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RESULTS		Results 26 – 50 of 153
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Headline	Author	Published	Section
Flood, Sweat, and a Good Trout Mousse Iowa's chefs and their farmer-suppliers get busy recovering from disaster	Kurt Michael Friese	26 Jun 2008	Chef's Diary
Roads and restaurants may be closed, but Iowa is getting back on its feet. Photo: Kurt Michael Friese The weather here in Iowa City has been gorgeous for more than a week. Is Mother Nature trying to make amends? While she smiles on us, she's still causing trouble for our friends to the south. The horrendous flooding continues, breeching nearly every l ...
Topics: agriculture, Chef's Diary, food, green living, recipes, severe weather (all these topics)

Sorry, delayers and enablers, part two Climate change means worse droughts for American Southwest, Australia	Joseph Romm	25 Jun 2008	Gristmill
Part one presented the synopsis of the remarkable new U.S. Climate Change Science Program (a.k.a. the Bush Administration) report, Weather and Climate Extremes in a Changing Climate. One central point in the synopsis is Droughts are becoming more severe in some regions, though there are no clear trends for North America as a whole ... Substantial areas of North America are likely to have more frequent droughts of greater severity. Seems pretty clear, no? Dry a ...
Topics: climate, climate change impacts, climate science, severe weather (all these topics)

There will be flood The Midwest will suffer if we don't change our approach to flood protection	Guest author	23 Jun 2008	Gristmill
This is a guest essay by Mary Kelly, the head of Environmental Defense Fund's rivers and deltas program. ----- We've heard a lot this week about how the floods in the Midwest might be an act of humans -- or an act of City Council, as one Iowan leader put it. We can start the futile cycle of fighting Mother Nature again if we want to: spend billions of dollars on levees and flood control infrastructure, encouraging development of river floodplains and low-lying wet ...
Topics: climate, climate change impacts, Iowa, severe weather (all these topics)

One expensive cocktail The toll of the shrimping industry on Southeast Asia	Erik Hoffner	20 Jun 2008	Gristmill
Southeast Asia would have fared better during the tsunami and the recent cyclone if the majority of the region's coastal mangrove forests were intact. Everyone accepts that. But many of the mangroves have been cut for firewood, largely to make way for shrimp farming. The cost of the mangrove-loss to coastal fisheries is great, since much of the food chain spends its early years amongst the trees' roots. But the human cost, besides those lost in the flood waters, is al ...
Topics: agriculture, aquaculture, fishing, food, severe weather (all these topics)

Flood money Midwest woes a boon to fertilizer companies	Tom Philpott	19 Jun 2008	Gristmill
The recent Midwestern floods have caused all manner of misery: Burst levies, lost homes, ruined crops, higher food prices, a gusher of agrichemicals and god know what else flowing into streams. One way to soothe the sting is to own shares in giant fertilizer companies like Potash Corp. of Saskatewan and Mosaic. These companies have seen their share prices jump over the past week. Investors may be bidding them up because the floods represent a sales opportunity. To ma ...
Topics: agriculture, climate, food, industrial ag, severe weather (all these topics)

When We Reign, It Pours Humans have a hand in Midwest flooding		19 Jun 2008	News
Posted at 8:41 AM on 19 Jun 2008 Photo: Mark Hirsch How much responsibility do humans have for the floods disastrously deluging the Midwest? Of course the rain poured for days, but it fell on plowed-up prairies, drained fields, altered streams, no-longer-wetlands, and developed flood plains -- all unable to absorb precipitation to the best of their natural ability. Between 2007 and 2008, more than 160,000 acres of Iowa land (mostly ...
Topics: agriculture, Iowa, Missouri, news, placemaking, severe weather (all these topics)

Thinking outside the Oxfam Four short films explore how climate change affects women worldwide	Holly Richmond	18 Jun 2008	Gristmill
'Is climate change a feminist issue?' NewScientist enviro blogger Catherine Brahic asked last week, then answered, '[F]or me, climate change is not a gender issue. Climate change will not affect women more than men.' She was responding to several short films Oxfam recently produced that profile four women in Brazil, Uganda, the U.K., and Bangladesh. The films explore their experiences educating others in their communities about, and ameliorating, the effects o ...
Topics: climate, climate change impacts, climate equity, gender, severe weather (all these topics)

Lessons from an angry planet Rebuilding in the wake of 'extreme weather'	Joseph Romm	17 Jun 2008	Gristmill
From the standpoint of global climate change, nature's incredible assault on the American heartland this year can be interpreted in one of two ways. Both offer lessons about the challenges of adapting to the climate we have created. As of June 13, 1,577 tornadoes had been reported in the United States, with 118 fatalities. The season started in January, unusually early, with more than 130 reported tornadoes in the upper Midwest. As if to send voters a reminder ...
Topics: carbon trading, climate, greenhouse-gas emissions, politics, severe weather (all these topics)

