29 August 2016 (AFP) – The human impact on Earth’s chemistry and climate has cut short the 11,700-year-old geological epoch known as the Holocene and ushered in a new one, scientists said Monday. The Anthropocene, or “new age of man,” would start from the mid-20th century if their recommendation—submitted Monday to the International Geological Congress […]
By Anuradha Nagaraj18 August 2016 CHENNAI, India (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – More than a quarter of India’s land is turning to desert and the rate of degradation of agricultural areas is increasing, according to new analysis of satellite images. A report [pdf] from the Indian Space Research Organization says land degradation – broadly defined as […]
By Jennifer Ludden18 August 2016 (NPR) – Standing before several dozen students in a college classroom, Travis Rieder tries to convince them not to have children. Or at least not too many. He’s at James Madison University in southwest Virginia to talk about a “small-family ethic” — to question the assumptions of a society that […]
By Political Economist20 June 2016 (Peak Oil Barrel) – […] This graph compares the historical world economic growth rates and the primary energy consumption growth rates from 1991 to 2015. The primary energy consumption growth rate has an intercept of -0.011 at zero economic growth rate and a slope of 0.904. That is, primary energy […]
Landsat 8 satellite image of India’s Panchet reservoir on 10 June 2015. Landsat 8 satellite image of India’s Panchet reservoir on 12 June 2016. By Adam Voiland17 June 2016 (NASA) – Monsoon rains began arriving across India in early June 2016. For many Indians, it was not a moment too soon. After three underwhelming monsoon […]
9 June 2016 (BP) – World primary energy consumption grew by a below-average 1.0% in 2015, the slowest rate of growth since 1998 (other than the decline in the aftermath of the financial crisis). Growth was below average in all regions except Europe and Eurasia. All fuels except oil and nuclear power grew at below-average […]
By Brett Walton15 June 2016 (Circle of Blue) – Beijing, one of the world’s most water-scarce large cities, has long drawn on groundwater reserves to supply more than 20 million people. The unrelenting pressure for water, though, is causing the land to shift and sink and buckle, which puts subway and high-speed rail lines, buildings, […]
By Alexander L. Forrest13 June 2016 (The Conversation) – In an age of rapid global population growth, demand for safe, clean water is constantly increasing. In 2010 the United States alone used 355 billion gallons of water per day. Most of the available fresh water on Earth’s surface is found in lakes, streams and reservoirs, […]
By Chris Mooney and Brady Dennis 31 May 2016 (Washington Post) – As summer temperatures finally settle in, many in the United States take it for granted that they can dial down the thermostat: Americans use 5 percent of all of their electricity cooling homes and buildings. In many other countries, however — including countries […]
By Gayathri Vaidyanathan9 June 2016 (ClimateWire) – In an armchair experiment where humans are thought of as no wiser than animals, scientists have found that climate change could empty some nations by 2100. A warming of 2 degrees Celsius would cause 34 percent of the world’s population to migrate more than 300 miles, to places […]
