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Archive for December 25th, 2013
Climate Change Roulette and Water Scarcity
Posted by EcoWatch: Suzanne York on December 25th, 2013
EcoWatch: A new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that climate change is likely to put 40 percent more people worldwide at risk of absolute water scarcity, due to changes in rainfall and evaporation.
Unsurprisingly, the study noted that “Expected future population changes will, in many countries as well as globally, increase the pressure on available water resources.”
With a mid-range United Nations...
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Report puts $797 million price tag on Rim fire’s damage to benefits of nature
Posted by Modesto Bee: John Holland on December 25th, 2013
Modesto Bee: Until they burned, oaks and pines in the Rim fire area absorbed carbon dioxide and emitted oxygen, a useful service for the planet.
The massive blaze reduced the value of this function by as much as $797 million, according to an initial estimate by economists who specialize in accounting for "ecosystem services," or what nature provides to humans.
Before the giant fire started Aug. 17 in the Stanislaus National Forest, the growing vegetation stored carbon that otherwise would rise into the...
U.S. court rejects BP bid to require proof of Gulf oil spill losses
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 25th, 2013
Reuters: BP Plc has failed to persuade a U.S. federal judge to require businesses seeking to recover money over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill to provide proof that their economic losses were caused by the disaster.
U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans said the British oil company would have to live with its earlier interpretation of a settlement agreement over the spill, in which certain businesses could be presumed to have suffered harm if their losses reflected certain patterns.
Barbier...
Glaciologists Reveal Findings on Greenland Aquifer
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 25th, 2013
Environmental News Network: When a Greenland aquifer was accidently discovered by glaciologists in 2011 during a snow accumulation study, little could be done to continue the study of the aquifer because their tools were not suited to work in an aquatic environment. So this past year, a team of glaciologists led another expedition to southeast Greenland in order to find out more about this liquid reservoir. Southeast Greenland is a region of high snow accumulation. Researchers now believe that the thick snow cover insulates...
Okra-homa: As climate warms, Midwest farmers plant Southern crops
Posted by Al Jazeera: None Given on December 25th, 2013
Al Jazeera: It's no longer as corny as Kansas in August. Now it's cotton, okra and sorghum.
The hotter summers and more intense and frequent droughts in the Midwest are forcing farmers here to forgo the plants of their grandparents' generation and look down South for inspiration.
"We kept trying to grow sustainable tomatoes, but it was so hot that the plants got stressed and they wouldn’t produce fruit," said Courtney Skeeba, who started Homestead Ranch in the small town of Lecompton, Kan., about a decade...
SOS 54 years ago warned about vanishing glaciers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 25th, 2013
Times of India: At a time when glaciers are melting at an alarming pace, an SOS buried in a bottle 54 years ago in the Canadian Arctic, and unearthed now, sent a distress signal about the world's rapidly disappearing glaciers.
An American geologist Paul Walker, concerned about the melting of ice, buried a message in a bottle during his exploration of Ward Hunt Island in Nunavut, Canada, in 1959.
He measured the distance - about 1.2 metres - from a glacier to where he buried the message in a bottle, requesting...
Some lose, some win in warming world
Posted by Climate News Network: Tim Radford on December 25th, 2013
Climate News Network: nd now for the good news: climate change could actually make life better for some creatures. The ibex in the Swiss Alps may find an extra spring in its step. The roly-poly pika of the American northwest might find it has gained an edge over its predators because it is adapted to a high fibre diet. The news is not uniformly good: climate change is already taking its toll of Arctic peregrine falcons and chinstrap penguins on the Antarctic peninsula. But change is not always for the worse. A team...
How to land a green job in 2014
Posted by Grist: None Given on December 25th, 2013
Grist: You want an environmental job. And who wouldn’t? You get to go to bed at night knowing you’ve done something good for the world. You can be smug about your job with less nobly employed friends. You can move out of your parent’s basement. These are all good things.
Still, you wonder. Are there any educated guesses about what employers are thinking? We’ve got you covered. Our prognosticator has traveled throughout the green employment community and returned with some predictions to get you going....
The EPA Screwed Up When It Dropped Fracking Investigation
Posted by Reuters: Douwe Miedema on December 25th, 2013
Reuters: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was criticized in an internal report for dropping charges that Range Resources Corp was polluting drinking water while "fracking" for natural gas.
Range is using the hydraulic fracturing technique in Parker County, Texas where one homeowner complained in August 2010 that he could set his drinking water on fire.
Six U.S. senators had asked the agency's internal watchdog - the Office of the Inspector General - to evaluate a 2012 decision to drop an order...
China struggling to meet 2011-2015 environment goals
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 25th, 2013
Reuters: China is struggling to meet its 2011-2015 targets to reduce pollution, cut greenhouse gas growth and introduce cleaner sources of energy, a report submitted to the country's parliament said on Wednesday.
The report, which covers the 2011-2012 period, said faster-than-expected economic growth was to blame for China's failure to meet environmental targets ranging from energy use to nitrogen oxide emissions.
The state of China's environment has come into particular focus in 2013, with most major...