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Archive for February 29th, 2012
Snow, Deadly Tornadoes Slam Upper Midwest, Ohio Valley
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on February 29th, 2012
Climate Central: An intense winter storm has brought blizzard conditions to the Great Plains and the Upper Midwest, while spawning a spring-like tornado outbreak across several states, killing at least nine people so far.
A visible satellite image on Wednesday afternoon showing the storm center and heavy snow in Minnesota, and a line of severe thunderstorms from Kentucky to Mississippi. Click on the image for a larger image. Credit: SSEC/NOAA.
As of late Wednesday afternoon, tornado and severe thunderstorm...
TransCanada to build southern half of Keystone to avoid State Department approval
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 29th, 2012
Mongabay: Keystone XL is becoming the project that refuses to die: TransCanada, the company behind the pipeline, has said it plans to build the southern half of the pipeline while it waits to determine a new route for the northern section. The company does not need approval from the State Department, which turned down the entire pipeline in January, to build the southern half from Texas to Oklahoma. However, the Obama Administration has embraced the idea. Carrying carbon-intensive tar sands oil down from Canada...
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Comments Off on TransCanada to build southern half of Keystone to avoid State Department approvalAirwaves Cut Distances in Rural Peru
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 29th, 2012
Inter Press Service: The Onda Rural communication for development initiative in Peru has come up with a range of strategies to get information out to remote villages, to help them with decision-making on questions like climate change adaptation or disaster preparedness.
"Neither radio nor television will change the way of thinking or the traditional way of life in highlands communities," Carlos Rivadeneyra, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters’ (AMARC) representative in Peru, told IPS.
But, he...
International Bird Area in Kenya saved from conversion into biofuel crop
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 29th, 2012
Mongabay: A campaign by NGO Nature Kenya has saved the Dakatcha Woodland Important Bird Area (IBA) from destruction for planting biofuel crops, reports BirdLife International. Located near Kenya's eastern coastline, the forest is home to two IUCN Red List Endangered species, Clarke's weaver (Ploceus golandi) and sokoke pipit (Anthus sokokensis), both of which are imperiled by habitat loss. The plan to covert 10,000 hectares of the forest in jatropha, used for biofuels, was recently rejected by Kenya's National...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on International Bird Area in Kenya saved from conversion into biofuel cropSoak the English: Welsh want paying for any water piped across the border
Posted by Guardian: Steven Morris on February 29th, 2012
Guardian: Wales should make sure it receives proper payment for any water exported to ease drought-hit areas of England, Welsh politicians and economists have said.
Elfyn Llwyd, the leader of Plaid Cymru at Westminster, led calls for a "mature debate" on ensuring Wales is properly paid for one of its richest natural resources.
He said he did not object to water being moved from Wales to England. "I see no reason why that should not happen as we are rich in that resource in Wales."
But he added: "I...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Soak the English: Welsh want paying for any water piped across the borderTime to Tackle ‘Last Taboo’ of Contraception and Climate – Experts
Posted by AlertNet: None Given on February 29th, 2012
AlertNet: Finding a way to put the environmental impact of population and women's reproductive health more prominently on the climate change agenda is increasingly urgent, experts said in Washington this week. Suggesting a strong connection between family planning and the environment often risks an explosion in the highly charged political landscape of climate talks, meaning the word "population" is rarely heard, observed speakers on a panel assembled by the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security...
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Posted by Daily Times: Tiwonge Ng'ona on February 29th, 2012
Daily Times: Malawi is among three countries in the world that will take part in a project aimed at helping farmers adapt to climate change while helping to control farming's carbon emissions.
The other two countries are Zambia and Vietnam and the project is called Climate-Smart Agriculture-Capturing the Synergies between Mitigation, Adaptation and Food security.
European Union (EU) and UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are funding the project to a tune of $6.7 million.
FAO Special Advisor Wendy...
Australia: Climate change triggers early grape ripening
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 29th, 2012
Indo-Asian News Service: Climate change is causing the early ripening of grapes, latest research shows.
Scientists attribute the fruit's ripening to climate warming and a decline in soil water content, based on a comparison of decades of vineyard records.
Climate scientist and viticulturist Leanne Webb from the Melbourne's School of Land and Environment said that a detailed study of the underlying causes has been undertaken for the first time, the journal Nature Climate Change reports.
"Changes to the timing of...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Australia: Climate change triggers early grape ripeningHow to Frack Responsibly
Posted by New York Times: Joe Nocera on February 29th, 2012
New York Times: Fracking isn’t going away. To put it another way, the technique of hydraulic fracturing, used to extract natural gas from once-impossible-to-get-at reservoirs like the Marcellus Shale that lies beneath New York and Pennsylvania, has more than proved its value. At this point, shale gas, as it’s called, makes up more than 30 percent of the country’s natural gas supply, up from 2 percent in 2001 — a figure that is sure to keep rising. Fracking’s enemies can stamp their feet all they want, but that...
Estimates Clash for How Much Natural Gas in the United States
Posted by National Geographic: Mason Inman on February 29th, 2012
National Geographic: Natural gas is now flowing so fast into U.S. pipelines that the big question seems to be what to do with it all: Engineer cars to run on methanol? Reopen shuttered chemical plants that rely on gas for feedstock? Export liquefied gas by tanker? With about two-thirds of U.S. states thought to hold natural gas reserves, many take President Barack Obama seriously when he calls the United States the "Saudi Arabia of natural gas."
But just how much natural gas does the United States have?
A close...
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