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Archive for June, 2015
Hula halau traveling ceremony support TMT protesters
Posted by Hawaii News: Derek Kravitsky on June 23rd, 2015
Hawaii News: On the longest day of the year, several hula halau made the most of every hour by holding a traveling ceremony across the island to support opponents of the Thirty Meter Telescope.
Kumu Hula gathered on the Summer Solstice Sunday morning at 5:50 a.m. at Waimanalo Beach Park to send pule and mana to protesters of TMT.
Every hour performances were held to send support to the mountain and those fighting the construction of the giant telescope.
Gatherings not only took place on Oahu; similar...
Household chemicals’ ‘cocktail effect’ raises cancer concerns for watchdog
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2015
Guardian: Common chemicals found in household products, cosmetics and medicines may be causing cancers, fertility problems and other illnesses including diabetes and obesity, according to a study.
Europe's environmental watchdog, the European Environment Agency, has warned that products containing endocrine disrupting chemicals should be treated with caution until their true effects are better known. However, it stopped short of recommending a ban of any specific products. A few such chemicals have already...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Household chemicals’ ‘cocktail effect’ raises cancer concerns for watchdogTar balls on Los Angeles-area beach linked Santa Barbara oil spill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2015
Reuters: At least some of the tar balls found littering one of southern California's most popular beaches last month were matched by lab tests to crude oil that spilled from a ruptured pipeline along the Santa Barbara coast about 100 miles away, state and pipeline company officials said on Monday. Sticky, black oil globs began washing up along more than 6 miles of Manhattan Beach, just southwest of Los Angeles on May 27, prompting health officials to briefly close a stretch of shoreline in the area. Another...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Tar balls on Los Angeles-area beach linked Santa Barbara oil spillBid for UK’s fracking return debated
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 23rd, 2015
BBC: An application to start the first fracking operation in the UK for four years is being considered by a council.
Energy firm Cuadrilla wants to extract shale gas at Little Plumpton and Roseacre Wood on the Fylde Coast, in Lancashire.
The county council is considering the bid, after fracking was suspended in the UK in 2011.
Protests were held outside the hearing in Preston where 70 people - for and against fracking - will be speaking.
The application for Little Plumpton was recommended...
Construction to resume for TMT, hula protest held
Posted by KITV: None Given on June 23rd, 2015
KITV: Construction is now set to restart on the Thirty Meter Telescope atop Mauna Kea amidst continued protest. The TMT International Observatory Board released a statement Saturday saying that construction on the controversial TMT telescope would resume after a two month work stoppage. We contacted the public relations firm that issued the announcement, but were told no one was available to comment further. Those who oppose the telescope were more than willing to voice their opinion after hearing...
Firefighters battle major blazes as U.S. West faces more heat
Posted by Reuters: Steve Quinn and Courtney Sherwood on June 23rd, 2015
Reuters: Firefighters in Alaska, Oregon and drought-hit California on Monday fought several massive wildfires that have blackened swathes of overheated U.S. West Coast states, as crews braced for warmer temperatures later this week, officials said. Aided by falling temperatures, Alaska firefighters have gained an edge over two major blazes in the greater Anchorage area that have destroyed dozens of homes. Some residents were allowed to return to their homes. Firefighters have contained about 25 percent...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Firefighters battle major blazes as U.S. West faces more heatRisk of Extreme Weather From Climate Change to Rise Over Next Century, Report Says
Posted by New York Times: Sabrina Tavernise on June 23rd, 2015
New York Times: More people will be exposed to floods, droughts, heat waves and other extreme weather associated with climate change over the next century than previously thought, according to a new report in the British medical journal The Lancet. The report, published online Monday, analyzes the health effects of recent episodes of severe weather that scientists have linked to climate change. It provides estimates of the number of people who are likely to experience the effects of climate change in coming decades,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Risk of Extreme Weather From Climate Change to Rise Over Next Century, Report SaysClimate change to shrink size of bread
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 22nd, 2015
Times Live: Long-term global warming could cause loaves of bread to shrink in size due to a reduction in the amount of protein in grains, Australian scientists have found. Loaves based on 2050 atmospheric carbon dioxide levels predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were baked by researchers at the Victorian government and Melbourne University. They emerged smaller and crumpled compared to their present-day counterparts. The scientists discovered that rises in carbon dioxide will increase...
U.S. Plains flooding refills soil moisture, farmers’ wallets
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 22nd, 2015
Reuters: Farmers are reaping higher yields and ranchers' feed costs have fallen sharply since flooding swept across the southern U.S. Plains in May, with the record rains providing tangible benefits to agriculture despite causing damage that will likely cost billions of dollars to repair.
The storms inundated fields across Texas and Oklahoma but they broke a years-long drought that wreaked havoc on the profitability of growers and cattlemen.
Even though floods tend to grab more headlines, drought is...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on U.S. Plains flooding refills soil moisture, farmers’ walletsCalifornia wildflowers losing diversity face warmer, drier winters
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 22nd, 2015
ScienceDaily: Native wildflowers in California are losing species diversity after multiple years of drier winters, according to a study from the University of California, Davis, which provides the first direct evidence of climate change impacts in the state's grassland communities.
The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is based on 15 years of monitoring about 80 sampling plots at McLaughlin Reserve, part of UC Davis' Natural Reserve System.
"Our study shows...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on California wildflowers losing diversity face warmer, drier winters