VIDEO: Five weird and wonderful ways your dinner is adapting to climate change

Big plans for the barbecue this July 4th weekend? Scientists are hard at work on your dinner, too. 

by Lorena Galliot, The Daily Climate 

Editor's Note: "Climate at Your Doorstep" is an effort by The Daily Climate to highlight stories about climate change impacts happening now. Find more stories like this at www.dailyclimate.org/doorstep.

"What's for dinner?" is becoming a complicated question.

The world's population is projected to top nine billion by 2050, a 28 percent leap that will greatly increase the demand for food just as climate change is altering rainfall patterns and causing more frequent and widespread droughts. 

The colliding trends have serious implications for agriculture and food security. 

Food producers are finding surprising ways to adapt – and while some sound cool, others err on the creepy side. These are a few of the things that could end up on our dinner plates, courtesy of climate change. 

1. Infrared-peeled tomatoes (and apples and pears)

Peeling fruit destined for canning – like tomatoes, apples and pears – takes a surprising amount of water: A 28-ounce can of tomatoes, for instance, needs 27 ounces of water to remove the peels.

Warning from CPD about rip currents

Hurricane Arthur's effects on currents, plus heavy rain, thunderstorms
By Will Collette

It looks like Charlestown and the southern coastline will get side effects from Hurricane Arthur which is now, as of 11 AM, a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 90 mph. The track of the storm takes it off the coast. 

The National Weather Service is forecasting heavy rain, thunderstorms but not a whole lot of wind, except for gusts that might accompany strong storm cells. This will start tonight and continue through Friday, clearing on Saturday for a Sunday day with a high of near 80 degrees. Comparatively little pollen through Monday.

Charlestown Police warns of rip currents at the beach. Please read on.

Tackling the problems of working families

Tanzi attends White House Summit on Working Families

STATE HOUSE – Rep. Teresa Tanzi flew to Washington last week at the request of the White House as a delegate to the first White House Summit on Working Families.

The daylong summit on June 23, attended by President Obama, brought together political, social and business activists to discuss policies that can help families and businesses succeed together.

Why the Supreme Court decided to grant corporations religious rights

North Kingstown Violated Law – More Unfair Labor Practices

State Labor Relations Board – Town Denied Rights of Employees as Guaranteed by Law

Text and photos by Tracey C. O’Neill

North Kingstown - On Monday, the North Kingstown Firefighters Association, International Association of Firefighters, Local 1651 (NKFFA, IAFF) announced the filing of an unfair labor practices (ULP) complaint against the Town of North Kingstown by the Rhode Island State Labor Relations Board.

Resultant of litigation between the Union and Town, due to the Town’s implementation of unilateral shift, wage and platoon structure changes in its fire department in March 2012, the continued legal accord has thus far rendered favorable opinions on behalf of the firefighters at both the court and administrative levels.

The 2-page ULP is a product of the Town of North Kingstown sending a letter directly to the Union membership, along with a settlement agreement, thereby circumventing union leadership, the chain of command and union legal counsel. (see related article)

The press release refers to the Town’s attempt to induce settlement via a one-time cash payment to each member in amount of $14,000 and it’s commentary regarding the now years long battle at both administrative and court levels. It reads in part:

Realtors' lobbying kills effort to end cesspools

General Assembly Allows Cesspools to Stay Put

By TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI News staff

PROVIDENCE — A last-minute push led by Realtors derailed legislation to ban cesspools in Rhode Island.

Amendments to the Cesspool Act of 2007 appeared headed for passage after the Senate Committee on the Environment and Agriculture cleared the bill June 12. The full Senate, however, tabled the bill twice before letting it die altogether. Supporters of the legislation said a late push by the real-estate and banking sectors convinced House and Senate leadership to halt the bill during the final days of the General Assembly’s 2014 session.

“Now we're faced with more closures of swimming beaches and shellfish beds, which are core to Rhode Island's quality of life and economy,” Topher Hamblett, director of advocacy and policy for Save The Bay, said after the Senate failed to vote on the bill.

Some 25,000 cesspool are still in use in the state. As covered pits lined with metal or masonry, they do little to prevent raw sewage from leaching underground and polluting drinking water, swimming areas and natural habitats.   

Weekend weather prospects

Here comes Arthur
By Will Collette

As the projected storm track for Tropical Storm/Hurricane Arthur shifts slightly to the east, Rhode Island is now outside the National Weather Service's "cone" for any chance of hurricane force winds.

