RSS Feed
Archive for December, 2013
America’s hidden epidemic of tropical diseases
Posted by New Scientist: Debora MacKenzie on December 21st, 2013
New Scientist: WHEN the letter arrives, it must come as a shock. Would-be blood donors are politely rejected because they've tested positive for a deadly tropical infection – and their doctors aren't much help. Kristy Murray at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, recalls one doctor telling a patient: "The test is wrong. That disease doesn't exist in the US!" But an estimated 330,000 US citizens, and possibly as many as a million, carry the parasite that causes Chagas disease. It is a chronic, silent...
Australia: Records melt in our hottest year
Posted by Sydney Morning News: None Given on December 21st, 2013
Sydney Morning News: 2013 will go down as the year that registered Australia's hottest day, month, season, 12-month period - and, by December 31, the hottest calendar year.
Weather geeks have watched records tumble. These tallies include obscure ones, such as the latest autumn day above 45C (Western Australia's Onslow Airport at 45.6C on March 21), the hottest winter's day nationally (29.92C , August 31), and even Wednesday this week, with the hottest-ever 9am reading (44.6C, at Eyre weather station near the WA-South...
On climate change, Florida’s been warned
Posted by Tampa Bay Times: Ivan Penn on December 21st, 2013
Tampa Bay Times: In just seven words, Jane Long summed up three days of intense discussion last week about energy and climate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
A senior scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund and a retired Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researcher, she turned to look at me after I told her I was from the Tampa Bay area. And without hesitation, yet with a smile, she issued me an apocalyptic warning:
"Oh, you're going to be under water."
I was one of more than two dozen...
UN’s Ban calls for more funds for typhoon-stricken Philippines
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 21st, 2013
Reuters: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stepped up an appeal for funds to help the Philippines recover from a devastating typhoon last month after visiting stricken areas on Saturday.
"I was very saddened by what I have seen in Tacloban -- total destruction, and an enormous number of people have been lost, we need to support them," Ban told Reuters after driving miles past flattened and damaged houses.
Haiyan reduced almost everything in its path to rubble when it swept ashore in the central Philippines...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on UN’s Ban calls for more funds for typhoon-stricken PhilippinesHarsh weather, floods challenge U.S. holiday travelers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 21st, 2013
Reuters: Holiday travelers heading home for Christmas may face some rough going this weekend as a winter storm threatens tornadoes, floods, snow and ice for a wide swath of the United States.
Forecasters are predicting up to a foot of snow for some parts of the Midwest, while other states slightly to the east already have flood watches in effect. Snow had already begun in parts of Idaho and Oregon by late afternoon on Friday, and was expected to continue on Saturday.
Some 94.5 million people in the...
Canadian Panel Approves Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on December 20th, 2013
Environment News Service: The Joint Review Panel for the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline Project today recommended that the federal government approve the multi-billion dollar pipeline, subject to 209 required conditions. The Government of Canada is expected to make its final decision on the pipeline by July 2014.
Conservation groups condemned the decision, saying that the three-member panel`s recommendation ignores overwhelming scientific evidence against the pipeline and widespread public opposition.
The...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canadian Panel Approves Enbridge Northern Gateway PipelineStill Uncertain: Climate Change’s Role in Drought
Posted by Climate Central: Bobby Magill on December 20th, 2013
Climate Central: It's common for direct connections to be drawn between climate change and the effects of the devastating droughts that have been afflicting the U.S. and other parts of the world over the last decade. A new analysis led by scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research says there are still many uncertainties about how climate change is affecting drought globally, though.
The analysis, authored primarily by NCAR senior scientist Kevin Trenberth, concludes that more global precipitation...
Can human civilization continue indefinitely?
Posted by LiveScience: Tia Ghose on December 20th, 2013
LiveScience: Human beings have altered the Earth so much that human extinction is a real possibility if people continue on their current path. But if they can figure out a way to live sustainably, at least some human civilizations could become quasi-immortal, one researcher says. The challenge is to change the societal outlook to one that is long-term and accounts for humanity's central role in shaping the planet's destiny, instead of one that reacts to immediate crises and thinks in the short term. "For...
PA Supreme Court Finds Parts Act 13 Unconstitutional, Allows Municipalities to Limit Fracking
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on December 20th, 2013
EcoWatch: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued an opinion yesterday in the closely-watched case of Robinson Township v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, No. 63 MAP 2012.
The case was a challenge filed by several Pennsylvania municipalities against the state legislature’s adoption of Act 13. Act 13 sought to eliminate zoning authority from municipalities over oil and gas extraction.
Act 13 was passed in 2012 to remove any local barriers to the expansion of drilling and fracking across the state. Provisions...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on PA Supreme Court Finds Parts Act 13 Unconstitutional, Allows Municipalities to Limit FrackingPennsylvania gas drilling decision leaves future uncertain
Posted by Associated Press: Mark Scolforo and Marc Levy on December 20th, 2013
Associated Press: The energy industry and policy makers in Pennsylvania, the heart of the nation's gas drilling boom, are thinking about their next moves after the state's highest court threw out significant portions of a law that limited the power of cities and counties to regulate the industry. The state Supreme Court voted 4-2 on Thursday to strike down portions of a 2012 law that had been crafted by Gov. Tom Corbett and his industry-friendly allies in the Legislature. Republican leaders in the General Assembly...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Pennsylvania gas drilling decision leaves future uncertain