Tag: Warming Effects

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The Folly of Turning Water Into Fuel

Most recent controversy over ethanol has focused on the its poor energy return; in growing corn and turning it into ethanol, you have to burn three calories to get four. With prices of fuel and other inputs rising fast, corn farmers won’t be getting rich (except for those who happen to have oil wells on their property.) But selling their corn for such high prices, they can afford to sow more acres and burn more propane, diesel or electricity to pump more water than ever. A torrent of cash will be flowing through the nation’s corn-growing regions, but the biggest price will be paid in water.

Read the story here:

http://alternet.org/water/79957/ 

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Insecure About Climate Change

When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005, Americans witnessed what looked like an overseas humanitarian-relief operation. The storm destroyed much of the city, causing more than $80 billion in damage, killing more than 1,800 people, and displacing in excess of 270,000. The country suddenly had to divert its attention and military resources to respond to a domestic emergency. While scientists do not attribute single events to global warming, the storm gave Americans a visual image of what climate change — which scientists believe will likely exacerbate the severity and number of extreme weather events — might mean for the future.

Read the story here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/21/AR2008032102631.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

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Climate Change: The Resiliency of Wildlands is Key, Ecologist Says

Climate Change: The Resiliency of Wildlands is Key, Ecologist Says
Ecologist Tom DeLuca, during his lecture Tuesday night at the University of Montana, made the case for an adaptive approach to wildlands management in order to help the West’s ecosystems adjust to a changing climate.

DeLuca, a Senior Forest Ecologist with the Wilderness Society and former UM professor speaking as part of the Wilderness Issues Lecture Series, acknowledged that there may be no way to avoid climate change, but the region’s forests and wildlands have evolved under changing climates and possess a measure of resilience to variations.

Read the entire story here:

http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/climate_change_the_resiliency_of_wildlands_is_key_ecologist_says/C38/L38/