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Archive for October 13th, 2013
United Kingdom: Waste crime crackdown shuts 25 illegal sites a week
Posted by Guardian: Fiona Harvey, on October 13th, 2013
Guardian: A crackdown on illegal waste and fly-tipping resulted in 1,279 unlicensed dumping sites being shut down in England last year – roughly 25 every week – according to figures published by the Environment Agency.
But the number of successful prosecutions of waste criminals was down, with 171 last year compared to 249 in 2011-12.
Most illegal sites are closed within a year of opening, but rogue disposal firms open up at new locations all the time.
Penalties for waste criminals have been toughened....
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on United Kingdom: Waste crime crackdown shuts 25 illegal sites a weekGreenhouse Gas Emissions Rate Puts Billion More at Risk
Posted by Climate News Network: Paul Brown on October 13th, 2013
Climate News Network: Allowing the Earth’s temperature to rise by more than 3.6ºF will see dramatic changes in vegetation across the planet and expose a billion more people to severe water scarcity, according to new research.
So vast are the potential changes that the scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany comment that they doubt if humans have the capacity to manage the impacts it will have.
A temperature rise of 9°F would cause all ice-free land on the planet to experience...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Rate Puts Billion More at RiskClimate change: a survivors’ guide
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 13th, 2013
Guardian: 1 Stay cool, dry
Britain is expected to get more extremes of heat and rainfall, so prepare for more severe floods, longer droughts and more powerful storms. No one knows quite what the effect over time will be of a slowing Gulf stream, or the melting of arctic sea ice, but climate scientists confidently expect temperatures to rise up to 4C by 2100. That could mean big shifts in rainfall patterns and a more unpredictable climate. So clear your drains, fix your roof and move to Wales – or at least...
Italy: First test of Venice’s 5.4 billion euro flood barriers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 13th, 2013
Agence France-Presse: Flood-prone Venice on Saturday carried out the first test of its 5.4 billion euro ($7.3 billion) barrier system known as "Moses", designed to protect the Renaissance city from rising sea levels.
The ambitious engineering project involves installing 78 mobile barriers divided into four sections at the three inlets to the Venice lagoon, with the largest inlet divided in half by an artificial island.
Fifty companies have been involved in the massive project overseen by the Venezia Nuova consortium,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Italy: First test of Venice’s 5.4 billion euro flood barriersVoters in four Colorado cities may call timeout on fracking
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 13th, 2013
Denver Post: Front Range residents are forcing faceoffs over oil and gas drilling in their midst, challenging the power of state regulators charged with balancing drilling and protection of health and the environment.
Four ballot measures put forth by residents of Boulder, Broomfield, Fort Collins and Lafayette will give voters the chance to declare timeout -- and, in one case, ban new drilling and industry-waste disposal.
This resistance reflects Colorado's emergence as a battle zone for hashing out the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Voters in four Colorado cities may call timeout on frackingCanada: Group blasts oilsands in U.S
Posted by Canadian Press: William Marsden on October 13th, 2013
Canadian Press: Five prominent Canadian environmentalists told Washington lawmakers this week that the Keystone XL pipeline will lead to such a huge growth in oilsands' carbon emissions, it will help tip the world into catastrophic climate change.
Although Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently told Americans that Canada would not take "no for an answer" on the pipeline, until the project is approved, the environmentalists said further expansion of the oilsands should be immediately stopped - followed by a gradual...
After the flood: climate change blamed for Himalayan tragedy
Posted by Financial Times: Victor Mallet on October 13th, 2013
Financial Times: “Before the flood,” says Chandan Singh Rawat, who runs a ramshackle tea house perched above the mountain torrent of the upper Ganges, “business was great. We didn’t even have time to talk to people.” But four months after flash floods swept down the Himalayan valleys of the Ganges tributaries in India, killing nearly 6,000 people and sweeping away roads and bridges, locals such as Mr Rawat have time on their hands and little source of income. “We live from day to day,” he says. Every year, tens...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on After the flood: climate change blamed for Himalayan tragedyHarvard Finds Fossil Fuels Indispensable
Posted by Motley Fool: None Given on October 13th, 2013
Motley Fool: At $32.7 billion, Harvard's endowment is among the largest in the country. The strong returns of the assets owned within the endowment are the main reason it has grown so large. In fact, over the past two decades Harvard's endowment has returned 12% per year, with a portion of those gains fueled by the fossil fuel-related investments it has held. Some, however, have suggested that those fossil fuel investments ought not be held, as the emissions these create are what's driving climate change that...
Britain’s lost rivers resurrected and freed to go with the flow
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 13th, 2013
Guardian: The brick-lined culvert that runs through the centre of Manchester's Philips Park has all the charm of an open sewer. There are no grassy banks, no fish, no reeds or other aquatic plants, no signs of life. Apart from a few broken bottles and an occasional rusting supermarket trolley, the waterway – built at the turn of the 20th century – is featureless and sterile for its entire mile-long course through the park.
The 2m-wide channel could pass for a section of the city's sewage works. In fact,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Britain’s lost rivers resurrected and freed to go with the flowUnited Kingdom: Biscathorpe protest over oil drilling plans
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 13th, 2013
BBC: Residents in Lincolnshire are holding a protest walk against a company's plans to drill for oil in a field close to their homes.
Egdon Resources Ltd wants planning permission for an exploratory well at land at Biscathorpe, near Louth.
The firm said it was "always open and transparent" with planned operations and stated that "no fracking would take place" in the area.
Lincolnshire County Council is due to consider the application next month.
'Democratic processes'
Local environmental...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: Biscathorpe protest over oil drilling plans