Miscellany

• "An Australian researcher has linked the sun's magnetic activity to rainfall patterns in his country over the past century. The connection is solid enough that meteorologists might be able to use it to make better long-term weather predictions."
  
  
• Read the new issue of the Electronic Green Journal, a peer-reviewed digital journal providing open access to scholarly, international environmental information.
  
  
• "The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, along with a coalition of partners has filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia which seeks to force the EPA to enforce laws requiring the reduction of pollution in the Chesapeake Bay to levels that the bay can be removed from the federal ‘impaired waters’ list." Why? Because the EPA has "abdicated leadership."
  
  
• Following a two-year process, the Delta Vision Committee Implementation Report [PDF] was sent to the Governor and Legislature on Friday, Jan. 2, 2009. With the document's transmittal, we wanted to offer a tele-conference briefing specific to the Committee's final work product. Secretary Chrisman, Joe Grindstaff and others agency officials will lead the call and are happy to take your questions.
  
  Date and Time: Thursday, January 8, 2009 at 1:00 pm
  Call in Number: 1-877-536-5793 (Participant Code: 344390)
  Agenda:
  1) Overview of Delta Vision Process and Delta Vision Committee -- Sec. Chrisman
  2) Details of Delta Vision Committee Implementation Report -- Joe Grindstaff
  3) Q and A -- All
  
  
• "Freshwater shortages are reaching the critical stage. But most water problems are due to waste, pollution, poor governance and sometimes a lack of capital—not to an absolute shortage of water supply." Read this article -- and many more on water -- from a special issue on water published by the School of International Advanced Studies @ Johns Hopkins.

hattips to RR and DW