After the deluge As Midwest floods recede, what's being washed into the groundwater?	Tom Philpott	16 Jun 2008	Gristmill
Flooded road in eastern Iowa. Photo: Dan Patterson Things are grim in Iowa, arguably the epicenter of global industrial food production. If Iowa were a nation, it would be the globe's second-largest corn producer, behind only China. The state leads the U.S. [PDF] in the production of corn, hogs, and eggs, and ranks number two in soybeans.In short, it's a rotten place for a massive, flood-inducing early-summer deluge. Of the state's 99 counties, 24 have been ...
Topics: agriculture, climate, climate change impacts, health, industrial ag, Iowa, severe weather (all these topics)

Our Ruined Harvest As corn and soy fields drown in rainwater, the food crisis deepens	Tom Philpott	13 Jun 2008	Victual Reality
A cornucopia of bad circumstances. Here in the United States, we grow 44 percent of the world's corn crop, and 38 percent of its soy. For the great bulk of that massive harvest, we rely on a single region: the Midwestern farm belt. And over the past couple of weeks, torrential rains have hammered that area, at a particularly sensitive time for its grand swath of corn and soybean pla ...
Topics: agriculture, climate, food, green living, severe weather, shopping, Victual Reality (all these topics)

Still, waters run deep Mainstream media misses connection between global warming and Midwest floods	Joseph Romm	12 Jun 2008	Gristmill
The British and the Chinese understand global warming has driven their record flooding. The United States? Not so much. Although you wouldn't know it from most U.S. media coverage, the record 'once-in-a-hundred-year flooding' the Midwest now seems to be getting every decade or so is precisely what scientists have been expecting from the warming. A 2004 analysis [PDF] by NOAA's National Climatic Data Center found an increase during the 20th century of 'precipitation ...
Topics: climate, climate change impacts, climate science, severe weather (all these topics)

Humble Pie As storms rage on the prairie, strawberries and rhubarb bring comfort	Kurt Michael Friese	12 Jun 2008	Chef's Diary
A bright spot in the storm. Gaia has been hard on us prairie-dwellers lately. A dear friend who's the director of the area's largest CSA lost her 102-year-old barn to a storm this weekend. Swelled with recent rains, the Iowa River has been raging, sloshing toward levels never seen before. Fortunately, my restaurant sits on high ground, so if the floods reach us here, you'll see ...
Topics: food, green living, recipes, severe weather (all these topics)

Global boiling Senators ignore the warning signs	Brad Johnson	10 Jun 2008	Gristmill
Originally posted at the Think Progress Wonk Room. Recently, the United States Senate has taken several votes on building a green economy that moves away from fossil fuel dependence, creates new green industry, and addresses global warming. Each time, a minority of senators blocked the way. On Friday, 38 senators filibustered mandatory greenhouse-gas reduction legislation (S. 3036). This morning, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) joined 41 Republicans to filibuster the Cons ...
Topics: climate, climate change impacts, legislation, politics, severe weather (all these topics)

It actually doesn't fall on the plain ... or anywhere else Spain experiencing severe drought due to climate change	Joseph Romm	03 Jun 2008	Gristmill
Warming-driven desertification is spreading. Australia has gotten the most attention, but Spain is also turning into a desert. As Time reported: Spain is in the grip of its worst drought in a century as a result of climate change -- this year's total rainfall, for example, has been 40 percent lower than average for the equivalent period, and the country's reservoirs are, on average, only 30 percent full. The reservoirs serving Barcelona are only 20 percent full, and ...
Topics: climate, climate change impacts, desertification, severe weather, Spain, water crisis (all these topics)

Trailer of Tears Toxic trailers will be used again if need be, says FEMA		03 Jun 2008	News
Posted at 2:55 PM on 03 Jun 2008 The Federal Emergency Management Agency has promised it will never again use formaldehyde-tainted trailers to house victims of a natural disaster -- unless, of course, it does. In a draft disaster housing report, the agency said it would use the trailers if need be, though as a last resort, and for no longer than six months. Some 500 families made homeless in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina are s ...
Topics: health, news, placemaking, severe weather (all these topics)

One hundred percent whole-wheat troubles WSJ: 'Fungus strain menaces global wheat crop'	Tom Philpott	30 May 2008	Gristmill
I hate to sound like a broken record, but remember in the winter, when a fertilizer magnate warned that the world faced the threat of famine if any major crop didn't do well? The magnate was William Doyle, CEO of a company that has aptly been dubbed the 'Saudi Arabia of Fertilizer,' Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan. Here's what he said: If you had any major upset where you didn't have a crop in a major growing agricultural region this year, I believe you'd see famine. .. ...
Topics: ag policy, agriculture, Big Ag, food, industrial ag, severe weather (all these topics)

