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Archive for June, 2012
Rio+20 Earth Summit results in nonbinding declaration with moderate goals
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2012
Washington Post: The global environment summit concluding Friday, which drew nearly 100 world leaders and more than 45,000 other people to Rio de Janiero and cost tens of millions of dollars, may produce one lasting legacy: Convincing people it’s not worth holding global summits. The U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development, a once-a-decade meeting aimed at reconciling economic and environmental aspirations, has produced a nonbinding declaration, committing the world’s politicians to modest goals. The proposals...
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Comments Off on Rio+20 Earth Summit results in nonbinding declaration with moderate goalsDid global warming set stage for Duluth flooding?
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on June 23rd, 2012
Climate Central: As the people of Duluth, Minn. -- a community of about 86,000 tucked away at the southwest corner of Lake Superior -- try to recover from the record flooding of the past week, it's reasonable for them to ask whether global warming may have played a role in the floodwaters that so heavily damaged their city.
Given the unusual nature of the rainfall, and the prevalence of extreme weather in Minnesota and other states so far this year and during recent decades, the answer, according to the scientific...
Climate-smart agriculture to reduce vulnerability
Posted by Inter Press Service: Fabíola Ortiz on June 23rd, 2012
Inter Press Service: Agroforestry is gaining ground as a tool for climate change adaptation and mitigation in Central America, a region where global warming could generate losses equivalent to 19 percent of gross domestic product.
"Agroforestry is our only alternative to mitigate and adapt to climate change," Alberto Chinchilla, executive director of the Central American Coordinating Association of Indigenous and Peasant Community Agroforestry (ACICAFOC) told Tierramérica.
A side event of the United Nations Conference...
Arctic ice caps may be more prone to melt
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2012
ClimateWire: Today, the Arctic is synonymous with "cold." But a new study suggests the polar region has experienced periods of intense warmth over the past 2.8 million years that may have been hot enough to melt the Greenland ice sheet. Scientists already knew that the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the global average. But the new study, based on a sediment core drilled from a Russian lake, suggests the far north's climate is even more sensitive than researchers suspected. "There are really big surprises...
Rio+20 Doesn’t Get Further Than Vague Declaration
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2012
National Public Radio: The Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development was the biggest United Nations conference ever, but it may be one of the biggest duds. It produced no major agreements - just a vaguely worded declaration that has been widely derided.
More than 45,000 people registered for the event in Rio de Janeiro, but diplomats couldn't even agree about the meeting's objective until 2:45 a.m. on Tuesday, just before heads of state and other high-level delegates started arriving in Rio.
They finally agreed...
Florida Worries as Growth Threatens Its Freshwater Springs
Posted by New York Times: Lizette Alvarez on June 23rd, 2012
New York Times: Of Florida’s 700 artesian springs, Silver Springs shimmered the brightest. Its fresh water was so translucent that the white sand and tiny shells at the bottom glistened, giving the river and springs a beautiful blue tint from above. Glass-bottomed boats grew famous here as did underwater photography. Even Tarzan was lured to the springs; six of the movies in the 1930s and ’40s were filmed here. Tourists arrived in droves to these springs, just outside Ocala. The riverscape — with anhingas drying...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Florida Worries as Growth Threatens Its Freshwater SpringsCost of Minnesota Flood Estimated at $100 Million
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2012
New York Times: The waters in Duluth are receding, but the damage is done: the northeastern Minnesota city estimates more than $100 million will be required to repair utilities, streets, parks and trails in the city and surrounding county of St. Louis, said Pakou Ly, a spokeswoman for Duluth. The State Department of Transportation estimates its roads have sustained $20 million worth of damage. Flash floods tore through the city this week after seven inches of rain came down on ground already saturated by previous...
Rio ends with corporates warning
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2012
BBC: The UN sustainable development summit in Brazil has ended with world leaders adopting a political declaration hammered out a few days previously.
Environment and development charities say the Rio+20 agreement is too weak to tackle social and environmental crises.
Gro Harlem Brundtland, author of a major UN sustainable development report 25 years ago, said corporate power was one reason for lack of progress.
Nations will spend three years drawing up sustainable development goals.
They...
Rising sea levels to hit California hard by 2100
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 22nd, 2012
Reuters: Seas could rise higher along the California coastline this century than in other places in the world, increasing the risk of flooding and storm damage, dune erosion and wetland destruction, the U.S. National Research Council reported Friday.
Rising sea levels have long been seen as a consequence of climate change, because as the world warms, glaciers melt and contribute water to the Earth's oceans. At the same time, ocean waters tend to expand as they heat, pushing sea levels higher.
The report...
U.S. extends time for public feedback on fracking rules
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 22nd, 2012
Reuters: The Obama administration is extending by 60 days the deadline for the public to comment on a proposal expanding oversight of fracking drilling on federal lands, as both industry and environmental groups seek changes.
The Interior Department unveiled draft regulations in early May that would require companies to get approval before using fracking and to reveal the chemicals they would use in the process after they finish drilling.
"To ensure that the public and key stakeholders, including industry...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on U.S. extends time for public feedback on fracking rules