While most of Rhode Island looks safe, South County is still going to get some effects from this storm as it cruises up the coast.

What we do end up getting from the storm could have an effect on Fourth of July travel and may disrupt the timing for some local fire works. It looks like bad beach weather until Saturday.

However, it looks fine for the Charlestown Democrats' big tag sale, scheduled for Saturday the Fifth, starting early morning, near the corner of Genwood and Old Post Road. The current forecast for Saturday is mostly sunny with a high at a delightful 76 degrees. And, almost no pollen!

Kittens!!!

Who needs one pet of the week when you can have many?  

From the Animal Rescue League of Southern RI

We have kittens of all shapes, colors, and sizes that would love to start a new life with your family. 

Kittens generally go fast, but we have had quite a few momma cats with large litters lately and their young are finally ready to entertain you and return a lifetime of love!  

The momma cats are also at the shelter ready for adoption so you can catch a glimpse at what your future kitten friend might be like in a few years. 

If you want to adopt a mom and kitten together, mom’s adoption fee will be ½ off!

Seeking re-election to RI Senate District 34

Senator Catherine Cool Rumsey kicked off her re-election campaign on June 30^th 

By Cathie Cool Rumsey

I was honored when the voters of Charlestown, Exeter, Hopkinton, Richmond and West Greenwich elected me as Senator for District 34. Today, I ask them to re-elect me.

When I ran in 2012, I promised I would focus my energies on the true needs of the people. These included a better economy, environmental preservation and education. In the two years since you first elected me:

I served on the Senate Committee for Health and Human Services and the Committee of Environment and Agriculture.

I co-chaired the Behavioral Health and Firearms Safety Task Force.  As co-chair, I took on the tough issue of balancing the need to keep guns out of the hands of persons with dangerous mental illnesses while preserving their rights of privacy and the rights guaranteed under the Second Amendment. I facilitated legislation that all 20 members of the task force were pleased to support.

Greatness is measured by what you're against

The Anti-Party

By Tom Tomorrow

Click here to see what all the cool people are against.

Have you seen these bows?

DEM looked for fenced bows

PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management's Division of Law Enforcement is advising anyone that may have purchased a bow on Craigslist this month that they may have unknowingly purchased stolen property.

Twelve Genesis bows were stolen during a break-in at a DEM facility earlier this month. The stolen bows are valued at approximately $180 each and may have been sold online by a Craigslist seller from West Warwick. Two have been recovered.

The Genesis bows are not hunting bows. This equipment is used by DEM's Division of Fish & Wildlife to introduce and teach archery skills to students who participate in its Hunter Education programs, many of whom are women and youth. 

Programs such as Bowhunter Education training, Women's Day at the Range, Archery in the Schools and various other field day type events will be impacted until this equipment is recovered or replaced. The Division is committed to teaching outdoor skills to the next generation in an effort to inspire an interest and concern for wildlife and wild places, and to engage the public in wildlife conservation and shooting sports.

VIDEO: Getting a Look LIVE as a Rare Vampire Squid

Swims into Camera Range

Mystic, Conn - The vampire squid lives deep in the ocean where little or no light penetrates, often out of sight and out of mind, but the crew of E/V Nautilus and those joining live were treated to a remarkable experience as they watched one of these rare and amazing animals swim confidently into range of their high-def underwater cameras. 

URI Alton Jones Campus creates studio for yoga, meditation retreats

Former meeting room now available for groups seeking relaxed setting

Todd McLeish, URI

WEST GREENWICH, R.I. –Yoga teachers in Southeastern New England wishing to bring their classes for an overnight yoga and meditation retreat now have the ideal setting: the Whispering Pines Conference Center at the University of Rhode Island’s W. Alton Jones Campus in West Greenwich.

Staff at the conference center renovated a former meeting room into an elegant yoga studio that can accommodate 25 students, and additional meeting rooms can easily be converted into space for another 160 yoga students.

Current storm track for Tropical Storm Arthur

Nuclear power is not safe or clean

The Children Of Fukushima Are Dying

By Ann Werner

Common Dreams has just released a report that the children of Fukushima are dying. Thyroid cancer rates in children living near the accident have risen to more than forty times (40x) normal. 

Nearly 200,000  children out of the 375,000 tested have been found to suffer from pre-cancerous thyroid abnormalities, primarily nodules and cysts and the rate is increasing. Joseph Mangano, Executive Director of the Radiation and Public Health Project, said that more than 120 childhood cancers have been detected in a population that would normally expect three.