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Archive for July, 2015
Chinese potatoes to chip in as water shortages hit staple crops
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 30th, 2015
Reuters: Once seen as food for the poor, the humble potato is being pushed in China as a tasty, nutritious part of any meal as the world's most populous country struggles with water shortages and looks for alternatives to the traditional rice and noodles.
China already produces 95 million tonnes of potatoes a year, a quarter of the global total, and is aiming to raise that to 130 million tonnes by 2020, government officials said at the World Potato Congress on the outskirts of Beijing this week.
"In...
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Poll Finds Most Californians Say Climate Change Linked To Drought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 30th, 2015
CBS: Nearly two-thirds of Californians believe global warming is having an impact on the state`s persistent drought, sharing Gov. Jerry Brown`s environmental concerns as he presses for tougher climate change standards, according to a new statewide poll released Wednesday.
The Public Policy Institute of California found that 79 percent of residents agree that global warming is either a very serious or somewhat serious threat to California`s quality of life. And across racial groups, 69 percent of Latinos...
Californians divided along party lines on combating climate change
Posted by Reuters: Sharon Bernstein on July 30th, 2015
Reuters: Two-thirds of Californians link the state's ongoing catastrophic drought to climate change, and most support Governor Jerry Brown's efforts to combat it – but that's also because most Californians are Democrats, a new poll shows.
The survey released on Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) shows that 64 percent of the state's residents believe that global warming has affected the state's drought, now in its fourth year.
But that masks deep divisions along party lines,...
Global Population Projected to Reach 11 Billion by 2100, U.N. Estimates
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 29th, 2015
Yale Environment 360: The current world population of 7.3 billion is expected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030, 9.7 billion by 2050, and 11.2 billion in 2100, according to a United Nations report released today. The revised U.N. estimates counter previous projections, which had said that global population would peak at roughly 9 billion by 2050, then gradually decline. Most growth will occur in developing regions, the new report says, especially Africa, which is expected to account for more than half of the world’s population...
Scott Walker & Stephen Harper: A New Bromance
Posted by CounterPunch: None Given on July 29th, 2015
CounterPunch: Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker recently announced that he would reduce the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to little more than an “umbrella organization” mediating interstate squabbles.
In a July 27 interview with The Washington Examiner, Walker said, “I’d shift that power and money out of Washington and basically just leave in place an umbrella organization that really is limited to mediating interstate conflicts over, say, where a body of water or piece of land goes...
Oklahoma just recorded 40 earthquakes in a week
Posted by Grist: Katie Herzog on July 28th, 2015
Grist: Once known primarily as the home of tornados and the Hanson brothers, Oklahoma has a new claim to fame: earthquakes! We’ve told you about the state’s frightening trend before, but now it’s hit a new milestone: EcoWatch reports that Oklahoma has experienced 40 earthquakes in the past seven days. Just yesterday, five quakes measuring over 4.0 magnitude were felt in Oklahoma and surrounding states, which would seem shocking but the rate of earthquakes has increased so dramatically in recent years that...
New Report Reveals The Severe Economic Impacts Climate Change Will Have In The South
Posted by ThinkProgress: Katie Valentine on July 28th, 2015
ThinkProgress: Climate change is set to hit the Southeast United States and Texas hard.
That`s the conclusion of a new report from the Risky Business Project, a nonprofit that focuses on the economic impacts of climate change. The report, which focused on 12 states - 11 states in the Southeastern United States plus Texas - found that the increased heat and humidity that these states are expected to experience as the climate changes will put the region`s recent manufacturing boom at risk.
"While the Southeast...
Walker puts EPA in the crosshairs
Posted by MSNBC: Steve Benen on July 28th, 2015
MSNBC: By Steve Benen Republican hostility for the Environmental Protection Agency isn’t exactly new, but it was nevertheless striking to see a leading Republican presidential candidate explain his plans yesterday to effectively eliminate most of the EPA’s responsibilities. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) talked to the conservative Washington Examiner yesterday, and began by talking generally about shifting powers from the federal to the state level on “everything from Medicaid to transportation, workforce...
New MIT study on the historical climate of the American West
Posted by Environmental News Network: Mit News on July 28th, 2015
Environmental News Network: All around the deserts of Utah, Nevada, southern Oregon, and eastern California, ancient shorelines line the hillsides above dry valley floors, like bathtub rings — remnants of the lakes once found throughout the region. Even as the ice sheets retreated at the end of the last ice age, 12,000 years ago, the region remained much wetter than it is today. The earliest settlers of the region are likely to have encountered a verdant landscape of springs and wetlands.
So just when and why did today’s...
Washington, DC sinking fast, adding to threat of sea-level rise
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 28th, 2015
ScienceDaily: New research confirms that the land under the Chesapeake Bay is sinking rapidly and projects that Washington, D.C., could drop by six or more inches in the next century--adding to the problems of sea-level rise. This falling land will exacerbate the flooding that the nation's capital faces from rising ocean waters due to a warming climate and melting ice sheets--accelerating the threat to the region's monuments, roads, wildlife refuges, and military installations. For sixty years, tide gauges have...