Latest news with #AgricultureandNaturalResources
Local France
30-04-2025
- Climate
- Local France
Does Nice really have a microclimate?
The city of Nice's tourism website describes it as benefiting from "an exceptional microclimate which contributes to its reputation. "Open to the sea, the town is protected from the wind by its hills; to the west by the Estérel massif and to the north-west by the barrier of the Mercantour Alps. "The climate, always mild in winter, is never too hot in summer, thanks to the sea breeze." What is a microclimate? According to the definition by the University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources a microclimate is "a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area. It can be as small as a few square feet or cover hundreds of square miles." Advertisement According to Geo France magazine, a microclimate can be caused by a number of different circumstances, like proximity to a nearby body of water that absorbs and releases heat more slowly, or a valley fixed between two mountain ranges. You can also use it to describe urban spaces where temperatures tend to be hotter than surrounding areas, thanks to paved roads, high density infrastructure and a lower quantity of trees and green areas. The term is particularly useful for people working in agriculture, as microclimates can help determine the best places for growing plants. READ MORE: 'A really efficient city': Why more and more Americans are moving to Nice Does Nice count as a 'microclimate'? This definition of 'microclimate' is broad and there is no official list of microclimates in France. Nice often boasts having over 300 days of sunny weather a year (or 2,694 hours of sunshine) with an annual average temperature of 16C. However, this is pretty typical for the Côte d'Azur. It is the Mediterranean sea that helps give Nice its temperate climate - during heatwaves, you might see that inland areas, like Nîmes and even Avignon , have hotter weather than Nice. According to Actu France , this is mainly because of the city's proximity to the sea, which helps moderate temperatures. It does appear that Nice is slightly more temperate than other parts of the Mediterranean coast. For example, the average 'high' in Toulon in August is 29.8C, whereas in Nice it is 27.9C. In terms of whether Nice is the sunniest city in France, this title changes every year - but Grasse, Antibes, Cagnes-sur-Mer, Cannes, Nice, Fréjus, Martigues and Marseille are reliably in the top 10. Advertisement What about other 'microclimates' in France? Brittany is also referred to as the region in France with the highest number of 'microclimates'. One forecaster, Stéven Tual, told the regional Quimper outlet of Actu France that "several microclimates coexist in Brittany. "Mild weather and more sunshine in the Gulf of Morbihan, while a westerly wind brings more precipitation from Finistère to the Monts d'Arrée, and there are even periods of drought and drier weather in the Bay of Saint-Brieuc. "It's impossible to list them all, as there are so many variations in the weather in Brittany," he said. READ MORE: French clichés: Does it really rain all the time in Brittany?
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill Lee's $25M Tennessee farm preservation push squeaks through key Senate committee
A $25 million bill from Gov. Bill Lee aimed at preserving Tennessee farmland squeaked through its first Senate committee on Wednesday ― a narrow but significant step forward for a proposal that stalled in the same committee last year. In an effort to counteract Tennessee's rapid farmland loss, Lee's proposal would offer financial incentives for farmers who wish to voluntarily place their land into a privately-managed conservation easement. Tennessee loses about 10 acres of workable farmland every hour. Members of the Senate Committee on Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources approved Senate Bill 207 in 5-4 vote, with bipartisan opposition. Sens. Janice Bowling, R-Tullahoma, and Mark Pody, R-Lebanon, joined Sens. Charlane Oliver, D-Nashville, and Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville, in opposing the bill. While House members easily approved a similar farmland preservation bill last year, the Senate agriculture committee proved insurmountable. Now, despite the narrow committee margin, the path to Senate passage is open. Former committee Chair Steve Southerland, R-Morristown, who led the Senate panel last year, was replaced in the top post by Sen. Shane Reeves, R-Murfreesboro ― though Senate leaders have declined to say publicly that defeat of the governor's bill was the specific reason for Southerland's ouster. While the state incentives would not pay nearly what developers can offer farmers to sell outright, Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson R-Franklin, said the bill could help make maintaining farmland a more viable financial option as farmers face ever-increasing pressure to sell their land. 'For many of these hardworking Tennessee farm families, money is an issue, and having access to a grant pool that the governor is proposing could make the difference in being economically viable for those families to place their land into a conservancy,' Johnson said. More: Tennessee farmers continue struggling to keep land intact: 'Can we keep doing this?' Any property owner can already choose to place a conservation easement on their property. Under Lee's proposal, ownership of the land and related property rights would remain with the land owners, and easements would be managed by private entities such as the Appalachian Highlands Conservancy or the Wolf River Conservancy – not the state. Presenting the bill, Johnson said since 1997 Tennessee has lost the equivalent of six counties in farmland. 'That's a good thing people are moving here, but we need to be cognizant of the fact that as people move in, farmland gets bought, it gets developed, it gets turned into subdivisions – it gets turned into strip centers,' Johnson said. 'And we should slow that as best we can.' Johnson did not mention the vast efforts – and funding – state officials have poured into economic development that have contributed to farmland loss. Sen. Page Walley, R-Savannah, who represents a rural district in southwest Tennessee, called the measure 'a step in the right direction,' but said the state should work to 'get farther upstream' to empower farmers as they make long term decisions about what to do with their land. 'But this isn't the solution in whole,' Walley said. 'I think we are really going to have to do more.' Vivian Jones covers state government and politics for The Tennessean. Reach her at vjones@ This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee farm preservation push squeaks through key Senate committee
