2013 SkS Weekly News Roundup #27B

Climate change alters soil bacteria distribution
Climate change planning, prevention needed
Climate change will hurt GOP appeal to young voters
'Gasland' sequel accuses industry of corrupting government
Global food supply under threat
Has the Republican Party stopped denying climate science
Summer bummer for your Fourth of July?
The elements of destruction
Trapping carbon dioxide underground: can we do it?
World's largest offshore windfarm opens in Thames estuary

Climate change alters soil bacteria distribution

A warmer planet means that heat-seeking microbes will elbow out those that prefer life a bit more chilly, with unknown effects on the planet's ecology. Karen Hopkin reports.

Climate change planning, prevention needed

According to several scientists at University of Maine and Gulf of Maine Research Institute, there’s more where these surprise developments came from. Changes in climatological conditions are expected to continue to affect commercial fisheries as species follow their preferred temperature ranges north or change the timing of their seasonal characteristics or migrations.

Climate change will hurt GOP appeal to young voters

A major green group is warning that failure by Republicans to offer solutions for climate change could entrench the GOP's deficit with young voters for decades to come.

Navin Nayak, the League of Conservation Voters's senior vice president of campaigns, likened the challenge Republicans face with young voters to the challenge they face with Hispanics.

'Gasland' sequel accuses industry of corrupting government

Josh Fox galvanized the U.S. anti-fracking movement with his incendiary 2010 documentary “Gasland.” Now he’s back with a sequel — and this time, he’s targeting an audience of just one.

“We want the president to watch the movie, and we want him to meet with the people who are in it,” says Fox, whose “Gasland Part II” makes its HBO debut Monday.

He contends President Barack Obama’s professed support of drilling and fracking for natural gas ignores the environmental and public health toll of the drilling boom: “It looks like he’s really sincere and earnest in his desire to take on climate change, but he’s got the completely wrong information and thus the completely wrong plan.”

Global food supply under threat

Wells are drying up and underwater tables falling so fast in the Middle East and parts of India, China and the US that food supplies are seriously threatened, one of the world's leading resource analysts has warned.

In a major new essay Lester Brown, head of the Earth Policy Institute in Washington, claims that 18 countries, together containing half the world's people, are now overpumping their underground water tables to the point – known as "peak water" – where they are not replenishing and where harvests are getting smaller each year.

Has the Republican Party stopped denying climate science

Following President Obama's climate plan, the answers appear to be yes and no, respectively.

Summer bummer for your Fourth of July?

The Fourth of July in the United States means backyard barbecues, beach outings and fireworks displays for millions of Americans. But thanks to climate change, some of your favorite activities face an uncertain future.

Temperatures are rising, drought and wildfire risks are growing and coastal areas face the threat of devastating storm surges. Some of your favorite foods and beverages even face threats due to water shortages and greater losses to U.S. bee populations.

The elements of destruction

Scotland is facing more than 100 serious threats to our way of life because of rising pollution that is affecting the climate, according to a series of new assessments by the Scottish Government.

Trapping carbon dioxide underground: can we do it?

In a policy address last week, President Barack Obama made the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States a key priority in the nation's fight against climate change. Now, a newly released geological report points to a promising way to cut down on the amount of harmful carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere: inject and store it inside rocks deep underground.

World's largest offshore windfarm opens in Thames estuary

With enough capacity to power two-thirds of the homes in Kent, the set of 175 turbines rising out of the Thames estuary officially became the largest offshore windfarm in the world on Thursday.

David Cameron was on hand to cut the ribbon on the London Array, a massive renewable energy project, in a move that industry sources hoped would herald renewed enthusiasm from the government for renewable power after the animosity to windfarms on the Tory backbenches.