Experts divided on fallout if Trump abandons Paris climate accord

President Donald Trump looks poised to withdraw from the Paris climate accord this week, which would likely infuriate supporters of the treaty while pleasing many Republican members of Congress and other hard-line conservatives. “Withdrawing from the Paris agreement is an important and necessary step toward reversing the harmful energy policies and unlawful overreach of the Obama era,” said Patrick Morrisey, attorney general of West Virginia. “The Paris agreement is a symbol of the Obama administration’s ‘Washington knows best’ approach to governing.” News of the looming departure quickly drew the ire of international and domestic political leaders who fear the potentially devastating impacts of global warming. The United States is the second-largest emitter of climate pollution behind China and ahead of Russia and India. Backers of the Paris standards for greenhouse-gas emissions believe that if Trump pulls his support for the promised reductions, it will unravel other countries’ commitments to the groundbreaking pact. “This disastrous decision would cede American leadership at the very time when we should be in the driver’s seat leading the clean energy revolution to reduce air and water pollution,” Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, said in a statement Wednesday. “President Trump is sending a clear signal to the rest of the world that they should look to China and others for energy innovation, not the United States.” Climate scientists have said the targets set in the Paris accord would likely need to be strengthened over time to avert serious consequence from global warming, such as increased flooding, drought and famine. “The Paris agreement provided a great opportunity for the U.S. and the world to wean out of the fossil fuel economy and step into the future with a renewable economy,” said Veerabhadran Ramanathan, a climate scientists with UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, an internationally renowned hub of global warming research. “U.S. pulling out of the Paris accord would be a major setback for the world.” In the past week, a number of global leaders, including Pope Francis, have urged Trump not to walk away…

What Californians are saying about Trump pulling out of Paris Accord

California politicians reacted quickly to reports that President Donald Trump is expected to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California: “I urge President Trump to reconsider abandoning the Paris climate agreement. In my strong view, a retreat from this agreement would be a reckless mistake that will have serious and dire consequences. As a Californian, I see the impact of climate change and don’t believe the threat can be overstated. We are rapidly losing our window of opportunity to control the rise of temperatures. “All but two countries have ratified the agreement, pledging to work together to keep average temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius. This landmark agreement wouldn’t have happened without American leadership. This effort will only succeed if we continue to honor our commitment. “Climate change is just beginning to test our capacity to manage global crises. The world was not prepared for 5 million refugees from Syria. What will we do when many millions more are displaced by sea level rise, agricultural failures or disease pandemics? “No nation can face these security threats alone. Climate change is a global problem that requires global engagement. Breaking our commitment to the Paris climate agreement will leave our country isolated and ill-prepared for the challenges we face. I urge the president to change course.” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco: “President Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Accord is a stunning abdication of American leadership and a grave threat to our planet’s future. In walking away from this agreement, the President is denying scientific truths, removing safeguards that protect our health and our environment, protecting polluters and their dirty energy agenda, and threatening our national and global security. “The Paris Accord honors our collective moral responsibility to leave future generations with a planet that is clean, healthy and sustainable. The agreement deploys the full force of governments around the world to halt the rise in carbon emissions that cause extreme climate events, including record droughts, horrific famines and devastating floods, in addition to thousands of deaths each year from asthma attacks and other air pollution-related diseases. Rejecting the pact also sends a strong message to the marketplace to direct innovative, entrepreneurial investments in the clean energy economy elsewhere. “The majority of Americans in both parties know that climate change is real, and want clear, decisive action to…

Developing climate-resilient wheat varieties

Increases in climate variability have placed new emphasis on the need for resilient wheat varieties.
Therefore, the identification of potential breeding targets to create climate-resilient, nutritionally improved wheat varieties is of particular interest.
Fructans are carbohydrates found in many plants, including wheat, which serve physiological roles in both plants and humans.
And fructan consumption by humans promotes improved health through modulation of gut health.
Fructan content of wheat grain varies by genotype, however, the utility of fructans as a breeding target to develop climate resilience, nutritious wheat varieties has not been examined.
A paper recently published in Crop Science examines connections between fructans in wheat plants, wheat-based food products, and impacts of fructan consumption on human health.
Implementation of breeding for increased wheat fructans will likely result in the development of climate-resilient varieties with increased nutritional value.
Story Source: Materials provided by American Society of Agronomy.
Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:

Climate Change May Hit Cities Hardest: Study

TUESDAY, May 30, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Climate change may cost major cities more than double what it will in other areas due to something called the "urban heat island effect," researchers contend.
"Any hard-won victories over climate change on a global scale could be wiped out by the effects of uncontrolled urban heat islands," said study author Richard Tol, a professor of economics at the University of Sussex in England.
The analysis of nearly 1,700 cities estimated that the heat island effect could boost the total economic costs of climate change for major cities this century by 2.6 times.
For the hardest-hit cities, losses could climb to nearly 11 percent of the area’s total economic output (also called gross domestic product or GDP) by the end of the century.
The global average of losses due to climate change is expected to be 5.6 percent by the end of the century, the study authors said.
Potential costs include more energy for cooling, increased air and water pollution, and lower worker productivity, the researchers said.
"We show that city-level adaptation strategies to limit local warming have important economic net benefits for almost all cities around the world," Tol said in a university news release.
Cities cover only about 1 percent of the Earth’s surface but produce about 80 percent of Gross World Product, use about 78 percent of the world’s energy, and are home to more than half of the planet’s population, the researchers noted.
The study was published May 29 in the journal Nature Climate Change.
SOURCE: University of Sussex, news release, May 29, 2017

