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Archive for April, 2011
Does Wild Tornado Season Signal Climate Change?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 28th, 2011
LiveScience: Some climate models suggest that a warming future could herald more intense storms like those that ripped through the Southeast on Wednesday night.
But that doesn't mean the southern storms and tornadoes were a manifestation of climate change, climate scientists say. That's because teasing out the influence of climate on weather takes time.
"The impacts of climate change on any weather events will likely only be seen in the statistics -- more rainfall that occurs in intense bursts, more overall...
Deadliest tornadoes since 1974 rip apart towns and lives in six US states
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 28th, 2011
Guardian: The hilltop town of Rainsville, Alabama, bills itself as a peaceful area surrounded by beautiful ridges, valleys and lakes. By Thursday morning, after a mile-wide tornado had torn through six southern US states, killing at least 280 people, it almost seemed to have been erased from existence.
"It looks like something just washed parts of the town off the map," said Israel Partridge, a volunteer search and rescue worker. "Whole subdivisions, where there were 20 or 30 houses, there is nothing left....
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Deadliest tornadoes since 1974 rip apart towns and lives in six US statesAre US floods, fires linked to climate change?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 28th, 2011
Mongabay: Are US floods, fires linked to climate change?
Jeremy Hance
The short answer to the question of whether or not on-going floods in the US Midwest and fires in Texas are linked to a warming Earth is: maybe. The long answer, however, is that while it is difficult--some argue impossible--for scientists to link a single extreme weather event to climate change, climate models have long shown that extreme weather events will both intensify and become more frequent as the world continues to heat up....
Boom and bust flags eco-collapse
Posted by BBC: Richard Black on April 28th, 2011
BBC: The name "largemouth bass" appears to suit the fish An experiment in a US lake suggests that ecosystem collapses could be predicted, given the right monitoring.
Researchers changed the structure of the food web in Peter Lake, in Wisconsin, by adding predatory fish.
Within three years, the fish had taken over, producing a decline in tiny water plants and an explosion in water fleas.
Writing in the journal Science, the researchers say the change was preceded by signals that could be used to...
Scientists scramble to save dying amphibians
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 28th, 2011
Mongabay: Scientists scramble to save dying amphibians
Hyloscirtus colymba tree frog being fed after being treated for Chytridiomycosis. Photo taken by Rhett A. Butler at Summit Park.
In forests, ponds, swamps, and other ecosystems around the world, amphibians are dying at rates never before observed. The reasons are many: habitat destruction, pollution from pesticides, climate change, invasive species, and the emergence of a deadly and infectious fungal disease. More than 200 species have gone silent,...
Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s Answer to Climate Change: Start Prayi
Posted by RollingStone: None Given on April 28th, 2011
RollingStone: Wild weather is once again upon us. Tornadoes have ravaged the midwest and the south (nearly 200 people have been killed in five states as of this morning). Meanwhile, Texas is suffering from the state's worst drought since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Crops are in danger, drinking water supplies are dwindling. Wildfires have engulfed 1.8 million acres of land, destroying 400 homes.
You might think that there's not much a politician can do about this. But you're wrong.
The other day, Texas Governor...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s Answer to Climate Change: Start PrayiWorld not prepared for climate conflicts – security experts
Posted by AlertNet: Laurie Goering on April 28th, 2011
AlertNet: Accelerating climate change and competition for limited supplies of water, food and energy are poised to ignite long-simmering conflicts in fragile states, monopolising the world's military resources and hampering development efforts, security experts say.
Defusing these new 21st century conflicts -- or at least preparing governments and citizens to cope with them -- will require a broad range of innovative interventions, a gathering at Britain's Department for International Development (DFID)...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on World not prepared for climate conflicts – security expertsFeds say Rio Grande flow could drop significantly
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 28th, 2011
Associated Press: The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has issued a dire prediction for the future of the Rio Grande. The government says the river's water supply could decline 7 to 14 percent on average by midcentury as a result of a warmer climate. The forecast was presented during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee meeting in Santa Fe Wednesday. The state climatologist told the gathering much of New Mexico is experiencing extreme drought conditions with below-average river flows because of a dry winter....
173 killed as storms pummel the South
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 28th, 2011
Associated Press: Massive tornadoes tore a town-flattening streak across the South, killing at least 266 people in six states and forcing rescuers to carry some survivors out on makeshift stretchers of splintered debris. Two of Alabama`s major cities were among the places devastated by the deadliest twister outbreak in nearly 40 years.
As day broke Thursday, people in hard-hit areas surveyed obliterated homes and debris-strewn streets. Some told of deadly winds whipping through within seconds of weather alerts...
Indonesia ‘Hot Spot’ of Climate Change, President Says
Posted by Jakarta Globe: None Given on April 28th, 2011
Jakarta Globe: Indonesia sits at the epicenter of global climate change and as such is central to the solutions that will determine the future, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Thursday.
In his keynote address on the opening day of the Business for the Environment (B4E) Global Summit 2011 in Jakarta, Yudhoyono challenged participants to come up with solutions that could propel the country and the global community toward a green economy.
“Indonesia is a hot spot for climate diplomacy,” he said. ...