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Archive for July, 2014
Drought hinders state’s emissions goals
Posted by San Francisco Chronicle: David R. Baker on July 20th, 2014
San Francisco Chronicle: No state has done more than California to fight global warming. But a deepening drought could make that battle more difficult and more expensive.
A prolonged dry spell, stretching on for years, would slash the amount of power flowing from the state's hydroelectric dams, already running low after three parched winters.
The dams have, for years, been one of California's main sources of clean electricity, generating power without spewing greenhouse gases into the air. Drought forces utility companies...
Late monsoon starts Indian farmer’s ‘journey to hell’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 20th, 2014
Reuters: Indian farmer Asghar Bhura scrapes a living by growing sugarcane, but this year's late monsoon has left his tiny plot parched and he will earn nothing from his harvest.
Bhura will have to go and work for a big grower to feed his family of six, making 250 rupees ($4.00) a day, as he did when India suffered its last severe drought in 2009.
"I have no option but to become a bonded labourer just to feed my family one meal a day," said Bhura, 50, looking at his stunted crop on his third of a hectare...
March against climate change crosses pipeline’s path
Posted by Lincoln Journal Star: Nicholas Bergin on July 19th, 2014
Lincoln Journal Star: Corn grew to the left, soybeans to the right and gravel crunched under their feet on Road 22 Saturday afternoon as about 70 Nebraskans met 35 marchers who are on a cross-country trek to inspire action in combating climate change. The Great March for Climate Action, which started in Los Angeles, reached Nebraska soil on June 30 and participants have been slowly winding their way through the state. By Saturday, their shoes' souls had covered about 1,800 miles -- about 20 miles a day -- with about...
LA River: From Concrete Ditch to Urban Oasis
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 19th, 2014
National Geographic: There's a stretch of the Los Angeles River in the Elysian Valley, roughly midway along its 51-mile route to the sea, where native willows rise from the east bank and arundo-an invasive grass-closes in from the west. If you're lucky enough to be out there in a kayak, and there's no train rushing past on the tracks above, you will hear something very strange in this city of millions: quiet.
On a recent evening, Omar Brownson, the head of the L.A. River Revitalization Corporation, leaned back in...
Drought Conditions Linked to Human Activity
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 19th, 2014
Environmental News Network: US Government scientists have developed a new high-resolution climate model that shows southwestern Australia's long-term decline in fall and winter rainfall is caused by increases in manmade greenhouse gas emissions and ozone depletion.
"This new high-resolution climate model is able to simulate regional-scale precipitation with considerably improved accuracy compared to previous generation models," said Tom Delworth, a research scientist at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton,...
Melting permafrost and Global Warming
Posted by Environmental News Network: Roger Greenway on July 19th, 2014
Environmental News Network: The study, published this week in the journal Nature, focuses on thermokarst lakes, which occur as permafrost thaws and creates surface depressions that fill with melted fresh water, converting what was previously frozen land into lakes.
The research suggests that arctic thermokarst lakes are "net climate coolers" when observed over longer, millennial, time scales.
"Until now, we've only thought of thermokarst lakes as positive contributors to climate warming," said lead researcher Katey Walter...
It ain’t over… Texas city blocks fracking ban but… voters get their say in November
Posted by UK Progressive: None Given on July 19th, 2014
UK Progressive: ThinkProgress details a Texas city’s overturning of a fracking ban. But the issue will be on the ballot in November. Denton, Texas blew its opportunity to become the first community in the state to ban hydraulic fracturing but will get a second chance for the title at the ballot box in November. After an emotional eight-hour public hearing on Tuesday, the city council in the north Texas community voted 5-2 against a citizen proposal to stop issuing permits for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking,...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on It ain’t over… Texas city blocks fracking ban but… voters get their say in NovemberWorst wildfire season in decades in Canada’s Northwest Territories
Posted by Radio Canada: Marc Montgomery on July 19th, 2014
Radio Canada: The wildfire season continues to get worse in Canada’s Northwest Territories.
Already listed as the worst season for fires in memory, it’s now estimated to be costing the territorial government Canadian $1 million (U.S. $931,000) a day to fight the fires.
“What we are seeing in the Northwest Territories this year is an indicator of what to expect with climate change,” says Mike Flannigan, a professor of Wildland Fire in the University of Alberta’s renewable resources department. “Expect more...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Worst wildfire season in decades in Canada’s Northwest TerritoriesUnited States: Wildfire threat only going to get worse, says premier
Posted by Daily Courier: None Given on July 19th, 2014
Daily Courier: Climate change is drying out B.C.’s Interior and the province has to prepare for what’s likely a drier future, Premier Christy Clark said Friday in West Kelowna. Within sight of the wispy clouds of smoke rising from the Smith Creek fire, Clark told reporters this year’s fire season started far earlier than usual and she expects a greater threat of wildfires in the coming years. “I don’t anticipate, given the realities of climate change and the drying climate here in B.C., that we’re going to see...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United States: Wildfire threat only going to get worse, says premierU.S. EPA pushes ahead with plan to block Alaska copper mine
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2014
Reuters: U.S. environmental regulators laid out proposed protections for Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed on Friday that would effectively block the development of the Pebble deposit, which could be one of the world's largest copper mines.
In a 214-page document posted to its website, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed to restrict the use of certain waters in the region for disposal of dredged or fill material associated with mining the Pebble deposit.
It is the latest step by the agency...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on U.S. EPA pushes ahead with plan to block Alaska copper mine