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Archive for June, 2014
Pesticides linked mass bee deaths also other friendly organisms including birds and fish
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2014
Independent: A class of pesticides linked to the decline of honeybees is also affecting a wide variety of other beneficial organisms such as earthworms and butterflies, according to a major study that directly contradicts the Government’s relaxed stance on the use of neonicotinoids. A group of 29 scientists from four continents found unequivocal evidence from hundreds of published studies to claim that “neonics” – the most widely used pesticides in the world – are having a dramatic impact on the ecosystems that...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Pesticides linked mass bee deaths also other friendly organisms including birds and fishGreen groups urge U.S. agency to halt approving gas export projects
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2014
Reuters: Environmentalists on Monday protested at the headquarters of the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, calling on the agency to stop approving liquefied natural gas export facilities until the climate change impacts of the projects are better understood.
The protesters blasted FERC's refusal to consider the greenhouse gas emissions that would result from the production, processing and shipment of natural gas abroad and said FERC must examine the matter before considering any new projects....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Green groups urge U.S. agency to halt approving gas export projectsOur Voice: Climate change is real
Posted by Desert Sun: Editorial on June 22nd, 2014
Desert Sun: Increasing temperatures are having a slow but dramatic affect on plants, animals and people in the Coachella Valley and surrounding areas.
As part of a three-part series on climate change, a Desert Sun analysis of more than 30 weather stations throughout the Southwest found that average monthly temperatures were 1.7 degrees hotter in the past 20 years than the average in the decades before 1960. Nighttime lows rose an average 3 degrees. Palm Springs is 3.4 degrees hotter and nighttime lows are...
Australian concern over global warming rebounds
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 22nd, 2014
Guardian: The number of Australians who consider global warming a "serious" concern has increased for the second year running, while the Australian government remains a laggard. Share Tweet this Email WASHINGTON, D.C. - JUNE 12: US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Tony Abbott meet. Abbott is seriously out of step with the USA on climate change policy. Photograph: UPI/Landov/Barcroft Media
This year has seen a resurgence of "serious and pressing" concern over global warming with the second consecutive...
PA Cracks The Top Ten List Of Toxic Chemicals In Waterways
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 22nd, 2014
CBS: Pennsylvania has the nation`s seventh-highest volume of toxic chemicals being released into its waterways, according to a new report. New Jersey ranks 14th. Now, a coalition of environmental groups is urging greater protection for local waterways.
David Masur of Penn Environment stood on the banks of the Schuylkill River near Boathouse Row, overlooking a waterfall-- a scenic spot to deliver a grim message.
“Polluters dumped more than 2.3 million pounds of toxic chemicals,” he said, “making...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on PA Cracks The Top Ten List Of Toxic Chemicals In WaterwaysMassive malnutrition may come climate change
Posted by Israel21c: None Given on June 21st, 2014
Israel21c: Israelis were part of a multicenter study that tried to understand the potentially devastating effects of climate change on the world’s poor and hungry, and the crops they eat for basic sustenance. Their conclusions paint a grim picture. Writing about their results in Nature, one of the world’s most prominent science journals, the study leaders predict that as climate change progresses, crops grown in the second part of this century will become “hollow.” There will be lower levels of iron, protein...
Season record drought and heat ends; what’s next?
Posted by Tribune: John Lindsey on June 21st, 2014
Tribune: My family and I hiked to Valencia Peak in Montaña de Oro State Park last week. Three consecutive years of drought has taken its toll.
The poison oak leaves have already turned to hues of orange and red. Portions of the trail were covered with thick dust resembling talcum powder that rose with each step we took.
I kept thinking to myself, it's only June. Even though summer began Saturday as the sun reached its highest point in the Northern Hemisphere sky, the warmest months in San Luis Obispo...
California Drought: Snowmelt’s path shows impact from Sierra to Pacific
Posted by Santa Cruz Sentinel: Lisa Krieger on June 21st, 2014
Santa Cruz Sentinel: When a single snowflake falls peacefully atop a Sierra peak, it begins a turbulent journey to help quench the thirst of a drought-stricken state.
In most years, Sierra snow provides a third of California's water supply. But it is by far the least reliable portion -- and now, after three years of historically low snowfall, tensions are soaring over how we share the shrinking bounty of this great frozen reservoir.
Today, on the cusp of a long, dry summer, we follow the melting snow -- and meet...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on California Drought: Snowmelt’s path shows impact from Sierra to PacificBulgaria struggles with flood damage and begins to count cost
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 21st, 2014
Reuters: The torrential rain and floods that swept Bulgaria this week have killed 12 people, wrecked part of the Black Sea city of Varna and badly hit agriculture and the important tourism sector, authorities said on Saturday.
The government has yet to estimate the full scale of the damage caused when rivers burst their banks in eastern and central Bulgaria, forcing mass evacuations, but is considering seeking EU aid.
On Saturday, over 1,000 rescue workers and volunteers were struggling to clear mud...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Bulgaria struggles with flood damage and begins to count costFracking increases dangerous earth burps
Posted by Al Jazeera: Gregg Levine on June 21st, 2014
Al Jazeera: A study of derelict Pennsylvania oil and gas wells has spotted what is possibly a huge source of additional greenhouse gas emissions.
Methane, which is pound-for-pound a much more potent climate-warming gas than carbon dioxide, could be leaking from hundreds of thousands of abandoned wells. And that’s just in the Keystone State. A growing body of evidence says countless old wells across the country -- most poorly monitored -- could be belching up the same dangerous emissions.
The study by Mary...