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Archive for January, 2015
US north-east cost faces ‘historic’ blizzard
Posted by Blue and Green: Charlotte Malone on January 27th, 2015
Blue and Green: A “potentially historic blizzard” could see as much as 3ft of snow hit the US north-east coast, the National Weather Service has warned. The warning comes as a study suggests that extreme weather events could double due to climate change.
The US forecast led to travel bans, public transport being reduced and schools closing early. New York governor Andrew Cuomo said with a “potentially historic blizzard” the state was “preparing for the worst”.
The weather comes as a new study warns that climate...
Why bigger snowstorms come with global warming
Posted by InsideClimate: Katherine Bagley on January 27th, 2015
InsideClimate: Winter storm Juno is expected to dump as much as 3 feet of snow across parts of New England early this week. Media outlets have already dubbed the storm "a massive blizzard of epic proportions." Schools closed their doors, grocery stores had their shelves stripped and governors announced travel bans along most of the storm's path.
But on social media, Juno is being pointed to as the latest evidence that global warming is not happening, or that it's even a hoax or scam--an assertion that scientists...
United Kingdom: Government forced to U-turn on fracking plans
Posted by Blue and Green: Charlotte Malone on January 27th, 2015
Blue and Green: The government has been forced to change plans on where fracking can occur across the UK after conceding to Labour’s calls to close 13 environmental loopholes in the industry’s regulation.
Energy secretary Ed Davey accepted amendments to the infrastructure bill put forward by Labour. The amendments include an outright ban on fracking within national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty, as well as areas close to water supplies. Fracking companies will also have to monitor the environment...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on United Kingdom: Government forced to U-turn on fracking plansWarmer, Drier Climate Locked In for Melbourne, Australia, Study Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 27th, 2015
Sydney Morning Herald: Melbourne's climate can be expected to warm across all seasons, with less rainfall in winter and spring but more intense rain events, according to the latest projections by the CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology.
The first update of the agencies' Natural Resource Management report since 2007 builds on improved modelling to project how the climate for the city and the country is likely to differ by 2030 and 2090.
Since 2001, extreme heat records have exceeded cold records throughout Australia...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Warmer, Drier Climate Locked In for Melbourne, Australia, Study SaysScientists call Obama to stop logging in old growth forests
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 27th, 2015
Mongabay: Seven conservation societies have joined a campaign to push the Obama administration to end old-growth forest logging in Alaska's Tongass National Forest.
The American Fisheries Society, American Ornithologists Union, American Society of Mammalogists, Ecological Society of America, Pacific Seabird Group, Society for Conservation Biology, and The Wildlife Society are calling for the Forest Service to accelerate transitioning logging away from old-growth forests into secondary forests that were...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Scientists call Obama to stop logging in old growth forestsParliament bid to block fracking Britain fails
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 27th, 2015
Agence France-Presse: A group of MPs failed to block plans for shale gas fracking in Britain, but the government agreed to tougher regulation and a ban on fracking in national parks.
Some 200 protesters including the designer Vivienne Westwood rallied outside parliament as the vote was taking place on Monday, holding up placards and shouting slogans.
One sign read "Shut the Frack Up" and a colourful knitted banner read "No to Fracking", an extraction process in which water, sand and chemicals are pumped at high...
Climate Forecast: More Southwest Droughts & Australia Flood
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 26th, 2015
National Geographic: People living around the Pacific Ocean, including in parts of Asia, Australia, and western North and South America, should expect wilder climate swings in the 21st century.
Extreme versions of El Niño and La Niña, the sibling Pacific weather patterns that can translate into torrential rains or searing droughts, will likely occur nearly twice as often—approximately once every decade—if greenhouse gases continue increasing on their current trajectory, an international team of scientists has concluded....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate Forecast: More Southwest Droughts & Australia FloodAccounting for natural capital on financial exchanges
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 26th, 2015
Mongabay: Last month, Norway's stock exchange, the Oslo Børs, introduced a way for investors to use their money to promote sustainability. A new list by the stock exchange highlights green bonds, financial products issued by companies to raise capital for environmentally friendly projects. Notably, the list requires that issuing companies obtain and publicize outside opinions on the projects' environmental features. Børs executives said they expect the new list to attract investors and make companies aware...
Risk of extreme weather ‘doubles’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 26th, 2015
BBC: Extreme weather arising from a climate phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean will get much worse as the world warms, according to climate modelling.
Parts of the world will have weather patterns that switch between extremes of wet and dry, say scientists.
The US will see more droughts while flooding will become more common in the western Pacific, research suggests.
The study, in Nature Climate Change, adds to a growing body of evidence over climate change and extreme weather.
The latest data...
Yep, Climate Change Is Still Causing Insane Storms
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 26th, 2015
Bloomberg: Forecasters are projecting "crippling snowfall amounts and life-threatening blizzard conditions" throughout the Northeast. They may as well toss in a 100 percent likelihood of jokes from American conservative media about how snow invalidates the idea of global warming.
Cue headlines, such as these early hits from the Drudge Report, about the "’Snowiest decade’ on record…," with a link to the conservative website Climate Depot. Or this FLASHBACK NYT: ‘The end of snow?’ headline, which points with...