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Archive for March, 2014
Climate change threatens India tea production
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on March 28th, 2014
Blue and Green: Tea producers in India, where one-third of the world`s tea is grown, are suffering because of changes in temperature and rainfall caused by climate change, experts and tea garden owners have said.
Though it makes the world`s most popular drink -- after water -- tea is a very delicate plant, vulnerable to changes in temperature and precipitation.
Such problems are piling expenses on producers, who say they can`t increase prices because of market competition.
Speaking to the BBC, producers...
IPCC report: climate change felt ‘on all continents & across the oceans’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 28th, 2014
Guardian: Climate change has already left its mark "on all continents and across the oceans", damaging food crops, spreading disease, and melting glaciers, according to the leaked text of a blockbuster UN climate science report due out on Monday. Government officials and scientists are gathered in Yokohama this week to wrangle over every line of a summary of the report before the final wording is released on Monday – the first update in seven years. Nearly 500 people must sign off on the exact wording of...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on IPCC report: climate change felt ‘on all continents & across the oceans’5 reasons why West Coast is more vulnerable to mudslides
Posted by Mother Nature Network: None Given on March 28th, 2014
Mother Nature Network: Deadly mudslides can unfold in any of the 50 U.S. states, but a combination of geologic factors makes the West Coast especially vulnerable to the type of destructive flow that pummeled northwest Washington on Saturday (March 22), geologists say. Mudslides generally form when a massive layer of unconsolidated rock becomes waterlogged and slips under the force of gravity. The basic ingredients for a mudslide include large areas of unconsolidated rock, steep mountain slopes, and areas with shallow...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on 5 reasons why West Coast is more vulnerable to mudslidesSurprise: BP Doubles Initial Estimate of Lake Michigan Oil Spill
Posted by Cheat Sheet: Katey Troutman on March 28th, 2014
Cheat Sheet: The BP (NYSE:BP) oil spill on Lake Michigan that occurred Monday reportedly forced about 39 barrels, or 1,638 gallons of crude oil, into the lake, stemming from a malfunction in a Whiting, Indiana-based BP oil refinery, which lies about 20 miles southeast of downtown Chicago, according to ABC and the Chicago Tribune.
The number is double what the company reported earlier this week. Reuters on Tuesday reported that oil totaled just 10 barrels, or approximately 500 gallons, which would make the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Surprise: BP Doubles Initial Estimate of Lake Michigan Oil SpillWe Can Make Our Cities More Resilient by Making Them More Natural
Posted by Metropolis: None Given on March 28th, 2014
Metropolis: Scientists predict that extreme meteorological events are becoming more frequent and destructive. For instance late last year, Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest storm recorded in the world so far, decimated central island cities in the Philippines. Recent data sourced from the Japanese Meteorological Agency indicated extreme weather occurrences across the globe. These pose critical challenges to our current and future rebuilding programs in cities where extreme weather has become the new “benchmark for...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on We Can Make Our Cities More Resilient by Making Them More NaturalWashington mudslide official death toll 17, unofficial numbers at 26
Posted by Examiner: None Given on March 28th, 2014
Examiner: The National Guard was called in to work along with dozens of local volunteers in North Western Washington this week to recover bodies entombed in a massive mud-covered grave caused by last Saturday’s horrific mudslide that swamped almost a square mile of landscape pulverizing structures; crumpling farm equipment and vehicles like they were tin cans.
Recovery is tremendously difficult when heavy equipment gets clogged with mud in the delicate search for bodies where shovels are often useless....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Washington mudslide official death toll 17, unofficial numbers at 26Australia: Santos investigated another ‘toxic’ water spill coal seam gas plant
Posted by Guardian: Oliver Milman on March 28th, 2014
Guardian: Coal seam gas company Santos has experienced another spill of waste water at a NSW gas field.
The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) said it was investigating the release of around 500 litres of “produced water” which entered a diversion drain at Santos’s Narrabri gas field on Tuesday.
The EPA said the diversion drain was blocked to prevent the water leaving the site, with the liquid returned to a containment pond. The Greens have called the water “toxic”, although the EPA said it was...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Australia: Santos investigated another ‘toxic’ water spill coal seam gas plantBritish Petroleum Doubles Size Estimate Of Lake Michigan Oil Spill
Posted by Opposing Views: Jared Keever on March 28th, 2014
Opposing Views: Just days after announcing that a leak, which spilled oil into Lake Michigan, had been stopped and the oil contained, British Petroleum doubled its estimate of the size of the spill.
The leak was discovered Monday, according to a Chicago Tribune story, and cleanup crews went into action to contain the spill.
NPR quoted a BP press release describing the cleanup efforts.
"Lines of boom have been deployed to contain the oil and wind has blown oil toward the shore, where crews are vacuuming...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on British Petroleum Doubles Size Estimate Of Lake Michigan Oil SpillAustralia: Great Barrier Reef and Indigenous heritage laws face ‘one-stop shop’ threat
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 28th, 2014
Guardian: The government may delegate oversight for the dumping of material in the Great Barrier Reef marine park and potentially bypass Indigenous heritage laws in order to speed up environmental approvals.
In a submission to a parliamentary inquiry into “green tape”, the Department of the Environment said it was looking at current legislation that may complicate plans to create “one-stop shops” for approvals.
The government is in the process of delegating environmental approvals to the states and territories...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Australia: Great Barrier Reef and Indigenous heritage laws face ‘one-stop shop’ threatAustralia: Energy companies deal allowing NSW farmers say no coal seam gas
Posted by Guardian: Oliver Milman on March 28th, 2014
Guardian: Energy companies Santos and AGL have signed an agreement with farmers in NSW that will allow landholders to refuse coal seam gas activities on their properties.
The deal will allow a farmer to say no to coal seam gas and bar entry to gas companies if permission is explicitly refused.
The agreement, the first of its kind between gas firms and landholders, also seems to indirectly reference environmental protesters by condemning “bullying, harassment and intimidation” of farmers who have agreed...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Australia: Energy companies deal allowing NSW farmers say no coal seam gas