Water, barley, hops, and yeast. To many beer purists, these are the four ingredients, and the only four, that are allowed in beer. Most brewers are a bit more open-minded about what goes into their beers, of course. But climate change might soon make those four ingredients too expensive to drink. NASA’s projections for the future include warmer winters, more intense hurricanes, droughts, and more importantly, vast shifts in the crops we grow, the resources we have at our disposal, and how we’ll…

Richard Branson: Business leaders are ‘baffled’ by Trump on climate change.
Image: AP/REX/Shutterstock British billionaire Richard Branson said business leaders were left dumbfounded by President Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement.
But if there’s a silver lining, it’s that companies are now even more driven to invest in clean energy and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Trump and his top officials have made quick work of unraveling not only the former Obama administration’s policies to fight climate change, but even longstanding scientific research programs.
Image: AP/REX/Shutterstock On June 1, Trump announced he would withdraw the U.S. from the international climate agreement, which commits countries to reducing emissions to limit global warming.
The agencies they lead are both facing billions of dollars in budget cuts and steep job losses as the administration curtails funding for climate science, renewable energy, and energy efficiency while doubling down on coal, oil, and natural gas projects.
On Wednesday, he announced a new initiative, called Run on Less, that aims to promote fuel efficiency in long-haul trucks.
Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images "If you don’t go after transport emissions, you’re going to fail" in fighting climate change, he told reporters.
Beyond backing today’s technologies, Branson also invests heavily in cutting-edge clean energy innovations.
He’s put money into Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a $1 billion fund launched by fellow billionaire Bill Gates, to support new forms of clean energy.

Warming in the 21st century reduced Colorado River flows by at least 0.5 million acre-feet, about the amount of water used by 2 million people for one year, according to new research from the University of Arizona and Colorado State University.
From 2000-2014, the river’s flows declined to only 81 percent of the 20th-century average, a reduction of about 2.9 million acre-feet of water per year.
Current climate change models indicate temperatures will increase as long as humans continue to emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but the projections of future precipitation are far less certain.
Previous research has shown the region’s risk of a megadrought — one lasting more than 20 years — rises as temperatures increase.
The two researchers wanted to provide water managers with insight into how future projections of temperature and precipitation for the Colorado River Basin would affect the river’s flows.
Udall and Overpeck began by looking at the drought years of 2000-2014.
To see how increased temperatures might contribute to the reductions in the river’s flow that have been observed since 2000, Udall and Overpeck reviewed and synthesized 25 years of research about how climate and climate change have and will affect the region and how temperature and precipitation affect the river’s flows.
Those researchers and others suggest the risk of a multidecadal drought in the Southwest in the 21st century is much higher than climate models indicate and that as temperatures increase, the risk of such a drought increases.
Udall and Overpeck found all current climate models agree that temperatures in the Colorado River Basin will continue rising if the emission of greenhouse gases is not curbed.
"Current planning understates the challenge that climate change poses to the water supplies in the American Southwest," Udall said.

Projected global warming will likely decrease the extent of temperate drylands by a third over the remainder of the 21st century coupled with an increase in dry deep soil conditions during agricultural growing season.
All of this to simulate the current climate as well as 16 possible future climates.
The variety of possible future climates gave pretty consistent outcomes, lending credibility to the results," says Professor Scott Wilson, visiting researcher at Umeå University and researcher within CIRC.
As the global climate warms this expansion will likely continue.
The certainty of the forecasts is particularly important as warming leads to shifts from temperate to subtropical drylands, which leads to changes in precipitation and soil moisture, which in turn has profound effects on ecological services, provided to humanity, including the viability of certain temperate agricultural systems.
This uncertainty is changing because of improved supercomputer modelling of the movement of water through ecosystems, based on 20,000 locations around the world.
The results suggest that climate change will convert much of the area currently occupied by temperate grasslands and deserts to subtropical vegetation with effects on associated wildlife and human populations.
The impacts can have large consequences for humanity.
"Further, these subtropical drylands are home to aggressive diseases such as dengue and schistosomiasis.
Given the predicted changes to dryland habitats globally, the outcome of this research is essential for developing strategies for adaptation by policy makers."

The ground water level of the city has reached zero in many pockets and the city is dependent on private water tankers for its water supply.
Are We Moving Towards A Water Crisis?
Poor monsoon, over exploitation of groundwater and lack of policy planning forced the Latur Municipal Corporation to announce that they can provide water only once in a month.
Even by very conservative estimation, 40 per cent people in India may not have water to drink by 2030.
According to a senior official in Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board, the reason for the delay was that groundwater is estimated at 20 metres below the ground level in some areas and allowing such activities can aggravate the water crisis.
The government needs to look for long-term and sustainable solutions.
Nagpur has set a target of achieving 24×7 water supply along with privately funded 200 Million Litre Daily (mld) sewage treatment plant for re-use.
The sewage treatment will be re-using treated water from thermal power stations in Nagpur which will also stop contamination of nearby rivers water bodies.
While many cities have taken initiatives in this regard, harvesting rainwater alone is not enough to recharge the ground water level, given the deficit rain in most cities.
Water Facts: At least 21 Indian cities are moving towards zero ground water level by 2020 About 40 per cent people in India may not have water to drink by 2030 Water demand in India will reach 1.5 trillion cubic meters in 2030 while India’s current water supply is only 740 billion cubic meter The UN has ranked India 120th of 122 countries for water quality, About 70 per cent of the supply is contaminated

Climate change battle must be led by governments.
America’s exit from the Paris Agreement should have come as no surprise to most.
Many have rightly condemned the decision.
To some of them, the Paris Agreement is a globalist ploy to steal money from the US.
Others felt the agreement is unfair as China is a bigger emitter – ignoring the reality that China has a much smaller per capita footprint, and that a large portion of its emissions is outsourced from developed nations like the US.
However, this points to the larger issue: how we tackle complex environmental problems.
It’s easy to get behind tackling air or water pollution.
But what about climate change?
Undoubtedly, we will see a huge pushback from the public, businesses and policymakers.
Whether it is in establishing a new regulatory framework, or supporting infrastructure or social norms, the government has a leadership role to play in facilitating the change towards a sustainable society.

