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Archive for October 19th, 2015
1 in 5 American Animal Species Is at Risk of Extinction
Posted by EcoWatch: Matt Lee-Ashley and Nicole Gentile, Center For American Progress on October 19th, 2015
EcoWatch: American environmental policy faces a sobering reality: The U.S. has enacted and implemented some of the world’s most effective wildlife conservation laws, yet U.S. wildlife populations are still in perilous decline. One in five animal and plant species in the U.S.—nearly 1,300 total species—is at risk of extinction. Among mammals, the populations of more than two-thirds of all imperiled species in the U.S., from the wolverine to the polar bear, are falling. The decline of American wildlife is consistent...
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Drought causes 450-year-old Mexican church to emerge from reservoir
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 19th, 2015
Guardian: The ruins of a 16th century church have emerged from the waters of a reservoir in Mexico.
The water level in the Nezahualcóyotl reservoir in Chiapas state has dropped by 25m (82ft) because of a drought in the area. The church, known as the Temple of Santiago or the Temple of Quechula, has been under nearly 100ft of water since 1966.
The church, which is believed to have been built by Spanish colonists, is 183ft long and 42ft wide, with a bell tower that rises 48ft above the ground.
It was...
UK public conflicted about Shale Gas fracking shows opinion survey
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on October 19th, 2015
Blue and Green: A new study reveals that the public have considerable reservations about hydraulic fracture stimulation – or ‘fracking’ – in shale gas. This is consistent with research over the last few decades that consistently shows that the British public prefers renewable energy sources over alternatives, and that they consider fossil fuels to be polluting, finite, and outdated. Lead author Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh from Cardiff University and the Tyndall Centre says “This is the first UK experimental survey...
Carbon emissions make Earth greener but are also drying it out
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 19th, 2015
New Scientist: The carbon dioxide we`ve been pumping into the atmosphere is fertilising plants and making them grow faster - but now those plants are sucking our streams dry.
Australia is already a parched country and will only become drier as the planet warms and rainfall decreases.
But now it turns out that Australia has lost about a quarter of its streamflow over the past 30 years as plants given an extra boost by our carbon emissions grow faster and use more water.
Global greening is happening for...
Climate models may be wrong as fires cancel forest carbon sinks
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 19th, 2015
New Scientist: Climate scientists may need to revise their predictions: instead of acting as carbon sinks, Earth`s northern boreal forests could start releasing carbon at a faster rate than they can capture it.
Most global climate models treat these forests as storing about one-third of all terrestrial carbon in trees and, especially, in thick layers of peaty soil. Forest fires disrupt this storage temporarily, releasing carbon to the atmosphere until it can be recaptured by regrowth.
The net effect of this...
PNG drought: Children at orphanage may die from lack of food & water, director says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 19th, 2015
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Children at an orphanage in Papua New Guinea's drought-hit highlands may die from lack of food and water, its director says. Rosa Kepo, the director of the Bible Faith Orphanage Outreach Centre in Mount Hagen, said some children at the orphanage had already died while others ran away to try to fend for themselves. Ms Kepo said the orphanage's food gardens had been infected with worms that have spoiled crops and the children had to walk long distances to fetch water. Audio: Kids in PNG orphanage...
China fights desert’s spread and puts Mongols’ way of life at risk
Posted by Bloomberg: Dexter Roberts on October 19th, 2015
Bloomberg: Dust storms and desertification are two of China’s biggest environmental challenges, and they can’t be addressed without dealing with the stressed northern region of Inner Mongolia. Years of intensive agriculture, the ravages of open-pit coal mining, and climate change have depleted the scarce water resources of the already arid territory. Its grasslands are disappearing and lakes are drying up. China’s response includes the “Great Green Wall”—planting vast numbers of trees to form a protective belt...
California mudslides and chaos offer a preview of what El Niño could bring
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 19th, 2015
LA Times: The storm that slammed into the high desert and mountains of Southern California this week was one for the record books. Intense rain sent massive mudflows onto highways, picking up cars and pushing them into one another. Hundreds of vehicles were trapped in mud up to 20 feet deep; in some cases, motorists were stranded overnight. In one spot in the Antelope Valley, the storm dumped 1.81 inches of rain in 30 minutes on Thursday, in what the National Weather Service described as a 1,000-year rain...
Commercial rice farming cushions Cameroon women from climate stress
Posted by Reuters: Elias Ntungwe Ngalame on October 19th, 2015
Reuters: Women farmers in western Cameroon are leading the way in commercial rice production, benefiting from new seeds and marketing opportunities that are helping them cope with climate stresses and provide for their families.
A programme run by the Upper Nun Valley Development Authority (UNVDA), a government agro-industry body, aims to help rice farmers adopt better crop varieties, use water more efficiently and adapt to climate change.
"I have been able to pay school fees for my children and medical...
Earth’s vital resource – soil
Posted by Times of Malta: Anthony Sacco on October 19th, 2015
Times of Malta: One gram of healthy soil may harbour up to a billion bacteria, 900,000 fungi and a few thousand other microorganisms. Most of these benefit the environment and only a few might pose a serious threat to health or behave as pests. Some refer to it as earth, local farmers occasionally call it dust, and others even dare calling it dirt; however, to most of us, it is just soil. Soil is that loose material on the surface of the Earth produced through centuries or even millennia of rock weathering and...