Archive for September 18th, 2014

World population could surpass THIRTEEN billion by the end of century

Mongabay: By 2100, over 13 billion people could be walking the planet. That's the conclusion of a new study published today in Science, which employed UN data to explore the probability of various population scenarios. The new study further demolishes the long-held theory that human population growth will quit growing by mid-century and then fall. "Analysis of these data reveals that, contrary to previous literature, world population is unlikely to stop growing this century," reads the paper. It's worth...

Water scarce for thousands in Mexico’s Los Cabos as new storm looms

Reuters: Thousands of tourists were stranded in the storm-battered Mexican Pacific resort of Los Cabos on Thursday, with water in short supply and looted stores sitting empty as a new hurricane threatened to buffet the popular tourist hub. Odile churned into the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula on Sunday as a Category 3 hurricane, wreaking havoc on a scenic area popular with U.S sun seekers that has rarely witnessed such devastation. Two people died after trying to cross a flooded stream...

We keep moaning about population, but ignore consumption habits

Guardian: At any public meeting on the environment over the past decade , there's one question that almost always came up. It is a variation of 'Why will no one talk about population?' As a result, population is discussed endlessly while people grumble that no one ever talks about it. The same oddly circular conversation happened in the Observer Review section in an article relating to the new book, 10 Billion, by Stephen Emmott, head of Microsoft's Research Lab. Five full pages of extract and interview...

A World With 11 Billion People? New Population Projections Shatter Ear

National Geographic: Warning: The 21st century may get a lot more crowded than previously thought. In a paper published Thursday in Science, demographers from several universities and the United Nations Population Division conclude that instead of leveling off in the second half of the 21st century, as the UN predicted less than a decade ago, the world's population will continue to grow beyond 2100. (Read "Population Seven Billion" in National Geographic magazine.) And for the first time, through the use of a "probabilistic"...

Deep Inside the Wild World of China’s Fracking Boom

Climate Desk: ON A HAZY MORNING LAST SEPTEMBER, 144 American and Chinese government officials and high-ranking oil executives filed into a vaulted meeting room in a cloistered campus in south Xi’an, a city famous for its terra-cotta warriors and lethal smog. The Communist Party built this compound, called the Shaanxi Guesthouse, in 1958. It was part of the lead-up to Chairman Mao’s Great Leap Forward, in which, to surpass the industrial achievements of the West, the government built steelworks, coal mines, power...

U.S. green groups urge methane rules for oil and gas industry

Reuters: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must act to rein in methane pollution from the oil and gas industry, environmental groups said on Thursday, warning that failure to set federal standards would undermine other Obama administration efforts to address climate change. The EPA is expected to lay out a plan within months to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas drilling as a part of President Barack Obama's broad climate action plan. A coalition of major green groups, including the Environmental...

Antarctic Sea Ice Hits a Record Max, and That’s Not Good

Climate Desk: For the third year in a row, the sea ice ringing Antarctica has set a new record. Its extent is the farthest now since observations began in the late `70s, and scientists say the growth is largely the result of climate change. Antarctic sea ice melts during the early part of the year but typically packs it back on by September. The ice broke last year`s record for extent on Monday, according to a report in New Scientist. It`s the latest evidence of a small but significant growth trend of about...

World population to hit 11bn in 2100 w/ 70% chance of continuous rise

Guardian: The world’s population is now odds-on to swell ever-higher for the rest of the century, posing grave challenges for food supplies, healthcare and social cohesion. A ground-breaking analysis released on Thursday shows there is a 70% chance that the number of people on the planet will rise continuously from 7bn today to 11bn in 2100. The work overturns 20 years of consensus that global population, and the stresses it brings, will peak by 2050 at about 9bn people. “The previous projections said this...

El Niño is Kinda Sorta Maybe Here

Climate Central: On Tuesday, researchers at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society said a borderline El Niño is upon us, with the odds for further development increasing throughout the fall and winter. Chart showing ocean temperatures in different regions of the Pacific used to gauge El Niño, including the recent rise in temperatures. Credit: IRI This El Niño has played a game of hide and seek since an El Niño Watch was declared way back in March. After picking up steam in the spring and...

Gore: Fracking Won’t Solve Our Climate Crisis

Climate Desk: Few figures in the climate change debate are as polarizing as former Vice President Al Gore. His fans and his enemies are equally rabid, and his 2006 film An Inconvenient Truth is still probably the most-referenced document on climate change in history. In the last few years, Gore’s global warming work has mostly been channeled into a nonprofit he oversees called the Climate Reality Project, which organizes rallies and educational events. This week, that group held its annual “24 Hours of Reality”...