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Archive for June, 2013
Weather systems clash led to India floods
Posted by BBC: Navin Singh Khadka on June 22nd, 2013
BBC: An unusually intensive fusion of two weather systems from opposite directions triggered this week's devastating floods in northern India and western Nepal, authorities have said.
They say the monsoon advancing towards the west of South Asia combined with westerly winds for an unusually long time and with an extraordinary intensity, which resulted in days of torrential rains.
Weather authorities in India and Pakistan have warned there is still a threat that the dangerous combination will cause...
One dead, thousands without power after storms hit U.S. Midwest
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 22nd, 2013
Reuters: One woman is dead and more than 200,000 homes and businesses are without power in the upper Midwest on Saturday after severe thunderstorms struck parts of the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin with damaging winds, lightning and baseball-sized hail. The storms developed in the Dakotas on Friday and powered through Minnesota into Wisconsin, producing wind gusts up to 85 mph and large hailstones, some in excess of 4 inches in diameter, as well as short-lived tornadoes, said Brynn Kerr, a meteorologist...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on One dead, thousands without power after storms hit U.S. MidwestIndian floods sweep away villages near holy site, leaving at least 575 dead
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 22nd, 2013
Guardian: Flash floods and landslides unleashed by early monsoon rains have killed at least 575 people in northern India, with tens of thousands of people still missing and entire villages destroyed. More heavy rain is forecast.
Rescue efforts involving 12,000 soldiers are continuing, and more than 50 air force helicopters have been dropping food, water and medical supplies to people trapped by the water in the foothills of the Himalayas. Others are airlifting survivors where they can be reached.
Tourists...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Indian floods sweep away villages near holy site, leaving at least 575 deadIndia floods death toll rises – in pictures
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 22nd, 2013
Guardian: Vehicles are parked near buildings damaged by floods and landslides in Govindghat, India. Soldiers were working to evacuate tens of thousands of people still stranded in northern India where nearly 600 people have been killed in monsoon flooding and landslides
At least three dead as Canada floods force large-scale Calgary evacuation
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 22nd, 2013
Guardian: At least three people have been killed by floodwaters that devastated much of southern Alberta, leading authorities to evacuate the city of Calgary's entire downtown.
The Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, called the level of flooding "stunning" and said officials don't know yet if it will get worse. Harper also said the water had peaked and stabilized and noted that the weather has improved.
Overflowing rivers washed out roads and bridges, soaked homes and turned streets into dirt-brown...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on At least three dead as Canada floods force large-scale Calgary evacuationWhich South Africa province uses most energy?
Posted by Cape Times: Melanie Gosling on June 22nd, 2013
Cape Times: Each person in the Western Cape generates more greenhouse gas than the average South African -- and more than individuals in Brazil, India and China. The province generates 8.4 tons of greenhouse gas a person -- on a par with developed European nations. It also means we use more energy than the rest of the country to produce the same contribution to GDP. This was one of the findings given in the State of Environment Report released by the provincial Department of Environmental Affairs and Development...
Old King Coal: the end is nigh
Posted by Cental Western Daily: Nick King on June 22nd, 2013
Cental Western Daily: THINGS are happening that will see the end of Old King Coal. He is a luxury we can no longer afford. A recent report titled The Critical Decade 2013-Climate Change Science, Risks and Responses states that Australia’s fossil fuel industries, including of course coal, should be phased out because of their contribution to climate change. The report recommends that if Australia is to pull its weight in combating climate change, most of its coal reserves will have to be left in the ground. Australia...
Lessons in coastal restoration from Vietnam
Posted by Nola: R. King Milling on June 22nd, 2013
Nola: World Delta Dialogues II recently concluded in Saigon - now Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The first World Delta Dialogues was held in New Orleans two and a half years ago. Both were organized by the America's WETLAND Foundation. What began as a call for networking among the planet's mega-deltas in 2010 has led us in 2013 to the first "Communiqué of Cooperation" for sustaining the world's most productive ecosystems. This gathering in Ho Chi Minh City met a half a world and a dozen time zones away....
Iowa’s floods: A window into climate change
Posted by press-citizen: Connie Mutel on June 22nd, 2013
press-citizen: When my sons were young, a wise friend advised me to live in the day but always simultaneously consider my children’s distant future. I took that maxim to heart. Whenever I read to the boys, taught them or disciplined them, I tried to consider where my actions might lead and what my boys might be like in 10, 20, or 30 years. On June 6, Johnson County governmental and university officials presented a flood forum at the Iowa City Public Library, where they described how they had responded to the 2008...
As Calgary floods, scientists warn of rising risks
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on June 22nd, 2013
Climate Central: The normally tame Bow and Elbow Rivers that course their way through downtown Calgary, Alberta, have taken over the city, transforming Canada's fourth-largest city into North America's Venice. A slow-moving storm system, coming on top of an unusually wet spring, has produced massive flooding across southern Alberta, prompting tens of thousands to hastily evacuate sections of Calgary, and producing surreal images of the city's landmarks, such as the Calgary Stampede grounds, under several feet of...