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Archive for February 17th, 2014
“Blessed” Rains Become a Curse in Antigua
Posted by Inter Press Service: Desmond Brown on February 17th, 2014
Inter Press Service: Antigua is one of the most drought-prone countries in the Caribbean. So whenever it rains, the inhabitants generally regard the weather as "showers of blessing". But that is starting to change. Many farmers now see the rains as a curse and are now fighting an uphill battle to save their crops, vital for both the local and foreign markets."The yield and lifespan [of crops in a greenhouse] basically are three times as much as open-field production." -- Delrie Cole "We are a drought-prone country,"...
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Global Warming Pushes Native Plants to New Habitats Leaving Dependent Species at Risk
Posted by Climate News: Tim Radford on February 17th, 2014
Climate News: By 2100, vegetation patterns will be shifting in almost half the land area of the planet, according to new research in the journal Global and Planetary Change.
Song Feng of the University of Arkansas in the U.S. and colleagues in Nebraska, China and South Korea have taken a long cool look at what the projected patterns of warming are likely to do to the planet’s mosaic of climate types. And they predict dramatic changes.
Climate type is a century-old idea useful for making sense of geographical...
Warming from Arctic Sea Ice Melting More Dramatic than Thought
Posted by LiveScience: Laura Poppick on February 17th, 2014
LiveScience: Melting Arctic sea ice has contributed considerably more to warming at the top of the world than previously predicted by climate models, according to a new analysis of 30 years of satellite observations.
Sea ice helps cool the Arctic by reflecting incoming solar radiation back into space. Because of its light color, sea ice has what is known as high albedo, which is the percentage of solar radiation a surface reflects back to space. Dark ocean water left behind by melting sea ice, on the other...
Debate Over Deviant Weather Patterns Centers On Climate Change
Posted by Forbes: None Given on February 17th, 2014
Forbes: As a “jet stream” divides the nation between those who are enduring record-cold temperatures and those who are dying for water supplies, the country has become ensconced in debate as to the root cause and the role of climate change.
In any event, weather aberrations are putting more pressure on natural gas supplies, which are now in high demand and which have risen in price. Nationally, customers will pay much higher winter heating bills. But, in California that relies on hydropower to fuel nearly...
Australia: Heat is on combat climate change silent killer
Posted by Age: Will Steffen on February 17th, 2014
Age: One of the most direct effects of climate change is the increase in very hot days and heatwaves. Many regions of Australia have suffered unusually intense heatwaves this summer.
Melbourne sweltered through two heatwaves, and on January 16 Australia's extreme heat made front-page news around the world when the Australian Open tennis tournament was forced to suspend matches due to the risk of heat stress to players.
Heatwaves have also increased extreme bushfire danger weather, a factor in the...
Illegal dam threatens to flood Ngäbe territory; Panama planning forcible eviction
Posted by Intercontinental Cry: Richard Arghiris on February 17th, 2014
Intercontinental Cry: Having fought tirelessly against the unlawful Barro Blanco hydroelectric dam, the indigenous Ngäbe communities on the banks of Panama’s Tabasará river are today threatened with forced eviction at the hands of Panama’s notoriously brutal security forces.
The 29 MW dam, built by a Honduran-owned energy company, Genisa, received funding from three development banks: the Dutch FMO, the German DEG, and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CBIE). The project was approved by the Panamanian...
United Kingdom: Further floods expected along Thames – but worst weather is behind us
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on February 17th, 2014
Blue and Green: Residents living in flooded areas of the UK have been warned to expect water levels to rise further in the next few days, as more heavy rain falls on saturated ground. Forecasters have added, however, that the worst of the crisis appears to be over for now.
The Environment Agency currently has 16 severe flood warnings in place, 14 along the banks of the Thames in the south-east and two more in Somerset.
The Met Office has also issued a yellow warning for rain in the south-west of England, forecasting...
4 Ways Farmed Shrimp Are Killing the Ocean
Posted by EcoWatch: S.e. Smith on February 17th, 2014
EcoWatch: I’ll be the first to tell you that I love a good shrimp alfredo, shrimp pad thai or tempura shrimp. Unfortunately, we all may need to evaluate our love for these tasty crustaceans in the future, because there’s some ominous news emerging about shrimp farms--approximately 30 percent of the seafood we import is shrimp--and it’s time to get serious about whether we want to eat good seafood, or bad. And I’m not talking about the seafood that makes you crouch over the toilet all night versus the kind...
Emma Watson fell ill on Noah set after Darren Aronofsky banned bottled water
Posted by Guardian: Ben Child on February 17th, 2014
Guardian: Watson, who plays Noah's adopted daughter Ila in the big budget fantasy, said the Black Swan director banned plastic bottles in an effort to echo the film's environmental concerns. But with some shoots taking place from 4am, the actor often found herself "tired and delirious" on set and in need of rehydration. On one occasion Watson was so thirsty that she accidentally drank a mug of stagnant water.
"Because of the storm, Douglas [Booth] and I ended up shooting most of our scenes between 4am and...
United Kingdom: Cameron vows visit every flood-hit part of country to ‘learn lessons’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 17th, 2014
Guardian: The prime minister, David Cameron, will aim to visit every flood-hit area around the country "to try and learn lessons" after speaking with residents in one of the country's most flooded towns.
Cameron defended the government's handling of the crisis and hit back at criticism that he was visiting places such as Upton-upon-Severn in Worcestershire, where the army was deployed after the town was cut in two by floodwaters, only after the damage had already been done.
Earlier, he described the...