Energy Resources & Access

For the tourist city of Acapulco, the statistics about Tropical Storm Manuel are staggering, especially given its seemingly unassuming status as a storm and not a cyclone. 60,000 stranded tourists. 23,000 homes without electricity and water. At least 11 deaths. 15 to 25 inches of rain. The only two roads connecting Acapulco to México City ruined by landslides. The international airport flooded. The rains began on Saturday, 14 September 2013, and continued nonstop through Monday, México’s Independence Day.

California farmers feel more threatened by climate policy than they do by climate change, according to a new study from the University of California, Davis. The study, published in the journal Global Environmental Change, found that the greatest climate risk Yolo County farmers believe they face in the future is not drought, water shortages, or temperature changes, but government regulations. However, this view did not make them less likely to participate in government incentive programs that would help their climate adaptation and mitigation efforts.

Hello all: I just received an important notice from the Global Footprint Network (based in Geneva). Today, 20 August 2013, is “Earth Overshoot Day.” It’s the approximate date that humanity’s annual demand on nature exceeds what Earth can renew in a year.

Amber Pairis, 38, of La Jolla, has been appointed assistant secretary for climate change at the California Natural Resources Agency. Pairis has been climate change advisor at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife since 2008. She was a science and research liaison at the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies from 2006 to 2008 and a conservation biology curriculum developer at the Antioch New England Institute from 2002 to 2004.

Are you a conservation practitioner or resource manager worried about climate change but not sure what to do about it? Watch our webinar recording with a panel of adaptation practitioners and get the help you need.

From denial of service attacks to server crashes to day-long disruptions of Google Drive, almost all organizations are familiar with threats to their information security. Given that digital information is more central than ever, it's worrisome that the history of data security is littered with failure. Organizations seeking to be better prepared for and more resilient in response to information threats may want to draw on a far larger and older source of lessons on information security — the 3.5 billion year history of life.