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Archive for January 16th, 2015
Global warming is here and Australia is feeling the impact
Posted by SBS: Guy Ragen on January 16th, 2015
SBS: In the early Saturday morning hours, Australian time, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association is expected to officially pronounce 2014 as the hottest global year on record. The follows the same finding last week from the Japan Meteorological Association.
This is significant news. The joint NASA/NOAA statement has been anticipated for weeks. As the primary repositories of US and global climate data, the statement is generally seen as the conclusive report card of the year just...
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Comments Off on Global warming is here and Australia is feeling the impactKeystone controversy
Posted by Toledo Blade: None Given on January 16th, 2015
Toledo Blade: President Obama is taking flak by advocates on the left and right for his failure to provide decisive action on the Keystone XL pipeline, which would cut across the United States to transport Canadian oil to the gulf coast.
But for all the controversy the pipeline project has created, it doesn't offer much in the way of economic benefits, as its advocates claim. Nor would it spell climate disaster, as environmental activists assert. The pipeline shouldn't distract Americans from more salient issues...
New Pew survey shows Americans might finally be getting serious about global warming
Posted by Washington Post: Roberto A. Ferdman on January 16th, 2015
Washington Post: Pew Research Center is out with a new survey and, for the first time in years, it actually bodes well for those hoping climate change will finally become a policy priority in the United States. The center asked a nationally representative pool of Americans which policy issues they believe should be a top priority for the Obama administration and newly appointed Congress this year. Only 38 percent of people said they thought global warming qualifies, which is almost low enough to make the issue the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on New Pew survey shows Americans might finally be getting serious about global warmingThe rate of sea-level rise is ‘far worse previously thought,’ study says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 16th, 2015
Washington Post: Researchers have come up with a new and improved way of measuring the rise in the sea level, and the news is not good: The seas have risen dramatically faster over the last two decades than anyone had known.
For hundreds of years, the seas were measured by more or less the equivalent of plopping a yard stick into the ocean and seeing if the ocean went up or down. But now, that method looks to be outdated.
According to a new study published on Wednesday in Nature, the new method involves an...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on The rate of sea-level rise is ‘far worse previously thought,’ study saysCan Humanity’s ‘Great Acceleration’ Be Managed
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 16th, 2015
New York Times: Through three-plus decades of reporting, I’ve been seeking ways to better mesh humanity’s infinite aspirations with life on a finite planet. (Do this Google search — “infinite aspirations” “finite planet” Revkin – to get the idea. Also read the 2002 special issue of Science Times titled “Managing Planet Earth.”)
So I was naturally drawn to a research effort that surfaced in 2009 defining a “safe operating space for humanity” by estimating a set of nine “planetary boundaries” for vital-sign-style...
Solar Panels Floating on Water Could Power Japan’s Homes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 16th, 2015
National Geographic: Nowadays, bodies of water aren't necessarily something to build around-they're something to build on. They sport not just landfills and man-made beaches but also, in a nascent global trend, massive solar power plants. Clean energy companies are turning to lakes, wetlands, ponds, and canals as building grounds for sunlight-slurping photovoltaic panels. So far, floating solar structures have been announced in, among other countries, the United Kingdom, Australia, India, and Italy. The biggest floating...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Solar Panels Floating on Water Could Power Japan’s HomesMelting Greenland ice sheet is biggest contributor to sea level rise
Posted by Environmental News Network: Meg Sullivan, Ucla on January 16th, 2015
Environmental News Network: As the largest single chunk of melting snow and ice in the world, the massive ice sheet that covers about 80 percent of Greenland is recognized as the biggest potential contributor to rising sea levels due to glacial meltwater.
Until now, however, scientists’ attention has mostly focused on the ice sheet’s aquamarine lakes — bodies of meltwater that tend to abruptly drain — and on monster chunks of ice that slide into the ocean to become icebergs.
But a new UCLA-led study reveals a vast network...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Melting Greenland ice sheet is biggest contributor to sea level riseHuman activity risking life on Earth, warn scientists
Posted by Blue and Green: Charlotte Malone on January 16th, 2015
Blue and Green: A group of scientists have warned that human activity is destabilising the Earth system that we depend on, with four of the nine planetary boundaries now being crossed, potentially leading to serious risks and dangers.
The researchers explain that the planetary boundaries concept, first published in 2009, identifies nine global priorities relating to human-induced changes to the environment. These nine processes and systems regulate the stability and resilience of the Earth system – the complex...
Tourism to Suffer in Dry Weather – UN
Posted by Star: Gilbert Koech on January 16th, 2015
Star: TOURISM is expected to suffer a blow from climate change through diminished numbers of tourists, a new United Nations report says. The report says hotter and drier conditions, extreme weather events such as cyclones, damage to sites of natural beauty, outbreaks of disease and heightened security risks could potentially deter would-be visitors. It cites Kenya as one of African countries dependent on tourism and particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The report - 'Africa Adaptation...
Climate hawks are not impressed by Obama’s methane plan
Posted by Grist: None Given on January 16th, 2015
Grist: You would expect environmentalists to offer effusive praise as President Obama releases the final major component of his Climate Action Plan: a proposal to clamp down on methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. And at first glance, they did.
“This announcement once again demonstrates the President’s strong commitment to tackling the climate crisis,” said League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski. A number of other environmental groups echoed that sentiment. If you didn’t read...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate hawks are not impressed by Obama’s methane plan