Lessons From International Water Sharing Agreements for Dealing With Climate Change.
Acknowledging that various security concerns do arise from environmental change and increasing water scarcity and variability – though nearly always short of war – the book focuses on the cooperation-inducing characteristics of international freshwater resources, the treaties that countries have negotiated to resolve their disputes, and the mechanisms codified in treaties that make agreements more or less effective.
Treaty Mechanisms and Cooperation There have been calls for more transboundary water treaties to help deal with climate change and water scarcity, and the academic literature demonstrates that there is indeed a positive relationship between the presence of a treaty and subsequent cooperation in a given basin.
The type of water allocation mechanisms codified in an agreement also matters for treaty effectiveness under conditions of water scarcity and variability.
Certain allocation mechanisms are more effective in dealing with climate change and subsequent water variability.
In particular, basins governed by agreements that include an allocation mechanism that evinces both flexibility and specificity lead to more cooperation among the basin riparians than agreements that are either too rigid in determining the allocation or too vague.
But the Grand Renaissance Dam could provide benefits to Egypt and Sudan.
The Jordan In the Jordan River Basin, the relationship between Israel and Jordan dominates the hydro-regime.
Israel would deliver to Jordan only 25 million cubic meters per year until a desalinization plant was operational so as to provide the full quota.
We use the total renewable available water resources per capita as a measure for scarcity, which is based on the fact that the amount of water in circulation is more or less fixed and the world population increases over time.

The People Will Be Next."
There was a drought in parts of the country last year, and what we’re seeing this year is far, far worse.
Somalis have traditionally been incredibly resilient at coping in a harsh environment where there’s maybe only a few inches of rainfall each year.
We met Somalis all over the country who were impacted, where this is transforming people’s lives right now.
So this project has focused on how climate change and environmental degradation are fueling migration.
And you know there’s very little understanding of how the environment plays into the [high] levels of migration that we see in Somalia.
But as I was getting closer to Mareero I started seeing people walking through this really dry, stark landscape.
That’s really telling because you know Yemen is not a place that I view as secure or where I would want to go.
I want to ask about your own security doing this reporting.
For you as an American who’s spent quite a bit of time there, what comes to mind when you think about Somalia?

For women in Kenya’s dry north, water is power.
By Anthony Langat WAJIR, Kenya, June 16 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Sitting a couple of kilometres outside the village of Wajir-bor in northeast Kenya is something quite rare for these dry parts: a small, well-maintained reservoir full of water with a watchman standing guard at the gate.
A dam was constructed here after the Wajir County Assembly passed a climate change act in 2016, one of the first in Kenya, freeing up government funds for projects chosen by local people.
The people of Wajir-bor, 40 km (25 miles) west of the border with Somalia and inhabited mainly by the Degodia clan of the Somali ethnic group, decided on the water pan, which provides water for domestic use and for livestock to drink.
"This dam will be opened for use when the livestock have exhausted water in other dams."
She also works to maintain the fence around the water pan, and prevent people and animals from trespassing.
El-Ben dam is another water project paid for by Wajir´s Climate Change Fund.
"Giraffes are strong and can damage the fence and get into the dam to drink, especially when it is dry," said Hussein.
The El-Ben water users association has already reported the invasions to the Kenya Wildlife Service, asking it to provide water for the wild animals.
Women´s involvement in climate change adaptation committees is a step forward but it is not yet enough, experts say, as they do not yet have equal representation in most cases.

Beverage giant Carlsberg brews up new science-based targets.
Carlsberg Carlsberg has unveiled an ambitious new sustainability program aimed at wiping out the carbon footprint of its breweries by 2030 and putting the company in line with a 1.5 degree Celsius climate scenario.
The plan is described as "a response to increasing consumer demand for sustainable products at a time of global challenges such as climate change, water scarcity and public health issues."
Carlsberg revealed it worked with the Carbon Trust consultancy to gain full approval for its emissions targets through the Science-Based Targets initiative, becoming one of the first global corporations — after Tesco last month — to set goals in line with a scenario that tolerates global temperature increases of 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Our clear targets and ambitions reflect our founders’ mentality to strive for perfection and contribute to society through science.
"I’m certain that in achieving our targets we’ll create efficiency improvements, risk reduction and a more resilient business that exists in harmony with local communities and the environment," he said.
"Our clear targets and ambitions reflect the mentality of our founders to always strive for perfection and contribute to society through science."
Further bolstering its climate commitments, Carlsberg also announced plans to establish a community of young scientists led by its existing Carlsberg Research Laboratory to help improve the resilience of crops and "foster further scientific developments within CO2, water and sustainable brewing."
Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust, praised the Danish brewer’s new climate ambitions for going "above and beyond" the levels of carbon reduction needed to stay within a 2 degrees Celsius scenario.
"Carlsberg has taken a genuine leadership position on some of the most critical environmental issues the world currently faces, by developing an ambitious long-term business strategy that focuses on delivering a sustainable future."