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Archive for February, 2014
United Kingdom: Flooding threat spreads to Severn and Thames riverside properties
Posted by Guardian: Steven Morris, Damian Carrington and Matthew Weaver on February 3rd, 2014
Guardian: More homes and businesses are in danger of being flooded over the next few days as pressure built on the government to take action to prevent a similar crisis in the future and residents of the worst-hit area, the Somerset Levels, prepared for a royal visit.
The Environment Agency said high tides, large waves and strong winds would lead to a risk of coastal flooding along the south west and southern coasts of England Tuesday and Wednesday. It warned that properties on the banks of rivers including...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on United Kingdom: Flooding threat spreads to Severn and Thames riverside propertiesWhich is more likely to drive people from their homes — floods or heat waves?
Posted by Grist: John Upton on February 3rd, 2014
Grist: Floods get a lot of attention in our warming world. They can kill people and livestock, inundate crops, destroy infrastructure and homes - and they make great photo ops. Less attention - and less international aid - is directed to victims of intense heat waves that are also linked to climate change.
But it is these heat waves that are most responsible when Pakistanis leave their villages, new research suggests.
Pakistan is a depressing climate case study because its residents are so vulnerable...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Which is more likely to drive people from their homes — floods or heat waves?United Kingdom: Why the floods a challenge for us to work with nature, not against it
Posted by Guardian: Stephen Moss on February 3rd, 2014
Guardian: For the residents of Muchelney and Moorland, in the heart of the Somerset Levels, the misery goes on. Homes under water, roads cut off, and vast lakes of water where once there were open fields. For dairy farmers, already under pressure from low milk prices and higher feed costs, this could be the final straw.
I live nearby, but our home is 50ft above sea level, and our village has escaped the worst of the flooding. Even so, I have been inundated with messages from friends, wondering if we too...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: Why the floods a challenge for us to work with nature, not against itAfter Typhoon’s Devastation, a Philippine Town Is Losing Those Who Could Rebuild It
Posted by New York Times: Keith Bradsher on February 3rd, 2014
New York Times: As Jesse Siozon waited for his grandfather's funeral to begin, beneath the orange and blue tarps that serve as the roof for the storm-damaged Santo Niño Church, he spoke of a double loss.
His grandfather may well have been the last person in this bedraggled city to succumb to injuries and illnesses brought on by Typhoon Haiyan. And now Mr. Siozon, a 30-year-old nurse, is being forced to leave Tacloban, his family's hometown for four generations, because efforts to rebuild have stalled and jobs...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on After Typhoon’s Devastation, a Philippine Town Is Losing Those Who Could Rebuild ItGreenland’s Jakobshavn Glacier Is Moving at Record Speeds, Study Finds
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 3rd, 2014
Yale Environment 360: Greenland's Jakobshavn Glacier is flowing into the ocean at a record pace of more than 17 kilometers per year, according to research by U.S. and German scientists. The glacier, which drains 6 percent of the massive Greenland ice sheet, moved at a rate of 46 meters per day in the summer of 2012 — four times the glacier's 1990s summer pace. The unprecedented speed appears to be the fastest ever recorded for any glacier or ice stream in Greenland or Antarctica, the researchers report in the journal...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Greenland’s Jakobshavn Glacier Is Moving at Record Speeds, Study FindsDrought Intensifies in Western U.S
Posted by Climate News Network: Kieran Cooke on February 3rd, 2014
Climate News Network: In recent days California has announced its most severe water restrictions ever as drought continues to hit the state. Scientists say the region’s rainfall has been declining over the years and the consequences are serious.
January is the month when Californians put on their rain jackets--but not this year.
It’s the month which is usually wettest in the western U.S., when rivers and reservoirs are replenished: this year there was virtually no rain through January in much of the region, following...
Great Lakes Water Levels Are in Unusual Decline
Posted by LiveScience: Becky Oskin on February 3rd, 2014
LiveScience: The Great Lakes share a surprising connection with Wisconsin's small lakes and aquifers -- their water levels all rise and fall on a 13-year cycle, according to a new study. But that cycle is now mysteriously out of whack, researchers have found.
"The last two decades have been kind of exceptional," said Carl Watras, a climate scientist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Water levels have been declining since 1998, Watras told Live Science....
Hundreds of Vigils to Be Held Tonight in Protest of Keystone XL
Posted by EcoWatch: Duncan Meisel on February 3rd, 2014
EcoWatch: In the last 48 hours, people across the country have stepped up to go the extra mile to stop Keystone XL. Two hundred events have been planned from coast-to-coast for Monday evening, Feb. 3, and more are being listed every hour.
Every one of those actions will be sending the same message: it’s time for President Obama to be a climate champion, not the pipeline president, and reject Keystone XL. Standing together, we can be heard.
President Obama clearly has all the evidence he needs to reject...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Hundreds of Vigils to Be Held Tonight in Protest of Keystone XLMore coastal habitat for geese in Alaska due to rising temperatures, melting sea ice
Posted by Summit County: None Given on February 3rd, 2014
Summit County: Dwindling sea ice spells trouble for polar bears and walrus colonies, but some other animals are benefiting from global warming — at least for now.
Warming temperatures have resulted in more high quality habitat for geese along the Arctic coast of Alaska, according to a U.S. Geological Survey study.
The research focused on black brant geese that migrate by the thousands each summer to the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska to undergo their wing molt, during which time the birds are flightless...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on More coastal habitat for geese in Alaska due to rising temperatures, melting sea iceArctic icy lakes lose thickness
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 3rd, 2014
BBC: The ubiquitous shallow icy lakes that dominate Alaska's Arctic coastal plain have undergone a significant change in recent decades.
These lakes, many of which are no more than 3m deep, melt earlier in the season and retain open water conditions for much longer.
And 20 years of satellite radar also now show that far fewer will freeze right through to the bottom in winter.
The results of the space-borne survey are published in The Cryosphere.
What is happening to the lakes is an example...