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Archive for February 4th, 2016
Zimbabwe declares ’state of disaster’ over drought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 4th, 2016
Agence France-Presse: Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe on Friday declared a "state of disaster" in many rural areas hit by a severe drought, with 26 percent of the population facing food shortages. A regional drought worsened by the El Nino weather phenomenon has affected South Africa and Zambia as well as Zimbabwe, leaving tens of thousands of cattle dead, dams depleted and crops written off. Formerly known as the breadbasket of Africa, Zimbabwe has suffered perennial shortages in recent years and has resorted to...
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A Renewables Revolution Is Toppling the Dominance of Fossil Fuels in U.S. Power
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 4th, 2016
Bloomberg: Renewable energy was the biggest source of new power added to U.S. electricity grids last year as falling prices and government incentives made wind and solar increasingly viable alternatives to fossil fuels.
Developers installed 16 gigawatts of clean energy in 2015, or 68 percent of all new capacity, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said in its Sustainable Energy in America Factbook released Thursday with the Business Council for Sustainable Energy. That was the second straight year that clean power...
Groups Want To Know If Climate Change Caused Tasmania Wildfire
Posted by ThinkProgress: None Given on February 4th, 2016
ThinkProgress: With massive wildfires ravaging Tasmania`s ancient forests for more than two weeks, groups are now calling for official inquiries on whether climate change is partly to blame.
As of Thursday, 70 fires remain active across this island state south of Australia, with 46 of them still out of control, according to Tasmania Fire Service. No lives have been lost, but what has been called the worst wildfire in the country`s history has burned more than 100,000 hectares (386 square miles), including up...
Australia’s scientific agency to see job cuts for “ignoring climate change”
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 4th, 2016
Xinhua: The Australian government and its national science agency have been accused of turning its back on fighting climate change, after the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) announced it would be cutting hundreds of jobs in the climate field.
The move, labeled a restructure by the CSIRO, will result in jobs being shed in the Oceans and Atmosphere department as well the Land and Water sectors, and the scientific community and the federal opposition have on Friday expressed...
Climate Change Implicated in a Specific Extreme Weather Event
Posted by National Geographic: Tim Profeta on February 4th, 2016
National Geographic: Scientists have warned that even a few degrees rise in global temperatures can lead to increasingly severe storms. Now an international team of climate scientists has linked man-made climate change to historic flooding that hit the south of England in the winter of 2013–2014. It’s the first time a peer-reviewed research paper has connected climate change to a specific flooding event.
In an article published in Nature Climate Change, the team said that their climate model simulations showed that...
Organic agriculture key to feeding the world sustainably
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 4th, 2016
PhysOrg: Washington State University researchers have concluded that feeding a growing global population with sustainability goals in mind is possible. Their review of hundreds of published studies provides evidence that organic farming can produce sufficient yields, be profitable for farmers, protect and improve the environment and be safer for farm workers.
The review study, "Organic Agriculture in the 21st Century," is featured as the cover story for February issue of the journal Nature Plants and...
With haze threatening return, Indonesian forestry giant pushes peatlands restoration model
Posted by Mongabay: None Given on February 4th, 2016
Mongabay: Last year some two million hectares of land in Indonesia went up in flames across Sumatra, Borneo, and the Western half of New Guinea. The conflagrations caused choking air pollution, hospitalizing hundreds of thousands of people and further denting regional economies already hard hit by the downturn in commodity prices. Daily carbon emissions from the fires during the height of the crisis were higher than the daily emissions from the entire U.S. economy. Most of the haze was caused by fires burning...