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IRRIGATED FARMS MAY COUNTER GENERAL CLIMATE CHANGE
NEW SCIENTIST - Whereas urban development generates pockets of hot air,
irrigated fields tend to cool things down, they say - and there is
evidence that the effects have been felt in California for over a
century. In areas of intensive irrigation, such as the Central Valley in
California, US, these "cool farms" have counteracted global warming, say
Celine Bonfils and David Lobell of the Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory in California. But they warn that a reduction in irrigation
could spell the end of the relief that these regions have enjoyed.
Bonfils and Lobell compared irrigation and temperature data for
California between 1915 and 2000, during which time the area of
irrigated land in the Central Valley doubled. They found that maximum
daytime temperatures in the area were between 0.9C and 1.6C cooler
during this period than areas that were only modestly irrigated. . .
The cool times may not last, however. The amount of irrigation in
California has stabilized since 1980, Bonfils and Lobell point out,
because expanding urban areas have laid increasing claims on dwindling
water supplies. In the US overall, irrigation decreased for the first
time - by 2% - between 1998 and 2003.
A rollback of the cooling effect of irrigation in the face of continued
global warming could mean that California will be hit by substantial
warming, say the researchers. The same is likely to be true of other
regions of the world. India, Pakistan and China have become huge
irrigators over the past 50 years, but the growth of irrigated areas is
slowing down.
http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn12482-cool-farms-
mask-the-extent-of-global-warming.html
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HEALTH & SCIENCE
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PAPER BATTERY INVENTED
BBC - Flexible paper batteries could meet the energy demands of the next
generation of gadgets, says a team of researchers. They have produced a
sample slightly larger than a postage stamp that can release about 2.3
volts, enough to illuminate a small light. But the ambition is to
produce reams of paper that could one day power a car. . . The team
behind the versatile paper, which stores energy like a conventional
battery, says it can also double as a capacitor capable of releasing
sudden energy bursts for high-power applications.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6945732.stm
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
IRRIGATED FARMS MAY COUNTER GENERAL CLIMATE CHANGE
NEW SCIENTIST - Whereas urban development generates pockets of hot air,
irrigated fields tend to cool things down, they say - and there is
evidence that the effects have been felt in California for over a
century. In areas of intensive irrigation, such as the Central Valley in
California, US, these "cool farms" have counteracted global warming, say
Celine Bonfils and David Lobell of the Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory in California. But they warn that a reduction in irrigation
could spell the end of the relief that these regions have enjoyed.
Bonfils and Lobell compared irrigation and temperature data for
California between 1915 and 2000, during which time the area of
irrigated land in the Central Valley doubled. They found that maximum
daytime temperatures in the area were between 0.9C and 1.6C cooler
during this period than areas that were only modestly irrigated. . .
The cool times may not last, however. The amount of irrigation in
California has stabilized since 1980, Bonfils and Lobell point out,
because expanding urban areas have laid increasing claims on dwindling
water supplies. In the US overall, irrigation decreased for the first
time - by 2% - between 1998 and 2003.
A rollback of the cooling effect of irrigation in the face of continued
global warming could mean that California will be hit by substantial
warming, say the researchers. The same is likely to be true of other
regions of the world. India, Pakistan and China have become huge
irrigators over the past 50 years, but the growth of irrigated areas is
slowing down.
http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn12482-cool-farms-
mask-the-extent-of-global-warming.html
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
HEALTH & SCIENCE
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PAPER BATTERY INVENTED
BBC - Flexible paper batteries could meet the energy demands of the next
generation of gadgets, says a team of researchers. They have produced a
sample slightly larger than a postage stamp that can release about 2.3
volts, enough to illuminate a small light. But the ambition is to
produce reams of paper that could one day power a car. . . The team
behind the versatile paper, which stores energy like a conventional
battery, says it can also double as a capacitor capable of releasing
sudden energy bursts for high-power applications.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6945732.stm
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