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Archive for November, 2015
As the heat rises, the wines are a-changing
Posted by Reuters: Sybille de La Hamaide on November 27th, 2015
Reuters: It's a $200 billion industry that prides itself on being rooted to a particular spot and doing things they way they've always been done. But global warming is forcing the world's wine growers to change. As a U.N. conference in Paris next week tries to limit climate change, wine makers from France to Australia are already changing their time-honoured methods, or even uprooting whole vineyards, as long-established weather patterns alter and the temperature rises. Already, English sparkling white...
Brazil dam disaster shows flaws in decrepit mining regulator
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 27th, 2015
Reuters: With leaking windows, moldy walls and piles of paper where you might expect computers, the office of Brazil's National Department of Mineral Production speaks volumes about the regulation of the country's mining industry.
The office, in the capital city of the mine-rich state of Minas Gerais, is the state headquarters for a team of inspectors that is supposed to vet mines like one 100 km (60 miles) to the southeast, where a dam burst on Nov. 5, spilling mineral waste across 800 km and into the...
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Comments Off on Brazil dam disaster shows flaws in decrepit mining regulatorNational flood program needed because of climate change, Edmonton audience hears
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 27th, 2015
Edmonton Journal: The head of the Insurance Bureau of Canada called Thursday for governments and industry to create a national flood program to deal with the growing costs of destruction from weather events spurred by climate change.
“There is tremendous value in a more collaborative approach between the private sector and different levels of government to solve a problem that has been growing in frequency and severity,” said Don Forgeron, president and CEO of the national insurance industry association, before...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on National flood program needed because of climate change, Edmonton audience hearsRallying cry in Paris to avoid environmental catastrophe
Posted by Financial Times: None Given on November 27th, 2015
Financial Times: Among the thousands of delegates heading to Paris to finalise a new global climate change accord, there will be hundreds of business executives from almost every type of industry. There is a simple reason. In theory, the outcome of the two-week UN talks in Paris that start on November 30 could affect the way companies fuel cars, heat buildings, power factories and make steel and cement. That is because the main objective of the talks is an agreement among the world’s governments to collectively...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Rallying cry in Paris to avoid environmental catastropheWorldwide Support For an Ambitious Climate Change Deal Is Faltering, New Poll Says
Posted by Time: Joanna Plucinska on November 27th, 2015
Time: A new poll released ahead of the U.N.-led climate change conference in Paris says that support around the world for an ambitious global climate-change deal has slipped in recent years.
Only four of the 20 countries surveyed displayed majority support for setting lofty targets for the upcoming conference, according to the BBC.
Less than half of the people surveyed considered climate change a "very serious" issue, according to the GlobeScan research group, the BBC reports.
In 2009, the same...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Worldwide Support For an Ambitious Climate Change Deal Is Faltering, New Poll SaysThousands expected to rally in Melbourne for action on climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 27th, 2015
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Tens of thousands of people have gathered for a climate change rally in Melbourne, in one of the largest demonstrations of its kind.
Rally organisers have estimated that up to 60,000 took to the streets, while Victoria Police said up to 40,000 were in attendance.
A climate change rally in Melbourne in 2006 drew 30,000 people.
Friday's rally was the first of several demonstrations planned across Australia for the weekend.
The demonstrations have been timed to take place ahead of United...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Thousands expected to rally in Melbourne for action on climate changeLakes expanding ‘dangerously’ in Everest glacier
Posted by BBC: Navin Singh Khadka on November 27th, 2015
BBC: Lakes that have been forming near Mount Everest could threaten settlements downstream if they overflow.
Ponds on the surface of the Khumbu glacier in the Himalayas have expanded and joined together to form larger bodies of water.
Climbers need to cross the glacier, including the treacherous Khumbu Icefall, to climb the mighty peak.
The accelerated meltdown of glaciers in the region is causing concern against a backdrop of rising global temperatures.
Scientists say the warning is the first...
Jokowi to oversee Indonesia peat restoration agency but details thin on the ground
Posted by Mongabay: None Given on November 27th, 2015
Mongabay: Indonesia's forestry minister says a government agency to manage the archipelago's peat restoration plans will be overseen by the president.
The Indonesian Palm Oil Association (Gapki) announced new policies at a palm oil conference in Bali on Thursday.
A shipping trade publication in Singapore surveyed 250 people in the city state and found 18% of them would relocate if the haze “became an annual norm.”
Indonesia will form a government agency overseen directly by President Joko “Jokowi”...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Jokowi to oversee Indonesia peat restoration agency but details thin on the groundDestruction Brazil’s Amazon forest jumps 16 percent in 2015
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 27th, 2015
Reuters: The destruction of Brazil's Amazon forest, the world's largest intact rainforest, increased by 16 percent in 2015 from a year ago as the government struggles to enforce legislation and stop illegal clearings.
Satellite data for the 12 months through the end of July released on Thursday showed that 5,831 square km (2,251 square miles) of forests were cleared in the Brazilian Amazon, an area half the size of Puerto Rico.
The data released by the environment ministry on Thursday confirmed preliminary...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Destruction Brazil’s Amazon forest jumps 16 percent in 2015Remote lakes are affected by warming climate, research shows
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 26th, 2015
ScienceDaily: The rate of carbon burial in remote lakes has doubled over the last 100 years, suggesting even isolated ecosystems are feeling the effects of our changing climate. Scientists from Loughborough University, Science Museum of Minnesota, and University of Quebec at Montreal, analysed data from remote lakes across North America and discovered a doubling in the rate at which these lakes sequester (bury) carbon in their sediments. These changes are linked to fertilization of the forest and lakes by atmospherically...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Remote lakes are affected by warming climate, research shows