The Colorado River system supplies water to tens of millions of people and millions of acres of farmland, and has never experienced a delivery shortage. But if human-caused climate change continues to make the region drier, scheduled deliveries will be missed 60-90 percent of the time by the middle of this century, according to a pair of climate researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego. ‘All water-use planning is based on the idea that the next 100 years will be like the last 100,’ said Scripps research marine physicist Tim Barnett, a co-author of the report. ‘We considered the question: Can the river deliver water at the levels currently scheduled if the climate changes as we expect it to. The answer is no.’ Even under conservative climate change scenarios, Barnett and Scripps climate researcher David Pierce found that reductions in the runoff that feeds the Colorado River mean that it could short the Southwest of a half-billion cubic meters (400,000 acre feet) of water per year 40 percent of the time by 2025. (An acre foot of water is typically considered adequate to meet the annual water needs of two households.) By the later part of […]
The Obama administration issued guidelines yesterday limiting government-sponsored embryonic stem cell research to cells taken from excess fertility clinic embryos, a compromise based on its reading of public opinion about the cutting-edge science. The decision fell short of the open-ended policy some scientists and patient advocates had hoped for, but is far less likely to spark controversy. It also will mean that tax dollars could begin flowing as early as fall to projects involving hundreds of new stem cell clusters. Raynard S. Kington, acting director of the National Institutes of Health, said yesterday that the administration was guided by ‘broad public support’ in establishing a policy that prohibits creation of embryos for research purposes as well as any type of therapeutic cloning. Specifically, NIH modeled its approach after legislation that twice passed Congress, he explained. Those votes are ‘the strongest indication of public support,’ he told reporters yesterday morning. ‘There is not similar broad support for using stem cells from other sources.’ Ironically, one of the chief architects of that legislation, Rep. Michael N. Castle (R-Del.), said yesterday that although he was pleased by the NIH action, ‘there is opportunity for more expansive guidelines.’ Some […]
LOS ANGELES and WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday declared that industrial greenhouse gases are a danger to human health and well-being, opening the way to broad new regulations to reduce carbon dioxide and other planet-heating gases. The finding could lead to far-reaching rules that are likely to heavily affect cars and trucks, which account for nearly a quarter of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, and utilities, which are responsible for more than a third. Virtually all major areas of the economy could be affected, including oil, chemicals, cement, steel, forestry and large-scale farming. The EPA finding marks a sharp change in direction from the Bush administration, which cast doubt on the science behind climate change and sought to delay government intervention. It also sends a strong signal to other nations that the U.S. is prepared to slash its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions as diplomats prepare for a December gathering in Copenhagen to negotiate a new treaty on climate change. It also exerts pressure on Congress to move forward on comprehensive climate change legislation. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills), co-author of a bill to create a national market to cap emissions and […]
A nearly ice-free Arctic Ocean in the summer may happen three times sooner than scientists have estimated. New research says the Arctic might lose most of its ice cover in summer in as few as 30 years instead of the end of the century. The amount of the Arctic Ocean covered by ice at the end of summer by then could be only about 1 million square kilometers, or about 390,000 square miles. That’s compared to today’s ice extent of 4.6 million square kilometers, or 1.8 million square miles. So much more open water could be a boon for shipping and for extracting minerals and oil from the seabed, but it raises the question of ecosystem upheaval. While the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007 assessed what might happen in the Arctic in the future based on results from more than a dozen global climate models, two researchers reasoned that dramatic declines in the extent of ice at the end of summer in 2007 and 2008 called for a different approach. Out of the 23 models now available, the new projections are based on the six most suited for assessing sea ice, according to Muyin […]
Speaking publicly for one of the first times since the end of the presidential campaign, John McCain’s campaign manager Steve Schmidt painted a dire portrait of the state of the Republican Party, arguing that the GOP has largely been co-opted by its religious elements. ‘If you put public policy issues to a religious test, you risk becoming a religious party,’ Schmidt declared. ‘And in a free country, a political party cannot be viable in the long term if it is seen as a sectarian party.’ The remarks came in a passionate, roughly 20-minute speech before the Log Cabin Republican’s national convention, in which Schmidt laid out the case for a far more open party — one which did not consider gay marriage to be a ‘litmus test’ issue. And while he made it a purpose not to offend social conservatives — they ‘remain an indispensable part of the Republican coalition,’ he said — Schmidt did not hide his concerns that religion had become the predominant thread of the GOP. ‘If you reject [gay marriage] on religious grounds, I respect that,’ he said. ‘I respect anyone’s religious views. However, religious views should not inform the public policy positions […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
