Tag: climate change

October 19, 2010 General Ag News and Notes, Globel Warming Post a Comment

Research suggests climate change could alter El Nino cycle in the Pacific

Climate change could alter the El Nino cycle in the Pacific, affecting fish stocks and the distribution of nutrients in the ocean, new research suggests.

Scientists recently noticed that El Nino warming is stronger in the Central Pacific than the Eastern Pacific, a phenomenon they call El Nino Modoki, after the Japanese term for “similar, but different.”

Last year, the journal Nature published a paper that found climate change is behind this shift from El Nino to El Nino Modoki.

While the findings of that paper are still subject to debate, a new paper in the journal Nature Geoscience presents evidence that El Nino Modoki affects long-term changes in currents in the North Pacific Ocean.

The research was done by Emanuele Di Lorenzo, associate professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Research suggests climate change could alter El Nino cycle in the Pacific – Hawaii News – Staradvertiser.com

October 13, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Drought Withers Lush Farmlands in Syria

AR RAQQAH, Syria — The farmlands spreading north and east of this Euphrates River town were once the breadbasket of the region, a vast expanse of golden wheat fields and bucolic sheep herds.

Now, after four consecutive years of drought, this heartland of the Fertile Crescent — including much of neighboring Iraq appears to be turning barren, climate scientists say. Ancient irrigation systems have collapsed, underground water sources have run dry and hundreds of villages have been abandoned as farmlands turn to cracked desert and grazing animals die off. Sandstorms have become far more common, and vast tent cities of dispossessed farmers and their families have risen up around the larger towns and cities of Syria and Iraq.

“I had 400 acres of wheat, and now it’s all desert,” said Ahmed Abdullah, 48, a farmer who is living in a ragged burlap and plastic tent here with his wife and 12 children alongside many other migrants. “We were forced to flee. Now we are at less than zero — no money, no job, no hope.”

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September 24, 2010 Agriculture Grants, General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

East-West Center to help Pacific islands cope with climate change

A federal agency has awarded $3.8 million to the East-West Center to help Hawaii and several Pacific island nations cope with the effect of climate changes.

The five-year grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will help to bring together scientists and decision-makers to help Pacific communities respond to changing climates, East-West spokesman Derek Ferrar said.

The areas included in the Pacific Regional Integrated Science and Assessment program are the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Republic of Palau, and American Samoa.

East-West Center to help Pacific islands cope with climate change – Hawaii News – Staradvertiser.com

August 26, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Poll shows many interested in interisland ferry

maui-news-ad

KAHULUI – A public opinion survey of state transportation issues revealed a yearning for an interisland ferry, with 83 percent of those polled by SMS on behalf of the state Department of Transportation saying a marine transportation system should be part of the state’s overall infrastructure, although pro-ferry sentiment was much weaker on Kauai.

An interisland ferry has been part of the state’s long-range transportation planning since the first plan in 1961. That plan, now called the Hawaii Statewide Transportation Plan, is undergoing its sixth revision.

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August 5, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Faraway current set off Mauna Kea glacier

A North Atlantic ocean system also caused more intense storms, a new study revealed

Slowing of the North Atlantic Ocean current system appears to be the reason for more frequent major storms and re-advancing of the glacial age in Hawaii 15,400 years ago, according to a new study.

“These connections are pretty remarkable — a current pattern in the North Atlantic affecting glacier development thousands of miles away in the Hawaiian Islands,” said Oregon State University professor Peter Clark, one of the study’s authors.

Glaciers in Hawaii? Yes — during and just after the last ice age, and the study is shedding light on modern planetary thermodynamics.

Some climate scientists believe global warming could eventually disturb the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic, creating colder temperatures in Europe and elsewhere.

University of Hawaii professor Axel Timmermann said the study confirms his research and that of other scientists that used climate models to predict that a weakening of certain North Atlantic currents would produce more westerly winds and intensified storms in Hawaii.

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December 10, 2009 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Soros Has a $100 Billion Plan for Green Initiatives – Yahoo! Finance

 

Billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros recently spoke up on climate change financing.

According the The Wall Street Journal, billionaire hedge fund manager and political activist George Soros is pushing for a $100 billion "Green" fund to be financed by special drawing rights (SDRs). Created by the IMF in 1969, SDRs are what The New York Times called a "virtual currency." They are the based on a basket of four key international currencies, and are normally used as a source of liquidity. Soros suggested the funds could be put to work planting new forests, expanding farming methods, and helping with adaption and energy programs in poor countries.

Back in October, Soros announced plans to invest $1 billion of his own capital in clean energy. He told Bloomberg that the investments "should be profitable but should also actually make a contribution to solving the problem."

As of the most recent regulatory filings Soros’ top-15 U.S.-listed equity holdings included just one alternative energy play, waste to energy firm Covanta (NYSE: CVA – News). However his sizable stakes in fertilizer plays Potash (NYSE: POT – News) and Monsanto (NYSE: MON – News) could see an uptick if billions were invested in the agricultural segment of developing nations.

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