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Archive for March, 2014
Flood damage cost to rise fivefold across Europe, study says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 2nd, 2014
Guardian: The huge cost of flood damage is set to soar fivefold across Europe in coming decades, according to the first comprehensive analysis of risk across the continent.
The cost of homes, belongings, businesses and infrastructure wrecked by the wettest winter in England for 250 years has been at least £1bn and over the last decade the average annual loss across the European Union has been EUR4.5bn. But increasingly intense downpours driven by climate change, as well as population growth and urbanisation,...
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Comments Off on Flood damage cost to rise fivefold across Europe, study saysHundreds of Keystone protesters arrested at White House
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 2nd, 2014
Reuters: Police arrested hundreds of young people protesting the Keystone XL project on Sunday, as demonstrators fastened themselves with plastic ties to the White House fences and called for U.S. President Barack Obama to reject the controversial oil pipeline.
Participants, who mostly appeared to be college-aged, held signs reading: "There is no planet B" and "Columbia says no to fossil fuels," referring to the university in New York City.
Another group, several of whom were clad in white jumpsuits...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Hundreds of Keystone protesters arrested at White HouseKeystone pipeline foes create ‘human oil spill’ at rally; hundreds arrested
Posted by CNN: Mary Grace Lucas on March 2nd, 2014
CNN: Hundreds of students and youth organizers were arrested outside the White House Sunday as they protested against the Keystone XL pipeline under review by the Obama administration.
Some demonstrators zip-tied their hands to the White House fence, and others acted out a "human oil spill," lying on black tarps in front of the White House.
Nearly a thousand students began their march at Georgetown University and proceeded to the outside of Secretary of State John Kerry's Washington home, where...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Keystone pipeline foes create ‘human oil spill’ at rally; hundreds arrestedHundreds Keystone XL pipeline opponents arrested at White House
Posted by Washington Post: DeNeen L. Brown on March 2nd, 2014
Washington Post: More than 500 protesters chanting, “Hey, Obama! We don’t want no pipeline drama,” marched to the White House Sunday, demanding that President Obama stop construction of the Keystone XL pipeline extension that would daily carry 830,000 barrels of crude oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast.
About 200 protesters, who marched from Georgetown University, through the streets of D.C., stopping in front of the house of Secretary of State John Kerry to drop "a fake oil spill," were arrested after they used...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Hundreds Keystone XL pipeline opponents arrested at White HouseDrought fuels rising tide of Texas water conservation
Posted by Climate Central: Bobby Magill on March 2nd, 2014
Climate Central: Texans learned three years ago what exceptional drought possibly aggravated by climate change looks like: 4 million charred acres of land, thousands of burned homes and water supply reservoirs dry or draining fast.
As the drought wears on, a culture of water conservation has risen with it, especially in San Antonio and Austin.
The drought forced Austin officials to rethink how water is used. In San Antonio, a desire to save water for endangered species had jump-started its conservation movement,...
Colorado reins in fracking air pollution
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 2nd, 2014
Living on Earth: The fracking boom has boosted emissions of toxic chemicals as well as releases of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. State regulator Garry Kaufman tells host Steve Curwood that Colorado has become the first state to respond with tighter regulations of methane and toxic emissions from natural gas and oil production.
Transcript
CURWOOD: While Texas may be slow to act, Colorado recently became the first state to respond to the fracking boom with new regulations on emissions from oil and gas production....
Environmental NGOs failing to address ‘blindingly obvious’ issues of population growth
Posted by Blue and Green: Charlotte Malone on March 2nd, 2014
Blue and Green: Environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are “failing the population challenge”, according to research from environmentalist and writer Jonathon Porritt and the charity Population Matters.
Porritt argues that population and environmental issues go hand in hand but that the majority of environmental NGOs are failing to recognise this and take the action necessary. He says that many of the organisations view the population issue as “completely off-limits” or it is only “grudgingly acknowledged”....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Environmental NGOs failing to address ‘blindingly obvious’ issues of population growthLos Angeles moves towards fracking ban after environmental concerns
Posted by Blue and Green: Tom Revell on March 2nd, 2014
Blue and Green: The city council of Los Angeles has voted to start drafting rules that would ban the controversial process of fracking within its jurisdiction.
Following concerns raised by residents and campaigners, the council has taken the first steps on the way to a ban that would stand until city politicians are certain of the environmental impacts of the process.
Fracking works by blasting rocks with water and chemicals, which then fracture the rocks and release the natural gas contained within them....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Los Angeles moves towards fracking ban after environmental concernsEven while adapting most Wisconsin farmers are climate change skeptics
Posted by Capital Times: Kate Golden on March 1st, 2014
Capital Times: Most Wisconsin farmers remain skeptical about climate change, although data show they have already begun adapting to shifts in weather patterns, scientists said at a University of Wisconsin-Madison conference this week.
Farmers, the scientists said, are key actors in adapting to climate change or mitigating its effects. They manage 61 percent of the nation’s land. They are vulnerable to droughts, cold, heat and hail. Crop insurance paid out $17.4 billion dollars in indemnities nationwide after...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Even while adapting most Wisconsin farmers are climate change skepticsWorld wastes up to third of produced food, says World Bank
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on March 1st, 2014
Blue and Green: As much as a third of all the food the world produces is never eaten, causing huge inefficiencies in economic, energy and natural resource use, according to a damning new report by the World Bank.
The report, published earlier this week, found that between one-fourth and one-third of the nearly 4 billion tonnes of food produced for human consumption every year is lost or wasted.
In the developed world, these losses translate to 750 to 1,500 calories per person, per day.
Even in regions badly...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on World wastes up to third of produced food, says World Bank