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Archive for September, 2013
Warm Water Under Antarctic Glacier Spurs Speedy Melting Rate
Posted by LiveScience: Denise Chow on September 13th, 2013
LiveScience: A two-month-long expedition to one of the most remote sites on the planet — the sprawling Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica — has revealed that currents of warm water beneath the glacier are melting the ice at a staggering rate of about 2.4 inches (6 centimeters) per day. An international team of researchers journeyed to the southernmost continent to study the Pine Island Glacier, which is the longest and fastest-changing glacier on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. This region, in the far reaches of...
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Comments Off on Warm Water Under Antarctic Glacier Spurs Speedy Melting RateThree dead, thousands evacuated in Colorado flooding
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 13th, 2013
Reuters: Flooding that killed at least three people in Colorado, toppling buildings and stranding drivers, worsened overnight as record rains pounded the state, forcing thousands more residents to flee to higher ground, officials said.
The unusual late-summer downpours drenched Colorado's biggest urban centers, stretching 130 miles along the eastern slopes of the Rockies from Fort Collins near the Wyoming border south through Boulder, Denver and Colorado Springs.
In Boulder, the rainfall record for...
One-Third of World’s Food Goes to Waste
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on September 13th, 2013
Environment News Service: One-third of all the world's food is wasted every year at enormous economic and environmental cost, finds a United Nations report released Wednesday.
The report, "Food Wastage Footprint: Impacts on Natural Resources," is the first study to analyze the impacts of global food wastage from an environmental perspective, looking at its consequences for the climate, water and land use, and biodiversity.
The waste of 1.3 billion tons of food each year is damaging to the environment and causes economic...
USDA, Coca-Cola to sign 5-year partnership to help restore watersheds on national forest land
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 13th, 2013
Associated Press: The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Coca-Cola on Friday will sign a five-year agreement to restore watersheds that have been damaged or altered by development, wildfires and agriculture as part of an initiative to slow runoff and replenish groundwater on federal lands. Such efforts are increasingly important to corporations and farmers who rely on water and to tens of millions of people whose drinking water originates in the national forest system, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. But...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on USDA, Coca-Cola to sign 5-year partnership to help restore watersheds on national forest landChannels of Meltwater Detected in Antarctic Glacier
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on September 12th, 2013
Climate Central: An ambitious new study of Antarctica's ice shelves using an array of instruments, including sensors lowered more than 1,000 feet below the ice, has revealed clues about the mechanisms that are causing the Pine Island Glacier Ice Shelf, which holds back a portion of the massive West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), to melt. The study, along with other ongoing research, could result in more accurate estimates of future sea level rise.
The new study, published on Thursday in the journal Science, provides...
Wasted food is world’s third-biggest carbon emitter after China and US: UN
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 12th, 2013
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The food the world wastes accounts for more greenhouse gas emissions than any country except for China and the United States, according to a United Nations report.
It says every year about a third of all food for human consumption, around 1.3 billion tonnes, is wasted, along with all the energy, water and chemicals needed to produce it and dispose of it.
Almost 30 per cent of the world's farmland, and a volume of water equivalent to the annual discharge of Europe's River Volga, are in effect...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Wasted food is world’s third-biggest carbon emitter after China and US: UNFive-fold rise seen in UK landslides
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 12th, 2013
BBC: Over the last 14 months there has been a five-fold increase in reported landslides in the UK, scientists say.
The British Geological Survey (BGS) has over 16,000 records of landscapes, used to compare variations over time.
In one month alone - December 2012 - there were 75 UK landslides, compared with a typical annual average of 60.
The link between heavy rainfall in 2012 and landslides in the same period was reported at the British Science Festival in Newcastle.
"We saw significant increases,...
French Fukushima cartoon offends Japan
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 12th, 2013
Guardian: Japan is to lodge an official complaint about a cartoon in a French newspaper that links the Fukushima nuclear disaster with Tokyo's successful bid to host the 2020 Olympics.
The cartoon, which appeared on Wednesday in the satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine, shows two sumo wrestlers – each with an extra arm or leg – with the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the background.
At the edge of the panel, a TV announcer dressed in a hazardous materials suit says: "Marvellous! Thanks...
Warming climate changes Greenland’s landscape as we watch
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 12th, 2013
Minnesota Public Radio: A warming climate is reshaping Greenland as scientists watch, says Paul Huttner, chief meteorologist for MPR News.
Runoff from melting glaciers threatens to raise the world's sea level. But the retreating ice is also revealing places never seen before, sparking interest among mining and oil and gas companies.
"This is one of the interesting opportunities evolving as the climate changes, whether we like it or not," Huttner said. "Mineral companies, oil and gas companies, they are racing to explore...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Warming climate changes Greenland’s landscape as we watchAustralia: Why defence force must plan for climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 12th, 2013
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: We expect our military to be ready to deal with all sorts of humanitarian and disaster relief emergencies. That should include the impact of climate change, argues Chris Barrie.
In March last year I attended a conference held by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office on climate change and security. I am sure that my invitation resulted from my membership of the Expert Advisory Panel for the Australian National University's Climate Change Institute.
At that conference, I was astonished to find...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Australia: Why defence force must plan for climate change