Water Pollution In Cambodia Essay

Water Pollution In Cambodia Essay.
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Wildfires on the rise due to drought and climate change

It’s called the "wildland urban interface" where people can live close to nature and to the fires that burn there.
As more houses are built near wildlands, more of them burn.
Robert Bonnie: There’s no question that we’re spending more on the federal-government side firefighting today because of houses in the landscape that we had nothing to do with approving.
Robert Bonnie: The other issue is we put firefighters’ lives in danger if we ask them to fight fires that essentially we can’t stop.
USDA VIDEO: Protecting Your Home From Wildfire Cohen: What ignited this house and burned it down were the little things.
Kern County requires property owners to clear 100 feet of defensible space around homes.
It’s the house of Fred Roach, that retired Forest Service firefighter.
Fred Roach: The house was stucco’ed about fire years ago.
Steve Inskeep: Which doesn’t burn nearly as— Fred Roach: No.
Steve Inskeep: When people have not properly prepared their homes, what do they expect from the fire department when— Judy Hyatt: They expect them— Steve Inskeep: –fire approaches?

The Importance of Global Water Policy – Two Perspectives

Charles Fishman and Seth Siegel know a thing or two about water. Fishman is author of The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water. Siegel wrote Let There Be Water: Israel’s Solution for a Water-Starved World. They were among the 200 people interested in water issues who spent two days in Milwaukee this week. The draw was The Water Council’s 10th annual summit at which security was the theme. Charles Fishman says cyber security does not get a lot of attention in the world of water, but should. “If hackers can hack the CIA. If hackers can steal every personnel record of every federal employee of the United States, Taking down a water utility plant or treatment plant would not be a problem,” Fishman says. He says the cyber risk runs deep. “Lots of people have water technology that has digital elements to it and those are connected to the water utility in your town. So there is vulnerability way outside the fence line of a water treatment plant,” Fishman says. Climate change, he says, is increasingly felt in water. “That means that in Norfolk Virginia and in Miami Beach and also in Bangladesh, when there’s huge precipitation the flooding is worse than it otherwise would be,” Fishman says. The U.S. military is not standing by idly. “All the naval bases in…

‘Air & water pollution, especially in Delhi-NCR, matter of concern’

‘Air & water pollution, especially in Delhi-NCR, matter of concern’.
New Delhi: After taking over charge of the environment ministry on Monday, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said air and water pollution is a matter of concern for the whole country, in general, and especially Delhi and NCR.
He added the matter needs to be addressed on priority by the environment ministry.
Harsh Vardhan assumed charge of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change after the sudden demise of Anil Madhav Dave, the former environment minister.
Harsh Vardhan said the environment ministry will always keep in mind the last wish of late Dave of environmental protection by planting, protecting and nurturing trees and of cleaning rivers and ponds.
The minister reviewed the key areas of concern and priority with the Secretary and other senior officers of the ministry.
During the review meeting, it has been acknowledged that there are many immediate and complex issues of environment, forest and climate change, which will need collective and concerted efforts.
Harsh Vardhan and the environment ministry officials also discussed the progress of work and the key initiatives taken in the last 3 years of the government.
He acknowledged that there are many immediate and complex issues of environment, forest and climate change, which will need collective and concerted efforts.
The minister also underlined that Climate Change and the commitments of India in the Paris agreement are other important challenges.

Sequim quilt exhibit ‘Pieces Together’ climate change effects on parks

Sequim quilt exhibit ‘Pieces Together’ climate change effects on parks.
SEQUIM — The Sequim Civic Center will feature the National Park Fiber Arts exhibit “Piecing Together a Changing Planet” beginning today.
The display — featuring 26 art quilts — has been touring the nation since December 2014 and will be shown at the civic center at 152 W. Cedar St. through Friday, June 30.
The quilts were created by various members of the Studio Art Quilt Associates to highlight a few of the ways that America’s 401 national parks are impacted by climate change, water pollution and other human-caused phenomena.
“The artists’ goal is to help open people’s eyes to the beauty of nature that surrounds them, and share their concern for its loss,” said Maya Schonenburger, the exhibit curator.
Sequim is the only stop in the Pacific Northwest for the national exhibit and the last stop of the tour, according to a news release.
The exhibit is sponsored by the city Arts Advisory Commission in partnership with Olympic National Park.

Protect the Mid-South’s Water!

When I was enrolled in university, my political science courses discussed future conflict and migrations resulting from water scarcity. I did not think that I would see evidence of this so soon after graduation. A government geological study notes that there is a major cone of depression in the Memphis area as a result of long-term pumping of water at municipal and industrial well fields. This problem is in addition to the $615,000,000 lawsuit from Mississippi against Tennessee challenging the intense pumping of aquifer water in Memphis. This pumping has allegedly caused a depression in the Mississippi water table and altered the direction that water moves underground. This issue of our water aquifer is not a fad of environmentalism, nor is it a fund-raising platform for the Sierra Club. This is the kind of issue that will come to define our era, and Memphians are at the forefront of it in a very real way. With climate change altering rain patterns and, ultimately, aquifer recharge rates, it seems foolish to blindly obligate millions of gallons of this precious resource to the Tennessee Valley Authority for its proposed use in the cooling of their new natural gas plant here. A 2015 study cited that just 6 percent of groundwater is replenished within a “human lifetime” of 50 years. The water we drink from the Memphis Sand Aquifer is 2,000 years old. Let that sink in. While water may be a renewable resource, it is finite in quantity and vulnerable to contamination. Brian Waldron, a researcher at the Ground Water Institute, has warned, “We don’t really know the…