UPDATE: Arctic Ice Melt Tied To Heat Waves And Downpours In U.S., Europe And Elsewhere, Study Suggests. (Reuters) - A thaw of Arctic ice and snow is linked to worsening summer heatwaves and downpours thousands of miles south in Europe, the United States and other areas, underlying the scale of the threat posed by global warming, scientists said on Sunday. Their report, which was dismissed as inconclusive by some other experts, warned of increasingly extreme weather across "much of North America and Eurasia where billions of people will be affected". The study is part of a drive to work out how climate change affects the frequency of extreme weather, from droughts to floods. Governments want to know the trends to plan everything from water supplies to what crops to plant. But the science of a warming Arctic is far from settled. Writing in the journal Nature Climate Change, experts in China and the United States said they could not conclusively say the Arctic thaw caused more extreme weather, or vice versa. But they said they had found evidence of a relationship between the two. Rising temperatures over thawing snow on land and sea ice in the Arctic were changing atmospheric pressure and winds, the report said. The changes slowed the eastward movement of vast meandering weather systems and meant more time for extreme weather to develop - such as a heatwave in Russia in 2010, droughts in the United States and China in 2011 and 2012, or heavy summer rains that caused floods in Britain in 2012, the paper added. "The study contributes to a growing body of evidence that ... the melting Arctic has wide-ranging implications for people living in the middle latitudes," lead author Qiuhong Tang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences told Reuters.

Arctic Ice Melt Tied To Heat Waves And Downpours In U.S., Europe And Elsewhere, Study Suggests: "VANISHING ICE

Sea ice in the Arctic shrank to a record low in 2012 and the U.N.'s panel of climate scientists says it could almost vanish in summers by 2050 with rising greenhouse gas emissions. But some scientists said other factors, including the usual vagaries of weather or changing sea temperatures, may explain some recent extremes rather than changes in the Arctic."

'via Blog this' CLICK LINK TO READ MORE

UPDATE: Ancient farming seen curbing extinctions of animals, plants | (Reuters) - Ancient farming practices, such as raising fish in rice paddies in China or Aboriginal Australian fire controls, will get a new lease of life under plans to slow extinctions of animals and plants, experts said on Monday. Turning to traditional farming is seen as a way of limiting what U.N. studies say is the worst spate of extinctions since the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago, driven by a rising human population that is wrecking natural habitats. A 115-nation group seeking to protect the diversity of wildlife, which underpins everything from food supplies to medicines, will look at ways to revive and promote indigenous peoples' practices at talks in Turkey from December 9-14. "Indigenous and local knowledge ... has played a key role in arresting biodiversity loss and conserving biodiversity," Zakri Abdul Hamid, founding chair of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), told Reuters.

Ancient farming seen curbing extinctions of animals, plants | Reuters: "The idea is partly to compare traditional farming around the world and see if the practices can be used in other nations. Among ideas, raising fish in the waters of rice paddies, a practice used in south China for 1,200 years and in some other Asian nations, can reduce pests. Most modern rice paddies are not used to raise fish. Farming the two together "reduces by 68 percent the need for pesticides and by 24 percent the need for chemical fertilizer compared with monocultures", an IPBES report said. Pesticides often kill many more species than those targeted."

click link above to read more

'via Blog this'

RENEWABLE ENERGY UPDATE: Greenbriar Capital begins formal construction at 80 MW Blue Mountain Utah. A fully contracted 80 MW wind energy project holding a 20-year energy sales agreement with PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of Mid-American Energy Holdings Company, itself 89% owned by Berkshire Hathaway. Construction has been awarded to RMT, Inc. of Madison, Wisconsin, a subsidiary of IEA Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives, LLC of Chicago. RMT is a world leader in renewable power engineering, procurement and construction services having built over 5,000 MW of renewable energy facilities including 2 world-class projects owned by Greenbriar Capital management's previous company, Western Wind Energy Corp. This included the industry leading 120-MW Windstar Wind Project in Tehachapi, CA and the 10.5-MW Kingman combined wind-solar project, the first purpose built fully integrated wind-solar generating facility in the World. Construction at Blue Mountain began December 9th and will qualify the 80-MW Blue Mountain Wind P

Greenbriar Capital b"Greenbriar Capital Corp. is a leading developer of renewable energy and sustainable real estate projects. With long-term, high impact, contracted sales agreements in key project locations and led by a successful industry recognized operating and development team, Greenbriar targets deep value assets directed at adding significant accretive shareholder value.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
"SIGNED"
Jeffrey J. Ciachurski
President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release."

'via Blog this'