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Archive for July 14th, 2012
United States: Drought envelops state’s southern tier
Posted by Detroit News: Lauren Abdel-Razzaq on July 14th, 2012
Detroit News: Relentless heat and a lack of rain are pushing more and more of Michigan into drought, jeopardizing the state's lucrative fruit and grain crops in a trend that one meteorologist calls "alarming."
Nearly 80 percent of the state is in abnormally dry or drought conditions, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Almost a quarter of Michigan is experiencing at least moderate drought conditions, up from 8 percent last week, according to a report this week from NOAA. Some...
Enbridge statement makes PR disaster worse, experts say
Posted by Edmonton Journal: Peter O'Neil on July 14th, 2012
Edmonton Journal: Enbridge Inc. made a mounting public relations disaster worse this week by not immediately accepting blame in its official statement issued after an outspoken American regulator compared one of Canada’s energy giants to the “Keystone Kops,” public relations consultants say.
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Debbie Hersman’s scathing assessment of Enbridge’s 2010 spill has also raised questions over whether Prime Minister Stephen Harper needs to distance his government from Enbridge’s...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Enbridge statement makes PR disaster worse, experts sayUK flood alerts remain as heavy rain spreads
Posted by Guardian: David Batty on July 14th, 2012
Guardian: Large swaths of England and Wales remain on alert as heavy rain that brought flash flooding to parts of Wales and Shropshire is expected to extend southwards on Saturday.
The Environment Agency has 12 flood warnings in place in England and Wales – six in the south-west, four in the Midlands and two in the Anglian area – as well as 58 flood alerts.
An agency spokesman urged people across central and eastern England to "remain vigilant as heavy thunderstorms are forecast to affect large swaths...
Weather may be changing public opinion on global warming
Posted by Philadelphia Inquirer: Will Oremus on July 14th, 2012
Philadelphia Inquirer: Before the financial crisis hit, Americans were pretty sure that the globe was warming, and that humans were causing it, and that it was kind of a big deal. As the economy slumped, Americans decided that climate change wasn't actually happening -- and even if it was, it wasn't our fault. And now, after a flurry of wild weather -- deadly tornados, floods, droughts, an uncommonly mild winter, and recent heat waves -- we're back to believing that global warming is real. But we're still hesitant to take...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Weather may be changing public opinion on global warmingFlood defence spending: predicted funding that hasn’t materialised
Posted by Guardian: Lisa Evans on July 14th, 2012
Guardian: Flood defence project spending was cut by over a quarter, but what effect has this had throughout the country?
The environment agency publish data on flood prevention projects.
But unfortunately for people who like to use data, the environment agency do not provide enough information to answer questions such as how this funding has changed over time - they do not keep an online archive of past and projected spending. They also have strict restrictions on reuse of their data.
Getting the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Flood defence spending: predicted funding that hasn’t materialisedDisaster has struck Montana because of climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 14th, 2012
Billings Gazette: Climate change has definitely come into our lives. The past couple of weeks have been so disastrous and devastating, not only in Montana, but in other states as well. Climate change is a reality. A normal fire season in Montana starts Aug. 1 and burns 150,000 to 200,000 acres throughout the whole season. The 2012 fires have already burned more than 300,000 acres, and are still burning, when fire season hasn't even started.
The earliest fire season on record for Montana started on July 11, 2007....
U.S. crops wilting despite scattered Midwest rains
Posted by Reuters: Sam Nelson on July 14th, 2012
Reuters: Scattered rains over the last 24 hours provided little relief for U.S. Midwest corn and soybean crops that are rapidly deteriorating in the worst drought since 1988, and the forecast is for scant rain for the next two weeks, meteorologists said on Saturday.
"Overall the rain yesterday won't put a dent in the drought because they were spotty hit or miss kind of rains. Certainly some isolated areas will benefit, but it was not a significant drought buster," said AccuWeather meteorologist Dan Pydynowski....
Thousands ordered from homes amid Japan deluge
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 14th, 2012
Agence France-Presse: About 400,000 people were ordered or advised to leave their homes in south-west Japan on Saturday as heavy rain pounded the area for a third day leaving 29 dead or missing, officials and media said.
The Japan Meteorological Agency warned of more landslides and floods on the main southern island of Kyushu as rainfall of up to 11 centimetres per hour was recorded on Saturday.
Evacuation orders were issued to about 260,000 people in the north of the island where more rivers burst their banks,...
Miners weather the slow burn of coal’s demise
Posted by National Public Radio: Guy Raz and Lauren Silverman on July 14th, 2012
National Public Radio: At some point today, you will probably flip on a light switch. That simple action connects you to the oldest and most plentiful source of American electricity: coal.
Since the early 1880s - when Edison and Tesla pioneered the distribution of electrical power into our homes - most of that power has come from the process of burning coal.
Four years ago, something started to change. First it was slow, and then this past month that change became dramatic. Coal now generates just 34 percent of our...