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Archive for April 6th, 2015
Restoration of artificial swamps could be a key to restoring rainforest health in Sumatra
Posted by Mongabay: Brittany Stewart on April 6th, 2015
Mongabay: The term "artificial" has acquired negative connotations in recent years. However, a recent study in Sumatra's Harapan rainforest details not only the ecological benefits, but rather the necessity, of improving artificial wetlands found along waterways in this rainforest ecosystem.
Tropical forest streams across Southeast Asia are in a degraded state, especially where obstructed by logging roads, creating artificial ponds and swamps. The improvement of the quality of those artificial wetlands...
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Climate change: no room for debate
Posted by Al Jazeera: None Given on April 6th, 2015
Al Jazeera: Among the most contentious of issues in Washington right now is the issue of climate change. While both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate voted on an Amendment stating the “climate change is not a hoax,” that is pretty much the last thing the majority of both sides agree on.
On this week’s "TechKnow," we’ve looked at some of the disputes involved with the debate on climate change and how at least one city is dealing with the effects now.
Here’s a guide to some of issues involved.
97%...
Corn husks promising source renewable fuel
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 6th, 2015
Agence France-Presse: US scientists said Monday they have found a way to use discarded corn husks and stalks to make cheap hydrogen fuel that doesn't pollute the environment like fossil fuels.
The advances by a team at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University save time and money while producing a zero-emissions fuel that could speed up the movement toward hydrogen-powered vehicles, said the report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed US journal.
"We have demonstrated...
Western Canada’s Glaciers Could Vanish by 2100
Posted by LiveScience: Becky Oskin on April 6th, 2015
LiveScience: Canada's glacial ice draws millions of tourists and provides drinking water to two countries, but this important economic resource could disappear by the end of the 21st century, a new study finds.
For the study, scientists devised a new computer model that predicts how glaciers will respond to future climate change. The results were dismal.
In the Rocky Mountains of Alberta and British Columbia, 90 percent of the spectacular mountain glaciers may vanish by 2100, according to research published...
Will ‘golden’ California turn brown?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 6th, 2015
BBC: California Governor Jerry Brown has instituted new water restrictions as the state's reservoirs have fallen to perilously low levels - but will the rules change how Californians see water?
California is facing a catastrophic environmental disaster. America's erstwhile Golden State is in the midst of a severe drought which shows no sign of letting up.
Even the threat of earthquakes seems to fade in comparison to the water crisis, now in its fourth year.
Nasa scientists have projected that...
The Link Between Fracking and Oklahoma’s Quakes Keeps Getting Stronger
Posted by Climate Desk: Tim McDonnell on April 6th, 2015
Climate Desk: Over the last few years, Oklahoma has experienced an insane uptick in earthquakes. As we reported in 2013, the count exploded from just a couple per year back in the mid-2000s to over a thousand in 2010, growing alongside a boom in the state’s natural gas drilling industry. There is now a heap of peer-reviewed research finding that Oklahoma’s earthquake “swarm” is directly linked to fracking—not the gas drilling itself, but a follow-up step where brackish wastewater is re-injected into disposal...
Some Biodiversity Loss Can Be Reversed: Study
Posted by Nature World: None Given on April 6th, 2015
Nature World: It has been suggested that climate change threatens biodiversity worldwide, but now new hopeful research claims that some biodiversity loss can be reversed.
That is, according to findings published in the journal Nature, which say that even though humanity's use of land for agricultural production has come at a cost to local ecosystems worldwide, some of the damage can be undone.
A global network of contributors has submitted data from every continent, providing the most complete picture yet...
Jerry Brown tells climate deniers to wake up and smell the drought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 6th, 2015
Guardian: As his state faces the worst drought in its history, with mandatory water rationing for residents and fears of destruction to the agricultural sector, California Gov. Jerry Brown had a message on April 5 for climate change deniers: Wake up.
“With the weather that’s happening in California, climate change is not a hoax,” Brown said, on ABC news. “We’re dealing with it, and it’s damn serious.”
Snow pack in California this year, which historically has renewed the state’s water reservoirs each...
7 things know about California’s drought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 6th, 2015
Mother Jones: There`s been a lot of talk lately about the drought in California, especially since this past week, when Gov. Jerry Brown introduced mandatory water cuts for the first time in the state`s history. So what exactly makes this drought so bad? And what are people doing about it? Here are a few important points to keep in mind: Drought is the norm in California. How bad is this one? There are always wet years and dry years, but the past three years have been among the driest on record -- and state officials...
The Future of Mountain Glaciers Is Bleak
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 6th, 2015
Climate Central: Melting ice in Greenland and Antarctica get far more attention, but mountain glaciers around the world -- in the Rockies, the Andes, the Himalayas and other ranges -- are melting as well as the planet heats up. All told, say climate modelers, the water they release could contribute about a foot's worth of the 3 to 6 feet of sea level rise projected by 2100.
But those models only describe the melting of glaciers in the broadest terms -- as an aggregate. Just like projections for global temperature...