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Archive for January 27th, 2015
Decline of Early Mesoamericans Due Climate Change
Posted by Nature World: None Given on January 27th, 2015
Nature World: The drastic decline of a group of early Mesoamericans from the region around Canton was due, at least in part, to climate change, according to a new study.
Cantona was one of the largest cities in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, located near present-day Mexico City, with a population of 90,000 inhabitants. And by 1150 AD, this population was completely wiped out, and researchers are just beginning to understand why.
Described in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers...
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Are extreme blizzards the new normal?
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on January 27th, 2015
Climate Central: An intense nor’easter is blasting parts of New England with up to three feet of snow, along with strong winds and storm surge in coastal areas. It might seem strange to talk about a major winter storm in the context of a warming world, but as the climate changes, extreme snowfalls may become a bigger proportion of all snowstorms.
Simply put, the warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, which can mean more snow as long as temperatures remain cold enough; average snow amounts are actually expected...
Why Fracking Is a Breast Cancer Issue
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on January 27th, 2015
EcoWatch: Most people consider fracking a climate change issue. They are able to make the connection between a potent greenhouse gas like methane and its impact on warming the planet. But methane emission leaks at well sites are only one of the many concerns of the fracking boom. The toxic process also uses more than 700 chemicals, many linked to breast cancer. Fracking threatens the necessities of life, and just as this process drives climate change, it also increases our risk for breast cancer.
So what...
What Is a CSA and Why You Should Join One
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on January 27th, 2015
EcoWatch: A CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture, is a way to support farmers in your area by buying into a share of food for the growing season. Similar models existed in Europe, Japan and elsewhere before its arrival in the U.S. in the 1980s. Inspired by Rudolf Steiner, the philosopher and social reformer who is credited with developing Waldorf education and biodynamic agriculture, a German and a Swiss biodynamic farmer brought the concept to the U.S. and simultaneously but independently established...
Report Shows How Fracking Industry Failure to Follow Regulations Impacts Human Health
Posted by EcoWatch: Stefanie Spear on January 27th, 2015
EcoWatch: A new report out today from Environment America Research & Policy Center shows that all types of fracking companies, from small to large, are prone to violating rules intended to protect human health and the environment. The report, Fracking Failures: Oil and Gas Industry Environmental Violations in Pennsylvania and What They Mean for the U.S., analyses Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry over a four-year period and found that the top offenders of regulations—averaging more than one environmental...
US north-east cost faces ‘historic’ blizzard
Posted by Blue and Green: Charlotte Malone on January 27th, 2015
Blue and Green: A “potentially historic blizzard” could see as much as 3ft of snow hit the US north-east coast, the National Weather Service has warned. The warning comes as a study suggests that extreme weather events could double due to climate change.
The US forecast led to travel bans, public transport being reduced and schools closing early. New York governor Andrew Cuomo said with a “potentially historic blizzard” the state was “preparing for the worst”.
The weather comes as a new study warns that climate...
Why bigger snowstorms come with global warming
Posted by InsideClimate: Katherine Bagley on January 27th, 2015
InsideClimate: Winter storm Juno is expected to dump as much as 3 feet of snow across parts of New England early this week. Media outlets have already dubbed the storm "a massive blizzard of epic proportions." Schools closed their doors, grocery stores had their shelves stripped and governors announced travel bans along most of the storm's path.
But on social media, Juno is being pointed to as the latest evidence that global warming is not happening, or that it's even a hoax or scam--an assertion that scientists...
United Kingdom: Government forced to U-turn on fracking plans
Posted by Blue and Green: Charlotte Malone on January 27th, 2015
Blue and Green: The government has been forced to change plans on where fracking can occur across the UK after conceding to Labour’s calls to close 13 environmental loopholes in the industry’s regulation.
Energy secretary Ed Davey accepted amendments to the infrastructure bill put forward by Labour. The amendments include an outright ban on fracking within national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty, as well as areas close to water supplies. Fracking companies will also have to monitor the environment...
Warmer, Drier Climate Locked In for Melbourne, Australia, Study Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 27th, 2015
Sydney Morning Herald: Melbourne's climate can be expected to warm across all seasons, with less rainfall in winter and spring but more intense rain events, according to the latest projections by the CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology.
The first update of the agencies' Natural Resource Management report since 2007 builds on improved modelling to project how the climate for the city and the country is likely to differ by 2030 and 2090.
Since 2001, extreme heat records have exceeded cold records throughout Australia...
Scientists call Obama to stop logging in old growth forests
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 27th, 2015
Mongabay: Seven conservation societies have joined a campaign to push the Obama administration to end old-growth forest logging in Alaska's Tongass National Forest.
The American Fisheries Society, American Ornithologists Union, American Society of Mammalogists, Ecological Society of America, Pacific Seabird Group, Society for Conservation Biology, and The Wildlife Society are calling for the Forest Service to accelerate transitioning logging away from old-growth forests into secondary forests that were...