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Archive for January 12th, 2011
‘Water Towers of Asia’ Show Cracks
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 12th, 2011
Inter Press Service: A concerted effort to formally document the magnitude and directions of climate trends in the Eastern Himalayas and thereby decide regional adaptation strategies is critical to ensure the region’s water security, according to water experts.
In Nepal, the Imja glacier is retreating almost 70 metres per year. In Bhutan, where glacial melt is the least perceptible currently, 25 of 677 glaciers are categorised potentially dangerous, with an ‘alarming’ glacial retreat rate of 20-30 metres per year,...
Melting glaciers to contribute 12cm to world sea-level increases by 2100
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 12th, 2011
Asian News International: A new study has found that melt off from small mountain glaciers and ice caps will contribute about 12 centimetres to world sea-level increases by 2100.
Scientists from the University of British Columbia said the largest contributors to the projected world sea level increase are glaciers in Arctic Canada, Alaska and landmass bound glaciers in the Antarctic.
Glaciers in the European Alps, New Zealand, the Caucasus, Western Canada and the Western United Sates, though small absolute contributors...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Melting glaciers to contribute 12cm to world sea-level increases by 2100Brisbane residents flee as floodwaters reach city – video
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 12th, 2011
Guardian: Brisbane residents flee as floodwaters reach city - video
Thousands of Brisbane residents are fleeing their homes as the worst floodwaters to hit Queensland for 50 years surged towards Australia's third largest city
Australia floods: Brisbane sweats as floodwaters creep up the stilts
Brisbane residents are helping each other try to save household valuables and even their children's schools
Australia floods: teenage victim died after asking rescuer to save brother first
Brisbane floods...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Brisbane residents flee as floodwaters reach city – videoAustralia floods inundate Brisbane, 43 missing
Posted by Reuters: Ed Davies on January 12th, 2011
Reuters: Massive floods shut down the center of Australia's third-largest city, sent thousands fleeing from their homes and sparked panic buying of food on Wednesday as rescuers searched for 43 people missing in floodwaters. Australia's biggest floods in a century have so far killed 16 people since starting their onslaught across northern mining state Queensland last month, crippling the coking coal industry, destroying infrastructure, putting a brake on the economy and sending the local currency to four-week...
Scientists see climate change link to Australian floods
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 12th, 2011
Reuters: Climate change has likely intensified the monsoon rains that have triggered record floods in Australia's Queensland state, scientists said on Wednesday, with several months of heavy rain and storms still to come.
But while scientists say a warmer world is predicted to lead to more intense droughts and floods, it wasn't yet possible to say if climate change would trigger stronger La Nina and El Nino weather patterns that can cause weather chaos across the globe.
"I think people will end up concluding...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Scientists see climate change link to Australian floodsTrans-Alaska oil pipeline to restart interim flows
Posted by Reuters: Yereth Rosen on January 12th, 2011
Reuters: Operators of Alaska's main oil pipeline are working to resume flow on receiving government permission for a temporary restart after a leak idled 12 percent of U.S. crude output.
The Trans Alaska Pipeline System, the 800-mile (1,280 kilometer) pipe that usually carries 630,000 barrels of oil per day, has been closed since Saturday following a small leak at an oil pumping station. The restart will prevent crude from freezing while a bypass of the leak is complete.
The shutdown, which started...
Recipe for disaster
Posted by Sydney Morning Herald: Bridie Smith on January 12th, 2011
Sydney Morning Herald: THE strong La Nina pattern currently transporting moisture to north-eastern Australia has been exaggerated further by record-high ocean temperatures - a combination not seen on this scale since the deadly Brisbane flood of 1974, which claimed at least 14 lives.
And while Queensland's already saturated catchments are lashed with heavy rain, the south-west of Western Australia is experiencing an extreme dry - and bushfires.
''Australia has been known for more than a hundred years as a land of...