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Archive for April, 2015
Obama visits Everglades to talk about climate change – goad Republicans to do likewise
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 22nd, 2015
Washington Post: President Obama will visit an ecologically sensitive national park on Wednesday in a politically sensitive state.
Obama’s Earth Day trip to the Florida Everglades will be accompanied by historical dedications -- the Miami home of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, who famously called the Everglades a “river of grass” -- and much talk of the value of national parks -- a new National Parks Service report documents their value to the economy.
But the political context is unmistakable: Obama’s climate change-focused...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Obama visits Everglades to talk about climate change – goad Republicans to do likewiseAt Everglades, Obama to warn of damage from climate neglect
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 22nd, 2015
Washington Post: With swampy wetlands and alligators as his backdrop, President Barack Obama will use a visit to Florida’s Everglades to warn of the damage that climate change is already inflicting on the nation’s environmental treasures -- and to hammer political opponents he says are doing far too little about it.
Obama’s trip to the Everglades on Wednesday, timed to coincide with Earth Day, marks an attempt to connect the dots between theoretical arguments about carbon emissions and real-life implications....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on At Everglades, Obama to warn of damage from climate neglectStudy finds low cost in reducing methane emissions
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 22nd, 2015
New York Times: Reducing methane leaks from oil and gas operations around the world could provide a relatively inexpensive way to fight climate change, according to a new report commissioned by the Environmental Defense Fund.
The amount of methane that escaped worldwide in 2012 was roughly 3.6 billion cubic feet and would have been worth $30 billion on the market, said Kate Larsen, a director of the Rhodium Group, which produced the study. A country that produced that amount of gas would rank seventh in the world,...
Obama to use Everglades trip to press climate agenda
Posted by New York Times: Michael D. Shear and Coral Davenport on April 22nd, 2015
New York Times: President Obama on Wednesday will make his first visit while in office to the Florida Everglades, choosing the backyard of a former Republican governor of the state, Jeb Bush, and its Republican senator, Marco Rubio, to demand action on climate change in a critical battleground in the 2016 presidential election. Officially, Mr. Obama will be commemorating the 45th Earth Day with a series of announcements, including the designation of a national historic landmark at the home of the environmentalist...
As climate talks belch hot air, activists putting their lives on line
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 21st, 2015
Guardian: How is it that in a year stuffed with conferences on environment and human development, from climate talks in Paris and on new development goals in New York, those actually trying to save the environment are at best dismissed as enemies of progress, and at worst are being killed at an increasing rate and with almost complete impunity?
There is a recognisable theatrical form at UN summits where environmental agreements get negotiated and signed. It starts with general anticipation, the unreasonable...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on As climate talks belch hot air, activists putting their lives on lineBig Insurance Companies Warning US To Prepare For Climate Change
Posted by ThinkProgress: None Given on April 21st, 2015
ThinkProgress: A coalition of big insurance companies, consumer groups, and environmental advocates are urging the United States to overhaul its disaster policies in the face of increasingly extreme weather due to human-caused climate change.
According to a report released Tuesday by the SmarterSafer coalition, the U.S. needs to increase how much it spends on pre-disaster mitigation efforts and infrastructure protection. That way, it asserts, the U.S. can stop wasting so much money on cleaning up after a disaster...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Big Insurance Companies Warning US To Prepare For Climate ChangeGlobal warming more moderate than worst-case models, empirical data suggest
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 21st, 2015
ScienceDaily: We are seeing "middle of the road" warming. Natural variability in surface temperatures -- caused by interactions between the ocean and atmosphere, and other natural factors -- can account for observed changes in the recent rates of warming from decade to decade, new data suggests. Credit: NASA image by Robert Simmon, based on data from the Goddard Institute for Space Studies
A new study based on 1,000 years of temperature records suggests global warming is not progressing as fast as it would...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Global warming more moderate than worst-case models, empirical data suggestIllegal trade in endangered wildlife thriving on eBay despite controls
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 21st, 2015
Guardian: Illegal online trafficking in imperiled wildlife is rampant, and attempted controls are few and largely ineffective. Log on to most any international internet store that deals in wildlife or wildlife parts, and you’ll find a charnel house of endangered and protected species hawked openly or under phony names and in violation of US law and international agreements.
The world’s largest online marketplace by far, eBay, is one of the few that makes a serious effort to control wildlife smuggling by...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Illegal trade in endangered wildlife thriving on eBay despite controlsKeeping up climate: efforts reduce African crop losses face extra hurdle of climate change
Posted by Mongabay: Rebecca Kessler on April 21st, 2015
Mongabay: Farmers in tropical areas have long struggled to maximize their crop yields, but the strikes against them just continue to mount. To start with, they tend to lack storage and processing tools that industrialized countries take for granted -- things like refrigeration, ovens, and grain elevators. On top of that, they're working the land in places where climate change may already be wielding its effects, making disease, rainfall patterns, and crop yields less predictable.
Africa, Latin America,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Keeping up climate: efforts reduce African crop losses face extra hurdle of climate changeThree major canal schemes criticised over use science
Posted by SciDevNet: None Given on April 21st, 2015
SciDevNet: Three water management projects involving canals in separate parts of the world have been criticised for how they incorporate scientific evidence -- albeit for varying reasons.
The ambitious projects are being marketed as an opportunity to improve the fortunes of the regions surrounding them. Yet perhaps due to their great geopolitical significance, each is treating the scientific analysis of the canals' potential risks and benefits very differently.
All three projects reached turning points...