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Archive for December 30th, 2013
California ‘King Tides’ Hit; Are Rising Sea Levels A Sign Of Climate Change?
Posted by International Business Times: None Given on December 30th, 2013
International Business Times: Starting Monday, Californians can expect high tides to reach higher than normal. The arrival of the West Coast’s annual “king tides,” a twice-yearly phenomenon that brings occasional flooding, signals the alignment of the sun and moon, which creates maximum pull on the Earth’s oceans.
From Dec. 30 until about Jan. 2, California’s high tides will peak at an estimated 7.1 feet above average low tide, a National Weather Service representative told KPCC Radio. That’s about 1.5 feet higher than Los...
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Climate change drives Florida mangroves northward
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 30th, 2013
Mongabay: A decline in the frequency of extreme cold weather in Florida has allowed coastal mangrove forests to expand northward, finds a study published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The research, based on analysis of satellite and temperate data, found that mangroves in the Miami area and northward have expanded by 1,240 hectares since 1984.
"Between Cape Canaveral National Seashore and Saint Augustine, mangroves doubled in area," noted a statement issued by the University...
Florida’s Mangrove Forests Expand with Climate Change
Posted by LiveScience: Tia Ghose on December 30th, 2013
LiveScience: Fewer deep freezes, attributable to Earth's warming climate, have caused mangrove forests to expand northward in Florida over the past three decades, new research suggests.
"Mangroves showed the largest increases in regions where cold snaps became less frequent over the past 30 years," study co-author Kyle Cavanaugh, an ecologist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Maryland, wrote in an email.
The findings, published today (Dec. 30) in the journal Proceedings of the National...
Amazon Deforestation Threatens South America Water Security
Posted by Climate News Network: Paul Brown on December 30th, 2013
Climate News Network: The continued destruction of the Amazon to exploit its resources for mining, agriculture and hydro-power is threatening the future of the South American continent, according to a report by campaigning groups using the latest scientific data.
Five countries--Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru--share the Amazon, and for all of them the forest area occupies more than 40 percent of their territory. All face threats to their water supply, energy production, food and health.
In addition,...
Seven wonders of a hopeful world
Posted by Ensia: None Given on December 30th, 2013
Ensia: Seven billion people and growing. A quarter of them living in poverty. Unsustainable -- and unequal -- resource use. Landscapes vanishing, along with their nonhuman inhabitants. Global warming upending natural systems. These are tough times on planet Earth. But while sustainability remains far from a global edict, hopeful signs of progress are poking up around the world. In some places, in some cases, we are doing things right, taking steady steps toward a smarter future. Here we offer seven of them...
The Benefits of Laundry-to-Landscape Greywater Systems
Posted by Environmental News Network: Madeline Valinski on December 30th, 2013
Environmental News Network: Approximately 30% of household water use is for outdoor use in the form of garden irrigation. Outdoor water usage is very seasonal, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and outdoor water usage is highest when water availability is the lowest due to drought conditions and heat. The top three uses of water in the household are for landscaping, sewage, and laundry. Yet a simple laundry-to-landscape system could reduce one of these high water wasters. A laundry-to-landscape system might...
Global public water alliance must not be allowed to evaporate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 30th, 2013
Guardian: Over the past 30 years, there has been an almost religious commitment to the privatisation of water on the part of the World Bank, international donors, and many UN agencies. Millions are spent each year by these institutions on pro-privatisation conferences, workshops and publications, not to mention loans and grants to make it happen.
It is refreshing, therefore, to know that there is at least one UN institution committed to improving public water provision. Founded by UN-Habitat in 2009, the...
Waiting for the Rains, Zambia Grapples With Climate Change
Posted by Inter Press Service: Ernest Chiombe on December 30th, 2013
Inter Press Service: It is seven in the morning and Georgina Musende, 56, of Kamanga Township, which just lies east of the Zambian capital Lusaka, is already sweating as she digs into the dry earth. Every time the hoe hits the ground, the dust engulfs her.
But Musende, a single parent who supports her four children and 10 grandchildren, is not concerned about the scorching 35-degree Celsius heat nor the dust. She is worried that the delayed onset of the rainy season will affect her maize production.
"In the past,...
Afganistan: Barren Fields Recover From Taliban
Posted by Inter Press Service: Ashfaq Yusufzai on December 30th, 2013
Inter Press Service: Ahmed Nawaz, a 55-year-old farmer in northwestern Pakistan's Swat valley, rues the day the Taliban arrived in his beautiful land, known for its rolling mountains, lush fields and blossoming orchards. "The earth became barren," he says.
"Our agricultural income used to be enough for the entire extended family, but for two years after the advent of the Taliban in 2007, we couldn't cultivate our lands," Nawaz tells IPS.
Swat is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The Taliban had a strong presence...