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Archive for August, 2014
Humans now major cause of alpine glacier melt, researchers say
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 16th, 2014
Christian Science Monitor: Retreating alpine glaciers in a warming world may seem to have an obvious connection. But glaciers respond to environmental changes, well, glacially. At any point, it's hard to tell how much of a glacier's retreat is due to human-triggered factors now and how much is due to natural factors that might have held sway years ago, researchers say.
Now comes an analysis estimating that between 1990 and 2010, some 69 percent of the mass lost by the world's alpine glaciers can be traced to human influence...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Humans now major cause of alpine glacier melt, researchers sayExtinction or ‘translocation’ as impacts climate change increase?
Posted by ClimateWire: Niina Heikkinen on August 16th, 2014
ClimateWire: Climate change is altering the way some scientists are trying to save endangered plant and animal species from extinction.
For nearly 100 years, conservationists have focused preservation efforts on maintaining species' historical ranges and reintroducing captive-bred species to boost dwindling populations. Now, some scientists are experimenting with a new approach.
"What's changed over the years is we introduce [species] into areas where they have never been before," said Philip Seddon an...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Extinction or ‘translocation’ as impacts climate change increase?Enviros push ‘public trust’ as trump card over oil and gas influence
Posted by EnergyWire: Ellen M. Gilmer on August 16th, 2014
EnergyWire: Last Dec. 19 was a gratifying day for John Dernbach. In 162 pages the state's highest court had resurrected a provision in Pennsylvania's Constitution that had long ago faded into obscurity. The forgotten measure is an environmental rights amendment nestled in Article 1, among core protections of civil rights and due process. The amendment gives people a right to clean air, pure water and conservation of natural resources. It hands environmentalists an opportunity to transform the natural gas debate...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Enviros push ‘public trust’ as trump card over oil and gas influenceReal conservatives are conservationists
Posted by Herald Extra: Barry Bickmore on August 16th, 2014
Herald Extra: Why is it that some political conservatives have been so obstinate in opposing any government action to address human-caused climate change? The answer is that they aren’t real conservatives. Real conservatives favor working toward a truly free and equitable society by intelligently considering our options and choosing those that will cause the least social upheaval and loss of individual freedom. This minimalist approach to managing change stems from a healthy respect for “the Law of Unintended...
Fact-checking Obama’s rules on carbon and coal plants
Posted by PolitiFact: Steve Contorno on August 16th, 2014
PolitiFact: President Barack Obama’s second-term promise to tackle climate change has clashed with election-year politics. Much of the political debate has focused on the Environmental Protection Agency’s newly proposed regulations on existing power plants. If enacted, the rules would curb carbon emissions that scientists say cause global warming. Misinformation about these new regulations started even before the EPA released them. In the days leading up to the EPA’s June 2 announcement, the U.S. Chamber...
Water in the West: The west gets thirstier as water supplies dwindle
Posted by Post Independent: None Given on August 16th, 2014
Post Independent: The soothing sound of the Colorado River as it meanders its way across Colorado’s Western Slope is the sound of a thriving economy, a fragile environment and an impending crisis. The state of water supplies in the arid West is volatile, and forecasts are grim. Lake Powell and Lake Mead are at alarmingly low levels, while populations across the West are swelling past the capacities of current water supplies. The Colorado River Basin is facing a battle of sorts as the state works to create a water...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Water in the West: The west gets thirstier as water supplies dwindleWhy Does Less Meat Mean Less Heat?
Posted by LiveScience: Josh Balk on August 15th, 2014
LiveScience: After long focusing on fuel economy and energy production, environmentalists and scientists are now promoting a diet of more plants and less meat to slow climate change — but why? It's a problem with efficiency. Industrial farm-animal production — getting animals from farms to our plates — is inherently inefficient. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, global animal agriculture produces vast amounts of crops to feed billions of farm animals long before they are...
California Drought Spurs Groundwater Drilling Boom in Central Valley
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 15th, 2014
National Geographic: When Floyd Arthur moved to California's Central Valley as a child in the mid-20th century, his migrant worker parents found water by digging just a few feet into the ground. But now, the drilling company Arthur and his son own has to bore holes 1,000 or even 2,000 feet (300 to 600 meters) deep for water. "If we don't get a bigger snowpack soon, we're going to be in trouble. I don't know what we're going to do," Arthur said about the most serious drought in California's recorded history. The Arthurs...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on California Drought Spurs Groundwater Drilling Boom in Central ValleyHumans to Blame for World’s Melting Glaciers
Posted by Nature World: Jenna Iacurci on August 15th, 2014
Nature World: As our world warms, glacial ice continues to retreat. However, scientists have now come to realize that humans are mostly to blame, rather than being able to solely peg it on natural climate fluctuations, according to a new study.
Glacier extent actually responds very slowly to climate changes. In fact, it typically takes glaciers decades or centuries to adjust. The global retreat of these massive chunks of ice started around the middle of the 19th century at the end of the Little Ice Age. Though...
Japan: The Fukushima Effect: Insidious Radiation Impact
Posted by Nature World: None Given on August 15th, 2014
Nature World: Compared to the Chernobyl meltdown, the levels of radiation released by the Fukushima-Daiichi power plant disaster in 2011 were a drop in the bucket. Even so, a new series of studies has shown that certain types of birds, plants and insects in Japan are all suffering from the impacts of fallout. Researchers say studying these organisms will help them better understand the complex dangers of radiation.
These studies were all recently published in the Journal of Heredity and detail observations...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Japan: The Fukushima Effect: Insidious Radiation Impact