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Archive for August, 2013
Keystone Decision Seen as Climate Change Test for Obama Abroad
Posted by Inside Climate: Katherine Bagley on August 15th, 2013
Inside Climate: The Keystone XL tar sands pipeline has become a top priority for environmental groups and some politicians who oppose the project—and not just in America. With tensions over the controversial pipeline reaching fever pitch stateside, political activists and leaders abroad are closely watching the developments on the Keystone as a barometer of how willing and able President Obama is to make hard policy choices on global warming, according to an informal InsideClimate News survey. "Obama's intentions...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Keystone Decision Seen as Climate Change Test for Obama AbroadHeatwaves projected to double by 2020, study says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 15th, 2013
Reuters: The areas of the world hit by heatwaves are set to double in size by 2020 and continue to grow in coming decades, as heat-trapping greenhouse gases warm the global climate, scientists in Germany and Spain said on Thursday.
The projections, based on new computer models and reviewing what the scientists said was an "exceptional number of extreme heatwaves" in the past decade, are more alarming than the conclusions of the U.N. panel of climate scientists last year.
That report by the Intergovernmental...
Warren Buffett invests in oil sands producer Suncor
Posted by CNN: Steve Hargreaves on August 15th, 2013
CNN: Warren Buffett just injected himself into one of the hottest environmental debates in the country.
On Thursday Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA, Fortune 500) announced through a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it bought $524 million worth of Suncor stock last quarter.
Suncor (SU) is a Canadian oil company that derives most of its current oil production -- and future expansion plans -- from Alberta's oil sands.
Preventing oil sands expansion is the main...
Dragonfly Study Shows How Ecosystem Changes Affect Biodiversity
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 14th, 2013
RedOrbit: Rice University researchers have found that communities in nature are likely to be a lot more sensitive to change than previously thought.
The study findings, published in Nature Communications, points to a need for scientists concerned with human impact on the biosphere to take a different look at the consequences of altering the dynamics of a population. One example of such alteration would be removing large members of a species through overfishing, according to Rice ecologist Volker Rudolph....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Dragonfly Study Shows How Ecosystem Changes Affect BiodiversityHeat wave continues to bake Japan
Posted by Japan Times: None Given on August 14th, 2013
Japan Times: The severe heat wave continued Tuesday to engulf wide areas of Japan, with temperatures in one western city reaching 40 degrees for the fourth day in a row, the Meteorological Agency said. The city of Shimanto, Kochi Prefecture, which on Monday logged the country’s highest temperature ever at 41.0, continued to swelter with a high of 40.0. The agency said Shimanto was the first observation point to reach 40 degrees four days in a row since it started monitoring such statistics in 1875. The city...
Scientists warn about extreme weather due to climate change
Posted by VietNamNet Bridge: None Given on August 14th, 2013
VietNamNet Bridge: Nine communicable diseases relating to the climate change have been found in Vietnam recently, according to the Department of Preventive Medicine and Environment under the Ministry of Health.
Flooding is getting serious in big cities like Hanoi and HCM City.
The nine diseases include A/H1N1 influenza, A/H5N1 influenza, dengue fever, malaria, cholera, typhoid, diarrhea, viral encephalitis and acute respiratory virus (SARS).
Do Thanh from the Ministry of Heath said Vietnam is a tropical country...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Scientists warn about extreme weather due to climate changeGlobal warming: Forests can’t win for losing
Posted by Summit County: None Given on August 14th, 2013
Summit County: Even if trees aren`t directly killed by drought, the ongoing stress of dry conditions can lead to more tree mortality in the aftermath of forest fires and prescribed burns.
The findings come from a new study that took a close look at varied forest types around the west, including in Colorado`s Rocky Mountain National Park.
Most of the data was compiled in areas where agencies conducted prescribed fires between 1984 and 2005. The researchers looked at more than 7,000 individual conifers.
They...
Crunch time for Keystone XL
Posted by Hill: Zack Colman on August 14th, 2013
Hill: It’s crunch time in the fight over constructing the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline.
Both sides believe a decision by President Obama could come by the end of the year, making the next few months critical for lobbying and messaging efforts.
Opponents plan a burst of demonstrations and other events across the country to rally environmental pressure on Obama to reject the Alberta-to-the-Gulf-Coast pipeline.
Supporters are also campaigning, with the American Petroleum Institute (API) promoting...
Extreme weather bears down on rice
Posted by China Daily: Zhong Nan on August 14th, 2013
China Daily: Drought, heat, heavy rain and floods in China's major rice-growing regions are likely to cut the country's harvest and increase reliance on imports, industry experts have forecast.
An ongoing drought has harmed rice crops in Central and East China's major rice-growing regions such as Hunan and Jiangxi provinces.
Meanwhile, heavy rain and floods have hit Heilongjiang province in Northeast China.
In addition, a heat wave has scorched 13 provincial-level areas and left about 6 million people...
Climate change in NJ: State report details what’s happened, what’s coming
Posted by Philadelphia Inqurier: Sandy Bauers on August 14th, 2013
Philadelphia Inqurier: How is the climate already changing in New Jersey? Higher temperatures in both summer and winter. Different rainfall patterns. Sea level rise. More "extreme events' such as storms, floods and hot spells. On Monday, the New Jersey Sierra Club drew attention to a state climate change report updated and posted on the state website in June. Jeff Tittel, director of the environmental organization, suggested that since the state posted it without fanfare, officials were trying to hide it. Folks at the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change in NJ: State report details what’s happened, what’s coming