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Archive for July, 2015
One in five Australians don’t believe climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2015
Independent: Nearly one in five Australians do not believe in climate change, making the country the most sceptical about environmental issues in the world, according to a recent study.
17 per cent of Australians disbelieved in climate change, followed by 15 per cent of people in Norway, 13 per cent in New Zealand and 12 per cent of Americans, found research conducted by the University of Tasmania.
The research, published in the journal Global Environment Change, surveyed nearly 20,000 people in 14 industrialised...
Come hell or high water: The disaster scenario that is South Florida
Posted by Globe and Mail: Omar El Akkad on July 18th, 2015
Globe and Mail: Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is a strange-looking beast. Its south runway, unveiled last September as part of a $2-billion expansion project, rests like an overpass atop six lanes of highway traffic. Across the road, facing the vast turquoise sweep of the Atlantic Ocean, is Port Everglades – home to some of the largest cruise ships on Earth. Between them, the bustling terminals handle a significant portion of the human cargo that fuels Florida’s $70-billion-a-year tourism machine....
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Come hell or high water: The disaster scenario that is South FloridaCoal miners struggle survive in industry battered by layoffs and bankruptcy
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2015
New York Times: There is pain across the nation’s coal fields, but here in West Virginia, the disruption is particularly acute. Mines are closing almost every month. Sawmills that provide wooden support beams for the tunnels are laying off workers, and diners are putting up signs asking their customers to pray for the miners. The coal industry, long the heart that pumped the economy here, is in deep trouble, buffeted by power plants switching to cheap natural gas, crippling debt, mounting foreign competition and...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Coal miners struggle survive in industry battered by layoffs and bankruptcyAs species adapt to a warming climate, ecosystems change
Posted by Environmental News Network: University Of Toronto Via ScienceDaily on July 18th, 2015
Environmental News Network: If it seems like you're pulling more bass than trout out of Ontario's lakes this summer, you probably are. Blame it on the ripple effect of climate change and warming temperatures. Birds migrate earlier, flowers bloom faster, and fish move to newly warmed waters putting local species at risk. To mitigate the trend and support conservation efforts, scientists at the University of Toronto (U of T) are sharing a way to predict which plants or animals may be vulnerable to the arrival of a new species....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on As species adapt to a warming climate, ecosystems changeThe freakish year in broken climate records
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2015
Bloomberg: The annual State of the Climate report is out, and it’s ugly. Record heat, record sea levels, more hot days and fewer cool nights, surging cyclones, unprecedented pollution, and rapidly diminishing glaciers. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issues a report each year compiling the latest data gathered by 413 scientists from around the world. It’s 288 pages, but we’ll save you some time. Here’s a review, in six charts, of some of the climate highlights from 2014.
1....
Climate Change Is Setting The World On Fire
Posted by Gizmodo: None Given on July 18th, 2015
Gizmodo: What happens when you mix record-smashing heat and exceptional drought? Fire! Lots of fire! But climate change isn`t just bringing more fires to our doorstep, although it`s accomplishing that quite handily. It`s making fire seasons longer.
That`s according to a study published this week in Nature Communications, which shows that fire weather seasons have, on average, grown 18.7 per cent longer across the Earth`s surface since 1979. What`s more, the global burnable area affected by fire seasons...
Thirsty birds are dying all over California — thanks, climate change
Posted by Grist: Amelia Urry on July 17th, 2015
Grist: You know that historic and disastrous drought currently turning California into one big heap of straw? You know how it’s probably being exacerbated by climate change? And indicative of the conditions that will become more common as the climate continues to warm? As if that weren’t bad enough on its own, there’s more: All those hot and dry conditions mean that climate change is basically flipping the bird to birds, which are in serious trouble as they make their long migrations over parched California....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Thirsty birds are dying all over California — thanks, climate changeGreenland ice sheet melting more rapidly from impact of rainfall
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 17th, 2015
Environmental News Network: According to a new study published in Nature Geoscience, the Greenland ice sheet has been shown to accelerate in response to surface rainfall and melt associated with late-summer and autumnal cyclonic weather events. Samuel Doyle and an international team of colleagues led from Aberystwyth University's Centre for Glaciology combined records of ice motion, water pressure at the ice sheet bed, and river discharge with surface meteorology across the western margin of the Greenland ice sheet and captured...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Greenland ice sheet melting more rapidly from impact of rainfallOregon implements rare fishing restrictions to help fish during drought
Posted by Reuters: Shelby Sebens on July 17th, 2015
Reuters: Oregon wildlife officials are restricting fishing on most of the state's rivers in a first-of-its-kind effort to help fish populations that are dying off from high water temperatures as the state suffers ongoing drought conditions. Starting on Saturday and until further notice, fishing for trout, salmon, steelhead and sturgeon will be prohibited in most Oregon rivers, including part of the Willamette River, which runs through the middle of Portland and will be closed to fishing at all hours. Most...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Oregon implements rare fishing restrictions to help fish during droughtParadise Fire Presents Difficult Puzzle For Washington Firefighters
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 17th, 2015
National Public Radio: Over 1,600 acres of old-growth rainforest have burned in Washington's Olympic National Park. As Ashley Ahearn of KUOW reports, the wildfire is expected to persist through the rest of the summer.
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
More than 1,600 acres of old growth rain forest have burned in Washington's Olympic National Park. It's the largest fire but not the first to burn in the rain forests of the park. Ashley Ahearn from member station KUOW reports.
ASHLEY AHEARN, BYLINE: The Paradise Fire is burning...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Paradise Fire Presents Difficult Puzzle For Washington Firefighters