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Archive for November 9th, 2014
Humans’ Amazing Evolution From Hunter-Gatherer to Safeway Shopper
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 9th, 2014
National Geographic: Ruth DeFries, chair of the department of ecology, evolution, and environmental biology at Columbia University, in New York, and author of The Big Ratchet: How Humanity Thrives in the Face of Natural Crisis, has spent much of her life looking down at Earth from a great height, using satellite images to track human development. But to understand how we went from being hunter-gatherers to a species that so completely dominates the planet, she had to go much further back in time.
Speaking from her...
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This Map Shows How Climate Change Will Screw The Whole World
Posted by Business Insider: Chelsea Harvey on November 9th, 2014
Business Insider: Some effects of climate change are obvious, such as warming temperatures, melting ice caps, and rising sea levels. But other impacts are more surprising.
For example, climate change effects can harm food production and cause famines; alter habitats and cause mass die-offs of plants, animals and other organisms; and even threaten human health.
The biggest climate-related risks vary across different regions of the world. The handy chart below, published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate...
Capping warming at 2 C not enough to avert disaster, experts warn
Posted by Al Jazeera: Renee Lewis on November 9th, 2014
Al Jazeera: Scientists, environmentalists and world leaders alike have generally agreed that capping Earth’s temperature rise at 2 degrees Celsius would prevent the worst effects of climate change -- a cut-off touted again in the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
But many experts in the field, including former IPCC leaders, have said that even if global warming is kept to that limit, such a rise could nevertheless devastate the environment and endanger humanity -- the...
The worst is yet to come in Malaysia, warn environmentalists
Posted by New Straits Times: None Given on November 9th, 2014
New Straits Times: Wednesday's mud floods and landslides in Bertam Valley, Ringlet and Kuala Terla are just the beginning of more disasters to strike the highlands, warn environmentalists.
They said the highlands would see the horror of more floods and landslides if land-clearing continues. They are asking for regular monitoring and stringent enforcement on all land-clearing activities to be in place to ensure that they are not carried out at the expense of the environment.
Regional Environmental Awareness Cameron...
Scientists were expecting a big El Niño this year. So where did it go?
Posted by Vox: Brad Plumer on November 9th, 2014
Vox: Back in the spring, a number of experts suggested we could see a strong El Niño in late 2014, perhaps similar to the monster event in 1997-98 that upended weather patterns across the globe. That might mean record temperatures, floods in some areas, droughts in others -- a huge deal. But in the months since, scientists have gotten a surprise: El Niño hasn't been unfolding as expected. In fact, there's a good chance it might not appear at all. The National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center...
Australia told it should aim for 40% cut in greenhouse gases by 2025
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 9th, 2014
Guardian: Australia needs to tell the world how it will calculate its medium-term greenhouse target for release early next year and should be looking at a 40% reduction by 2025, the Climate Institute think tank says.
As revealed by Guardian Australia, US and European Union negotiators have also been unsuccessfully lobbying Australia to back a pledge by G20 leaders that their post-2020 greenhouse emission reduction targets will be unveiled early, to improve the chances of a deal at the United Nations meeting...
World governments failing Earth’s ecosystems, says top conservationist
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 9th, 2014
Guardian: Governments are lagging behind on international commitments to safeguard the planet’s ecosystems, with politicians failing to grasp that economic growth depends upon environmental protection, the head of the world’s leading conservation organisation has warned.
Julia Marton-Lefèvre, director general of the IUCN, the body that advises the United Nations on environmental matters, told Guardian Australia that conservation needed to be properly embraced by political leaders.
“I think world leaders...
Study: Climate change will make wildfires worse Arizona, nation
Posted by Cronkite News: Stephen Hamway on November 9th, 2014
Cronkite News: While Arizona’s most recent fire season was relatively tame, one study argues that the worst may be yet to come due to climate change.
In a study titled “Flammable Planet: Wildfires and the Social Cost of Carbon,” the Cost of Carbon Pollution project predicts larger, more frequent, more intense and more costly wildfires around the world by 2050 – with the American Southwest being affected in particular.
Using current projections for warming temperatures and other factors, the study puts a price...