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Archive for May 13th, 2015
How water woes will mess with food businesses
Posted by Grist: None Given on May 13th, 2015
Grist: Many food companies are vulnerable to the risks of water scarcity and water pollution, according to a new report from Ceres, a green business advocacy group.
Growing and processing food requires a lot of water - more than any other industry. The Ceres report makes the case that climate change and population growth are jeopardizing water supplies in some places, and many of the companies that depend on a steady flow of water haven`t assessed how these risks could affect their bottom lines or properly...
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California Builders Prepare Future Water Needs As Population Grows
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 13th, 2015
National Public Radio: Under the growing burden of drought, California is struggling to supply enough water to all of the people currently living there. The state is also working on ways to ensure water for millions more residents expected to live there in the future.
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
The drought in California means the state is struggling to get enough water to all of the people who live there. It's also trying to ensure water for the millions more expected to live there in the future. In a moment, how Santa...
Antarctic Ice Shelf Thinning from Above… and Below
Posted by Nature World: None Given on May 13th, 2015
Nature World: One of Antarctica's largest ice shelves is thinning from above and below, helping scientists finally understand just what exactly is causing this rapid ice melt, according to new research.
The Larsen C Ice Shelf - whose neighbors Larsen A and B, collapsed in 1995 and 2002 - has long puzzled scientists. They have debated for decades whether warming air temperatures or warmer ocean currents are behind the collapse of the Antarctic Peninsula's floating ice shelves.
But new findings, published...
Projects for sustainable fishing not effective enough
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 13th, 2015
ScienceDaily: Projects that stimulate sustainable fishing in developing countries often get no further than good intentions. Thus, some of the imported fish sold in European and North American shops may be less sustainably caught than claims suggest. To prevent the MSC quality label for sustainable fish catches being undermined, the requirements for market access should be made more exacting, argue Simon Bush from Wageningen University and his international colleagues in an article in Science published on 1 May....
Massive Antarctic Ice Shelf Faces Imminent Risk of Collapse
Posted by Scientific American: Gayathri Vaidyanathan on May 13th, 2015
Scientific American: An Antarctic ice shelf that is twice the size of Hawaii is at "imminent risk' of collapse and needs to be monitored carefully, a new study finds.
The ice shelf--Larsen C--is located in roughly the same geography as the Larsen A and B ice shelves, which disintegrated in 1995 and 2002, respectively. Larsen C covers 19,300 square miles and is the largest shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula. If it melts, it could significantly raise global sea levels, said Paul Holland, the lead author of the study and...
Global warming and the “Green Rush”
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 13th, 2015
Daily Climate: Global warming may give a minor twist to that classic hippie bumper sticker that quips "Acid rain: Too bad it's not as much fun as it sounds." Turns out a warming climate could boost the medicinal and psychoactive properties of plants including cannabis. But that`s not all: Climate change will also open up higher elevations to growing weed clandestinely on public lands, a practice that`s putting increased strain on fragile ecosystems. Some say relaxed marijuana laws exacerbate the problem by bringing...
Obama’s Arctic drilling strategy: It’s complicated
Posted by LA Times: William Yardley on May 13th, 2015
LA Times: It was just in January when environmentalists were praising President Obama for setting aside nearly 10 million acres in the Arctic Ocean for protection from oil and gas development. Weeks before that, his administration announced he would not allow drilling in Alaska`s Bristol Bay, home to one of the world`s richest runs of wild salmon.
Now, after his administration on Monday announced conditional approval for Shell Alaska to drill exploratory wells in parts of the Arctic, critics were quick...
Here’s why Obama is approving Arctic drilling again
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 13th, 2015
Reuters: For a leader who has made fighting climate change a priority, President Barack Obama's decision to approve Royal Dutch Shell's return to oil and gas exploration off Alaska was seen by many environmentalists as a contradiction.
On Tuesday, his administration upheld a 2008 Arctic lease sale, clearing an important hurdle for Shell. The Interior Department will now consider the company's drilling plan, which could take 30 days. But Shell, which has already spent about $6 billion exploring the Arctic,...
UN calls to tackle $19bn e-waste ‘tsunami’
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on May 13th, 2015
Blue and Green: The UN has expressed grave concerns over the ‘tsunami’ of dumped computers and smartphones that is expected to reach 50m tonnes by 2017.
PCs, smartphones and tablets are being illegally dumped in developing countries, with the ‘mountain’ of waste growing year by year. Sites where old devices are being dumped release toxic chemicals into the air, water and soil, posing significant health threats to an estimated 200m people globally.
A report launched in Geneva on Tuesday said that up to 90%...
Shell’s Record Adds to the Anger of Those Opposing Arctic Drilling
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 13th, 2015
New York Times: When the Obama administration announced on Monday that it would let Shell drill for oil off the Alaskan coast this year if it met certain conditions, environmentalists were outraged — not just by the administration’s decision to allow drilling, but by its decision to give Shell, in particular, the green light.
They said that the company’s track record in the Arctic should rule out another chance for it. Shell tried to drill in the Arctic in 2012, and the company’s multibillion-dollar drilling...