http://www.enn.com/ ENN RSS News http://www.enn.com/agriculture/article/40737 Innovative agricultural technologies can produce crops that meet climate change challenges, says ICRISAT head William Dar. New strategies must be built around 'green' agricultural technologies, such as adaptive plant breeding, pest forecasting, rainwater harvesting and fertiliser microdosing. http://www.enn.com/lifestyle/article/40736 A US judge has ruled that negligence by the US Army Corps of Engineers led to massive floods in parts of New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005. It was the first time a US court has found the federal government directly responsible for some of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40734 Melting of the Arctic sea ice due to global warming is diluting surface waters and this is endangering some species of shellfish which need minerals in the water to form their shells and skeletons, scientists have found. In a paper published in Science, they warned that this has serious implications for ecosystems in the Arctic. http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40730 The UK-based the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC), in working with the U.N., recently hosted 200 representatives from nine major world religions spanning over 60 different religious organizations. Baha’i, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Shintoists, Taoists and Sikhs all gathered at London’s Windsor Castle with a united environmental agenda. In an era of increasing religious divide, a once little thought of topic known as “the environment”� was able to bring together ancient faith groups to discuss a modern solution. And with Islam at the forefront of today’s news, Muslim leaders proved Islam’s ability to adapt and meet new needs. http://www.enn.com/lifestyle/article/40726 Women bear the brunt of drought, rising seas, melting glaciers and other effects of climate change but are mostly ignored in the debate over how to halt it, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said today. Because women are often the poorest in society and have less power over their lives, less recognition of economic worth, and bear the brunt of raising children, they suffer more. http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40722 For the past year, President Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana has traveled the world offering to place his nation's forests under international supervision if other countries paid his citizens not to deforest the tropical landscapes. The campaign received major support last week when Norway announced a $30 million commitment for the small South American nation to implement an "avoided deforestation" plan. http://www.enn.com/climate/article/40721 African leaders agreed on Tuesday on how much cash to demand from the rich world to compensate for the impact of climate change on the continent but kept the figure secret ahead of next month's Copenhagen talks. The United Nations summit in Denmark will try to agree on how to counter climate change and come up with a post-Kyoto treaty protocol to curb emissions. http://www.enn.com/business/article/40712 Al Gore delivered the keynote address to green building professionals at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Phoenix. He praised the leadership of the USGBC for bringing real change to the marketplace, and also urged the crowd to take responsibility for expanding green building globally and to call out greenwashing. http://www.enn.com/business/article/40710 One key aspect of the discussion this week at the Transatlantic Media Dialog — part of the ongoing effort of climate and energy cooperation began earlier this years as the "Transatlantic Climate Bridge" was the issue of perception. Specifically how climate change and climate policy is perceived in the US and EU, as well as across the globe. A key conclusion was that climate change is indeed a threat to America's national security, and key to that finding is the conclusion that global warming is a "threat multiplier" for instability in some of the most volatile regions of the world, and that such volatility will reach even the most stable regions due to the tensions caused by climate change. http://www.enn.com/business/article/40709 Once home to the highest ski resort in the world and now reduced to a rocky mountainside, Bolivia's Chacaltaya range bears powerful witness to the precipitous melting of glaciers. The rusting remains of a ski lift now dominate what was once the highest ski-run in the world perched on the Chacaltaya glacier at some 5,300 meters high. http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/40703 In the latest obstacle to proposed U.S. climate legislation, key lawmakers on Thursday urged Senate Democrats to change distribution plans for carbon permits to offer more protection for coal-dependent utilities. http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40702 A new paper, by scientists of Utrecht University, Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, in collaboration with colleagues from the Netherlands Royal Meteorological Institute, Delft University of Technology, Bristol University (UK) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (USA) was published in Science recently. The work used the Regional Atmospheric Climate Model to calculate surface processes over Greenland, satellite radar measurements to determine iceberg production and ice sheet mass loss from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Mission (GRACE) satellites. http://www.enn.com/climate/article/40699 Denmark has formally invited the leaders of United Nations member countries to the U.N. conference in Copenhagen in December that will try to clinch a new global climate deal, the government said on Thursday. http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40696 The University of Bristol in the UK has published a study based not on climate modeling, but on statistical analysis of data including historical data from Antarctic ice cores. The study shows that the balance between the airborne and the absorbed fraction of carbon dioxide has stayed approximately constant since 1850, despite emissions of carbon dioxide having risen from about 2 billion tons a year in 1850 to 35 billion tons a year now. This suggests that terrestrial ecosystems and the oceans have a much greater capacity to absorb CO2 than had been previously expected. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40695 Australia's koalas could be wiped out within 30 years unless urgent action is taken to halt a decline in population, according to researchers. Development, climate change and bushfires have all combined to send the numbers of wild koalas plummeting. http://www.enn.com/climate/article/40693 Georgia Tech City and Regional Planning Professor Brian Stone is publishing a paper in the December edition of Environmental Science and Technology that suggests policymakers need to address the influence of global deforestation and urbanization on climate change, in addition to greenhouse gas emissions. http://www.enn.com/agriculture/article/40690 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that, on average, the mainland US (excluding Alaska) was the third coolest on record, and the records go back to 1895 at some stations. Average temperatures were 4.0 degrees F below the long term average. Rainfall average was 4.15, twice the long term average of 2.04 inches. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40688 As the Olympic torch continues its journey through Canada's north, some scientists are hoping it will shine an international light on the plight of the country's iconic mammal - the polar bear. Environmentalists warn the symbol of the North is in grave danger because of climate change, yet neither Canadians, nor anyone from the international community has proposed anything concrete to save them. http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40686 The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has been studying glaciers in Antarctica, looking at their reducing surface area. As the glaciers retreat, more open water is exposed, and lead author of a new study, Professor Lloyd Peck of the BAS found that large blooms of tiny marine plants called phytoplankton are flourishing in areas of open water left exposed by the recent and rapid melting of ice shelves and glaciers around the Antarctic Peninsula. This remarkable colonization is having a beneficial impact on climate change. The phytoplankton blooms are relatively short lived, and as they die back, phytoplankton sinks to the sea-bed where it can store carbon for thousands or millions of years. http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40685 As the climate gets warmer, arid soils lose nitrogen as gas, reports a new Cornell study. This could lead to deserts with even less plant life than they sustain today, say the researchers. Available nitrogen is second only to water as the biggest constraint to biological activity in arid ecosystems, but before now, ecologists struggled to understand how the inputs and outputs of nitrogen in deserts balance. http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40678 Hurricane Ida continues to move north towards the US Gulf Coast this morning. At 3am it was in the central part of the Gulf of Mexico, moving north-northeastward at 16 mph. http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/40677 The U.S. Chamber of Commerce may actually have a better idea than a cap-and-trade bill for cutting emissions. And, contrary to popular opinion, they do recognize climate change and the need for clean tech development. http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40676 Hurricane Ida strengthened off the Mexican resort city of Cancun on the Yucatan Peninsula on Sunday as the storm's heavy rains killed at least 42 people in El Salvador. El Salvador's interior minister said more victims were expected to be found as rescue workers moved into areas cut off by mudslides in the Central American nation. http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40675 U.S. Midwest weather is seen mostly dry through the next week, ideal for the corn and soybean harvest, a forecaster said on Friday. "This is outstanding weather. Considering the time of the year, this is about as good as you're going to get," said Mike Palmerino with DTN Meteorlogix. http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/40674 Some 40 heads of state plan to attend a U.N. meeting in December in Copenhagen meant to agree a global warming deal, the U.N. climate chief said on Friday.