CRS – Bee Health: Background and Issues for Congress. Renée Johnson, Specialist in Agricultural Policy; M. Lynne Corn, Specialist in Natural Resources Policy. August 27, 2013 “Bees, both commercially managed honey bees and wild bees, play an important role in global food production. In the United States alone, the value of insect pollination to U.S.… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Climate Change
NOAA report highlights climate change threats to nation’s estuaries
“The nation’s 28 National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERR) are experiencing the negative effects of human and climate-related stressors according to a new NOAA research report from the National Ocean Service. The national study, Climate Sensitivity of the National Estuarine Research Reserve System, points to three East Coast reserves, Sapelo Island NERR in Georgia, ACE Basin… Continue Reading
Indicators of Climate Change in California
Indicators of Climate Change in California – California Environmental Protection Agency, August 2013 – characterizes the multiple facets of climate change in California. “The report tracks trends in greenhouse gas levels that influence climate, changes in the state’s climate, and the impacts of climate change on California’s environment and people. The report does this by… Continue Reading
NOAA – State of the Climate in 2012
The State of the Climate in 2012 is a supplement to the August 2013 issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS Vol. 94, No. 8). “Worldwide, 2012 was among the 10 warmest years on record according to the 2012 State of the Climate report released online today by the American Meteorological Society… Continue Reading
CRS – Ocean Acidification
Ocean Acidification. Harold F. Upton, Analyst in Natural Resources Policy; Peter Folger, Specialist in Energy and Natural Resources Policy. July 30, 2013 “With increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, the extent of effectson the ocean and marine resources is an increasing concern. One aspect of this issue is the ongoing process (known… Continue Reading
Scientists report alarming declines seen in frogs, salamanders
By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun: “Some of springtime’s more notable heralds appear to be fading away, as a new study finds frogs, toads and salamanders disappearing at an alarming rate across the United States. In what they say is the first analysis of its kind, scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey and a… Continue Reading
Study – Warmer climate strongly affects human conflict and violence worldwide
News release: “The study, which includes more data than prior research in this field and covers all major regions of the globe, shows the Earth’s climate plays a more influential role in human affairs than previously thought. The results were published (Thursday, Aug. 1) in the journal Science. The authors found similar patterns of conflict around the… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – Critical Infrastructure Protection, VA, Overstay Enforcement, TSA
Critical Infrastructure Protection – DHS Could Strengthen the Management of the Regional Resiliency Assessment Program, GAO-13-616, Jul 30, 2013 Department of Veterans Affairs – Available Data Not Sufficiently Reliable to Describe Use of Consulting Services, GAO-13-714R, Jul 30, 2013 Overstay Enforcement – Additional Actions Needed to Assess DHS’s Data and Improve Planning for a Biometric… Continue Reading
NOAA – Fisheries in the Dead Zone
“This summer, as they have every summer since 1985, NOAA scientists headed out to the Gulf of Mexico to monitor fish populations and to find and measure the Dead Zone. Summer can be a tough time for many species in the Gulf of Mexico, when the combination of nutrient-rich river runoff and warm temperatures can… Continue Reading
Within-country archetypes: best chance for climate change mitigation
Within-country archetypes: best chance for climate change mitigation – Brian I. Baker For at least two decades now, the world’s nations have collectively labored to deal with the predicament of climate change. Though not entirely fruitless, their joint efforts have culminated largely in treaties that failed to produce many tangible results and that lack the… Continue Reading
Climate science: Vast costs of Arctic change
Climate science: Vast costs of Arctic change. Gail Whiteman, Chris Hop & Peter Wadhams. Nature 499, 401–403 (25 July 2013) doi:10.1038/499401a “Unlike the loss of sea ice, the vulnerability of polar bears and the rising human population, the economic impacts of a warming Arctic are being ignored. Most economic discussion so far assumes that opening… Continue Reading
New Energy Technologies and Avoiding an Electric Service Gap
“The electricity industry is now entering a similar period of rapid change as that faced by the telecom industry a decade ago. New technologies from smart grids and solar panels to superefficient homes and electricity storage are all coming on-line rapidly at the same time that our legacy infrastructure faces the unanswered challenges of an… Continue Reading
