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Archive for June, 2015
First big heat wave of the summer to grip Spain, France and UK
Posted by Mashable: None Given on June 26th, 2015
Mashable: A heat wave is forecast to envelop much of continental Europe and the UK during the end of June into the first week of July, potentially setting records from Spain to England. Competitors in the famous Wimbledon tennis tournament, for example, may have trouble dealing with temperatures that may reach the low-to-mid 30s Celsius (up to the mid-90s Fahrenheit) in the London area by next week. The heat will first build across Iberia over the weekend, before spreading its tentacles into the UK for...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on First big heat wave of the summer to grip Spain, France and UKHouse GOP pushes bill on California drought
Posted by Hill: Timothy Cama on June 26th, 2015
Hill: California’s entire Republican House delegation is getting behind a bill to increase the amount of water available to Californians during the state's worst drought in centuries.
The bill, introduced by Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) on Thursday, would change how the federal government releases water through the massive Central Valley Project, while making other changes aimed at the drought in other western states.
Its supporters include House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), a vocal...
Scientists try to understand heatwave
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 26th, 2015
BBC: Scientists in India and Pakistan say higher temperatures were just one factor behind the recent heatwaves and other causes have yet to be established.
They say low air pressure, high humidity and an unusually absent wind played key roles in making the heat unbearable but they do not know why such conditions prevailed at this time of the year.
The temperature forecast for the heatwave peak in Karachi last week was 43C, according to meteorologists in Pakistan.
The prediction was accurate but...
Illegal forest clearing spotted in Aceh’s biggest peat swamp
Posted by Mongabay: Philip Jacobson on June 26th, 2015
Mongabay: Encroachers have been clearing forest at three locations in Aceh's biggest peat swamp since February, analysis of Landsat satellite imagery by environmental group Greenomics-Indonesia shows.
The Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve, on the western coast of Indonesia's Aceh province and the island of Sumatra, is home to the densest population of critically endangered Sumatran orangutans in the Leuser Ecosystem.
It is not yet clear who is responsible for the deforestation, but encroachment for oil palm...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Illegal forest clearing spotted in Aceh’s biggest peat swampFracking Health Complaints Received Little Follow-Up from Pennsylvania Officials
Posted by National Public Radio: Susan Phillips on June 26th, 2015
National Public Radio: Newly released documents from the Pennsylvania Department of Health on fracking-related health complaints reveal a lack of follow-through and inaccurate record-keeping. The telephone logs, which span four years from 2011 to 2015, were gained through a Right-to-Know request by the environmental group Food and Water Watch. The documents include about 87 separate complaints from residents and workers who feared exposure to fracking chemicals and were looking for advice from the Department of Health....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Fracking Health Complaints Received Little Follow-Up from Pennsylvania OfficialsWhich States Leaking Natural Gas at Expense of Their Taxpayers?
Posted by ThinkProgress: Emily Atkin on June 26th, 2015
ThinkProgress: Oil and gas operations located on federal and tribal lands leaked $360 million worth of fuel in 2013, money which would have gone in part to taxpayers and tribes in the form of royalties, according to a new report.
Tuesday`s report was commissioned by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to track fugitive methane emissions, a term referring to methane released when natural gas is leaked, vented, or flared. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change, and is 86 times...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Which States Leaking Natural Gas at Expense of Their Taxpayers?World Aquifers Losing Replenishment Race, Researchers Say
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 26th, 2015
New York Times: From the Arabian Peninsula to northern India to California’s Central Valley, nearly a third of the world’s 37 largest aquifers are being drained faster than they are being replenished, according to a recent study led by scientists at the University of California, Irvine. The aquifers are concentrated in food-producing regions that support up to two billion people. A companion study indicates that the total amount of water in the aquifers, and how long it will last at current depletion rates, is...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on World Aquifers Losing Replenishment Race, Researchers SayHawaii protesters free after blockade halts telescope construction
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 26th, 2015
Guardian: Protesters arrested while preventing construction of a giant telescope posted bail and were returning to the Hawaii mountain they say they are protecting from desecration. Hundreds of protesters who flocked to the Big Island’s Mauna Kea on Wednesday successfully prevented workers from reaching the site for the planned $1.4bn Thirty Meter Telescope. The workers turned their vehicles around when they encountered boulders in the road leading to the site. The governor’s office said the road would need...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Hawaii protesters free after blockade halts telescope constructionHawaii: Hundreds protesters block controversial telescope
Posted by Digital Journal: None Given on June 26th, 2015
Digital Journal: On Hawaii's Mauna Kea volcano, construction on what would be one of the world's largest telescopes was blocked once again by protesters who say that the $1.4 billion dollar project would desecrate sacred land. Officials from the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and construction workers for the Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT), wound up making their way back down the summit just after noon Wednesday. They cited concerns for public safety because the road was blocked by boulders, ScienceInsider...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Hawaii: Hundreds protesters block controversial telescopeRocks removed from Mauna Kea Access Road
Posted by KITV: None Given on June 26th, 2015
KITV: Gov. David Ige said the boulders and rock structures that were found on the gravel road leading to the summit of Mauna Kea have been removed on Thursday. The University of Hawaii says there were four completed rock walls as of 7 a.m. Thursday. They were removed by around noon. All that is left are two newly-constructed ahu on Mauna Kea Access Road. The road has been temporarily closed until further notice. The Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan authorizes the University of Hawai'i to close...