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Archive for May, 2015
‘It’s a tinderbomb’ – Pacific Northwest faces major wildfire risk due to low snowpack
Posted by ClimateWire: Elizabeth Harball on May 20th, 2015
ClimateWire: Snow-free mountains and a recent drought declaration mean that Washington state is facing an extraordinarily risky wildfire season, according to one of the state's top forest officials.
"Over the years, people have become fond of referring to Western forests as tinderboxes," State Forester Aaron Everett of the Washington Department of Natural Resources said yesterday. "Our forest is not a tinderbox, it's a 'tinderbomb.' It's sprinkled with gasoline and ringed with dynamite."
Washington Gov....
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on ‘It’s a tinderbomb’ – Pacific Northwest faces major wildfire risk due to low snowpackNew guidelines approved emergency drought relief funding
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 20th, 2015
LA Times: "As we enter a fourth year of severe drought, more communities are likely to face difficulties with their water supplies and delivering safe drinking water," said Darrin Polhemus, deputy director of the water board`s Division of Financial Assistance.
The guidelines ensure communities and groups with the greatest need of drinking water receive funding. The communities probably lack access to water supplies or suffer from contaminated water and need financial assistance to maintain drinking water....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on New guidelines approved emergency drought relief fundingCalif drought: New poll finds residents think iserious, aren’t sure can conserve more
Posted by Mercury News: Paul Rogers on May 20th, 2015
Mercury News: An overwhelming majority of Californians believe the state's drought is extremely serious and support Gov. Jerry Brown's mandatory new water conservation rules, according to a new statewide poll released Tuesday.
But in a potentially troubling finding for cities and water districts preparing to launch summer conservation rules, 44 percent of homeowners say they will find it tough to reduce their own household's water use if they are asked to cut back. And nearly half of wealthier homeowners --...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Calif drought: New poll finds residents think iserious, aren’t sure can conserve moreCanada: Rising carbon emissions from oilsands a ‘unique’ challenge, federal cabinet told
Posted by CBC: None Given on May 20th, 2015
CBC: Greenhouse gas emissions from increasing oilsands production will rise faster than Canada's ability to curb them, the federal government was warned before new emissions reduction targets were announced last week.
Cabinet documents obtained by CBC News reveal the thinking behind the scenes as the cabinet members mulled over various proposals for Canada's target to cut its greenhouse emissions by 2030.
The documents marked "secret" also suggest Canada should try to negotiate new North American-wide...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada: Rising carbon emissions from oilsands a ‘unique’ challenge, federal cabinet toldObama frames global warming as national security threat
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 20th, 2015
Associated Press: President Barack Obama is framing the challenges of climate change as a matter of national security that threatens to aggravate poverty and political instability around the globe and jeopardize the readiness of U.S. forces. "Make no mistake, it will impact how our military defends our country," the president says in excerpts of a commencement address prepared for delivery Wednesday at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. "And so we need to act and we need to act now." The president...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Obama frames global warming as national security threatObama tells Coast Guard grads climate change menaces US
Posted by Reuters: Roberta Rampton on May 20th, 2015
Reuters: Rising seas and thawing permafrost caused by warmer global temperatures threaten U.S. military bases and will change the way the U.S. armed services defend the country, President Barack Obama said on Wednesday.
In a commencement address at the United States Coast Guard Academy, Obama underscored the risks to national security posed by climate change, one of his top priorities for action in his remaining 19 months in office.
"The threat of a changing climate cuts to the very core of your service,"...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Obama tells Coast Guard grads climate change menaces USCanada full partner in Thirty Meter Telescope project on Hawaii Big Island
Posted by Business News: None Given on May 20th, 2015
Business News: Canada apparently is not concerned about the controversy surrounding construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope atop the Big Island's Mauna Kea volcano.
Despite the halt in construction as protestors object to building another telescope on the volcano, Canada has signed on as the latest full member of the project. It joins the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and science institutions in China, India and Japan as partners.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada full partner in Thirty Meter Telescope project on Hawaii Big IslandClimate change could cause cold-blooded animals’ thermal tolerance to shrink
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 20th, 2015
ScienceDaily: Cold-blooded animals can tolerate body temperatures only a few degrees above their normal high temperatures before they overheat, which could be a problem as the planet itself warms, according to San Francisco State University researchers. Ectotherms such as fish, reptiles and insects can stretch their body's tolerance of high and low temperatures a little bit at each extreme, but that stretch, or plasticity, is relatively small, the scientists found. As a result, the animals will see their "thermal...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change could cause cold-blooded animals’ thermal tolerance to shrinkRuptured pipeline spills 21,000 gallons of oil on California coast
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 20th, 2015
Reuters: A pipeline ruptured along the scenic California coastline on Tuesday, spilling some 21,000 gallons (79,000 liters) of oil into the ocean and on beaches before it could be secured, a U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman said. The pipeline, which runs parallel to Highway 101 near Santa Barbara, left a slick extending about four miles (6.4 km) along Refugio State Beach, extending about 50 yards (46 meters) into the water, Petty Officer Andrea Anderson of the Coast Guard said. Anderson said the company responsible...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Ruptured pipeline spills 21,000 gallons of oil on California coastCold-blooded species face wipeout as cannot cope global warming, study says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 19th, 2015
Independent: Many lizard and insect species could be completely wiped out by global warming because they cannot evolve quickly enough to deal with rising temperatures, a new report warns.
Climate change threatens to wreak havoc on cold-blooded animals – known as ectotherms – because they cannot regulate their own body temperatures. Being particularly sensitive to their surrounding environment, these creatures can only tolerate temperatures just a few degrees above their normal range before they overheat and...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Cold-blooded species face wipeout as cannot cope global warming, study says