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Archive for November 13th, 2013
Climate change makes super typhoons worse, says UN meteorological agency
Posted by Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Mary Gearin on November 13th, 2013
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The United Nations meteorological agency has found the effects of climate change are making the impact of severe storms like Typhoon Haiyan worse.
The World Meteorological Organisation's Michel Jarraud says Australia's record-breaking summer helped push average global temperatures higher this year, and rising sea levels worsened the situation in the Philippines.
"The impact of this cyclone was definitely significantly more than what it would have been 100 years ago because of the simple mechanical...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Climate change makes super typhoons worse, says UN meteorological agencyMajority of red-state Americans believe climate change is real, study shows
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 13th, 2013
Guardian: A vast majority of red-state Americans believe climate change is real and at least two-thirds of those want the government to cut greenhouse gas emissions, new research revealed on Wednesday.
The research, by Stanford University social psychologist Jon Krosnick, confounds the conventional wisdom of climate denial as a central pillar of Republican politics, and practically an article of faith for Tea Party conservatives.
Instead, the findings suggest far-reaching acceptance that climate change...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Majority of red-state Americans believe climate change is real, study showsLandowners to sue Cuomo, NY, over ‘arbitrary’ fracking delay
Posted by Journal News: Jon Campbell on November 13th, 2013
Journal News: A pro-drilling landowners group says it will sue Gov. Andrew Cuomo, claiming he has arbitrarily delayed a decision on hydraulic fracturing for no “valid, rational or legally defensible reason.”
In a newsletter sent to its members Tuesday, the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York sent out the lawsuit it intends to file against the state, Cuomo and the commissioners of the Health and Environmental Conservation departments. But the group is trying to raise money to pay the legal costs before the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Landowners to sue Cuomo, NY, over ‘arbitrary’ fracking delayIn the Philippines, clouds of a different colour
Posted by Globe and Mail: Miguel Syjuco on November 13th, 2013
Globe and Mail: By now, the world knows the devastation wrought on the Philippines by Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms ever to make landfall. It's left thousands dead, hundreds of thousands homeless, millions needing aid, and billions of dollars in damage - in a region still reeling from the Oct. 15 earthquake that destroyed more than 70,000 homes and demolished centuries-old churches. Filipinos' problems go far beyond Mother Nature, though: For a corrupt, ill-led country like mine, one can't help...
Report: Obama’s ethanol policy has ravaged the environment
Posted by Al Jazeera: None Given on November 13th, 2013
Al Jazeera: When President Barack Obama gave a major policy speech on reducing greenhouse gases last June, he didn't once mention ethanol, an alcohol-based fuel distilled from fermented corn. Biofuels in general — which are extracted from plant or animal matter — received a brief, passing reference. But when the Iowa political caucuses were on the horizon in 2007, then–presidential candidate Obama made homegrown corn a centerpiece of his plan to slow global warming. And when former President George W. Bush...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Report: Obama’s ethanol policy has ravaged the environmentClimate change effects are already felt in the southeast U.S., and will worsen
Posted by WFPL: Erica Peterson on November 13th, 2013
WFPL: A new report says climate change and variability is already affecting 11 southeastern states, including Kentucky, and it’s projected to worsen over the next two decades.
The report released by non-profit Climate Nexus represents the work of more than 100 scientists from various governmental and private organizations. It’s a comprehensive look at the effect climate change will have--and is already having--on the region.
These include a number of effects that you’ve probably heard about before:...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change effects are already felt in the southeast U.S., and will worsenPhilippines: Lessons from Typhoon Haiyan
Posted by Spiegel: Axel Bojanowski on November 13th, 2013
Spiegel: Many at the climate conference in Warsaw and around the world see a link between global warming and the devastating typhoon in the Philippines. But several studies point to other causes -- and even more worrisome trends.
The UN climate conference got off to a deeply emotional start in Warsaw on Monday. "It's time to stop this madness," said Yeb Sano, the lead Filipino delegate, fighting tears over the death toll of an estimated 10,000 from the typhoon catastrophe, in an address to his counterparts...
US owes us climate debt – PH environmentalists
Posted by Rappler: None Given on November 13th, 2013
Rappler: Developed countries responsible for global warming must pay for losses and damages experienced by developing countries due to disasters related to climate change.
This was the demand made by Filipino environmentalists during a rally in Manila on Monday, November 11, that coincided with the opening of the United Nations climate talks in Warsaw, Poland. (READ: Stop this climate crisis madness)
The rally was held only two days after Super Typhoon Yolanda (international codename Haiyan) exited...
Canada launches new attack against EU’s proposed dirty oil rules
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 13th, 2013
Reuters: Canada on Wednesday renewed its attack on the European Union's plan to classify Canadian tar sands oil as particularly dirty and released a study questioning the data behind the controversial measure.
Canada has the world's third-largest proven reserves of crude, much of which is locked in the tar sands of Alberta. Extracting the oil requires more energy than conventional production, a fact regularly highlighted by environmental campaigners.
The EU is working on a Fuel Quality Directive (FQD)...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada launches new attack against EU’s proposed dirty oil rulesTyphoon Haiyan: perfect storm of corruption & neglect
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 13th, 2013
Ecologist: Why did Typhoon Haiyan wreak such havoc on the Philippines? In a country that sees 20 tropical storms every year, it would be natural to expect some form of planning for such disasters. But a neglectful government distracted by political chaos meant Filipinos received little warning of the coming storm. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) has tracked tropical storms since 1948. Between 1948 and 2012, about 1250 typhoons have landed in the Philippines....