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Archive for January 5th, 2014
Flood-hit UK must prepare more extreme weather, says climate adviser
Posted by Guardian: Rowena Mason and Sam Jones on January 5th, 2014
Guardian: Britain needs to face up to a radical change in weather conditions that could be the result of global warming, and spend much more on flood defences, Sir David King, the government's special envoy on climate change, has said.
Amid the worst floods for decades, King said the UK must do more to manage the problem, potentially doubling spending to £1bn a year by 2020, as extreme weather events are likely to become more frequent.
The former chief scientific adviser spoke out as the UK braced itself...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Flood-hit UK must prepare more extreme weather, says climate adviserUnited Kingdom: Ray Mears calls for green belt protection
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 5th, 2014
Telegraph: Ray Mears, the survival expert, has called for the countryside to be protected against government plans to build new homes on Green Belt land.
The television presenter, 49, said allowing construction to go ahead on the Green Belt would run counter to the original idea of setting aside parts of the countryside so that future generations can enjoy them.
He accepted there is "pressure' to use such areas to lessen the burden of the housing crisis, but insisted measures put in place to control urban...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: Ray Mears calls for green belt protectionEnvironment secretary may be blind to rising flood risks, says Labour
Posted by Guardian: Rowena Mason on January 5th, 2014
Guardian: Owen Paterson, the Conservative environment secretary, may be blind to the increased risk of flooding across Britain because he is sceptical about climate change science, Labour has said.
Amid warnings of further floods to hit Britain within the next 48 hours, Maria Eagle, the shadow environment secretary, said Paterson had "real questions to answer" about why he was allowing cuts that could affect Britain's ability to deal with severe weather incidents.
She spoke out after Paterson was forced...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Environment secretary may be blind to rising flood risks, says LabourAfter typhoon, Philippines faces one of most profound resettlement crises in decades
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 5th, 2014
Washington Post: The typhoon that recently barreled through the Philippines has left in its wake one of the most profound resettlement crises in decades, with the number of newly homeless far exceeding the capacity of aid groups and the government to respond.
Two months after one of the strongest typhoons on record, recovery in the central Philippines has been marked by a desperate scramble for shelter, as people return to the same areas that were ravaged and construct weaker, leakier and sometimes rotting versions...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on After typhoon, Philippines faces one of most profound resettlement crises in decades4 states confirm water pollution from fracking
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 5th, 2014
Associated Press: In at least four states that have nurtured the nation's energy boom, hundreds of complaints have been made about well-water contamination from oil or gas drilling, and pollution was confirmed in a number of them, according to a review that casts doubt on industry suggestions that such problems rarely happen.
The Associated Press requested data on drilling-related complaints in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Texas and found major differences in how the states report such problems. Texas...
Britain faces another barrage of rain as coast counts the cost of ‘worst storms in 20 years’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 5th, 2014
Independent: Areas of southern England and Wales already devastated by floods will be battered by another barrage of rain over the next 24 hours, the Met Office has warned.
After a series of winter storms described by experts as the worst to hit Britain in more than 20 years, between 10mm and 15mm of rain, and up to 30mm on higher ground, is expected in southern England before moving north-eastwards. Heavy rain is also expected in parts of Northern Island and Scotland.
The Environment Agency has issued...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Britain faces another barrage of rain as coast counts the cost of ‘worst storms in 20 years’Owen Paterson alarms campaigners with plan to build on ancient woods
Posted by Telegraph: Tim Ross on January 5th, 2014
Telegraph: Developers will be given "carte blanche' to concrete over swathes of irreplaceable ancient woodland under proposals to ease planning restrictions on building in the countryside, campaigners have warned.
Owen Paterson, the environment secretary, is facing a backlash after suggesting that developers should be allowed to bulldoze historic woods to make way for new homes if they promise to plant trees elsewhere.
MPs and countryside campaigners have reacted furiously to the plans, which they say...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Owen Paterson alarms campaigners with plan to build on ancient woodsBracing for Carp in Great Lakes, but Debating Their Presence
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 5th, 2014
New York Times: After decades of increasingly dire warnings, countless studies and countermeasures, scientists are beginning to mull over hints of something that few of them wish to contemplate: The despised Asian carp may have finally arrived in the Great Lakes. “May have” are the operative words. The latest hint consists of a single water sample, one of scores taken last May from Lake Michigan, that tested positive for remnants of DNA from one particularly destructive species, silver carp. Experts debate the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Bracing for Carp in Great Lakes, but Debating Their PresenceUK storms ‘worst in 20 years’ & more on the way
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 5th, 2014
Guardian: The UK is enduring the worst series of winter storms in more than 20 years, weather experts have said, as the country prepares for even more flooding.
The Environment Agency has issued 96 flood warnings throughout England and Wales urging people to take immediate action, while a further 244 areas are on flood alert.
Coastal areas -- particularly in southern England -- are most at risk as they cope with a combination of unusually high tides and another Atlantic storm on Sunday.
Forecaster...
United Kingdom: Relief as flood defences hold, but the storms aren’t over yet
Posted by Guardian: Tracy McVeigh on January 5th, 2014
Guardian: As the rain eased over the Dorset coast yesterday, and the last police officers with their loudhailers left the Portland peninsula, the landlady of the Little Ship was happy to have a dry pub to open up.
"The police came last night and said there was going to be a 10ft swell and we should move upstairs as soon as we heard the sirens," said Linda Davis, who runs the pub in the village of Chiswell, where there had been plans to evacuate residents last night ahead of an expected tidal surge.
"They...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: Relief as flood defences hold, but the storms aren’t over yet