DWR Climate News Digest – July 8th – 23rd, 2010
The information provided herein is a selected compilation of recent popular news articles, published reports, legislation, DWR project updates, and other items of interest related to climate change. This document is intended for distribution to DWR staff members only. The information provided is not intended to state or imply any formal position of DWR. The articles listed below under “Climate News (intended for the DWR public webpage)” are accessible to members of the public at: http://www.water.ca.gov/climatechange/news.cfm.
Climate News (will be posted on the DWR public webpage)
Green Revolution’s diet of big carbon savings: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10314458 [BBC News - June 14, 2010]
Scrubbing CO2 from the atmosphere could be a long-term commitment: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100701183601.htm [ScienceDaily - July 2, 2010]
Deterioration of oceans ‘irreversible’ due to global warming: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/04/v-print/2867772/report-deterioration-of-oceans.html [Sacramento Bee - July 4, 2010]
Cleaner water mitigates climate change effects on Florida Keys coral reefs, study shows: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100706123025.htm [ScienceDaily - July 7, 2010]
Carbon emissions threaten fish populations: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100707091211.htm [ScienceDaily - July 6, 2010]
‘Business as usual’ crop development won’t satisfy future demand, research finds: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100707180930.htm [ScienceDaily - July 7, 2010]
Redwood forest ecosystem or northern California depends on fog to stay hydrated during rainless summers: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100708171345.htm [ScienceDaily - July 8, 2010]
Heat waves could be commonplace in the US by 2039: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100708122617.htm [ScienceDaily - July 9, 2010]
Arid Australia sips seawater, but at a cost: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/world/asia/11water.html [New York Times - July 10, 2010]
Google Earth zooms in on dangerous climate change (new interactive Google Earth map showing the impacts of a 4-degree C warmer world launched by the UK government): http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?view=News&id=22534587 [UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office – July 14, 2010]
Scourge of the jellies: Small fish shows how ecosystems adjust to potentially catastrophic changes: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bearded-goby-fish-eats-jellyfish-and-survives-without-oxygen [Scientific American - July 15, 2010]
Curry for sheep could curb global warming: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/globalwarming/7873998/Curry-for-sheep-could-curb-global-warming.html [Telegraph - July 19, 2010]
“Guidance on water and adaptation to climate change”: http://www.preventionweb.net/files/14561_Guidancewaterclimate.pdf [Economic Commission for Europe – July 2010] (great report covering adaptation and transboundary water management in Europe)
Other Climate News (will NOT be posted on the DWR webpage)
Arctic climate may be more sensitive to warming than thought, says new study: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100629131318.htm [ScienceDaily – June 30, 2010]
Warmer ecosystems could absorb less atmospheric carbon dioxide: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100630101020.htm [ScienceDaily - July 1, 2010]
Human-made global warming started with ancient hunters: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100630162353.htm [ScienceDaily 0 July 1, 2010]
Switching off your lights has a bigger impact than you might think, new study says: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100630101022.htm [ScienceDaily - July 1, 2010]
Breath of the earth: cycling carbon through terrestrial ecosystems: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100705190604.htm [ScienceDaily - July 6, 2010]
Researchers calculate the cost of CO2 emissions, call for carbon tax: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100707102549.htm [ScienceDaily - July 7, 2010]
Thousands of undiscovered plant species face extinction worldwide: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100707065218.htm [ScienceDaily - July 7, 2010]
Changing climate could alter meadow’s ecosystems, says researcher: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100706113214.htm [ScienceDaily - July 9, 2010]
New approach helps teachers integrate conservation biology into high school ecology classes: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100708111341.htm [ScienceDaily - July 9, 2010] (this one relates to our challenge of communicating climate change issues in a meaningful way to non-scientists)
