, 2013
EcoWatch: Whether she runs for governor or not, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan would need nine lives to bring the state`s notoriously broken regulatory system into compliance with the nation`s most reckless coal industry.
With state coal production soaring against national trends, Illinois cemented its reputation as the worst rogue state for coal operations last Friday, when the rubber-stamping operations of the state`s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a pollutant discharge permit to...
Most Americans Blame Global Warming for Extreme Weather
Posted by LiveScience: Denise Chow on May 1st, 2013
LiveScience: More than half of Americans think global warming is affecting weather in the United States, according to a new nationally representative survey that measures the pulse of American sentiment on climate change.
The newly released study shows that about two out of three Americans say weather in the country has worsened over the past several years, with only one in 10 saying the weather has been improving.
Americans also have strong views about the link between global warming and extreme weather....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Most Americans Blame Global Warming for Extreme WeatherSandra Steingraber Shines a Spotlight on the Problems of Fracking
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on May 1st, 2013
EcoWatch: After serving 10 days of her 15-day sentence for trespassing during a protest against fracking, activist Sandra Steingraber was released from the Schuyler County jail last week in Watkins Glen, N.Y. The day before she was imprisoned, she talked with Moyers about her fight to stop fracking and the release of toxins contaminating our air, water and food.
Steingraber had been arrested along with nine other protesters on March 18 for blocking the entrance to the Inergy natural gas facility to protest...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Sandra Steingraber Shines a Spotlight on the Problems of FrackingOhio Legislation Introduced to Ban Fracking Waste Injection Wells
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on May 1st, 2013
EcoWatch: This week, State Sen. Mike Skindell (D-Lakewood), State Rep. Denise Driehaus (D-Cincinnati) and State Rep. Robert Hagan (D-Youngstown) introduced legislation to ban Class II fracking waste injection wells in Ohio. The bill would prevent waste from being discharged into Ohio’s waterways after treatment, and would make it illegal for municipalities to use the liquid waste from oil and gas operations for dust and ice control on roadways.
Today, grassroots leaders from around the state applauded the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Ohio Legislation Introduced to Ban Fracking Waste Injection WellsBee protection: US in spotlight as EU bans pesticides
Posted by Ecologist: Elizabeth Grossman on May 1st, 2013
Ecologist: One of every three bites of food eaten worldwide depends on pollinators, especially bees, for a successful harvest. And in the past several months, a scramble in California's almond groves has given the world a taste of what may lie in store for food production if the widespread -- and still puzzling -- decimation of bee colonies continues.
For much of the past 10 years, beekeepers, primarily in the United States and Europe, have been reporting annual hive losses of 30 percent or higher, substantially...
World’s rarest duck on the rebound in Madagascar
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 1st, 2013
Mongabay: After a final sighting in 1991, the Madagascar pochard was thought to have vanished for good. But this diving duck was rediscovered in 2006 when a flock of 22 individuals was found on Lake Matsaborimena in northern Madagascar by conservationists during an expedition. Soon after Madagascar pochard eggs were taken and incubated in a joint captive breeding program by Durrell, the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), the Peregrine Fund, Asity Madagascar, and Madagascar government, which recently announced...
How would an extra month of 100-plus-degree days feel?
Posted by Austin Daily Star: None Given on May 1st, 2013
Austin Daily Star: Climate change is not just happening in some far and distant place. It's happening now, right here in Arizona.
A new report on climate change in the Southwest shows that our weather patterns are already shifting and we're seeing and feeling the impacts. Drawing from the most recent and comprehensive scientific information, the study led by University of Arizona researchers also assesses future impacts on health, water, agriculture, energy supply and demand, ecosystems, transportation and our communities....