RSS Feed
Archive for September, 2014
Wildfire rips through 150 homes in Northern California
Posted by Reuters: Alex Dobuzinskis on September 16th, 2014
Reuters: Fire crews in California battled on Tuesday to halt the advance of a day-old wildfire that has already destroyed about 150 homes, lapped at rural schools and caused power outages that left an evacuation shelter without electricity, authorities said. The blaze, one of about a dozen major fires raging across the drought-parched state, prompted authorities to order the evacuation of about 1,000 households in and around the Northern California town of Weed, which has a population of about 3,000. "Weed...
California governor OKs bills to regulate groundwater amid drought
Posted by Reuters: Aaron Mendelson on September 16th, 2014
Reuters: California Governor Jerry Brown signed a package of bills on Tuesday to regulate California's stressed groundwater supplies amid a drought that is expected to cost the state $2.2 billion in lost crops, jobs and other damages, with no end in sight. The bills will allow the state to take over management of underground aquifers and water accessed via wells, and aim to tighten oversight of water at a time when groundwater levels are shrinking in the third year of a catastrophic drought. "We have to...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on California governor OKs bills to regulate groundwater amid droughtThe $90 Trillion Climate-Stabilizing Cookbook
Posted by Climate Central: John Upton on September 16th, 2014
Climate Central: We're baking the world; on track to raise global temperatures by more than 7°F by burning fuels, raising livestock, bulldozing forests, and allowing cities to sprawl as they grow. Pulling the planet out of the costly slow-cooker of old-fashioned traditions in time to avoid the worst of global warming might not be easy. But doing so would make the world a richer place.
That was the message in The New Climate Economy Report, a 72-page paper produced by an international panel of leading economists,...
Extreme Weather Ravages the West Coast
Posted by EcoWatch: Anastasia Pantsios on September 16th, 2014
EcoWatch: Climate deniers are gloating that the California wildfire season isn`t as bad as seasons past or as predicted in the spring, although that`s probably small comfort to the families being evacuated from homes in Orange County near the Cleveland National Forest this weekend. And the fire season isn`t over, and neither is the hot, dry weather with temperatures in the triple digits.
The drought continues its negative impacts on California communities and agriculture. An NBC news report last week said...
Indonesian lawmakers approve Southeast Asia smog-fighting pact
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 16th, 2014
Reuters: Indonesian lawmakers have approved a pact for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to tackle smog pollution, becoming the grouping's final member to sign up to the regional co-operation effort.
Indonesia has failed in previous attempts to stop the smog that results from annual slash-and-burn forest clearances which cause heavy smoke and pollution levels to rise across the region.
"We hope Indonesia will be able to control its natural resources to prevent haze pollution," Indonesian...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Indonesian lawmakers approve Southeast Asia smog-fighting pactClimate change report: prevent damage by overhauling global economy
Posted by Guardian: Fiona Harvey, on September 16th, 2014
Guardian: The world can still act in time to stave off the worst effects of climate change, and enjoy the fruits of continued economic growth as long as the global economy can be transformed within the next 15 years, a group of the world's leading economists and political leaders will argue on Tuesday.
Tackling climate change can be a boon to prosperity, rather than a brake, according to the study involving a roll-call of the globe's biggest institutions, including the UN, the OECD group of rich countries,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change report: prevent damage by overhauling global economyRules thumb for climate change turned upside down
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 14th, 2014
PhysOrg: With a new analysis of land regions, ETH climate researcher are challenging the general climate change paradigm that dry regions are getting drier and wet regions are getting wetter. In some regions they are encountering divergent trends.
Based on models and observations, climate scientists have devised a simplified formula to describe one of the consequences of climate change: regions already marked by droughts will continue to dry out in the future climate. Regions that already have a moist...
How Diet and Climate Change Are Intrinsically Linked
Posted by Climate News Network: Tim Radford on September 14th, 2014
Climate News Network: The news is enough to make climate campaigners choke on their high-fibre breakfast cereal: If Americans adopted the dietary guidelines suggested by their own Department of Agriculture, greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) would actually go up by 12 percent. And even if Americans did what dietary campaigners urge and restricted themselves to a healthier 2000 calories a day, GHGs would not fall significantly. Martin Heller and Gregory Keoleian, scientists at the University of Michigan’s Centre for Sustainable...
Croatia struggles with floods after heavy rains
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 14th, 2014
Reuters: s many as two-thirds of 21 Croatian counties are struggling with flooding, with the worst occurring in central Croatia, the national rescue agency DUZS said on Sunday. Heavy rain has been falling since Wednesday, causing rivers to rise, closing roads and threatening houses and factories. No deaths or injuries have been reported so far. The biggest threat is in flooded areas around the central towns of Sisak, Hrvatska Kostajnica and Karlovac. Several villages have been evacuated and a state of emergency...
When fracking and free speech collide
Posted by Al Jazeera: None Given on September 14th, 2014
Al Jazeera: What started as a short YouTube video and a couple of local news interviews about a Texas landowner being able to light his water on fire has ballooned into a free speech fight that’s being closely watched by anti-fracking activists across the country.
Steve Lipsky has complained for years that fracking company Range Resources polluted his drinking water and streams that run through his property. The company sued him in 2011 for defaming its reputation for environmental stewardship.
Now Lipsky...