“Kusum Athukorala, one of the country’s leading experts on water management, agrees that women are key to adapting effective measures to deal with water challenges and changing climate patterns.
“Women are the foot soldiers of climate change adaptation,” said Athukorala who heads the Network of Women Water Professionals, Sri Lanka (NetWwater) and the Women for Water Partnership…
However, despite their importance, women are still being largely left out of the decision making, according to a new report by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI). The report - The Challenges of Securing Women’s Tenure and Leadership for Forest Management: The Asian Experience - found that gender discrimination is still rampant.
Arvind Khare, RRI’s senior director of country and regional programmes, said that women’s roles should not only be recognized but should also be enforced. He took the case of land rights in rural China, where women often find themselves losing land, due to cultural and social norms, despite laws that are gender neutral on paper.
“How can we look at climate adaptation and food security when those who do most of the work at ground level have no say?” he asked.
The North Pole is doomed. And there is nothing you can do about it.
By the end of August, the Obama administration will allow Shell, a foreign oil company, to begin drilling in the Chucki Sea. Most oil will not flow to America.
1/4 of the Earth’s oil and gas reserves contained in the Arctic
Ice is melting far faster than climate scientists expected
Once the ice melts enough, Russia, Canada, US, Norway, etc., ready to pounce to develop oil, gas, mineral (gold and diamonds), commercial fishing, and tourism industries
Fisheries to be depleted within a few years
Norway’s Statoil, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Russia’s Rosneft have all revealed plans to drill in the Arctic
Ice reflects sunlight. When the ice melts, less sun will be reflected causing rapid warming of the oceans.
Majority of the House rejects Obama’s plans to expand ocean oil drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf. Republicans attempt to replace his plans with their own. They claim that Obama’s plan violates several environmental laws, and dangerously speeds up the permit and leasing process. Their replacement plan? A substantial expansion of drilling leases, less environmental regulation, weakened oversight, and power to congress (rather than agency) to approve and manage oil leases.
Not for the weak, this video shows a Guardian investigation into illegal elephant trade in Burma and Thailand. Hundreds(!) of elephants are newly enslaved each year to entertain millions of tourists.
The Aral Sea, once the fourth largest lake in the world, continues to shrink and is now 10% of its original size. UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon recently called the drying up of the Aral Sea one of the planet’s most shocking disasters. Feeder streams to the sea have been diverted by irrigation and by the completion of upstream dam projects. The result has been the ruin of the local fishing and shipping economy, and wind-carried salty sands have created regional health problems. Landsat satellite images taken on 29 May 1973 (left) and 18 October 2009, show the dramatic change in the region.
Beyond 7 billion: After remaining stable for most of human history, the world’s population has exploded over the last two centuries. The boom is not over: The biggest generation in history is just entering its childbearing years. The coming wave will reshape the planet, and the impact will be greatest in the poorest, most unstable countries.
This is one of the biggest projects coming out of The Times this year. Read the stories, watch the videos, look through the photos — the collection is a beast. And let us know what you think.
You Olympians, however, know you didn’t get here solely on your own power. For most of you, loving parents, sisters or brothers encouraged your hopes, coaches guided, communities built venues in order to organize competitions. All Olympians stand on the shoulders of those who lifted them. We’ve already cheered the Olympians, let’s also cheer the parents, coaches, and communities. -
Photograph of trees stained and forest floor killed by a massive aluminum chemical spill in Ajka forest, Hungary. There is a book about the spill, here.
It’s long been known that America’s electricity infrastructure is crumbling. But, with climate impacts (more powerful storms, for example), previous estimates for rebuilding the network are multiplying exponentially. NPR is on the case.
A power pole is bent after severe storms hit the Bemidji, Minn., area on Tuesday, knocking down thousands of trees and causing extensive damage to utility lines. Thousands of customers were left without power.
As hundreds of thousands swelter without power a week after a violent storm pummeled the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, energy experts say the future will look even worse if the nation’s aging, congested electrical grid isn’t upgraded.
Customers chafe at rising utility bills, but the energy industry warns that the alternative is even scarier: Unless $673 billion is invested in the system, it could break down by 2020, according to an American Society of Civil Engineers report released in April.
The grid’s dependability has become an increasing concern as the system strains to meet increased demand. Bottlenecks in the grid and equipment failures are causing more brownouts and blackouts, energy experts say.
The civil engineers say that if investment in the system isn’t increased by at least $1 billion a year, service interruptions between now and 2020 will cost $197 billion.
“(E)ven if the most ambitious emissions cuts are made, it might not be enough to stop sea levels rising due to the thermal expansion of sea water, said scientists at the United States’ National Centre for Atmospheric Research, U.S. research organization Climate Central and Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research in Melbourne.
“Even with aggressive mitigation measures that limit global warming to less than 2 degrees above pre-industrial values by 2100, and with decreases of global temperature in the 22nd and 23rd centuries … sea level continues to rise after 2100,” they said in the journal Nature Climate Change.
This is because as warmer temperatures penetrate deep into the sea, the water warms and expands as the heat mixes through different ocean regions.
Even if global average temperatures fall and the surface layer of the sea cools, heat would still be mixed down into the deeper layers of the ocean, causing continued rises in sea levels.
If global average temperatures continue to rise, the melting of ice sheets and glaciers would only add to the problem.”
CSC Training Opportunity: Climate Adaptation for Coastal Communities
The NOAA Coastal Services Center (CSC) partnered with six organizations to develop a three-day, instructor-led course on Climate Adaptation for Coastal Communities. This training gives participants a thorough grounding in the topic of climate adaptation as well as time to apply lessons learned to their own adaptation projects. The training course covers the following essentials: understanding climate science and impacts; determining community vulnerabilities; communicating effectively; identifying adaptation strategies; and finding mechanisms to implement those strategies. Opportunities for local collaboration and next steps for adaptation planning and implementation are emphasized through discussion, participant activities, and incorporation of local speakers and examples. The course is designed for program administrators, land use planners, public works staff members, floodplain managers, hazard mitigation planners, emergency managers, community groups, members of civic organizations, and coastal resource managers. The cost is minimal for participants and host organizations. Review the on-site host responsibilities, costs, and site requirements for more information. To apply to host a course at your location, fill out the host form, and a trainer will contact you. Learn more at: http://www.csc.noaa.gov/training/climate-adaptation.html.
Ahead of the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development now getting underway in Brazil, we shared your questions about the Future We Want with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and we sat down with him in his office so he could respond to your questions on video.
David from Mexico wants to know:
“How can we convince everyone to use energy more efficiently when in many countries people don’t face energy shortages and are wasteful?”
Kim from Liberia asks,
“I’ve just graduated and I’m worried about looking for a job in the midst of the economic recession. What would you say to young people like me just entering the job market?”
“Do you believe that there will be a time in the near future where we will have an adequate and available water supply for the entire global community?”
The United Nations has a straight talk tumblr. Really appreciate their posts.
The numbers tell the story. Over the last twenty years, it is conservatively estimated that disasters have killed 1.3 million people, affected 4.4 billion and resulted in economic losses of $2 trillion.
These are staggering numbers when you consider what it means in terms of missed opportunities, shattered lives, lost housing, schools and health facilities destroyed, cultural losses and roads washed away.
A blog about the interactions between the built environment, people, and nature.
I'm a climate change consultant specializing in climate adaptation, environmental law, and urban planning based in the U.S. In addition to traveling and hiking, I research, publish, and lecture on how cities can adapt to climate change.
Professional and sponsorship inquiries, please
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