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Archive for December, 2013
Report: Some plants may not adapt quickly to future climate change
Posted by TG Daily: Thomas Anderson on December 24th, 2013
TG Daily: Using the largest dated evolutionary tree of flowering plants ever assembled, a new study suggests how plants developed traits to withstand low temperatures, with implications that human-induced climate change may pose a bigger threat than initially thought to plants and global agriculture.
The study appearing Sunday (Dec. 22) in the journal Nature and co-authored by University of Florida scientists shows many angiosperms, or flowering plants, evolved mechanisms to cope with freezing temperatures...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Report: Some plants may not adapt quickly to future climate changeFrom drought to hurricanes, Grenada tackles climate change with German help
Posted by ClimateWire: Christa Marshall on December 24th, 2013
ClimateWire: After a sudden thunderstorm this fall, Paul Valdon sat in a line of cars for 45 minutes near a bridge over a river because of gushing water.
People got out of their vehicles and shouted in frustration as the river engulfed the concrete structure, preventing them from crossing the waterway in the northeast part of the island. His friend in a nearby car tried to find an alternative way through the mountains, but got stuck again when a landslide blocked that road, as well. Valdon missed an important...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on From drought to hurricanes, Grenada tackles climate change with German helpCanada: 75 Alberta Environment Regulators Now on Payroll of Oil Industry
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 24th, 2013
Edmonton Journal: More than 75 environment officers who watched over oil industry activities left the provincial environment department this fall, to take higher paying jobs with the new industry-funded Alberta Energy Regulator. Another 75-plus are expected to leave in the spring.
In mid-November, the department also began handing over to the regulator thousands of files on oil industry activity pertaining to the Public Lands Act, according to documents obtained by the Journal.
This shift in staffing and the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada: 75 Alberta Environment Regulators Now on Payroll of Oil Industry‘Elves’ protest fracking on Illinois governor’s lawn
Posted by Chicago Tribune: William Lee on December 24th, 2013
Chicago Tribune: Had Gov. Pat Quinn been home to look out his front window Monday afternoon, he might have witnessed a strange sight: four elves dressed in green smocks and some in red leggings erecting a mock oil drill on the lawn of his Northwest Side home.
The roughly 10-foot oil drill, made of PVC pipe and painted black, wasn't noticed on the quiet block in the Galewood neighborhood until about 1 p.m., Chicago police said.
Illinois State Police, who provide security for the governor, and the Chicago Police...
In the Philippines, a Vortex of Climate Change and Debt
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 24th, 2013
Inter Press Service: Since Typhoon Yolanda made landfall in the Philippines on Nov. 8, the country has sent holders of its debt close to one billion dollars, surpassing, in less than two months, the 800 million dollars the U.N. has asked of international donors to help rebuild the ravaged central region of the archipelago. Even as the Philippines goes hat in hand to wealthier countries seeking disaster relief, it continues to diligently pay creditors in those same countries millions of dollars every day – much of it...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on In the Philippines, a Vortex of Climate Change and DebtChevron appeals to top Ecuador court in pollution case
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 23rd, 2013
Reuters: U.S. energy company Chevron Corp appealed on Monday to Ecuador's highest court, asking it to cancel a $9.5 billion fine for polluting the Amazon rainforest in a long-running case.
Last month Ecuador's National Court of Justice upheld a 2011 verdict by a lower court that Chevron was responsible for pollution in the area caused by U.S. oil firm Texaco, whose assets were bought by Chevron in 2001.
Chevron says that 2011 ruling was obtained by fraud and it is pursuing a case in New York against...
Worldwide Electronic Waste to Reach 65 Million Tons by 2017
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on December 23rd, 2013
EcoWatch: The volume of electronic waste generated worldwide is expected to climb by 33 percent by 2017 to 65 million tons, according to a study conducted by a partnership of United Nations organizations, industry, governments and scientists.
So many computers, televisions, mobile phones and other devices are being tossed away annually that within four years the volume of e-waste would fill a 15,000-mile line of 40-ton trucks, the report said. The report, released by a group called StEP--Solving the E-Waste...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Worldwide Electronic Waste to Reach 65 Million Tons by 2017Malaysia’s Indigenous People Intensify Anti-Dam Battle
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on December 23rd, 2013
Environment News Service: The strongest wave of indigenous protests since the 1990s is underway in Sarawak, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo. On International Human Rights Day, December 10, hundreds of people across the state demonstrated against a series of 12 mega-dams planned by the government company Sarawak Energy.
Bakun dam on the Balui River, the world`s second largest dam, is complete and began operating in 2011, while the second in the series, Murum dam, is nearing completion.
If all the dams are built,...
Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline Gets Approved, Ignores Massive Opposition
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on December 23rd, 2013
EcoWatch: In a long-awaited announcement, the National Energy Board (NEB) released the final recommendation from the Joint Review Panel (JRP) to approve the contentious Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline project--along with a lengthy list of conditions that must be met for the pipeline to go ahead.
The panel’s report, released last week in Calgary, follows years of heated public debate and fierce opposition to the project across British Columbia--opposition that won’t be letting up any time soon.
“This...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline Gets Approved, Ignores Massive OppositionGlobal Warming Will Intensify Drought, Says New Study
Posted by Guardian: John Abraham on December 23rd, 2013
Guardian: When scientists think about climate change, we often focus on long term trends and multi-year averages of various climate measures such as temperature, ocean heat, sea level, ocean acidity, and ice loss. But, what matters most in our day-to-day lives is extreme weather. If human-caused climate change leads to more extreme weather, it would make taking action more prudent.
It is clear that human emissions have led to increased frequencies of heat waves and have changed the patterns of rainfall...