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Archive for January, 2015
Human 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 planPoll: Majority Support Keystone XL Pipeline
Posted by Hill: Laura Barron-Lopez on January 16th, 2015
Hill: A majority of Americans support construction of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline, according to a new CNN/ORC poll.
It found that 57 percent of the 1,011 surveyed are in favor of building the $8 billion oil sands pipeline.
Respondents were surveyed on Dec. 18-21. Only 28 percent opposite the project, and 15 percent are unsure, CNN said.
The poll comes as the Senate is preparing for a weeks-long battle over legislation to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, which has been met with a veto threat...
Toxic Algae on Ohio Lawmakers’ Agenda
Posted by Columbus Dispatch: Jim Siegel on January 16th, 2015
Columbus Dispatch: After stalling last year, both the Ohio House and Senate appear ready to move on efforts to deal with the Lake Erie toxic-algae problem that last summer choked off Toledo’s water supply.
“I call this our ‘no excuses’ issue,” said Sen. Randy Gardner, R-Bowling Green, who is one of three GOP senators focusing on the matter. “We’ve got agreement on quite a bit of the algae-related issues. There’s no excuse for us to not complete work on this in a timely manner.”
The House in November passed a...
Humanity is in the existential danger zone, scientists warn
Posted by Canada Journal: None Given on January 16th, 2015
Canada Journal: Climate change and high rates of extinctions of animals and plants are pushing the Earth into a danger zone for humanity, said a scientific report card about mankind`s impact on nature.
In a new study published in the journal Science, an international team of 18 researchers argue the most important “planetary boundary” is the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, followed closely by the rate of species extinction.
The other “planetary boundaries” the planet’s exceeding are the rate of...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Humanity is in the existential danger zone, scientists warnPolish farmers blockaded Chevron frackers for 400 days and stopped drilling in their region
Posted by Inhabitat: None Given on January 15th, 2015
Inhabitat: In July, Chevron abandoned its plans to drill for gas in Zurawlow, Poland, after farmers and families from Zurawlow (and four nearby villages) blockaded a proposed shale drilling site with tractors and other pastoral machinery for 400 days. Now, that victory is inspiring other Poles to fight back against the fracked gas industry.
According to a soon-to-be-outdated Polish Geological Institute study in March 2012, estimated recoverable shale gas beneath the country`s surface is estimated to be between...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Polish farmers blockaded Chevron frackers for 400 days and stopped drilling in their regionHow cities in Asia could drastically slow climate change
Posted by Quartz: None Given on January 15th, 2015
Quartz: Cities--the best of which are bastions of transit networks, bike paths, compact apartments and chirpy baristas--are growing faster than litters of sewer rats, exacerbating their already-high hungers for energy. The trend is so steep that a new analysis projects that urban centers will be burning through three times more energy in the year 2050 than was the case in 2005.
But what sounds like a threat could also be viewed as an opportunity. The new study, by five European and American researchers...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on How cities in Asia could drastically slow climate changeChina met 2014 pollution control targets: ministry
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 15th, 2015
Reuters: China has met its 2014 targets for air and water pollution control, the official news agency Xinhua said on Thursday.
The environmental protection minister, Zhou Shengxian, told an annual government meeting that authorities last year banned 7 million high-emission vehicles from the road, shut down 50,000 coal-fired furnaces, installed denitrification and desulfurisation equipment in power plants and factories, and added new sewage treatment plants, Xinhua said.
Zhou said the annual targets...
Humans Cross Another Danger Line for Planet
Posted by Scientific American: Mark Fischetti on January 15th, 2015
Scientific American: Five years go an impressive, international group of scientists unveiled nine biological and environmental “boundaries” that humankind should not cross in order to keep the earth a livable place. To its peril, the world had already crossed three of those safe limits: too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, too rapid a rate of species loss and too much pouring of nitrogen into rivers and oceans—primarily in the form of fertilizer runoff. Now we have succeeded in transgressing a fourth limit: the...