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Archive for April 15th, 2015
Scientists Pore Over Warm West, Cold East Divide
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 15th, 2015
Climate Central: From blooming flowers to twittering birds, the signs of spring are popping up and the miseries of winter are becoming a distant memory for many. But not for some climate scientists. The curiosity of a growing group of researchers has been piqued by the tenacious temperature divide that has separated East from West over the past two winters as a wild zigzag of the jet stream has brought repeated bouts of Arctic air and snow to the East and kept the drought-plagued West baking under a record-breaking...
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Is PuttingTelescope Mauna Kea Short-Sighted?
Posted by Huffington Post: Jacob Devaney on April 15th, 2015
Huffington Post: Natives ask, "Why Threaten the Ground We Stand on to Reach for the Stars?" In late March, Kanaka Maoli warriors representing several islands in the Hawaiian Islands, along with a diverse group of supporters, formed a blockade at 9,000 feet above sea level against a proposed $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea. The peaceful protest escalated in early April, with 31 protectors arrested at the site of the blockade.
The issues surrounding this blockade raise important questions for all...
Native Hawaiians are fighting off invasion of astronomers
Posted by Quartz: None Given on April 15th, 2015
Quartz: If completed, the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), to be built atop Hawaii's dormant Mauna Kea volcano, will be one of the largest and most powerful telescopes in the world. According to the project's organizers, the TMT "will enable astronomers to study objects in our own solar system and stars throughout our Milky Way and its neighboring galaxies, and forming galaxies at the very edge of the observable universe, near the beginning of time.'
It will be quite the scientific feat, and undoubtedly...
Treaty Council Calls for US and International Support for Mauna Kea
Posted by Indian Country: None Given on April 15th, 2015
Indian Country: The International Indian Treaty Council has issued a statement calling for international support to stop the desecration of Native Hawaiians’ sacred Mauna Kea Mountain. The statement also calls on the United States to abide by its international obligation to protect human rights and Indigenous Peoples’ sacred sites.
The International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) is a 41-year-old non-governmental organization of Indigenous Peoples from North, Central and South America, the Caribbean and the Pacific...
Converting DNR board to advisory council dealt blow, removed from Walker budget
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 15th, 2015
Associated Press: Gov. Scott Walker's proposal to make the Department of Natural Resources Board advisory only has been removed from his budget, signaling that that Gov. Scott Walker's proposal is unlikely to pass the Legislature this year.
The Republican co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee on Wednesday announced that they were removing the proposal from the budget. That means it must be introduced as a separate bill, making it more difficult to pass than if it were included as part of the larger state budget....
Watch: Not Even the FDA Knows What’s in Your Food
Posted by EcoWatch: Cole Mellino on April 15th, 2015
EcoWatch: The Center for the Public Integrity made a video this week about a legal loophole that allows food companies to add new ingredients to foods with no government safety review. Using a 57-year-old law, companies can “declare their ingredients are ‘generally recognized as safe’ and add them to foods without ever even telling federal regulators,” according to the Center for Public Integrity. The biggest concern comes from new food additives. “People are consuming foods with added flavors, preservatives...
Permafrost holds key to release of trapped carbon
Posted by Daily Climate: Tim Radford on April 15th, 2015
Daily Climate: Three sets of scientists in the same week have helped narrow the uncertainties about how the natural world will respond to extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Carbon locked in the frozen earth will escape gradually as the Arctic permafrost melts – but the scientists say the process could accelerate. As greenhouse gas levels soar, and soils warm, and plant roots tap down into the carbon stored there by centuries of ancient growth, they will release potent...
Over-consumption, climate change threaten food security, water supply: United Nations
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 15th, 2015
Reuters: There will be enough water to produce food for 10 billion people in 2050, but over-consumption and the impact of climate change threaten food security and water supplies in many regions, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Tuesday.
By 2050 some 60 percent more food will be needed to feed the world's people and as farming remains the largest user of water, food must be produced sustainably to ensure future supplies of food and water, the FAO and the World Water Council (WWC)...
Record low snowpacks in Southwest is bad news for water supplies
Posted by Environmental News Network: Roy L Hales, The ECOreport on April 15th, 2015
Environmental News Network: Nine states report record low snowpacks. A report from the US Department of Agriculture states, “the largest snowpack deficits are in record territory for many basins,especially in the Cascades and Sierra Nevada where single – digit percent of normal conditions prevail. Very low snowpacks are reported in most of Washington, all of Oregon, Nevada, California, parts of Arizona, much of Idaho, parts of New Mexico, three basins in Wyoming, one basin in Montana, and most of Utah.” This region is undergoing...
Top 25 Greenest Cities in America
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on April 15th, 2015
EcoWatch: A solid majority, 71 percent of Americans, believe the country “should do whatever it takes to protect the environment,” according to a 2014 poll by the Pew Research Center. This strong public interest in our environment extends to urban living, prompting NerdWallet’s curiosity: Even though we all know that the city we live in influences our transportation and energy choices, how do environmental impacts differ across the U.S.? We explored the data for the nation’s 150 largest cities to shed light...