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Archive for October 10th, 2013
Record temperatures set to reach tropics first
Posted by SciDevNet: None Given on October 10th, 2013
SciDevNet: Tropical regions will be the first to experience unprecedented climate change, leading to significant upheaval for biodiversity and communities, according to a study published in Nature today. Regions near the equator will be subject to mean temperatures hotter than anything experienced on record an average of 15 years before the rest of the world, putting a strain on their rich biodiversity, which is adapted to stable climate conditions, finds the study. "Species living at the poles are already...
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The tundra: A dark horse in planet Earth’s greenhouse gas budget
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 10th, 2013
ScienceDaily: Vast areas on the Northern Hemisphere are covered by tundra. Here, dwarf shrubs, sedges, mosses etc. thrive on top of permafrost in areas where only the uppermost soil layer thaws during the short Arctic summer.
New studies show that the tundra may become a source of CO2 in the future. Researcher Magnus Lund from Aarhus University explains:
"The soil below the tundra contains very large quantities of carbon -- more than twice as much as is present in the planet's entire atmosphere. Therefore,...
Canada: Alberta Current Carbon Strategy No Match for Keystone’s Emissions, Figures Show
Posted by InsideClimate: None Given on October 10th, 2013
InsideClimate: n the tiny hamlet of Hairy Hill, Alberta, a highly energy-efficient grain-fed distillery does what it can to offset some of the greenhouse gas emissions spewed by the province's dirtier industries—mainly the tar sands.
The upstart company called Growing Power Hairy Hill turns grain, manure and household waste into liquid fuel and electricity while emitting essentially no greenhouse gases. It says it is Canada's first "integrated biorefinery."
Hairy Hill is one small gear in Canada's carbon-control...
Extreme Climate Conditions Could Hit Tropics Within The Next Decade
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 10th, 2013
RedOrbit: Unless greenhouse gas emissions are stabilized, the average location on Earth will experience a radically different climate by the year 2047, experts from the University of Hawaii, Manoa claim in research published in Thursday’s edition of the journal Nature.
In the study, lead author Camilo Mora and colleagues from the university’s Department of Geography report that ecological and societal disruptions by modern global warming are determined by the time frame over which climates shift.
They...
What Ever Happened To The Deal To Save The Everglades?
Posted by National Public Radio: Greg Allen on October 10th, 2013
National Public Radio: South of Florida's Lake Okeechobee, hundreds of thousands of acres of sugar cane thrive in the heart of one of the world's largest wetlands. The Everglades stretches from the tip of the peninsula to central Florida, north of Lake Okeechobee. "The Everglades actually begins at Shingle Creek, outside of Orlando," says Jonathan Ullman of the Sierra Club. That's nearly 200 miles north of the agricultural land that Ullman and other environmentalists say is crucial to state and federal efforts to restore...
Study warns world’s hottest years could be the coolest by mid-century
Posted by Guardian: Graham Readfearn on October 10th, 2013
Guardian: If emissions keep rising, then biodiversity hotspots and poorest countries hit earliest as climate shifts
Share Tweet this Email A full globe view of earth showing the western hemisphere Photograph: NASA/Corbis
IF you live in Brisbane, Perth or Darwin, then the year 2042 could be the year when your climate is shoved beyond anything humans there have ever likely experienced before.
From that point onwards, at least according to a new study in the leading science journal Nature, even the...
As Drilling Practice Takes Off in U.S., Europe Proves Hesitant
Posted by New York Times: Steven Erlanger on October 10th, 2013
New York Times: France and Bulgaria have already banned it, and in Britain the government’s attempts to promote it have led to heated demonstrations in the countryside. It is complicating Germany’s attempts to wean itself from fossil fuels and forcing Russia to recalibrate the energy-export strategy that sustains its economy. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has already revolutionized the energy business in the United States, which is now 87 percent self-sufficient for gas, and it is transforming environmental...
Ecuadorean Voters May Decide Fate of Yasuni National Park
Posted by Environment News Service: David Dudenhoefer on October 10th, 2013
Environment News Service: Decisions in two branches of Ecuador`s government have set the stage for a final battle over oil extraction in Yasuni National Park, a mega-diverse rainforest reserve in that country`s portion of the Amazon Basin where President Rafael Correa has decided to drill for oil.
Last Thursday, Ecuador`s congress approved drilling in two oil concessions in the northeast corner of Yasuni National Park -- the Ishpingo, Tambococha and Tiputini (ITT) block and the adjacent block 31, which together hold more...