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Archive for September, 2012
Research reports climate change could cripple southwestern forests
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 30th, 2012
PhysOrg: Combine the tree-ring growth record with historical information, climate records, and computer-model projections of future climate trends, and you get a grim picture for the future of trees in the southwestern United States. That's the word from a team of scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory, the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Arizona, and other partner organizations.
If the Southwest is warmer and drier in the near future, widespread tree death is likely and would cause substantial...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Research reports climate change could cripple southwestern forestsReporting On Lead Poisoning In Nigeria
Posted by National Public Radio: Jason Beaubien on September 30th, 2012
National Public Radio: If you want to witness the health consequences of unsafe gold mining in northwestern Nigeria, the first thing you have to do is get to the mines
There's a crisis of severe lead poisoning near the mines that's killed hundreds of children and made thousands more sick.
The gold deposits are in a remote part of the country, near the border with Niger. Even in the best of times, it's a challenge to reach the mines.
Right now, the journey is made tougher by a gasoline crisis that's led to long...
The role of forests in combating climate change
Posted by RTCC: Tierney Smith on September 30th, 2012
RTCC: Forests cover 30% of the world’s land surface, and are home to around 90% of the world’s land-based animals, plants, insects and birds.
They are also one of the world’s largest carbon sinks, absorbing 2.4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year and storing billions more.
Around 6 million hectares of virgin forest is lost or changed each year, and as much as a fifth of global emissions are estimated to come from deforestation. Halting this destruction is seen as vital for keeping global temperatures...
Ethiopia: NGO Calls for Dams to Take Climate Change Into Account
Posted by AllAfricacom: John Hughes on September 30th, 2012
AllAfricacom: The international non-governmental organisation International Rivers has called for the effects of climate change to be taken into account when planning for new dams in sub-Saharan Africa. In its report entitled "A Risky Climate for Southern African Hydro", International Rivers looks at the Zambezi Basin, which is home to the Kariba dam in Zimbabwe and the Cahora Bassa dam in Mozambique. International Rivers is strongly opposed to dams in general, but the report reinforces that opposition by warning...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Ethiopia: NGO Calls for Dams to Take Climate Change Into AccountFlash floods kill 10 in Spain as torrential rain causes havoc
Posted by Guardian: Lin Jenkins on September 29th, 2012
Guardian: At least 10 people, three of them children, died after torrential rain triggered flash floods across a swath of southern Spain and another 35 were injured when a tornado swept through a fairground, knocking down a ferris wheel.
The strength of the torrents washed away cars, turned roads to rivers, damaged houses, brought down a motorway bridge and forced thousands to abandon their homes. Many people had to be rescued by the emergency services using inflatable rafts to ferry them to safety.
Among...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Flash floods kill 10 in Spain as torrential rain causes havocMalaysia: 200 indigenous block road to dam in Sarawak
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 29th, 2012
Mongabay: 200 indigenous men and women are blockading shipments of construction materials to a dam site in Malaysian Borneo to protest the impact of the hydroelectric project on their traditional forest home, reports the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), a Switzerland-based group that campaigns on behalf of forest people of Sarawak.
According to the NGO, on the morning of September 26, 200 Penan and Kenyah set up a blockade on the road used by trucks to deliver supplies to Murum dam, a controversial project being...
NY Fracking Policy Faces Do-Over
Posted by Shale Gas Review: Tom Wilber on September 29th, 2012
Shale Gas Review: New York officials crafting policy to regulate shale gas drilling amid unanswered health concerns will likely re-open the process to public hearings, essentially guaranteeing more momentum for the movement that has effectively stalled the industry’s advancement into the Empire State for more than four years.
Emily DeSantis, a spokeswoman for the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), said late this afternoon that agency officials expect to begin a new rulemaking process rather than try...
Flash floods hit southern Spain
Posted by Guardian: Jo Adetunji on September 29th, 2012
Guardian: Eight people have been killed and hundreds evacuated from their homes after extreme weather and flash floods hit southern Spain on Friday.
The flooding, caused by torrential rain after months of drought, hit areas around Murcia and Almería in the south-east and Málaga in the south.
A 52-year-old British woman is believed to be missing in Almería, according to a government official.
The weather brought down a motorway bridge and cars were swept away. Officials in the region said at least...
The Arctic’s changing climate first hand
Posted by Channel 4 News: Tom Clarke on September 29th, 2012
Channel 4 News: After days of drizzle, this morning it started to snow in Northern Greenland.
By the last days of September the ground would normally be white and the sea would be starting to freeze in the more sheltered bays and fjords.
But this hasn't been a normal year in the arctic - and as if to reinforce the point this morning's snow is melting as soon as it falls.
Earlier this month the amount of sea ice in the arctic ocean reached its minimum extent since records began. Though it still envelops...
Rio shift on climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 29th, 2012
Sydney Morning Herald: RIO Tinto's language on climate change has shifted, with the company now recognising that global warming is ''largely caused by human activities''.
Previously, Rio had accepted that human activities were making ''a contribution'' to climate change.
In a speech yesterday, Rio's head of coal in Australia, Bill Champion, said the company recognised the value of action on climate change.
''The scale of the necessary emissions reductions and the need for adaptation, coupled with the world's increasing...