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Archive for December 8th, 2010
Melting glaciers threaten floods in Himalayas, Andes
Posted by Reuters: Christopher Buckley on December 8th, 2010
Reuters: Residents of the Himalayas and other mountain areas face a "tough and unpredictable future" as global warming melts glaciers and threatens worse floods and water loss, officials said during U.N. climate talks on Tuesday.
A study said that glaciers in southern Chile and Argentina, followed by ones in Alaska, had been losing mass "faster and for longer than glaciers in other parts of the world."
Negotiators at two-week talks in Cancun, a seaside resort in Mexico, have been seeking agreement on...
Scientist: Fire in Israel is a typical example of climate change effects in Mediterranean
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 8th, 2010
Physorg: The fire disaster in the Carmel Mountains near Haifa is a typical example of climate change effect and a taste of the future, says Dr. Guy Pe'er, one of the authors of Israel's first report to the UN on climate change. Ten years ago, Dr. Pe'er and other Israeli scientists collated knowledge about the effects of climate change for Israel. They warned already in the year 2000 of expected climatic fluctuations, heat events, decreased rainfall and delayed late winter rainfall, all of which would lead...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Scientist: Fire in Israel is a typical example of climate change effects in MediterraneanEcologists desert Cancún’s sinking ship
Posted by New Scientist: Fred Pearce on December 8th, 2010
New Scientist: THE chances of a legally binding deal to tackle climate change are looking increasingly slim as the negotiations in Cancún, Mexico, enter their final days. So much so that even environmentalists are deserting the sinking ship.
The only half-way successful negotiations in Cancún to date have been on REDD, short for Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation. The idea is that governments pay tropical nations to curb deforestation, and so keep the carbon stored in trees out of...
Put deserts on climate agenda, UN official says
Posted by Agence France-Presse: Yana Marull on December 8th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: As negotiators near a deal on preserving forests as a way to fight climate change, a top advocate for deserts says that the planet's driest lands should also play a role.
Luc Gnacadja, head of the UN Convention on Action against Desertification is urging representatives of 194 nations to help the some two billion people who live in the driest areas of the planet, as they try to reach a deal on climate change after the landmark Kyoto Protocol's requirements end in 2012.
"Those who cut the deal...
Tanzania: Conservationists seek Serengeti road freeze
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 8th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: An African conservation group said Wednesday it would ask a regional court to freeze a project to build a road through Tanzania's iconic Serengeti park.
It said it would seek an injunction from the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) "to restrain the United Republic of Tanzania from constructing a super highway through the Serengeti Game Reserve."
The Africa Network for Animal Welfare (ANAW) argues that the road, which would slice right through the northern Tanzania park, is unlawful since...
S. America, C. Asia at risk from glacier melt: UN
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 8th, 2010
Xinhua: Central Asia, Chile, Argentina and Peru may suffer drinking water shortages due to faster melting glaciers, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) said in a Tuesday report.
"In parts of Central Asia, Chile, Argentina and Peru, where there is little rain, the receding glaciers will have a much deeper impact in seasonal water availability," UNEP said in the report of High Mountain Glaciers and Climate Change.
The report was released on the sidelines of the 16th Conference of the Parties...
Oil sands project in Utah draws fire for water use
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 8th, 2010
CNN: Oil sands are just that - sand laced with a heavy oil known as bitumen.
The sands are plentiful in parts of the western United States and in Canada's Alberta province, the latter exporting over 1 million barrels of oil a day to America. Some estimates say there are more oil sands and other unconventional forms of oil in North America than there is light oil under the Saudi desert.
But oil sands production is expensive and usually comes with high environmental costs.
The sand itself is often...
Glacier melt speeds up, experts warn at climate talks
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 8th, 2010
Bloomberg: The lives and livelihoods of people in South Asia are at "high risk" as global warming melts glaciers in the Himalayas, sending floods crashing down from overloaded mountain lakes and depriving farmers of steady water sources, U.N. and other international experts reported Friday.
Worldwide, "since the beginning of the 1980s, the rate of ice loss has increased substantially in many regions, concurrent with an increase in global mean air temperatures," the U.N. Environment Program said.
Glaciers...
The New Republic: Obama’s Non Confrontational EPA
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 8th, 2010
National Public Radio: Bradford Plumer is an assistant editor at The New Republic, where he reports on energy and environmental issues.
Here's a quick sketch of how environmental policy will get made for the next two years. Congress won't pass any new laws. The EPA will try to use the authority it already has to mop up pollution from coal plants, factories, and vehicles (and the agency has a fair bit of existing authority to do so). Industry groups, Republicans, and more than a few Democrats will moan about the costs....