‘Record gap’ between rich and poor – ‘We have reached a tipping point. Inequality in OECD countries is at its highest since records began.’

Paris, 21 May 2015 (AFP) – The gap between the rich and poor in most of the world’s advanced economies is at record levels, according to an OECD study that also found glaring differences between men and women. In most of the 34 countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development the income gap […]

California drought caused by global warming

By Greg Laden22 May 2015 (Science Blogs) – […] A paper just out in Geophysical Research Letters uses modeling and historic data to confirm that the current California drought is very likely an effect of climate change. The paper is “Temperature Impacts on the Water Year 2014 Drought in California“, by Shraddhanand Shukla, Mohammad Safeeq, […]

Graph of the Day: Exponential production from the Athabasca bitumen mines, 1985-2014

23 May 2015 (Desdemona Despair) – Recently, Canada announced that it will reduce carbon emissions to 30 per cent below 2005 levels by the year 2030. But the province of Alberta is home to the Athabasca bitumen mines, aka the “Alberta tar sands” mines. The disastrous environmental effects of Alberta’s open pit mines have been […]

California’s growing concern: Crops raised with oil field water – ‘When I talk to growers, and they smell the oil field crap in that water, they assume the soil is taking care of this’

By Julie Cart2 May 2012 (Los Angeles Times) – Here in California’s thirsty farm belt, where pumpjacks nod amid neat rows of crops, it’s a proposition that seems to make sense: using treated oil field wastewater to irrigate crops. Oil giant Chevron recycles 21 million gallons of that water each day and sells it to […]

Graph of the Day: U.S. managed honey bee colony losses, 2006-2015

By Nathalie Steinhauer, Karen Rennich, Kathleen Lee, Jeffery Pettis, David R. Tarpy, Juliana Rangel, Dewey Caron, Ramesh Sagili, John A. Skinner, Michael E. Wilson, James T. Wilkes, Keith S. Delaplane, Robyn Rose, and Dennis van Engelsdorp13 May 2015 (Bee Informed) – Note: This is a preliminary analysis. Sample sizes and estimates are likely to change. […]

Weak climate deal would jeopardize new development goals – ‘Zero poverty and zero emissions within a generation’

By Laurie Goering; editing by Megan Rowling15 May 2015 LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The world’s chances of achieving new international development goals will be slim without more ambitious action to curb climate change, researchers said. Pakistan, for example, is unlikely to be able to end poverty by 2030 if accelerating climate change brings worse […]

China crude oil imports surpass those of U.S. for first time in April 2015

By Avaneesh Pandey11 May 2015 (IBT) – Chinese crude oil imports surpassed those of the United States for the first time in April, making the Asian nation the world’s top importer of crude oil. According to a report by the Financial Times, the world’s second-largest economy purchased 7.4 million barrels of crude oil a day […]

Washington State snow pack at 17 percent of normal level, streams at record-low flows – ‘Worst snow drought we’ve ever seen’

By Glenn Farley11 May 2015 (KING 5 News) – Washington State’s snow pack level is now averaging just 17 percent of normal, based on measurements made on May 1, 2015. That’s down from a state wide average of 24 percent on April 1, which is the traditional benchmark for the peak of the state’s snow […]

Graph of the Day: Global increase in herbicide-resistant weeds, 1957-2015

15 April 2015 (weedscience.org) – The International Survey of Herbicide Resistant Weeds is a collaborative effort between weed scientists in over 80 countries.  Our main aim is to maintain scientific accuracy in the reporting of herbicide resistant weeds globally.  This collaborative effort is supported by government, academic, and industry weed scientists worldwide.  This project is […]

California looks to Australia for drought advice – ‘Their advice to us was: Conserve, conserve, conserve early to avoid pain later on’

By Chris Nichols9 May 2015 SACRAMENTO (UT San Diego) – Severe dry spells aren’t unique to California. Just ask Australia, where the Millennium Drought stretched from 1997 to 2009, devastating the southeastern portion of the country and forever changing how it uses water. For months now, water experts in California have asked their counterparts Down […]

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