Florida faces unfavorable tide New report calls for climate action, but not everyone's listening	Miles Grant	30 May 2008	Gristmill
With more coastline than any state in the lower 48 and about a tenth of its economy ($65 billion a year) based on tourism, Florida has more to lose than any other state from the threats of global warming. Rising sea levels creep closer to coastal development. Warmer tropics fuel stronger hurricanes. And higher ocean temperatures kill coral and harm fish populations, threatening the state's $4.5 billion sportfishing industry. Plenty of reasons that a report released y ...
Topics: climate, climate change impacts, Florida, habitat protection, legislation, severe weather, state politics (all these topics)

Weather or Not U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions rising		20 May 2008	News
Posted at 2:00 PM on 20 May 2008 U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions increased 1.6 percent in 2007, according to the Energy Information Administration. Factors at fault, according to the EIA: wacky weather that increased the need for heating and cooling, and "a higher carbon intensity of electricity supply." (Our electricity supply is carbon-intensive? Who knew?) The agency was quick to point out that GDP grew 2.7 percent in 2007, so " ...
Topics: climate, economy, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, news, severe weather, United States (all these topics)

Intensity vs. preference Climate, as such, is unlikely to ever be a determinant of many votes	David Roberts	20 May 2008	Gristmill
Chris Hayes emphasizes the difference between, in Grover Norquist's terms, "intensity and preference" -- issues that people vote on vs. ones they merely respond to favorably in polls. He thinks it's dumb that many Dems still don't seem to get the difference when it comes to deficit spending. Which reminds me of something I've been meaning to say about climate. It's often said that absent some sort of serious catastrophe -- "another Katrina" -- cl ...
Topics: climate, elections, politics, severe weather (all these topics)

Where the Lead Comes Sweepin' Down the Plain Tornado ravages town already ravaged by pollution		12 May 2008	News
Posted at 10:41 AM on 12 May 2008 Six people were killed in Picher, Okla., this weekend as a giant tornado swept through. The not-so-bright bright side: It's likely that some fatalities were avoided, since many residents of Picher have already left. Picher is so polluted with mining waste that it's listed as a Superfund site; the town's booming lead and zinc mines closed decades ago, and its population ...
Topics: air pollution, health, mining, news, Oklahoma, placemaking, severe weather, toxics, waste (all these topics)

Drudge Report, Fox News falsely smear Gore Right wing doctors audio clips to distort Al Gore's comments about cyclone Nargis	Brad Johnson	10 May 2008	Gristmill
Originally posted at the Think Progress Wonk Room. One week ago, tropical cyclone Nargis struck Burma, tracing an unprecedented path of devastation across this poor nation of 55 million, called Myanmar by its military dictatorship. On May 6, Jeff Poor wrote for the Business & Media Institute a story entitled, 'Al Gore Calls Myanmar Cyclone a 'Consequence' of Global Warming,' which was subsequently linked on the Drudge Report. Poor claims: Using tragedy to advanc ...
Topics: Al Gore, climate, messaging, Myanmar, severe weather (all these topics)

To preserve and protect Valuing environmental services saves lives	Jason D Scorse	07 May 2008	Gristmill
As this new BBC article points out, it appears that the loss of mangroves around cities in Myanmar made the impact of the cyclone much worse, resulting in higher casualties and greater destruction. Scientific evidence compiled after the 2004 Asian tsunami showed that areas with more intact coastal ecosystems suffered less destruction, showing the upside of investing in the preservation of coastal swamps and forests, especially in disaster-prone areas. These develop ...
Topics: climate, deforestation, Myanmar, severe weather (all these topics)

Corny weather FT: Midwest rains threaten U.S. corn crop	Tom Philpott	07 May 2008	Gristmill
Remember in February, when a fertilizer magnate raised the specter of widespread famine if any of the globe's big farming regions hit a rough patch this year? Here's what he said: If you had any major upset where you didn't have a crop in a major growing agricultural region this year, I believe you'd see famine. ... We keep going to the cupboard without replacing and so there is enormous pressure on agriculture to have a record crop every year. We need to have a recor ...
Topics: ag policy, agriculture, climate, severe weather (all these topics)

A Good Mangrove Is Hard to Find Deforestation may have increased impact of devastating cyclone		06 May 2008	News
Posted at 12:28 PM on 06 May 2008 The devastating impact of Cyclone Nargis, which has killed at least 22,000 people in Myanmar, could have been mitigated if mangrove forests had remained intact, says the secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Mangrove forests are densely vegetated and act as natural storm barriers, but many of the forests in Myanmar have been converted into sh ...
Topics: aquaculture, deforestation, Myanmar, news, severe weather (all these topics)

Ten thousand dead Myanmar cyclone is a portent of disasters to come	Ryan Avent	05 May 2008	Gristmill
At least 10,000 people lost their lives when a tropical cyclone struck the nation of Myanmar, in Southeast Asia. Perhaps the jury is still out on the extent to which storm intensity can be related to climate change. What is clear is that sea-level rise will make future storms, more intense or no, much more deadly in many developing nations. We can talk about pain at the pump for Americans being a serious problem, but it pales in comparison to the threat to human life pose ...
Topics: Asia, climate, climate change impacts, severe weather (all these topics)

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