Melting sea ice major cause of warming in Arctic: http://www.earthportal.org/news/?p=3419 [Earth News – July 9, 2010]
While we debate climate change, the rest of the planet prepares for a mass migration: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/07/09/climate-change-catastrophe-and-the-taboo-topic-of-overpopulatio/ [Politics Daily – July 9, 2010] (Environmental refugees and human overpopulation)
UN warns biodiversity loss poses greater business risk than climate change: http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266348/un-warns-biodiversity-loss [BusinessGreen.com – July 13, 2010]
Heat of the moment: How much global warming are we willing to take?: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-much-global-warming-are-we-willing-to-take [Scientific American – July 16, 2010]
Geoengineering fix won’t suit everyone: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19190-geoengineering-fix-wont-suit-everyone.html [New Scientist - July 18, 2010]
Lake Superior, a huge natural climate change gauge, is running a fever: http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/07/19/19climatewire-lake-superior-a-huge-natural-climate-change-83371.html [New York Times - July 19, 2010]
Without carbon emissions cuts, the “anthropocene’ looms as an ugly epoch: http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/07/19/19climatewire-without-carbon-emissions-cuts-the-anthropoce-83697.html [New York Times - July 19, 2010] **see report below “Climate Stablization Targets, Emissions, Concentrations, and Impacts over Decades to Milennia”
REPORTS
“Climate Stabilization Targets, Emissions, Concentrations and Impacts over Decades to Millenia”: http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12877 [National Academy of Sciences – July 16, 2010]
“Protecting the lifeline of the west: How climate and clean energy policies can safeguard water”: http://www.westernresourceadvocates.org/water/lifeline/lifeline.pdf [Western Resources Advocates and Environmental Defense Fund – July 2010]
“National Roadmap for Responding to Climate Change”: http://www.fs.fed.us/climatechange/pdf/roadmap.pdf [USDA Forest Service - July 2010]
“Evaluating Sustainability of Projected Water Demands in 2050 under Climate Change Scenarios”: http://rd.tetratech.com/climatechange/projects/nrdc_climate.asp [NRDC/Tetra Tech - July 2010]
“Global Scenarios for the Century Ahead: Searching for Sustainability”: http://www.tellus.org/publications/files/Global_Scenarios_for_the_Century_Ahead.pdf [Tellus Institute - 2010]
“Linking Climate Change Science to Water Management Decisions: http://www.watereducation.org/userfiles/2010-climate-white-paper.pdf [Water Education Foundation - Summer 2010]
CLOG (Climate Change Blog)
Donald Goldstein – “The climate bill endgame”: http://www.grist.org/article/2010-07-08-climate-bill-endgame-reduce-emissions-carbon-cap/ [Grist - July 8, 2010]
Andrew Revkin Q&A with Donald Brown (Penn State) – “Ethics and the Greenhouse:” http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/ethics-and-the-greenhouse/ [New York Times - July 9, 2010]
Bonnie Erbe – “While we debate climate change, the rest of the planet prepares for mass migration”: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/07/09/climate-change-catastrophe-and-the-taboo-topic-of-overpopulatio/ [Politics Daily – July 10, 2010]
Bad science: Global warming deniers are a liability to the conservative cause: http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/science+Global+warming+deniers+liability+conservative+cause/3284292/story.html [National Post - July 16, 2010]
Jerald Schnoor, Ph.D. – ”Water Sustainability in a Changing World”: http://www.nwri-usa.org/pdfs/2010ClarkePrizeLecture.pdf [National Water Research Institute 2010 Clark Prize Lecture – July 15, 2010]
Legislation
Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) CEQA Guidelines for GHG and Particulate Matter: http://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/Files/Planning%20and%20Research/CEQA/GHG%20Quantification%20Guidance_5_3_10.ashx
Other Items of Interest
The Climate Change Misinformation Campaign
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Publishes Controversial Climate Change Textbook: http://watchdog.org/5772/dnr-publishes-controversial-climate-change-textbook/ [Watchdog.org- July 14, 2010] (why is this so scary?)
Ads backed by fossil-fuel interests argue ‘CO2 is green’: http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/07/14/14greenwire-ads-backed-by-fossil-fuel-interests-argue-co2-79814.html [New York Times - July 14, 2010]
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The Climate News Digest is an internal DWR staff publication. It can be viewed and downloaded from the DWR internal climate change website http://dwrclimatechange.water.ca.gov/index.html. Questions or comments should be directed to Michelle Selmon, Staff ES/Climate Change Specialist at .