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Archive for June 8th, 2014
Dust in the Wind Could Speed Greenland’s Ice Melt
Posted by Climate Central: Brian Kahn on June 8th, 2014
Climate Central: Despite it's name, Greenland is predominantly white, as snow and ice cover the majority of the country. New research indicates that Greenland's main color may be starting to fade and in fact darken, though, thanks to a widespread increase of dust across the ice sheets. That darkening could speed up surface melt, and with it, sea level rise around the globe.
More than three-quarters of Greenland is covered by a massive ice sheet that's up to 2 miles thick in spots. It contained 684,000 cubic miles...
Increased fracking without increased inspections puts the environment at risk
Posted by Washington Post: Editorial on June 8th, 2014
Washington Post: OVER THE past decade, a U.S. energy boom has cut oil and natural gas imports, revitalized manufacturing and enriched rural communities. But will the massive increase in oil and natural gas production mar the environment?
We believe that the risks are manageable, but success will depend on rules that limit air and water pollution from unconventional drilling, which the Obama administration is formulating, and on adequate enforcement of those rules. On that front, several reports from the Government...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Increased fracking without increased inspections puts the environment at riskMassachusetts beginning work updated food plan
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 8th, 2014
Associated Press: Massachusetts is beginning work on its first “Food System Plan” in more than three decades. The plan is intended to help Massachusetts be more self-sufficient in producing and consuming food, while also planning for ways to more equitably distribute food and prepare for climate change. The process is organized by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. The research will include reaching out to food growers and producers in the state over the next 18 months to create a new vision...
Not so cheap: Australia needs acknowledge the real cost of coal
Posted by Conversation: None Given on June 8th, 2014
Conversation: US President Barack Obama’s latest plan to reduce carbon emissions is a welcome one, and not just because it addresses climate change. In publicising the plan to cut emissions from old coal power stations, Obama put the emphasis on health. Now it is time for Australia to do the same.
Here we continue to ignore the real costs of coal, instead clinging to the myth that “coal is cheap”, justifying continuing expansion and subsidies for the industry.
In the immediate wake of last month’s budget,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Not so cheap: Australia needs acknowledge the real cost of coalBeetles ravaging Mount Rushmore drain budgets as West warms
Posted by Bloomberg: Jennifer Oldham on June 8th, 2014
Bloomberg: Beetles are obliterating forests throughout Colorado and the West, draining budgets as property values decline and threatening tourism at national parks, including the home of Mount Rushmore.
Voters in Colorado communities raised taxes to protect ski resorts that bring in $3 billion annually to the economy. The pine beetles, each the size of a rice grain, have devoured 25 percent of the woods in South Dakota's Black Hills, where the mountain with massive carvings of Presidents George Washington,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Beetles ravaging Mount Rushmore drain budgets as West warmsHeat wave, power cuts, riots in India
Posted by Sapa: None Given on June 8th, 2014
SAPA: Thousands of people enraged by power cuts during an extreme heat wave rioted across northern India, setting electricity substations on fire and taking power company officials hostage, officials said Saturday.
The impoverished state of Uttar Pradesh has never had enough power for its 200 million people - about the population of Brazil - and many receive only a few hours a day under normal conditions, while 63 percent of homes have no access to electricity at all.
But recent temperatures that...
On Climate Change, Landrieu Stands With Coal, Against Obama
Posted by Roll Call: Steven Dennis on June 8th, 2014
Roll Call: Sen. Mary Landrieu will head to a coal-fired power plant tomorrow to emphasize her opposition to President Barack Obama’s new plan to take a big whack at coal as part of his plan to cut carbon emissions and tackle climate change. The vulnerable Louisiana Democrat will head to the Big Cajun II coal-fired power plant in New Roads, La., according to a press release. She’ll “meet with plant workers, take a tour of the facility and hold a roundtable discussion with power industry leaders from across...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on On Climate Change, Landrieu Stands With Coal, Against ObamaGreenland Is Getting Darker
Posted by Science: Eric Hand on June 8th, 2014
Science: Greenland’s white snow is getting darker. Scientists have generally attributed that darkening to larger, slightly less white snow grains caused by warmer temperatures. But researchers have found a new source of darkening taking hold: impurities in the snow.
“It can increase the speed of melting,” says Marie Dumont, a remote sensing scientist at Météo France in Grenoble, who publishes today with her colleagues in Nature Geoscience.
Scientists have known for years that Greenland’s snow is getting...
India implement code for energy saving, green building 2017
Posted by Aaj Ki Khabar: None Given on June 8th, 2014
Aaj Ki Khabar: It will be mandatory for all state governments to implement by 2017 the minimum requirements for energy efficient design and construction set by the central government to meet the challenges of depleting resources, increased urbanisation and rapid construction, according to a top official.
Shifting its focus to building energy-saving structures, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) of the power ministry has made mandatory the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) which acts like a "cross-check...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on India implement code for energy saving, green building 2017El Niño Could Spell Disaster for Coral Reefs
Posted by Guardian: Johnny Langenheim on June 8th, 2014
Guardian: A growing number of scientists are predicting a major El Niño weather event this year, which could wreak havoc across South America and Asia as droughts, floods and other extreme weather events hit industry and farming. But the impacts on the world's coral reefs could be even more disastrous.
The last big El Niño in 1997/98 caused the worst coral bleaching in recorded history. In total, 16 percent of the world's coral was lost and some countries like the Maldives lost up to 90 percent of their...