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Archive for February 18th, 2016
Global Green Building Expected to Double by 2018, Study Finds
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on February 18th, 2016
Blue and Green: Global green building is expected to double by 2018, according to a new study from Dodge Data & Analytics and United Technologies Corporation, on which the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) was a research partner.
The study, World Green Building Trends 2016, Developing Markets Accelerate Global Green Growth, finds that the percentage of companies expecting to have more than 60 per cent of their building projects certified green is anticipated to more than double by 2018, from 18 per cent...
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India’s Food Supply at Risk of GMO Contamination After Lifting 16-Year Corn Import Ban
Posted by EcoWatch: Lorraine Chow on February 18th, 2016
EcoWatch: India, which currently does not allow the growing of genetically modified (GMO) crops, is preparing to lift its import ban on corn for the first time in 16 years which could potentially open the doors to GMO contamination in its food supply.
India will receive 250,000 tonnes of non-GMO corn from South Korea`s Daewoo International via Ukraine, however as experts warned to Reuters, it is difficult to ensure that the supply is 100 percent non-GMO.
It only takes a few GMO seeds to mix with local...
Are ice streams contributing to the rise of ocean levels?
Posted by Christian Science Monitor: Ben Thompson on February 18th, 2016
Christian Science Monitor: A study released Wednesday in the journal Nature suggests that the recent thinning behavior of ice streams in some of the world's largest glaciers may not point to as grim a climate scenario as was once thought.
Ice streams, or fast-moving regions of massive ice sheets – glaciers larger than 19,000 square miles – have become a cause for concern in recent years as their retreat in the world's only major ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctic has been linked to sea level rise. But the new study may...
El Nino begins decline after ‘powerful’ impact: WMO
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 18th, 2016
Agence France-Presse: The 2015-2016 El Nino weather phenomenon, one of the most powerful on record, has begun its decline but continues to have a strong influence on global climate patterns, the UN's weather agency said Thursday.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said El Nino, which occurs every two to seven years, has "passed its peak' but ocean temperature rises in recent months proved its considerable impact.
"We have just witnessed one of the most powerful ever El Nino events which caused extreme weather...
Supercomputer probes depths of biofuel’s biggest barrier
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 18th, 2016
ScienceDaily: Ask a biofuel researcher to name the single greatest technical barrier to cost-effective ethanol, and you're likely to receive a one-word response: lignin.
Cellulosic ethanol--fuel derived from woody plants and waste biomass--has the potential to become an affordable, renewable transportation fuel that rivals gasoline, but lignin, one of the most ubiquitous components of the plant cell wall, gets in the way.
In nature, the resilient lignin polymer helps provide the scaffolding for plants, reinforcing...
Benefits associated with the reduction of mercury emissions far outweigh industry cost
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 18th, 2016
ScienceDaily: How should cost factor into the protection of human health and the environment? That was the central question in a Supreme Court case last summer that pitted the coal industry and 20 U.S. states against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The court ruled that the EPA did not properly take into account what it would cost power plants to comply with new regulations to reduce the emission of mercury, a powerful neurotoxin. Now the EPA has until the self-imposed deadline of April 16 to come up...
Zambia seeks to plug water wastage by harvesting rain
Posted by Reuters: Whitney Mulobela on February 18th, 2016
Reuters: As erratic rainfall leaves Zambia's reservoirs running low and its crops thirsty, the government is planning to harvest water and tap the precious resource more efficiently.
Experts warn that drought linked to the current strong El Niño weather phenomenon is compromising water security in the southern African country of more than 15 million people.
But drought is only part of the problem - when Zambia does get rain, the country lacks the infrastructure to store it for use during dry spells....
As They Drank Contaminated Water, Flint Residents Were Charged The Highest Water Rates In The Country
Posted by ThinkProgress: None Given on February 18th, 2016
ThinkProgress: Not only did Flint residents drink tap water contaminated with lead and other chemicals throughout 2015, but they were also paying the highest prices in the country to keep that poisoned water flowing through their pipes.
A report released by Food & Water Watch on Tuesday confirmed what many residents had long suspected: that their water bills, averaging $140 a month, were the highest in the country. The group found that a Flint resident paid $864.32 a year for water in January 2015, about $500...