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Archive for November 16th, 2013
United Kingdom: ‘Jubilee deluge saved us from drought,’ reveals Tory ex-minister
Posted by Guardian: Daniel Boffey on November 16th, 2013
Guardian: It was the defining image of last year's jubilee celebrations – a drenched Queen Elizabeth II, then 86, and Prince Philip, then 91, standing on a barge sailing down the Thames on a wet summer's day that was more like November than June.
Now the image has taken on a new significance, with the revelation that the south-east was saved from a drought that would have forced residents to get their water from standpipes on street corners by the rain that soaked the royal couple.
Richard Benyon MP,...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on United Kingdom: ‘Jubilee deluge saved us from drought,’ reveals Tory ex-ministerOil drilling wastes, long buried under Canada’s permafrost, leak into environment
Posted by ClimateWire: Henry Gass on November 16th, 2013
ClimateWire: For decades, companies exploring for oil and gas in the Arctic's remote southern reaches have disposed of their drilling waste in the cheapest and most convenient way possible: by digging massive pits to hold the waste and then capping them with frozen permafrost. And for decades, the waste harmlessly sat in the frozen tombs.
Then climate change, which scientists say is caused by burning fossil fuels, set in, causing the permafrost to begin melting.
A "sump" of oil drilling mud, supposedly...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Oil drilling wastes, long buried under Canada’s permafrost, leak into environmentFishing communities will face warmer, acid oceans
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 16th, 2013
Inter Press Service: Eating fish has been an integral part of the Caribbean`s cultural traditions for centuries. Fish is also a major source of food and essential nutrients, especially in rural areas where there are scores of small coastal communities.
"That is the protein that they have to put in their pot, and sometimes it has to stretch for very many mouths," Dr. Susan Singh-Renton, deputy executive director of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), told IPS."Globally we have to be prepared for significant...
Brown releases proposed rules fracking
Posted by LA Times: Marc Lifsher on November 16th, 2013
LA Times: The Brown administration has released much-anticipated proposed rules for fracking, a controversial technique for drilling for oil and natural gas reviled by environmentalists.
The process, formally known as hydraulic fracturing, involves pumping water, sand and a mixture of chemicals into geological strata to free trapped hydrocarbons.
Supporters say that it is opening up a vast new energy source and creating high-paying jobs. Opponents contend that fracking could pollute underground drinking...
Change of heart? Maine governor convenes climate change group
Posted by MPBN: None Given on November 16th, 2013
MPBN: Gov. Paul LePage, who has previously referred to global warming as "a scam," and who has said he's not convinced that human activities are a significant contributor to greenhouse gases, is now asking the Department of Environmental Protection and other state agencies to take steps - albeit small ones - to confront it. As Susan Sharon reports, his action comes just five months after he vetoed legislation that would have authorized state agencies and stakeholders to study the effects of climate change...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Change of heart? Maine governor convenes climate change groupLessened ethanol mandate proposed for fuel
Posted by Associated Press: Dina Cappiello and Mary Clare Jalonick on November 16th, 2013
Associated Press: The Obama administration proposed Friday to reduce the amount of ethanol in the nation’s fuel supply for the first time, acknowledging that the biofuel law championed by both parties in 2007 is not working as well as expected.
While the proposal highlights the government’s struggle to ramp up production of homegrown biofuels that burn cleaner than gasoline, it is unlikely to mean much for consumers at the pump.
The change would reduce by almost 3 billion gallons the amounts of ethanol and other...
Obama administration announces lower quotas for ethanol in gasoline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 16th, 2013
Guardian: Barack Obama on Friday backed away from the notion of corn ethanol representing a cure for climate change, as he proposed to cut the amount of ethanol that is blended into the US gasoline supply.
The Environmental Protection Agency said it would for the first time seek to lower quotas for ethanol that have diverted close to 40% of America's corn crop from the global food chain and into the country's gas tanks. The EPA said it would seek to reduce the quotas under the Renewable Fuel Standard, from...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Obama administration announces lower quotas for ethanol in gasolineChanging winds dampen Antarctic sea-level rise
Posted by Nature: Nicola Jones on November 16th, 2013
Nature: Shifting, strengthening winds will help to counteract future sea-level rise in Antarctica -- and by doing so, they may help stabilize ice sheets on some parts of the southern continent.
The band of westerly winds that encircles Antarctica has been speeding up and creeping southward since the 1950s. The trend, largely driven by the Antarctic ozone hole, is expected to continue thanks to climate change -- and could alone cause a drop in sea level of up to 40 cm over 70 years, according to research...
China to loosen one-child policy
Posted by Guardian: Jonathan Kaiman on November 16th, 2013
Guardian: China has pledged to loosen its one-child policy and end a controversial "re-education through labour" programme, state media reported on Friday, days after the conclusion of a meeting of top Communist party leaders in Beijing.
Under the new policy, couples in which one member is an only child will be allowed to have two children, according to China's state newswire Xinhua; currently, couples can only have two children if both members are only children themselves.
China will also end its controversial...
India: Jellyfish proliferating along Kerala coast
Posted by Hindu: None Given on November 16th, 2013
Hindu: Jellyfish population is abounding along the Kerala coast, threatening other species and creating havoc for fishing operations. Scientists studying the phenomenon feel that the proliferation of the species indicates the impact of human activities on the marine environment.
In the latest incident, a large number of dead jellyfish were washed ashore on the Thumba beach in Thiruvananthapuram in the last week of October.
"Mass mortality of jellyfish and fouling of beaches are becoming more frequent,"...