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Archive for June 1st, 2014
Tutu oilsand sermon built on emotion not on facts
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 1st, 2014
Vancouver Sun: South African Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu is, since the death of Nelson Mandela, perhaps the world’s best-known defender of human rights. He is also, unfortunately, a hypocrite, and a symbolist, for whom imagery and headlines matter more than facts and truth.
Saturday in Fort McMurray, Alta., Tutu, flown in for the occasion by the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, delivered precisely what was expected of him by his hosts: fire and brimstone, directed at the despicable Alberta oilpatch, which...
Climate Council says last two years Australia’s hottest
Posted by Renew Economy: None Given on June 1st, 2014
Renew Economy: A Climate Council report, released today, finds the last two years are shaping up to be the hottest in Australia’s recorded history, further evidence that climate change is already influencing the country’s weather. “The past two-year period has delivered the hottest average temperature we have ever recorded in Australia,” the Climate Council’s Professor Will Steffen said. The findings are contained in the Climate Council’s latest seasonal analysis report, Abnormal Autumn, released by Professor...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Climate Council says last two years Australia’s hottestClimate change to boost summer flash floods, says study
Posted by BBC: Matt McGrath on June 1st, 2014
BBC: Global warming will lead to a significant increase in extreme summer downpours in the UK, a study suggests.
The Met Office and Newcastle University researchers say there could be five times the number of "extreme rainfall events" per hour, under extreme warming projections.
This would cause "really severe" flash flooding in many parts of the UK, according to the scientists.
However, they caution that this result is based on only one computer model.
Flash flooding in Britain has had devastating...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change to boost summer flash floods, says studyUK summer flash floods to become more frequent, study shows
Posted by Guardian: Fiona Harvey, on June 1st, 2014
Guardian: Flash flooding in summer is likely to become much more frequent across the UK as a result of climate change, with potentially devastating results in vulnerable areas, according to new research.
The study, published in the peer-review journal Nature Climate Change, is the first to draw a direct link between climate change and an increase in summer downpours.
The research, a result of a collaboration between the Met Office and Newcastle University, used climate change computer models and standard...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on UK summer flash floods to become more frequent, study showsEPA’s latest pollution cutting plan scheduled for Monday announcement
Posted by Metro News: Jennifer Smith on June 1st, 2014
Metro News: Federal EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy is set to release carbon emissions limits on existing power plants during a news conference Monday morning at EPA headquarters. Reports Sunday evening indicated the draft proposal’s goal would be to cut emissions by 30 percent by 2030. U.S. Senator Joe Manchin is confident the EPA’s plan won’t bode well for West Virginia and its coal industry. “This administration has had blinders on when it comes to looking at the reliability of the system, the reliability...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on EPA’s latest pollution cutting plan scheduled for Monday announcementUnited Kingdom: Climate change rainfall warning
Posted by Sunderland Echo: None Given on June 1st, 2014
Sunderland Echo: Short, sharp downpours could become an increasingly unwanted characteristic of the British summer if the effects of global warming are to continue, experts have warned. A landmark study by the Met Office and Newcastle University has identified how climate change could result in heavier summer rainfall, which in turn could increase the risk of flash flooding. The study, published in the Nature and Climate Change journal, said: " Short duration rain events are predicted to intensify during the summer...
Rural county protests fracking in Nevada
Posted by Associated Press: Martin Griffith on June 1st, 2014
Associated Press: A rural county has joined an environmental group in challenging an oil and gas lease sale in central Nevada that could open 270 square miles of public land to hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking.
Lander County and the Center for Biological Diversity have filed formal administrative protests over the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's July 17 sale of leases in 102 parcels around Big Smokey Valley between Austin and Tonopah.
Both parties say fracking involves an enormous amount of water...
Va. to review natural gas fracking rules
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 1st, 2014
Associated Press: Virginia is looking anew at regulations governing hydraulic fracking for natural gas, a drilling method that has spawned a gold rush for the energy resource in the U.S. and given rise to its own environmental movement.
The review comes ahead of a Dallas energy company’s plans to drill in tens of thousands of leased acres south and east of Fredericksburg. To date, drilling for natural gas in Virginia has occurred only in the southwest Coalfields region of the state.
The Virginia Department of...
Glacier feeding Indus tributary melting fast, JNU study says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 1st, 2014
Times of India: This could be worrisome for Himalayan glaciers. A team from Jawaharlal Nehru University has found significantly accelerated ice melting on Chhota Shigri glacier in Lahaul and Spiti over the last 10 years. The JNU team, which has been studying the glacier for several years to understand the impact of climate change, has used meteorological data of 40 years to extrapolate the pace of ice-melt on the glacier. This is the first scientific study to have monitored a Himalayan glacier for four decades...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Glacier feeding Indus tributary melting fast, JNU study saysCanadian board requires funds pipeline abandonment
Posted by Edmonton Journal: None Given on June 1st, 2014
Edmonton Journal: Pipeline companies under federal jurisdiction such as Enbridge and Kinder Morgan, which have plans for major oil projects to the west coast of B.C., must create funds to pay for abandoning pipelines by the start of next year.
The National Energy board announced that starting Jan. 1, 2015 pipeline companies must create a mechanism to start setting aside money to pay for abandoning pipelines, through measures such as a trust or a letter of credit from a major bank or a surety bond.
While pipelines...