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Archive for July, 2015
People power has shut the doors on fracking in UK
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 3rd, 2015
Guardian: Attempts to create a commercially viable fracking industry in the UK were dealt fresh blows this week, with the refusal of planning permission for a key site, and the revelation of an unpublished government report showing fracking could cause falls to people’s house values.
The setbacks, cheered by jubilant anti-fracking campaigners, highlight the struggles that fracking backers still face in the UK, where for several years the pioneering Cuadrilla has been trying to drill gas wells, now joined...
Scientists convinced European heat waves boosted climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 3rd, 2015
Reuters: As Germany and Spain sweated and London sweltered through its hottest July day on record this week, scientists said it is "virtually certain" that climate change is increasing the likelihood of such heat waves in Europe.
In real-time data analysis released on Friday, a team of international climate scientists from universities, meteorological services and research organizations said the kind of heat waves hitting Europe this week – defined as three-day periods of excessive heat – are becoming...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Scientists convinced European heat waves boosted climate changeEpic Drought Blamed for Ban on Fireworks in Bone-Dry States
Posted by EcoWatch: Anastasia Pantsios on July 3rd, 2015
EcoWatch: Gathering in a local park with neighbors to watch city-sponsored fireworks or shooting off (sometimes illegal) fireworks in the backyard have become a time-honored way of celebrating the 4th. But thanks to the ongoing drought, some communities on the west coast have eliminated their city-sponsored fireworks displays while many more have clamped down on personal fireworks. And fire departments across the country are on high alert over concern that illegal fireworks could fuel brush fires that turn...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Epic Drought Blamed for Ban on Fireworks in Bone-Dry StatesSaving West’s iconic landscapes from wildfires, one steppe at a time
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 3rd, 2015
Christian Science Monitor: The landscape is quintessentially western – vast expanses of sage-covered steppe punctuated by plateaus and mesas etched with canyons.
Known as the Greater Sheldon-Hart Mountain landscape, the tract is billed as one of the few remaining large parcels of sage-steppe habitat in the United States. Now, it's one of 10 pilot projects in a new US Interior Department program aimed at improving the resilience of iconic, ecologically important landscapes to wildfires.
The fire resilience concept isn't...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Saving West’s iconic landscapes from wildfires, one steppe at a timeWhy did so many die in Karachi’s heatwave?
Posted by BBC: Climate Heatwave Karachi on July 3rd, 2015
BBC: Days after a heatwave in Pakistan killed about 1,300 people, many are still puzzled by the unusually high number of deaths in the port city of Karachi, reports Shahzeb Jillani.
In his 25 years working as a charity worker transporting casualties, Mohammed Bilal has never seen so many people die of heat.
"The bodies just kept coming from all over the city," he says.
Mr Bilal is in charge of the Edhi Foundation's main office in Karachi's congested commercial district near the country's main...
World must cut pollution to save marine life, study warns
Posted by Agence France-Press: None Given on July 3rd, 2015
Agence France-Press: If left unchecked, global warming will cause irreversible damage to marine life in the world's oceans, forcing fish to search for cooler waters and destroying valuable coral reefs, an international study said Thursday.
Keeping global average temperatures within two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures is the only way to stave off the worst effects of climate change on the Earth's oceans, which provide 90 percent of the planet's habitable space, said the study in the journal Science....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on World must cut pollution to save marine life, study warnsScientists ‘Virtually Certain’ Climate Change Boosts European Heat Waves
Posted by Huff Post: Laurie Goering on July 3rd, 2015
Huff Post: As Germany and Spain sweated and London sweltered through its hottest July day on record this week, scientists said it is "virtually certain" that climate change is increasing the likelihood of such heat waves in Europe. In real-time data analysis released on Friday, a team of international climate scientists from universities, meteorological services and research organizations said the kind of heat waves hitting Europe this week - defined as three-day periods of excessive heat - are becoming much...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Scientists ‘Virtually Certain’ Climate Change Boosts European Heat WavesClimate change will see parts of cities under water – Robinson
Posted by Irish Times: None Given on July 3rd, 2015
Irish Times: Many people living along the coast of cities could find their homes under water with even a moderate sea-level change, former president Mary Robinson has warned.
The United Nations special envoy for climate change said it was predicted 200 million people could be climate displaced people by the end of the century.
“And, if we are not careful, by 2050,” she said.
We won't solve climate crisis if we don't engage all the population - 50% are women. Empower women! Mary Robinson tells #planetimperative...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change will see parts of cities under water – RobinsonHow much is clean water worth? New report guides payments for ecosystem services
Posted by Mongabay: Morgan Erickson-Davis on July 3rd, 2015
Mongabay: The first-ever set of comprehensive guidelines for designing, implementing and managing mechanisms to facilitate payments for ecosystem services has been established by a group of experts and researchers.
The authors of a report published in the journal Science that lays out the guidelines argue that as payments for ecosystem services schemes become increasingly popular, too many of these financial mechanisms – investments and markets focused on, for example, carbon emissions, clean water and...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on How much is clean water worth? New report guides payments for ecosystem servicesTelescope protesters gather at Kamehameha statue in Honolulu
Posted by Associated Press: Jennifer Sinco Kelleher on July 2nd, 2015
Associated Press: Many of the protesters opposed to plans for a giant telescope atop Mauna Kea came down from the mountain for a large gathering Wednesday around the King Kamehameha statue in Honolulu. As protesters who have been camping on the Big Island mountain traveled to Oahu, three or so remained behind in case workers attempt to resume construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope, said Kahookahi Kanuha, one of the leaders against the $1.4 billion project. Kanuha led a news conference Wednesday at the base of...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Telescope protesters gather at Kamehameha statue in Honolulu