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Archive for September, 2015
Why are Hawaiians protesting a giant telescope?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 12th, 2015
Christian Science Monitor: Eight people were arrested early Wednesday morning for protesting the construction of a giant telescope atop Mauna Kea, a mountain that native Hawaiians consider sacred.
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) said its officers arrested the protestors to enforce an emergency rule enacted by the land board to prevent protestors from camping on Mauna Kea during the night hours. The protesters were in a circle praying and chanting at the time of the arrest.
The emergency rule...
Eight protesters arrested on Mauna Kea
Posted by Star-Advertiser: None Given on September 12th, 2015
Star-Advertiser: State conservation officers arrested eight protesters on Mauna Kea early Wednesday morning for violating the state's new emergency rules that prohibit camping on the mountain, a Department of Land and Natural Resources spokesman said.
DNLR officers arrested seven women and a man at a protest camp across the road from the Mauna Kea Visitors Center for being in the restricted area on the mountain.
The protesters have been camping on the mountain in protest of the construction of the $1.4 billion...
West Coast residents caught in a line of fire from California to Washington
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 12th, 2015
Washington Post: When the emergency sirens wailed, Christine Perry muttered, "Oh, Lord, not again,' then scampered outdoors.
For a second straight year, a monster fire lurked outside her tiny town of Pateros, Wash. She strained to see whether thick smoke was rolling her way. A year ago, she barely escaped her house before it was destroyed by wildfire. After rebuilding, she feared it would happen again.
"Last year they told us we were safe. The next thing I knew, I was running out of the house in my flip-flops...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on West Coast residents caught in a line of fire from California to WashingtonSierra wildfire destroys homes, threatens 6,000 California residences
Posted by Reuters: Katie Reilly on September 12th, 2015
Reuters: A relatively small but fast-moving wildfire in California's Sierra Nevada mountains grew overnight, destroying homes and threatening about 6,000 residences, fire officials said on Saturday. The so-called Butte Fire has destroyed 15 homes in rural Amador and Calaveras counties, where it covers an estimated 64,728 acres (26,195 hectares), California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokeswoman Lynn Tolmachoff said. She said the fire grew overnight after officials initially overestimated...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Sierra wildfire destroys homes, threatens 6,000 California residencesCould a bulk water export industry ever get underway in Canada?
Posted by Vancouver Sun: Peter O'Neil on September 12th, 2015
Vancouver Sun: An Alaskan company boldly declared earlier this year that it was going to ship tens of millions of litres of pristine water to parched Southern California.
It would have represented the first solid evidence that a bulk water industry in North America is economically viable. And it would obviously have sent a message that B.C. entrepreneurs could make a go of it, if public opinion ever changed and provincial and federal governments removed their legal restrictions on bulk transfers.
“The shipment...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Could a bulk water export industry ever get underway in Canada?West Coast wildfires remain untamed
Posted by Washington Post: Darryl Fears on September 12th, 2015
Washington Post: When the emergency sirens wailed, Christine Perry muttered, "Oh, Lord, not again," then scampered outdoors.
For a second straight year, a monster fire lurked outside her tiny town of Pateros, Washington. She strained to see whether thick smoke was rolling her way. A year ago, she barely escaped her house before it was destroyed by wildfire. After rebuilding, she feared it would happen again.
"Last year they told us we were safe. The next thing I knew, I was running out of the house in my flip-flops...
Global population to reach 9 billion by 2045: Yudhoyono
Posted by Tempo: None Given on September 12th, 2015
Tempo: The global population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2045, the former President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is also the Chairman of the Global Green Growth Institute, said Friday, September 11. "We are aware that the considerable increase in the global population will raise human needs for foods, energy and so on," he said while delivering a lecture at the commemoration of Padjadjaran Universitys 58th anniversary at the Graha Sanusi Hardjadinata building in Bandung, West Java,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Global population to reach 9 billion by 2045: YudhoyonoClimate Change’s Worst-Case Scenario: 200 Feet of Sea Level Rise
Posted by InsideClimate: Katherine Bagley on September 11th, 2015
InsideClimate: Sheldon Glacier with Mount Barre in the background, Antarctica. A new study estimates that if nations were to burn all their fossil fuel reserves, the Antarctic ice sheet would almost entirely disappear, raising sea levels as much as 200 feet worldwide. Credit: British Antarctic Survey
If you ever wondered what the worst-case scenario for climate change would look like, a set of researchers shared your curiosity. Their answer, which they published Friday, is scary: sea levels nearly 200 feet higher...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate Change’s Worst-Case Scenario: 200 Feet of Sea Level RiseFlooding Fields in Winter May Help California Water Woes, Study Suggests
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 11th, 2015
Yale Environment 360: Deliberately flooding California farmland in winter could replenish aquifers without harming crops or affecting drinking water, according to early results from a study by University of California, Davis, researchers. Winter months, when crops are dormant, typically see more precipitation than summer months, when crops are actively growing and farmers rely on groundwater reserves for irrigation. Several water districts have attempted to sequester excess surface water during storms and floods by diverting...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Flooding Fields in Winter May Help California Water Woes, Study SuggestsClimate Shock: The Economic Consequences of a Hotter Planet
Posted by EcoWatch: Michael Mann on September 11th, 2015
EcoWatch: One of the most under-appreciated aspects of the climate change problem is the so-called "fat tail" of risk. In short, the likelihood of very large impacts is greater than we would expect under typical statistical assumptions.
We are used to thinking about likelihoods and probabilities in terms of the familiar "normal" distribution--otherwise known as the "bell curve." It looks like this:
Roughly 68 percent of the area falls within the region bounded by 1 standard deviation below (-1 sigma)...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate Shock: The Economic Consequences of a Hotter Planet