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Archive for April 3rd, 2014
Exxon Mobil agrees to share more data on fracking risks
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 3rd, 2014
Reuters: Exxon Mobil Corp, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, has agreed to disclose more information about the environmental risks of hydraulic fracturing, the process known as fracking.
In an agreement with New York City's pension funds, which control Exxon shares worth roughly $1.02 billion, the company would report on risks surrounding disposal of fracking waste water, air pollution, methane emissions from oil and natural gas wells, and other issues.
Exxon plans to compile the information...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Exxon Mobil agrees to share more data on fracking risksIceland Prime Minister Says Climate Change Will be Great for Iceland
Posted by Wire: None Given on April 3rd, 2014
Wire: Iceland's prime minister is ready to ride the wave of melted polar ice caps to increased food production and export opportunities for his arctic island.
During a recent interview, Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson said that climate change could open up new economic opportunities for the country, according to The Reykjavík Grapevine. "There’s a water shortage, energy is becoming more expensive, land is in short supply and it is predicted that the cost of food will rise in the foreseeable future...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Iceland Prime Minister Says Climate Change Will be Great for IcelandGlobal warming could dry out a third of the Earth by 2100
Posted by Salon: Lindsay Abrams on April 3rd, 2014
Salon: Forget changing rain patterns - warmer temperatures alone could bring drought to a third of Earth`s land area by the end of the century. That`s the gist of a new study from Columbia University`s Earth Observatory: Hotter temperatures will mean more evaporation, drying out the soil and posing a significant risk to global agriculture and food security.
Climate Central has the details:
Climate models using the so-called business-as-usual greenhouse gas emissions scenario, which assumes no effort...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Global warming could dry out a third of the Earth by 2100Climate change will ‘lead to battles for food’ says head of World Bank
Posted by Guardian: Larry Elliott on April 3rd, 2014
Guardian: Battles over water and food will erupt within the next five to 10 years as a result of climate change, the president of the World Bank said as he urged those campaigning against global warming to learn the lessons of how protesters and scientists joined forces in the battle against HIV.
Jim Yong Kim said it was possible to cap the rise in global temperatures at 2C but that so far there had been a failure to replicate the "unbelievable" success of the 15-year-long coalition of activists and scientists...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change will ‘lead to battles for food’ says head of World BankU.S. Midwest bracing for tornadoes, flooding
Posted by Reuters: Kevin Murphy on April 3rd, 2014
Reuters: The central United States braced for strong thunderstorms, heavy rain and possible tornadoes on Thursday from an unstable weather system that has already produced a twister and flooding in Missouri. "There is certainly the potential for some violent storms," said Jayson Gosselin, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in St. Louis. Some homes were damaged and large trees uprooted in the St. Louis suburb of University City when an EF-1 tornado, packing winds of about 100 miles per hour,...
Mind the Fracking Data Gap, Study Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 3rd, 2014
Climate Central: Scientists have long expressed concern about how a lack of data and access to drilling sites prevents a complete scientific assessment of how hydraulic fracturing and oil and gas production affect the climate, environment and public health.
A new University of Texas-Austin analysis of natural gas drilling and fracking in urban areas near Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, not only criticizes state and federal regulatory agencies for dismissing public concern about the health and environmental impacts...
How UK newspapers covered the IPCC’s report on the impacts of climate change
Posted by Carbon Brief: Mat Hope on April 3rd, 2014
Carbon Brief: From food shortages to endangered species, there were plenty of headline-grabbing findings in the UN's latest big climate report. We take a look at how the UK's newspapers covered the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) latest report. The IPCC's Working Group 2 (WG2) report on the impacts of climate change was released on March 31st. Monday's report was the second in a series of three from the IPCC. The first report - Working Group 1's on climate change's physical science basis -...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on How UK newspapers covered the IPCC’s report on the impacts of climate changeBangladesh needs $100b in 10 years for infrastructure: WB
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 3rd, 2014
Daily Star: Bangladesh will have to spend $7.4 billion to $10 billion a year until 2020 to bring its power grids, roads and water supplies up to the standard needed to serve its growing population, a World Bank report said yesterday.
"In total, the country will require between $74 billion and $100 billion between 2011 and 2020 or 7.38 percent to 10.02 percent of its gross domestic product to improve infrastructure," said Luis Andres, one of the co-authors of the report.
Andres was talking to reporters...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Bangladesh needs $100b in 10 years for infrastructure: WBFracking, Seismic Activity Grow Hand in Hand in Mexico
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 3rd, 2014
Inter Press Service: Scientists warn that large-scale fracking for shale gas planned by Mexico’s oil company Pemex will cause a surge in seismic activity in northern Mexico, an area already prone to quakes. Experts link a 2013 swarm of earthquakes in the northern states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo León to hydraulic fracturing or fracking in the Burgos and Eagle Ford shale deposits – the latter of which is shared with the U.S. state of Texas. Researcher Ruperto de la Garza found a link between seismic activity and fracking,...
UN – climate ‘perfect storm’ already here. Time to slay Zombie Big Oil
Posted by Guardian: Dr Nafeez Ahmed on April 3rd, 2014
Guardian: The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report on the impacts of global warming this century has been widely recognised as clarifying beyond all doubt that we do, indeed, face an unprecedented planetary emergency. Moreover, not one that will arrive far into the future, but that's happening right now.
The perfect storm is here
The report states unequivocally that:
"… recent climate-related extremes, such as heat waves, droughts, floods, cyclones, and wildfires,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on UN – climate ‘perfect storm’ already here. Time to slay Zombie Big Oil