Green-News: Wednesday 12.24.08
- White Christmas’s are getting harder and harder to come by. Experts claim the likelihood of snow on Christmas Day is already lower than it was 50 years ago and the trend will continue as climate change warms temperate parts of the northern hemisphere, like London and Paris; via Reuters.
- And higher temperatures could mean more males. Warmer incubations are pivotal to the hatching of male crocodiles and fish. Scientists believe a change of just 7 degrees will yield 3 males for every 1 female, this ratio is unfavorable for maintaining populations; LiveScience explains.
- Methane gas is coming at us from all angles. Power plants and livestock spew greenhouse gases into the sky, but hotter temperatures are bringing it up from the ocean too. Methane from melting underwater permafrost is bubbling out of the East Siberian Sea; via National Geographic News.
- Estimates reveal 100 million Americans breathe sooty air in 46 metro areas of the United States. And recently, the EPA added 15 more cities to list, in surprising locations, like Alaska. Diesel-burning trucks, power plants and wood-burning stoves are to blame; from the Associated Press.
- Rather than dump 18,000 pounds of garlic salt into a landfill. Tone Brothers Inc., a major spice producer, is donating it. That means suburbs of Des Moines, Iowa will be melting their snow with garlicky goodness. The salt will help melt 400 miles of icy roads; the Associated Press reports.
- Speaking of spices, vanilla is in trouble. An unknown fungus is destroying vanilla plantations in Madagascar. Estimates have the number of effected crops at 80%. Farmers blame lack of funding to combat the disease and improper planting methods for the blight; NewScientist reports.
