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Archive for July 20th, 2014
Indonesia: What is peat swamp, and why should I care?
Posted by Mongabay: Loren Bell on July 20th, 2014
Mongabay: Long considered an unproductive hindrance to growth and development, peat swamp forests in Southeast Asia have been systematically cleared, drained and burned away to make room plantations and construction. Now, as alternating cycles of fires and flood create larger development problems, while greenhouse gas emissions skyrocket, it is time to take a closer look at peat, and understand why clearing it is at best a very bad idea.
What is a tropical peat swamp forest?
Peat swamp forests form in...
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Despite California’s Drought, Taps Still Flowing In LA County
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 20th, 2014
National Public Radio: This January, after the driest calendar year in California history, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency. He called on residents to reduce their water intake by 20 percent.
But downtown Los Angeles doesn't look like a city devastated by the state's worst drought in decades. The city is green with landscaping, and fountains are running. People still water their lawns, wash their cars and fill their pools.
Earlier this week, Gov. Brown announced that, compared to last year, water use...
Drought hinders California’s clean energy goals
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 20th, 2014
Associated Press: California's ongoing drought could complicate the state's effort to combat global warming. The San Francisco Chronicle reports Sunday (http://bit.ly/1qTT5Ej ) that a drought stretching on for years could slash the amount of clean energy collected from the state's dams and send emissions spewing from other sources. State officials are pushing utility companies by 2020 to obtain 33 percent of their electricity from renewable sources that also include wind and solar power. California is in its third...
Rain-fed farms common, but India unique in letting bad rains wreak economic havoc
Posted by Quartz: None Given on July 20th, 2014
Quartz: Last week’s rains helped dispel some of the gathering economic clouds?. Though the storm has yet not passed, there is a collective sigh of relief, because poor rains would have meant higher inflation, lower GDP, commodity price swings and widespread human misery among India’s vast number of farmers and farm hands.
India might nurse delusions of becoming an economic superpower, but monsoons are still the final arbiter of our GDP. With all the progress in technology and weather forecasting in the...
Crews make progress in calming massive Washington state wildfire
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 20th, 2014
Reuters: A massive wildfire raging east of Washington state's Cascade Mountains showed some sign of calming Sunday, with fire crews saying they had slowed the expansion of a wind-whipped blaze that destroyed about 100 homes and displaced hundreds of people.
The Carlton Complex blaze did not grow overnight, the first time since the fire was triggered by lightning strikes six days ago that it showed any sign of abatement, local officials said.
By early Sunday, the fire was still burning over 280,000 acres...
BRICS: $100bn sustainable development bank launched by world’s largest developing economies
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on July 20th, 2014
Blue and Green: The BRICS group, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, have established their own international bank, to promote sustainable investment and to act as an emergency reserve.
The bank will be based in Shanghai and its first president will be from India, the group announced. In a declaration, the nations said, “BRICS continue to face significant financing constraints to address infrastructure gaps and sustainable development needs.
“With this in mind, we are pleased to announce...
Drought hinders state’s emissions goals
Posted by San Francisco Chronicle: David R. Baker on July 20th, 2014
San Francisco Chronicle: No state has done more than California to fight global warming. But a deepening drought could make that battle more difficult and more expensive.
A prolonged dry spell, stretching on for years, would slash the amount of power flowing from the state's hydroelectric dams, already running low after three parched winters.
The dams have, for years, been one of California's main sources of clean electricity, generating power without spewing greenhouse gases into the air. Drought forces utility companies...
Late monsoon starts Indian farmer’s ‘journey to hell’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 20th, 2014
Reuters: Indian farmer Asghar Bhura scrapes a living by growing sugarcane, but this year's late monsoon has left his tiny plot parched and he will earn nothing from his harvest.
Bhura will have to go and work for a big grower to feed his family of six, making 250 rupees ($4.00) a day, as he did when India suffered its last severe drought in 2009.
"I have no option but to become a bonded labourer just to feed my family one meal a day," said Bhura, 50, looking at his stunted crop on his third of a hectare...