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Archive for September, 2013
New study of the Arctic Ocean finds alarming increase in acidity
Posted by Environmental News Network: Roger Greenway, Enn on September 15th, 2013
Environmental News Network: If you ever had a marine aquarium (or a swimming pool) you know that it is very important to keep the level of acidity (ph) within a narrow range for optimum results. In the case of the pool, to minimize corrosion of the metal parts in a heater and to reduce damage to the pool lining or paint. In the case of the aquarium, the ph is directly related to the health of coral and fish. The ocean is no different. Acidity is an important parameter that relates to many other parameters including the health...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on New study of the Arctic Ocean finds alarming increase in acidityClimate change not on Wisconsin politicians’ radar: Bill Lueders column
Posted by Wisconsin Rapids Tribune: Bill Lueders on September 15th, 2013
Wisconsin Rapids Tribune: The Wisconsin Federation of College Republicans made national news recently for taking an audacious stand: In a statement bashing President Barack Obama’s “nanny-state” climate-change initiatives, the state campus group argued that this is an issue the GOP should address. “It is time we apply conservative principles to climate policy,” the statement said, quoting a member who predicted, “Wisconsin will lead.” That may be overly optimistic. A recent study ranked Wisconsin 19th in the nation for...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change not on Wisconsin politicians’ radar: Bill Lueders columnDrought shines light on NM climate change
Posted by Silver City Sun-News: Vincent P. Gutschick, John Nelson and Loe Ellen Kay on September 15th, 2013
Silver City Sun-News: The current six-year drought in our area is demonstrating the effects of climate change in New Mexico. Farmers have been hit especially hard, with severely reduced irrigation allotments, and the Rio Grande is conspicuously dry over extended times and reaches.
We need to learn what can be done about climate change, either to slow it down or to help us to deal with its effects. Much work has been done already, so an important national hearing on climate change on Sept. 18 should have experts as...
Scarcity Reveals an Inaccessible Excess
Posted by Inter Press Service: Miriam Gathigah on September 15th, 2013
Inter Press Service: For decades Zakayo Ekeno has walked Turkana County's arid land, herding his livestock, and his father's before that. Yet nothing about the persistently drought-stricken land in northern Kenya could have given him an indication of the wealth beneath it.
"I have asked myself many times whether anything good can come out of this godforsaken land," Ekeno says. Turkana is the most arid and poorest of Kenya's 47 counties and in 2011 almost 9.5 million people of the mainly nomad community here were...
Colorado floods: rescuers rush to evacuate stranded communities
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 15th, 2013
Associated Press: Rescuers broke through to flood-ravaged Colorado towns, issuing a stern warning to anyone thinking of staying behind: leave now or be prepared to endure weeks without electricity, running water and basic supplies.
National Guard helicopters and truck convoys carried the message into paralyzed canyon communities where thousands of stranded residents were eager to escape the Rocky Mountain foothills. But not everybody was willing to go. Dozens of people in the isolated community of Jamestown wanted...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Colorado floods: rescuers rush to evacuate stranded communitiesFifth fatality feared in Colorado floods as towns evacuated
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 15th, 2013
Reuters: Colorado authorities warned on Sunday that the death toll likely would rise from historic flooding in the state as a second person was confirmed missing and presumed dead, in addition to four deaths previously verified.
An 80-year-old woman whose home was washed away by floodwaters in Larimer County was the latest victim feared dead from the week-long rains, said sheriff's spokesman John Schulz.
"The woman was injured and couldn't get out of her house, and when neighbors went back to help her,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Fifth fatality feared in Colorado floods as towns evacuatedAmid Drought, Explaining Colorado’s Extreme Floods
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 14th, 2013
National Geographic: University of Colorado, Boulder law school professor Brad Udall has long written and lectured about water issues in the American West, but this week’s Colorado floods have brought the subject to his doorstep.
Four people have lost their lives in flooding this week that has engulfed swaths of Colorado and that has forced thousands to evacuate their homes.
Udall, director of the University of Colorado, Boulder’s Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy and the Environment says that...
Goal to cap temperature rise will still leave hundreds of millions thirsty – study
Posted by ClimateWire: Elizabeth Harball on September 14th, 2013
ClimateWire: A new study projects that hundreds of millions of people will soon live in regions at an increased risk of water scarcity, even if the average global temperature rise is limited to 2 degrees Celsius, the cap cited in several U.N. agreements.
Published today in the journal Environmental Research Letters, the paper predicts that an additional 8 percent of the world's current population, or 486 million people, will be forced to cope with new or exacerbated water scarcity even if international agreements...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Goal to cap temperature rise will still leave hundreds of millions thirsty – studyKeystone XL: As senators promote symbolic vote, Canadian ambassador touts nation’s climate record
Posted by ClimateWire: Elana Schor on September 14th, 2013
ClimateWire: As the Senate weighs a symbolic vote on the oil sands crude pipeline that has rallied green opposition to a degree rivaled only by proposed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Canada's ambassador to the United States yesterday walked a line increasingly familiar to his government -- committing to stronger climate change action but refusing to link those moves to approval of Keystone XL. Ambassador Gary Doer spoke alongside American Petroleum Institute CEO Jack Gerard at an anniversary...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Keystone XL: As senators promote symbolic vote, Canadian ambassador touts nation’s climate recordAfter coal, W.Va. push for natural gas trust fund
Posted by Associated Press: Bruce Schreiner on September 14th, 2013
Associated Press: For decades, coal from West Virginia's vast deposits was mined, loaded on rail cars and hauled off without leaving behind a lasting trust fund financed by the state's best-known commodity. Big coal's days are waning, but now a new bonanza in the natural gas fields has state leaders working to ensure history doesn't repeat itself.
West Virginia's Senate president, Jeff Kessler, is pushing to create an oil and natural gas trust fund to support core government functions decades from now. His goal:...