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Archive for March, 2015
Arctic missing an ice patch size of Texas and California this winter
Posted by Mashable: None Given on March 20th, 2015
Mashable: The Arctic climate sent yet another in a long series of alarm bells on Thursday as scientists announced that the sea ice cover in the region hit a record low maximum for the year. The winter maximum typically occurs in March, but this year it took place about two weeks earlier than average, with sea ice most likely maxing out on Feb. 25.
The official call was made Thursday by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado, which tracks ice conditions at the poles. The record...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Arctic missing an ice patch size of Texas and California this winterRevealed: Gates Foundation $1.4B in Fossil Fuel Investments
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 20th, 2015
Guardian: The charity run by Bill and Melinda Gates, who say the threat of climate change is so serious that immediate action is needed, held at least $1.4bn (£1bn) of investments in the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies, according to a Guardian analysis of the charity’s most recent tax filing in 2013.
The companies include BP, responsible for the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, Anadarko Petroleum, which was recently forced to pay a $5bn environmental clean-up charge and Brazilian...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Revealed: Gates Foundation $1.4B in Fossil Fuel InvestmentsOil Sands Pain Spreads to Canada’s Far-Flung Eastern Shores
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 20th, 2015
Reuters: Cory Troke joined the exodus west two years ago, leaving scenic but job-scarce Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, after being laid off as a machinist.
Troke, 37, headed to the Alberta oilsands, apprenticing as a pipefitter and finding 19 months of steady work, flying in for two weeks, returning home for one.
By October Troke was out of work again, and he was not alone. A downturn driven by tumbling crude prices is causing turmoil in an island economy that has grown dependent on workers commuting more...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Oil Sands Pain Spreads to Canada’s Far-Flung Eastern ShoresUN calls action as global water crisis looms
Posted by Deutsche-Weele: None Given on March 20th, 2015
Deutsche-Weele: The UN has warned that the world will soon face a crisis of huge dimensions if water management does not improve. Population growth and climate change are among the factors fueling the problem.
In its annual World Water Development Report released on Friday, the world body said if current trends of water usage continue, the demand for water will exceed its replenishment by 40 percent by 2030.
The report said the rise in the world's population by some 80 million people per year was one of the...
Arctic Ice Extent has Reached its Limit: Lowest on Record
Posted by Nature World: None Given on March 19th, 2015
Nature World: With winter at its end, it appears that the extent of Arctic sea ice has reached its limit. Worryingly, it's the lowest extent ever seen, reaching only about 5.61 million square miles. What's more, this is also one of the earliest maximum extents ever reached, with most seen much further into the end of the season.
Arctic sea ice is pretty self explanatory: it's frozen seawater that grows on the surface of the Arctic Ocean between fall and winter, and gradually recedes at the end of this period....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Arctic Ice Extent has Reached its Limit: Lowest on RecordThis Winter Was Warmest on Record
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 19th, 2015
Agence France-Presse: This winter may have brought a deep freeze to much of the northeastern United States -- including record-breaking snowfall in Boston -- but it was the planet's warmest winter on record, climate scientists announced yesterday (March 18).
The average global temperature from December to February was 1.42 degrees Fahrenheit (0.79 degrees Celsius) higher than the 20th-century average of 53.8 degrees F (12.1 degrees C), according to a newly released report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's...
No Fracking in State Parks, Ohio House Democrats and Republicans Surprisingly Agree
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on March 19th, 2015
EcoWatch: In a surprising move for a polarized Ohio legislature controlled by far-right Republicans cozy with fossil fuel interests, its House Energy and Natural Resources committee voted 12-0 Tuesday to ban fracking in state parks. The full bill, which aims to speed up the drilling permitting process, was then passed unanimously on the House floor Wednesday. It now heads to the Senate.
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on No Fracking in State Parks, Ohio House Democrats and Republicans Surprisingly AgreeStudy: cost climate change to become ‘serious challenge’ by 2040
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on March 19th, 2015
Blue and Green: Economists have said that the cost of climate change could increase significantly over the coming decades and become a “serious challenge” for businesses by 2040. They have urged businesses to consider the true financial costs of climate change in order to prepare for the future.
The study was led by the Global Climate Adaption Partnership with Daniel Black & Associates and researchers at the University of Manchester and the University of Bath. The study mapped key risk factors from climate change...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Study: cost climate change to become ‘serious challenge’ by 2040Australia Farmers Challenged by Climate Change
Posted by ClimateWire: Brittany Patterson on March 19th, 2015
ClimateWire: From tasteless carrots to sunburned apples, a new report by two University of Melbourne researchers paints a challenging picture for Australia's agricultural sector and the impacts of climate change in the decades to come.
Through the examination of 55 food commodities and a breakdown of the ways each of the country's multiple climate regions will be affected by climate change, the study concludes the quality of beef, chicken and even kangaroo will suffer.
The biggest challenge to come from...
Worsening conditions force Calif tighten water restrictions
Posted by Greenwire: Anne C. Mulkern on March 19th, 2015
Greenwire: With California's drought appearing to deepen, the state yesterday ordered local water agencies to impose and enforce conservation through limits on outdoor water use.
More than 400 water suppliers that serve 95 percent of Californians must activate existing conservation policies or enact new rules restricting outdoor irrigation. The California Water Resources Control Board said agencies without regulations already in place should start with restricting watering to twice per week.
Fines of...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Worsening conditions force Calif tighten water restrictions