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Archive for October, 2015
Global climate deal could punish Canada
Posted by Toronto Star: None Given on October 24th, 2015
Toronto Star: Prime minister-designate Justin Trudeau will face one of his first major international tests at next month’s United Nations’ meeting on climate change in Paris. In all, 25,000 delegates -- including Canada’s premiers whom Trudeau plans to bring along -- from 196 countries will make yet another attempt to draft a binding global agreement to fight man-made global warming. But the same fundamental disagreements which scuttled a similar deal in Copenhagen in 2009 and, prior to that, produced the failed...
Deadly fish virus still present in Wisconsin lake
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 24th, 2015
ScienceDaily: In May 2007, hundreds of freshwater drum -- also known as sheepshead -- turned up dead in Lake Winnebago and nearby Little Lake Butte des Morts, both inland lakes near Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The fish were splotched with red and their eyes were swollen and bulging.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) launched a quick response and, working with the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (WVDL), quickly learned that a deadly virus was responsible: viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus,...
Don’t dismiss the link between wildfires and climate change, scientists say
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 24th, 2015
LA Times: Was Gov. Jerry Brown wrong to blame this year's epic California wildfires on climate change? An Oct. 18 Times article said he was; scientists and activists responding to that article say it's a lot more complicated.
Tuesday, two letters that didn't weigh in on the science underpinning The Times' reporting were published. Since then, several experts have written to say the article was wrong to assert that climate change isn't fueling the state's historically large fires. Here are some of their...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Don’t dismiss the link between wildfires and climate change, scientists sayCanada: Warm welcome awaits Justin Trudeau on world stage
Posted by Toronto Star: Tony Burman on October 24th, 2015
Toronto Star: So that’s it, the end of the Harper era, done and dusted. It was as decisive a message from Canadians as one could have imagined. The road back for Canada to repair its damaged and diminished place in the world will not be easy, but thankfully it has begun.
Justin Trudeau’s dramatic victory received considerable international attention this week, far more than past Canadian elections. Obviously, some of it was due to memories of Justin’s father, the late Pierre Elliott Trudeau, and his mother,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada: Warm welcome awaits Justin Trudeau on world stageIn dry California, reward for water conservation is higher bills
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 24th, 2015
Reuters: Their lawns dry and their trees on the verge of dying, Californians have dramatically cut water use during the state's relentless drought, only to learn that many local utilities are hiking rates to make up for the lost revenue.
Water providers in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area and other parts of the state have recently told customers that rates will go up at least temporarily, as utilities struggle to pay for building and repairing pipes, buying water and other costs, even as customers...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on In dry California, reward for water conservation is higher billsHow Exxon went from leader to skeptic on climate change research
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 23rd, 2015
LA Times: Throughout much of the 1980s, Exxon earned a public reputation as a pioneer in climate change research. It sponsored workshops, funded academic research and conducted its own high-tech experiments exploring the science behind global warming.
But by 1990, the company, in public, took a different posture.
While still funding select research, it poured millions into a campaign that questioned climate change. Over the next 15 years, it took out prominent ads in the Washington Post, the Wall Street...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on How Exxon went from leader to skeptic on climate change researchHurricane Patricia looms, climate pact edges closer
Posted by Agence France-Presse: Marlowe Hood, Mariette Le Roux on October 23rd, 2015
Agence France-Presse: Battle-weary diplomats left Bonn Friday after endorsing the rough outlines of a UN climate rescue pact, as Mexico invoked a super-hurricane nearing its coast as a portent of Earth's future if negotiations failed.
After a bruising round of talks, envoys were satisfied that the latest blueprint reflected everyone's core concerns.
But they were also anxious over the work to surmount ahead of a looming summit in Paris where the historic deal is supposed to be sealed.
Mexico's negotiator, Roberto...
Historic Hurricane Patricia strikes Mexico vicious Category 5 storm
Posted by Mashable: None Given on October 23rd, 2015
Mashable: Hurricane Patricia, the strongest storm on record in the Western Hemisphere, made landfall near Cuixmala along the coast of western Mexico at 6:15 p.m. CT with maximum sustained winds of 165 miles per hour.
After slamming the coast, Patricia moved inland about 50 miles northwest of Manzanillo with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph, a slight decrease since landfall, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm weakened further by 10 p.m. PT, with maximum sustained winds dropping to 130...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Historic Hurricane Patricia strikes Mexico vicious Category 5 stormCalifornia faces a future of droughts alternating with floods
Posted by InsideClimate: Phil McKenna on October 23rd, 2015
InsideClimate: A warming climate coupled with more intense El Niño and La Niña events could cause twice as many droughts and three times as many floods in California by 2080, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature Communications. The findings come while California suffers its most severe drought in recorded history, a four-year disaster that has caused an estimated $2.2 billion in economic loss from 2013-14 alone. At the same time, heavy rainfall––which triggered mudslides last week in...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on California faces a future of droughts alternating with floodsWomen ‘less likely than men to support fracking, due to instinct’
Posted by Guardian: Chris Johnston on October 22nd, 2015
Guardian: Women are far less likely than men to support fracking because they rely more on feel and gut reaction than facts, according to the woman representing the UK shale gas industry.
Averil Macdonald, who was appointed chair of UK Onshore Oil and Gas this week, said that giving women more information about the controversial practice would not change their minds.
“Women, for whatever reason, have not been persuaded by the facts. More facts are not going to make any difference,” the professor of science...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Women ‘less likely than men to support fracking, due to instinct’