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Archive for February 13th, 2015
Keeping Food Security on Table at U.N. Climate Talks
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 13th, 2015
Inter Press Service: Food security has become a key issue of the U.N. climate negotiations this week in Geneva as a number of countries and observers raised concerns that recent advances in Lima are in jeopardy.
While food security is a core objective of the U.N. climate convention, it has traditionally been discussed in relation to adaptation."If we succeed in having food security within mitigation, we can say that one of the biggest concerns of Southern countries will have been taken into account." -- Ali Abdou...
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Harvard is Buying Up Vineyards in Drought-Ridden California Wine Country
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 13th, 2015
Mother Jones: I recently wrote a piece about growing interest in California farmland by massive investment funds. But almonds and other tree nuts, the main focus of my article, aren't the only commodities drawing interest from the smart-money crowd. From what I can tell, a successful California farmland investment requires these two conditions: 1) a sought-after commodity, preferably one with a booming export market; and 2) access to water for irrigation--increasingly important as California's drought lurches...
Rising emissions could ‘dramatically’ increase risk of US megadroughts
Posted by Blue and Green: Charlotte Malone on February 13th, 2015
Blue and Green: Increasing greenhouse gas emissions drive up the risk of severe droughts, or megadroughts, in the US southwest and central plains, according to a study by NASA.
According to the research, which has been published in the journal Science Advances, the current likelihood of a megadrought, defined as a drought lasting more than three decades, is 12%. If greenhouse gas emissions stop increasing by mid-century the findings suggest the likelihood of a megadrought could reach more than 60%.
If the...
TransCanada Corp puts Nebraska land buy on hold for pipeline suit
Posted by Bloomberg: Andrew Harris on February 13th, 2015
Bloomberg: TransCanada Corp. agreed to delay acquiring Nebraska land to build its planned Keystone XL pipeline while it grapples with dozens of landowners who claim the law that lets the company appropriate their property is invalid. The agreement announced Thursday in state court in O’Neill, Nebraska, comes the day after the Republican-led U.S. Congress passed legislation approving the pipeline project in the face of a near-certain veto by Democratic President Barack Obama. Once the accord is signed by Judge...