Archive for September, 2014

People’s Climate March in New York in pictures

Guardian: Gatherings take places in cities worldwide two days before the United Nations Climate Summit, where more than 120 world leaders will convene for a meeting aimed at galvanising political will for a new global climate treaty by the end of 2015

California wildfire destroys 10 houses, 22 other structures

Reuters: Ten houses and 22 outbuildings have been destroyed in a wildfire that swept through parts of the Sierra Nevada mountains in California over the past week and continues to burn, a fire official said on Sunday. No residents of the homes were hurt, said Tom Piranio, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Firefighters were only recently able to enter the burned areas to tally the structural damage caused by the King Fire, he added. About 12,000 homes have been...

Scientists Report Global Rise in Greenhouse Gas Emissions

New York Times: Global emissions of greenhouse gases jumped 2.3 percent in 2013 to record levels, scientists reported Sunday, in the latest indication that the world remains far off track in its efforts to control global warming. The emissions growth last year was a bit slower than the average growth rate of 2.5 percent that prevailed over the past decade, and much of the dip was caused by an economic slowdown in China, which is the world’s single largest source of emissions. It may take another year or two to...

Mt. Shasta mudflow prompts flash-flood watch

Redding: The weather service initially issued a flash-flood warning Saturday night, but downgraded it to a flash-flood watch later Saturday night. The warning is in effect through 5 p.m. Sunday. The watch, issued out of the agency's Medford, Oregon, office, says a glacier on Mt. Shasta broke, releasing a high volume of volcanic mud, rocks and water. The glacier-induced mudflow already has flooded Mud and Pilgrim creeks to just north of Highway 89 where the water was dammed up Saturday night, the weather...

With UN Climate Summit Opening, Marches Planned Around the World

National Geographic: Two days before a United Nations summit on climate change, people are marching in cities around the world Sunday to urge their leaders to act boldly to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving the changes. The "People's Climate March" comes just before more than 120 heads of state will gather in New York City for the summit, convened by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. He wants to urge heads of state to act decisively by switching to cleaner sources of energy, preventing deforestation,...

Losing ground in Louisiana

Living on Earth: Levees along the Mississippi river and years of oil and gas extraction have caused dramatic erosion and subsidence in Louisiana. Bob Marshall, a reporter with the New Orleans news-site The Lens, discusses the new interactive project he developed with ProPublica with host Steve Curwood and explains how the vanishing land could displace thousands of people if nothing changes. Transcript CURWOOD: Louisiana is growing smaller and smaller, thanks to changes in the Mississippi delta that were designed...

Massive NYC march aims focus world’s eyes climate change

Reuters: World leaders including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon were set to join farmers, fishermen, children and others in a massive demonstration on Sunday to demand action on climate change. Organizers are expecting 100,000 to join the People's Climate March in midtown Manhattan ahead of this week's U.N. General Assembly, which brings together 120 world leaders to discuss reducing carbon emissions that threaten the environment. The gathering will include celebrities such as musician Sting, scientists...

Melbourne rally climate change action attracts 30,000 people

AAP: A wave of global climate change demonstrations has kicked off in Melbourne and the message from the crowd of about 30,000 is clear - it's time for action. The flagship People's Climate March is among the first of more than 2,500 which will take place around the globe in the next 14 hours, ahead of a UN summit on climate change in New York next week. No end in sight at the Melbourne March #PeoplesClimate pic.twitter.com/GOQAmRDl1g - 350 dot org (@350) September 21, 2014 World leaders will meet...

In Maine, climate change is taking a toll

Boston Globe: With milder winters sparking a surge in deer ticks, park rangers now duct-tape their ankles while combing the wilds of Acadia, where native flowers are disappearing at alarming rates and invasive species are thriving. Along the rocky coast of Georgetown, Maine, lobstermen are finding more black sea bass in their traps, spiny intruders that until recently were almost never spotted so far north. In a pond in Brunswick, an increasingly prevalent disease has ravaged amphibians. In a state with...

Britain must be ready ‘worst droughts modern times’

Independent: The UK must prepare for “the worst droughts in modern times” experts will warn this week at a major international conference to discuss the growing global water crisis. As the population continues to grow and water is increasingly scarce, suppliers across Britain simply “cannot afford to fail”, according to Trevor Bishop, the Environment Agency’s deputy director. “We need to have more resilience, we need to be able to deal with tougher situations, and we cannot afford to fail. The consequences...