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
From Kansas advocate to Kansas legislator: Lawrence's Suzanne Wikle launches inaugural term
Kansas Rep. Suzanne Wikle, a Democrat who represents a Lawrence district, speaks on Jan. 22, 2025, in her office at the Statehouse. (Grace Hills/Kansas Reflector) Suzanne Wikle, a first-term Democratic representative from Lawrence, hurried into the buzzing Statehouse around noon Monday, Jan. 13. She had worked for nearly two decades in public policy and advocacy, but this was her first official day as a lawmaker. I happened to be there at the entrance to the complex, and I tagged along as she headed to her office. I though that Kansas Reflector readers might appreciate a peek into the journey, and I plan to check in with Wikle multiple times during this year's session. We headed up to her office on the building's fourth floor, a space shared by several other Democratic legislators. It featured its own, lower-volume buzz as officials chatted away. Wikle settled behind her desk to answer a handful of first-day questions. 'I think I can bring a lot to conversations internally about policy development,' she told me. 'And then I really wanted to run to be a strong voice for Kansas children and Kansas families. I have two young children, and I really believe in public education, early education, access to health care, and I just want to be a strong voice on that.' Wikle filed to run for the office in February 2024, after then-Rep. Christina Haswood decided to run for a Senate seat. After winning the August primary, she had effectively won the District 10 seat, as no Republican ran against her. She stared talking with future constituents right away. 'People have been asking to meet with me. I've met with community groups. I've met with stakeholders,' Wikle said. 'So, today is the day I get sworn in, but I feel like I've been doing a lot of the work for several months already.' She serves on three committees: Agriculture and Natural Resources, Legislative Modernization and Health and Human Services. The last of those, given her professional background, has special resonance. 'We are scheduled to adjourn before we receive revenue estimates in April,' she said. 'Typically, the Legislature finalizes the state budget after tax day, after we have a pretty solid understanding of what the fiscal outlook for the state looks like. And according to the calendar this year, we'll be finalizing that budget before we have those fiscal revenue estimates. And that makes me a little concerned about how the budget situation was going to play out.' From an opinion editor perspective, this looks quite alarming. Could GOP lawmakers be planning to pass a budget without knowing final revenue numbers and leaving any potential cuts — and the associated risk — to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly? We shall see. At this point, I should note that I know Wikle and her husband, United Methodist Health Ministry Fund president David Jordan, from my time in nonprofit advocacy. (I've also appeared as a guest on Jordan's podcast, for any who might be interested.) They are adjusting to a new dynamic with Wikle serving in the Legislature. 'We've had to hire extra child care help to accommodate my different schedule because of my husband's travel that he does for work,' she said. 'So I think we have to kind of see how it all shakes out. … But I knew all that going into it, and we're gonna make it work.' A week-and-a-half later, Wikle looked more settled and chatted in her office with intern Kate Eckert, a University of Kansas freshman. I asked Wikle how her first days at the Statehouse had gone. 'It's been pretty slow, right?' she replied. 'The first week is a lot of pomp and circumstance and being sworn in, and going to committee for the first time and kind of doing all of that.' While some lawmakers have to travel hours to work at the Statehouse, Wikle's Lawrence home base makes it easier to spend time in Topeka. She works in the building five days a week, even though few meetings have been scheduled for Fridays thus far. (Memo to other lawmakers: That pay raise you all received should motivate a few more to follow that example.) The biggest difference from her earlier work at the Statehouse and serving as a lawmaker, Wikle told me, was the separation between the House and Senate. She described the two chambers as 'siloed' from one another. 'I'm not interacting with senators on a daily basis, like I was when I was an advocate and interacting with both,' she said. 'And that's different and a little surprising. … Comparing it to my days as an advocate, I was sitting in various committees or I had colleagues that were sitting in other committees, and we go back to the office and talk about what was happening. It just seemed like you had a broader view of what was happening.' She acknowledged that a broader view could come with time and caucus meetings. In the meantime, she was digging into scope of practice issues with the health committee. Not every discussion in Topeka hinges on ideological or partisan fights, after all. As I left that Wednesday afternoon, I considered the 125 representatives and 40 senators who meet every year in Topeka. Lord knows I don't agree with all — or perhaps most — of them. But these lawmakers sacrifice of time, energy and effort for a greater cause. They have put themselves forward to do the business of Kansas. That's worthy of acknowledgment, today and every day of the session. Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.
