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Archive for September, 2013
Local control is an issue as Utica Shale drilling ramps up in Ohio
Posted by EnergyWire: Peter Behr on September 18th, 2013
EnergyWire: A new "anti-fracking" initiative has been put on this city's municipal ballot for a November vote, as environmental activists attempt to block development of the Utica Shale play before production accelerates next year in eastern Ohio.
Backers of the proposed "Community Bill of Rights" charter amendment here hope to capitalize on public reaction to the ongoing prosecution of a firm accused of dumping thousands of gallons of fracking wastewater into the city's storm sewer last winter. State inspectors...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Local control is an issue as Utica Shale drilling ramps up in OhioIn Australia, an uphill battle to rein in the power of coal
Posted by Yale Environment 360: Samiha Shafy on September 18th, 2013
Yale Environment 360: The lucky country, as Australians call their homeland, sits on enormous deposits of natural resources: uranium, zinc, iron ore, lead, bauxite, copper, gold, manganese, and nickel. But among its greatest assets are the world‘s fourth-largest coal reserves -- an estimated 76.4 billion tons, or 9 percent of global reserves.
Coal mining has powered the Australian economy for decades. In recent years, thanks to the seemingly insatiable energy appetite of China and other Asian countries, Australia’s...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on In Australia, an uphill battle to rein in the power of coalMelt from below helping shrink Antarctic glaciers
Posted by LiveScience: Charles Q. Choi on September 18th, 2013
LiveScience: The ice that Antarctica is losing as chunks break off the continent's many glaciers may be only the tip of the iceberg. Scientists now find much of the ice Antarctica loses is due to melting from the undersides of ice shelves. During the last decade, the Antarctic ice sheet has been melting an increasing amount each year, mostly in the western portion of the continent. Most of the ice Antarctica loses is replaced by snowfall, but any ice that is not replaced adds to a rise in global sea level. ...
Heatwave & wildfires worsened Colorado flooding
Posted by New Scientist: Alyssa A. Botelho on September 18th, 2013
New Scientist: A truly ferocious and exceptional event. That is how Kevin Trenberth of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, describes the storm that pummelled his state last week.
"This was a once-in-1000-year rainfall," he says, meaning that the storm was of such an intensity and duration that it had a 1-in-1000 chance of occurring in any given year in Colorado.
The rains and subsequent floods have so far killed eight people, displaced 11,750 and destroyed close to 18,000 homes....
Chaos as floods submerge Mexico’s Acapulco, death toll rises
Posted by Reuters: Alberto Fajardo and Luis Enrique Martinez on September 18th, 2013
Reuters: Mexico's famous beach resort of Acapulco was in chaos on Tuesday as hotels rationed food for thousands of stranded tourists and floodwaters swallowed homes and cars after some of the most damaging storms in decades killed at least 55 people across the country.
Television footage showed Acapulco's international airport terminal waist deep in water and workers wading out to escape floods that have prevented some 40,000 visitors from leaving and blocked one of the main access routes to the city with...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Chaos as floods submerge Mexico’s Acapulco, death toll risesCanada: Flood will cost City of Toronto more than $60 million
Posted by Toronto Star: Kim Nursall on September 18th, 2013
Toronto Star: The severe summer storm that flooded Toronto’s subway system, spewing water from manholes and causing widespread erosion to ravines, parks and roadways will have cost the city more than $60 million when all is said and done, says a recent report by the city manager.
Joseph Pennachetti says the July 8 storm highlighted major deficiencies in Toronto’s storm water infrastructure, and calls on the provincial and federal governments to help cover the costs of improvements.
Pennachetti’s report estimates...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada: Flood will cost City of Toronto more than $60 millionKenya: Optimizing Corn Production in the Face of Climate Change
Posted by Environmental News Network: Robin Valinski on September 18th, 2013
Environmental News Network: Kenya is no stranger to adaptation when it comes to food production. Kenya's cultural and political underpinnings are reliant upon adaptation to current climatic conditions. Present predictions are that drastic adaptation will be necessary once again. According to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), climate change is likely to threaten maize production for farmers in certain areas...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Kenya: Optimizing Corn Production in the Face of Climate ChangeUK government rejects current Severn barrage plans
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 18th, 2013
Guardian: Plans for a tidal barrage generating power on the Severn estuary were dealt a further blow on Wednesday when the government ruled out proceeding on current plans.
However, ministers said if major changes were made to the scheme, with new environmental studies and reassurances over financing and technology, it could be revived and given serious consideration.
The only current proposals for a barrage come from Hafren Power, which has the backing of the former Welsh secretary Peter Hain, which...
China to publish monthly list of 10 worst polluted cites
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 18th, 2013
Reuters: China will publish a list of its 10 worst - and best - cities for air pollution each month, a top leader said on Wednesday, as the country pushes officials to dispel a persistent smog crisis that is fuelling public anger.
Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli said the move would help cities meet targets for cleaning up their air and promote more environmentally-friendly economic growth, the central government said on its website (www.gov.cn).
It did not say when publication of the lists would start.
"Local...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on China to publish monthly list of 10 worst polluted citesInformal gold mining in Peru’s Amazon
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 18th, 2013
Guardian: Tailings produced by informal mining in Peru's Madre de Dios region, 13 September 2013. A study of mercury contamination from rampant informal gold mining in Peru's Amazon says indigenous people who get their protein mostly from fish are the most affected, particularly their children