Top news and views about Environment and Cleantech for 7 Apr 2017
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Angkor Wat’s Collapse From Climate Change Has Lessons for Today
ANGKOR, CAMBODIANext to the road leading into Angkor Thom—one of the walled cities that make up Angkor, the ancient Khmer empire in Cambodia—stands a solitary but crumbling bridge with corbeled arches made out of recycled sandstone blocks. The bridge seems to be of little significance; no water runs beneath it. Few, if any, of the tour buses shuttling visitors to the temple grounds every day stop for tourists to have a look.
But to Dan Penny, an expert in environmental history who has studied the Angkor civilization for many years, the bridge tells an intriguing story. Its damage in the recent past, he says, is a reminder that while it was water—or the control of it—that built the city of Angkor, it was also water that helped destroy it.
The cause of the Angkor empire’s demise in the early 15th century long remained a mystery. But researchers have now shown that intense monsoon rains that followed a prolonged drought in the region caused widespread damage to the city’s infrastructure, leading to its collapse.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2oO98JU
Climate change impacting ’most’ species on Earth, even down to their genomes
Climate change is rapidly becoming a crisis that defies hyperbole.
For all the sound and fury of climate change denialists, self-deluding politicians and a very bewildered global public, the science behind climate change is rock solid while the impacts – observed on every ecosystem on the planet – are occurring faster in many parts of the world than even the most gloomy scientists predicted.
Given all this, it’s logical to assume life on Earth – the millions of species that cohabitate our little ball of rock in space – would be impacted. But it still feels unnerving to discover that this is no longer about just polar bears; it’s not only coral reefs and sea turtles or pikas and penguins; it about practically everything – including us.
Three recent studies have illustrated just how widespread climate change’s effect on life on our planet has already become.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2oNYFOg
Coalition of 17 states challenges Trump over climate change policy
A coalition of 17 US states filed a legal challenge on Wednesday against efforts by Donald Trump’s administration to roll back climate change regulations, deepening a political rift over his emerging energy policies.
Led by New York state, the coalition said the administration has a legal duty to regulate emissions of the gases scientists believe cause global climate change.
“The law is clear: the EPA must limit carbon pollution from power plants,” the New York attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, said in a statement announcing the challenge.
Trump signed an executive order last week targeting climate change regulations ushered in by President Obama, saying they hinder US energy production and jobs without providing meaningful environmental benefits.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2oOiCVd
Donald Trump 'won't discuss climate change' at meeting with Xi Jinping despite US and China being worst polluters
The US and China between them produce 44 per cent of the world’s carbon dioxide, but environmental campaigners fear the issue of climate change – one of the world’s existential threats – will not be on the agenda when the leaders of the two countries meet.
Donald Trump is set to host Chinese President Xi Jinping for two days at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. They are likely to discuss trade, North Korea and the geopolitics of the South China Sea.
Yet global warming, something Mr Trump once claimed was a hoax “created by the Chinese”, is unlikely to be addressed, something that has dismayed environmentalists who say there is no more pressing issue confronting the planet.
Full story at http://ind.pn/2oO4AD9
Finnish plastic replacement raises EUR 1 million
A Finnish innovation named Sulapac intends to challenge the dominance of plastic in the world of packaging.
The Sulapac innovation is based on woodchip and natural adhesive. The company’s founders Suvi Haimi and Laura Kyllönen, both of whom have a background in medicine and biomaterials, developed the material.
Sulapac competes in the exact same market as plastic, but as its main ingredient is wood, it’s completely biodegradable. According to the company, this makes Sulapac one of the world’s most ecological options for packaging material.
Sulapac can be processed and mass-produced using methods similar to producing plastic. This enables quick scaling, as already existing facilities can be used.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2oO6y6E
Renewables roadshow - Cowra: 'It goes from being waste to a resource'
Ed Fagan’s family has been farming the same 1,600-hectare block of land in Cowra, about 240km west of Sydney, since 1886.
These days Cowra is a shire of nearly 13,000 people and straddles the Lachlan river. It’s a diverse agricultural town with a strong industrial sector. And if a keen group of locals get their way, it could soon be home to an innovative bioenergy project that cleans up waste, produces renewable energy and creates valuable fertiliser as a byproduct.
Fagan’s Mulyan farm produces everything from lamb to popcorn, including wheat, canola, beetroot and asparagus. You may well have bought his produce in your local supermarket.
But standing among a field of popcorn, Fagan explains it’s is what doesn’t make it to the supermarket shelves that’s driving his interest in a new energy projectcalled Clean Cowra. “Farming, not only here in Australia but globally, is a marginal occupation,” Fagan says. “We can no longer afford to have waste. We need to be able to utilise everything.”
Full story at http://bit.ly/2oO1SNV
Prepared by @SydesJokes
Original post from: http://CrowdifyClub.com/SydesJokes