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Archive for January 8th, 2013
Australia faces another week of ‘catastrophic’ heat
Posted by New Scientist: Andy Coghlan and Michael Slezak on January 8th, 2013
New Scientist: "No relief can be expected from severe heatwave conditions for at least another week," says Danita Matusch, spokesperson for the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. The country is sweltering under a record-smashing "dome of heat" causing the worst fire threat on record, and forcing Australian meteorologists to add two colours to their heat maps.
On Monday, the average maximum temperature across the country was 40.33 °C, surpassing the old record of 40.17 °C set in 1976. "Previously, the only time...
Temperatures to rise by six degrees in Arab countries
Posted by Guardian: Laurence Caramel on January 8th, 2013
Guardian: Countries in the Middle East and north Africa will be among those hardest hit by global warming, unless the upward trend for greenhouse gas emissions can be checked, the World Bank warned last month at the Doha climate change conference.
There will be lower rainfall, higher temperatures and continuing desertification, said Rachel Kyte, World Bank vice-president for sustainable development, during her presentation of the report on Adaptation to a Changing Climate in the Arab Countries.
According...
Brazil’s hot, dry summer may lead to energy rationing
Posted by Environment Health: None Given on January 8th, 2013
Environment Health: Brazil faces the possibility of widespread energy rationing for the first time since 2001, as a hot, dry summer has deprived hydroelectric dams of needed water while boosting power use to run air conditioners in sweltering cities.
Even if the country escapes rationing, electricity experts say it may have to boost use of thermo-electric power - a more expensive option which could undermine President Dilma Rousseff's plans to lower energy rates.
Energy Minister Edison Lobao said the extra cost...
Australia: Records will keep tumbling with blistering heatwaves here to stay
Posted by Environment Health: Ben Cubby on January 8th, 2013
Environment Health: THE heatwave that has scorched the nation since Christmas is a taste of things to come, with this week's records set to tumble again and again in the coming years, climate scientists said.
The hottest average maximum temperature ever recorded across Australia - 40.33 degrees, set on Monday - might stand for only 24 hours and be eclipsed when all of Tuesday's readings come in. The previous record had stood since December 21, 1972.
''The current heatwave - in terms of its duration, its intensity...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Australia: Records will keep tumbling with blistering heatwaves here to stayTime for action as disaster risks rise, insurer says
Posted by Sydney Morning Herald: Peter Hannam on January 8th, 2013
Sydney Morning Herald: Australia's exposure to natural risks is on the increase and governments at all levels should step up joint efforts to limit the losses and prevent insurance costs from spiralling higher, one of the country's biggest insurers says.
Modest investments in flood or fire mitigation measures can significantly reduce the cost of the disasters when they inevitably occur, Suncorp Group said in its Risky Business report on risk management.
"More frequent extreme weather events, economic growth, urbanisation...
‘Dome of heat’ to stretch fire services in Australia
Posted by Sydney Morning Herald: Adrian Lowe, Stephen Cauchi, Deborah Gough and Bridie Smith Read more: http://w on January 8th, 2013
Sydney Morning Herald: The tiny community of Drik Drik in the state`s south west has had a momentary reprieve from fires that threatened it on Monday night, Country Fire Authority deputy incident controller Andy Cusack said.
Mr Cusack said the fire had burnt scrub near the front and a wind change had turned the fire back from Drik Drik.
It’s going to be a severe day and...we will see the potential for fires to start early in the day and, without much time at all, they become uncontrolled fires, which is the major...
Qatar builds farms in the desert
Posted by Guardian: Laurence Caramel on January 8th, 2013
Guardian: Jean-Pierre Moreau grows flowers – roses, gladioli and chrysanthemums – out in the desert, about 30km west of Doha. At the request of the emir of Qatar, Hamad Ben Khalifa al-Thani, the Frenchman is producing 4m flowers a year with a workforce of 60, mainly from Nepal and India.
Inside the 55,000 sq metres of greenhouses at Roza Hassad, the decor bears little resemblance to the stony, windswept landscape outside. At 30-second intervals the computerised control system adjusts the moisture and light...
Modest drought relief seen in U.S.; wheat winterkill eyed
Posted by Reuters: Sam Nelson on January 8th, 2013
Reuters: Some modest relief is expected this week from the worst drought in over 50 years in the U.S. crop belt and volatile weather patterns are shifting attention to potential harm or winterkill in the U.S. Plains hard red winter wheat region, meteorologists said on Tuesday.
Heavy rainfall is expected this week in the U.S. Delta extending into central Texas and the showers will move into portions of the southern Midwest, an agricultural meteorologist said on Tuesday.
"The strong storm system will...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Modest drought relief seen in U.S.; wheat winterkill eyedAustralia adds new colour to temperature maps as heat soars
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 8th, 2013
Guardian: Global warming is turning the volume of extreme weather up, Spinal-Tap-style, to 11. The temperature forecast for next Monday by Australia's Bureau of Meteorology is so unprecedented - over 52C - that it has had to add a new colour to the top of its scale, a suitably incandescent purple.
Australia's highest recorded temperature is 50.7C, set in January 1960 in South Australia. The record for the hottest average day across the nation was set on Monday, at 40.3C, exceeding a 40-year-old record....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Australia adds new colour to temperature maps as heat soarsUnited Kingdom: Charles speaks of fears for grandchild
Posted by The News: None Given on January 8th, 2013
The News: The prospect of becoming a grandfather to the baby of Prince William and his wife Catherine has strengthened Prince Charles's determination to fight climate change, he said in an interview broadcast on Monday.
The heir to the British throne, an outspoken environmental campaigner, said he did not want his first grandchild to ask him why he had not done more to halt climate change.
Prince William and Catherine, both 30, announced her first pregnancy in December and their baby is expected this...