Archive for November 3rd, 2014

Water wars between Florida, Georgia advance at U.S. Supreme Court

Reuters: Florida's water war against Georgia advanced as the U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear an interstate dispute on whether Atlanta's suburbs are sucking dry the river flow that feeds the oyster beds and fisheries of the northern Gulf Coast. Georgia had sought to dismiss the suit, filed last October by Florida Governor Rick Scott, that stems from a decades-old fight over Atlanta's daily demand for 360 million gallons of water from the Chattahoochee and Flint river basins. Florida blames...

India air pollution ‘cutting crop yields by almost half’

Guardian: Air pollution in India has become so severe that yields of crops are being cut by almost half, scientists have found. Researchers analysed yields for wheat and rice alongside pollution data, and concluded significant decreases in yield could be attributed to two air pollutants, black carbon and ground level ozone. The finding has implications for global food security as India is a major rice exporter. Black carbon is mostly caused by rural cookstoves, and ozone forms as a result of motor vehicle...

Rising Temperatures Could Stall the Fight Against Disease

Nature World: Water is one of the most common agents of illness, especially in highly populated regions with shared utilities. Now, a new report details how rising water temperatures across the globe could result in the increased prevalence of water-borne illnesses, making the prevention of disease far more difficult. That's at least according to a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change that details how China in particular could severely suffer from rising surface water temperatures. Nature World...

Florida ballot amendment seeks to fund land conservation

Reuters: Florida environmentalists are hoping voters will approve a ballot amendment on Tuesday to fund the purchase and conservation of land critical to protecting the state's water supply. Amendment One would reserve a portion of tax money collected on real estate transactions for the next 20 years, potentially raising $648 million to buy and maintain lands in its first year, increasing to $1.27 billion by the 20th year, according to Florida’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research. Amendment supporters...

New UN Climate Report Calls For End Of Fossil Fuel Use By 2100

RedOrbit: The unrestricted use of fossil fuels should be phased out by the end of the century, and the majority of the world’s electricity can and should be produced by low-carbon sources by 2050, according to a new report released Sunday by a United Nation’s panel. If those goals are not met, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Synthesis Report warned that planet Earth faces “severe, pervasive and irreversible” harm, BBC News reporter Matt McGrath said. The report, published Sunday following...

Public opposition has cost tar sands industry $17bn, says report

Guardian: Anti-tar sands campaigns have cost the industry a staggering $17bn (£11bn) in lost revenues, and helped to push it onto the backfoot, according to a study by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), and Oil Change International. Another $13.8bn has been lost to transportation bottlenecks and the flood of cheap crude coming from shale oil fields, says the Material Risks report, which presents the first quantification of the impact that environmental campaigners have had...

‘Little time left to act on climate’

Age: After this weekend's climate conference in Copenhagen, Fairfax Media sat down with three of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change'sleading experts -- two of them Australian - to ask them about the latest science, and the options and challenges facing the world. The ocean expert:"You can look at sea levels and say 'gee, this is a depressing story'. But you can also say there's an opportunity to change it." Quiet-voiced, bushy-bearded Dr John Church, who works in Tasmania for the CSIRO,...

U.N. Report Warns Of ‘Irreversible’ Damage To Earth’s Climate

National Public Radio: In Copenhagen on Sunday, scientists gathered to issue their latest assessment of the world's climate. Their report is considered the most comprehensive overview of the state of climate science.

Facing severe drought, ‘war effort’ needed to save the Amazon, says scientist

Mongabay: Severe droughts in southern Brazil may be linked to deforestation and degradation of Earth's largest rainforest, argues a new report published by a Brazilian scientist. Reviewing data from roughly 200 studies, Antonio Donato Nobre of Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) warns that reducing deforestation will not be enough to restore the ecological function of the Amazon rainforest, which acts as a giant water pump that delivers precipitation across much of South America. Brazilian...