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Archive for June, 2015
White House outlines long-term costs of inaction on climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 22nd, 2015
Associated Press: Failure to act on climate change could cause an estimated 57,000 deaths in the United States from poor air quality by 2100, the Obama administration argued in a new report Monday that warns of dire effects of global warming.
The report underscores the costs of inaction on climate change as well as the benefits from taking action now. The administration estimates that 12,000 people in 49 U.S. cities could die from extreme temperatures in 2100.
The report comes as Republicans in Congress seek...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on White House outlines long-term costs of inaction on climate changeStudy: world in period of ‘mass extinction’
Posted by Blue and Green: Charlotte Malone on June 22nd, 2015
Blue and Green: The world is currently in a period of mass extinction, according to a new study. Human activities have been linked to the falling populations of many species but the research also warns that extinction on a large scale could threaten human existence.
The study, which has been published in Science Advances, calls for fast actions to protect threatened species, populations and habitat. It estimates that species are disappearing up to about 100 fasters than the normal rate between mass extinctions,...
Cancer-Causing Chemicals Found in Drinking Water Texas Fracking Sites
Posted by EcoWatch: Anastasia Pantsios on June 22nd, 2015
EcoWatch: On June 4, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a report on how fracking for oil and gas can impact access to safe drinking water. Although the report claims not to have found any “widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States,” a new study in Texas provides more evidence that contamination of drinking water from fracking might be occurring. A research team at the University of Texas at Arlington has published a peer-reviewed study, A Comprehensive...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Cancer-Causing Chemicals Found in Drinking Water Texas Fracking SitesStudy sees ‘new normal’ how climate change affect weather extremes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 22nd, 2015
Washington Post: Every time the world witnesses a weather related disaster -- most recently, extreme flooding in Texas and Oklahoma and a deadly heatwave in India -- the attribution battle begins. Some scientists and commentators seek to explain how the event could have been worsened by climate change, even as others scoff and dismiss the connection.
Meanwhile, researchers turn to climate modeling studies and other approaches to formally examine whether the odds of a given event had shifted in a warmer climate...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Study sees ‘new normal’ how climate change affect weather extremesNew study links global warming to Hurricane Sandy and other extreme weather events
Posted by Guardian: John Abraham on June 22nd, 2015
Guardian: One of the hottest areas of climate research these days is on the potential connections between human emissions, global warming, and extreme weather. Will global warming make extreme weather more common or less common? More severe or less severe?
New research, just published today in Nature Climate Change helps to answer that question by approaching the problem in a novel way. In short yes, human emissions of greenhouse gases have made certain particular weather events more severe. Let’s investigate...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on New study links global warming to Hurricane Sandy and other extreme weather eventsTurkish government bears down on rural resistance to mining and hydro projects
Posted by Mongabay: Rebecca Kessler on June 22nd, 2015
Mongabay: Villagers in the country's lush Black Sea region face police force, legal hurdles, and more subtle means of suppression in their fight to protect the environment.
The Fol Creek Valley outside of Trabzon, Turkey. Residents are fighting plans to build a cement factory, several rock quarries, a gold mine, and three hydropower plants in the area. Photo: Jennifer Hattam.
The Fol Creek Valley rises steeply from Turkey's Black Sea shoreline, the grey concrete of the coastal cities quickly giving way...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Turkish government bears down on rural resistance to mining and hydro projectsFracking: campaigners urge Lancashire council to approve Cuadrilla plans
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 22nd, 2015
Press Association: Rejecting plans for test fracking in Lancashire would send a message that the county was not open for business and investment, a coalition of local businesses, academics, farmers and students has warned. Members of the North West Energy Task Force said it would be a missed opportunity to create jobs and significantly boost the local economy. The campaign group spoke out on the eve of the beginning of the decision-making process on proposals by shale company Cuadrilla for two sites between Preston...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Fracking: campaigners urge Lancashire council to approve Cuadrilla plansTo Increase Disaster Aid, Do Not Mention Global Warming
Posted by ClimateWire: Manon Verchot on June 22nd, 2015
ClimateWire: Charities looking for donations after a natural disaster may want to avoid linking the disaster to climate change, a study from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, suggests.
Researchers found that climate change skeptics are more likely to justify withholding aid if a drought, typhoon or flood is attributed to climate change than if appeals for aid do not mention the phenomenon.
"What our work suggests is that when a disaster occurs and organizations are appealing to the public for aid,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on To Increase Disaster Aid, Do Not Mention Global WarmingWhat would Pope Francis do?
Posted by InsideClimate: John H. Cushman Jr. on June 22nd, 2015
InsideClimate: The Holy Father doesn’t give carbon credits or air conditioners his imprimatur. He favors a legally binding climate treaty tailored to the needs of the poor. And he has guidance on natural gas, boycotts, and paying the social costs of carbon. Fifty-five paragraphs into his wide-ranging encyclical on the global environment and the climate crisis, Pope Francis arched an ecclesiastical eyebrow at how much air conditioning you are using. "People may well have a growing ecological sensitivity," he wrote,...
Climate review promised after dispute with top water scientists
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 22nd, 2015
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: A major review of the risks of climate change in the Murray Darling Basin is likely within the next seven years. The proposed timeline has been revealed to RN Breakfast after a dispute between the Murray Darling Basin Authority and some of Australia's leading water scientists over the predicted drying of the basin in the coming decades. The scientists say that the $11 billion Murray Darling Basin Plan doesn’t currently take into account the lower average rainfall patterns and more frequent and...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate review promised after dispute with top water scientists