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Archive for July, 2014
German water supply threatened as climate change boosts droughts
Posted by Bloomberg: Stefan Nicola on July 30th, 2014
Bloomberg: German water supplies will become increasingly threatened this century as climate change raises the risk of droughts and water shortages in the country. While Germany is considered water-rich, more water evaporates than falls as rain in the eastern part of the country, according to a report by a German parliamentary committee. Average temperatures may rise 3.5 degrees Celsius by 2100, resulting in more precipitation in the winter and less in the summer, the authors wrote. “This will worsen the...
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White House announces pact to help ag battle climate
Posted by Des Moines Register: Christopher Doering on July 30th, 2014
Des Moines Register: The White House announced a partnership Tuesday with Monsanto, Walmart and other companies to better use data to make agriculture and the country's food system more resilient in responding to the growing impact of climate change. The initiative, part of the Obama administration's push to increase public backing for its climate change agenda, would connect farmers, food distributors and agricultural businesses with data, tools, and information to understand how climate change is impacting their operations...
Canada’s boreal forests are burning releasing loads of carbon
Posted by High Country News: Krista Langlois on July 30th, 2014
High Country News: Rumbling afternoon thundershowers are breaking over the Southwest, bringing gratitude and sweet relief – not that the region needed much relieving this year. Bouts of cool, wet weather throughout early summer helped stave off the conflagrations predicted to erupt after a dry winter, and by mid-July, most areas had already been deluged by a full month’s worth of rainfall. In other words, summer monsoon season has extinguished any lingering fears that 2014 would be a bad fire year.
“In a word, fire...
Not even Jesus is going to save California from this drought
Posted by Grist: None Given on July 30th, 2014
Grist: California is looking pretty thirsty these days, having gotten less than half the historical average rainfall over the past year. But a few months ago the state began think that a great wet hope might step in to save them: El Niño, the weather system named after Jesus himself. Now the forecasts have changed, however, and it looks like Californians are SOL.
Back in April, scientists said there was a close-to-80 percent chance that an El Niño would form this year. Some believed that all of the pieces...
Colorado residents go ‘untold’ as oil spills occur twice a day
Posted by Blue and Green: Richard Heasman on July 30th, 2014
Blue and Green: An analysis conducted by the Denver Post in the US state of Colorado has concluded that oil spills have dramatically increased since last year, often happening twice a day, and without residents being notified, regardless of state law.
With 52,000 active oil drills in the US mid-western state, increases in drilling activity has led to improvements in restrictions and observation of drilling companies. However, legislation does not directly enforce the notifying of residents of communities nearby...
Minorities aren’t well represented in environmental groups, study says
Posted by PhysOrg: Marianne Levine on July 30th, 2014
PhysOrg: Minorities and people of color have not managed to break the "green ceiling" inside environmental organizations, and remain underrepresented on their staffs, according to a report released Monday. The report found that while people of color make up about 38 percent of the U.S. population, they represent 12 percent to 15.5 percent of the staffs of environmentally focused foundations, nonprofits and government agencies. None of the largest environmental organizations has a person of color as president,...
Florida wants federal help to combat climate change
Posted by News-Observer: Chris Adams on July 29th, 2014
News-Observer: Citing South Florida's unique view on climate change, a Broward County commissioner told a Senate panel Tuesday that the issue is one of the most pressing the region now faces _ and that local governments will help usher in necessary changes.
Kristin Jacobs, a Democrat, is also a member of President Barack Obama's task force on climate change, which recently offered a range of steps federal officials could take to reduce carbon pollution and mitigate the impacts of climate change. The Obama administration...
Right Breathe Fresh Air, Drink Clean Water and Eat Healthy Food
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on July 29th, 2014
EcoWatch: A now-famous 1972 photo of Earth taken by Apollo 17 astronauts from 45,000 kilometres away became known as “the blue marble.” The late scientist Carl Sagan described a 1990 picture taken from six billion kilometers away by the unmanned Voyager 1 as a “pale blue dot."
The vision of Earth from a distance has profoundly moved pretty much anyone who has ever seen it. “When we look down at the earth from space, we see this amazing, indescribably beautiful planet,” International Space Station astronaut...
Firefighters in California gain ground against Yosemite blaze
Posted by Reuters: Sharon Bernstein on July 29th, 2014
Reuters: Firefighters gained ground on Tuesday against a blaze burning on the western edge of Yosemite National Park and an adjacent national forest, where flames have forced the evacuation of several dozen homes and the closure of three campgrounds.
The El Portal fire has scorched more than 3,000 acres since it erupted on Saturday, destroying a duplex home and threatening dozens of other dwellings around the western park boundary, a spokesman for the federal fire command said.
By Tuesday morning, a...
Climate change, air pollution may increase risk of malnutrition
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 29th, 2014
CBS: The world will need 50 percent more food by 2050 due to both an increasing population and a shift toward a more Westernized diet in developing countries. But as our need for food rises, our ability to produce that food may be lowered by climate and air quality changes, according a to a study just published in Nature Climate Change. Researchers from MIT and Colorado State University found that if everything else stays as it is today, by 2050 global warming may reduce world crop yields by about 10...