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Archive for December 5th, 2015
A tale of two cities: similar story of Mumbai & Chennai floods
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 5th, 2015
Indian Express: It took all of 24 hours in a single day in July for a cloudburst that spurted 944 mm of rain on Mumbai’s suburbs for the financial capital of India to be brought down to its knees. The deluge and its aftermath – landslides and outbreak of diseases – claimed 698 lives. The casualty list also included 24,000 animal carcasses, 20,000 damaged cars, 2,500 buses and more than 1 lakh houses.
Chennai, 2015: Ten years later, another coastal city, Chennai, is plummeted by incessant rains and the death toll...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on A tale of two cities: similar story of Mumbai & Chennai floodsOklahoma Oil Workers Worry About Industry-Linked Earthquakes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 5th, 2015
National Public Radio: SCOTT SIMON, HOST: Oklahoma's on a track to have a record year of earthquakes. More than 5,000 have already been group recorded, and those quakes appear to endanger the industry that created them. The ground is shaking near Cushing, Okla., home to the largest commercial crude oil storage center in North America. As Joe Wertz from StateImpact Oklahoma reports, researchers say the earthquakes could compromise the economically vital energy hub. JOE WERTZ, BYLINE: This little patch of prairie in northeastern...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Oklahoma Oil Workers Worry About Industry-Linked EarthquakesGrowing Connection Between Climate Change, Terrorism Affect Politics
Posted by Newsweek: Jack Martinez on December 5th, 2015
Newsweek: “Is it possible that we should prepare against other threats besides terrorists? Maybe we should be concerned about other problems as well.”
Those were fateful words when Al Gore spoke them in An Inconvenient Truth, his 2005 film about global warming. The U.S. was at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The fear of another 9/11 was still very real. But only a few politicians were beginning to view climate change as a threat to global security equal or greater than terrorism.
It’s 2015, and the landscape...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Growing Connection Between Climate Change, Terrorism Affect PoliticsPoliticians face ‘difficult issues’ UN releases draft climate deal
Posted by Climate Home: Ed King on December 5th, 2015
Climate Home: Negotiators at UN talks in Paris have decided to move discussions to a new level, agreeing on a set of draft proposals for a global climate pact that will be considered by ministers when they arrive in the French capital on Sunday.
The 48-page document is larger than one considered for approval on Friday night, but still a quarter of the size of a similar text presented to leaders at the ill-fated 2009 Copenhagen climate summit.
China’s lead negotiator Su Wei said it was “good news” and an...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Politicians face ‘difficult issues’ UN releases draft climate dealHawaii Court Rescinds Permit Build Thirty Meter Telescope
Posted by New York Times: Dennis Overbye on December 5th, 2015
New York Times: The State Supreme Court has rescinded the construction permit for the Thirty Meter Telescope, a $1.4 billion observatory planned for the state’s tallest mountain, Mauna Kea, a revered symbol in Hawaiian culture. Construction of the telescope, an international collaboration led by the California Institute of Technology and the University of California, had been stalled since April, when protesters blocked crews from the site. According to the decision handed down Wednesday afternoon, the state’s...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Hawaii Court Rescinds Permit Build Thirty Meter TelescopeHawaii court revokes permit telescope project on volcano
Posted by Reuters: Suzannah Gonzales on December 5th, 2015
Reuters: The Hawaii Supreme Court on Wednesday revoked a permit that would have allowed the controversial construction of one of the world's largest telescopes on a dormant volcano considered an ideal location on Earth to view the stars.
Issuing the permit to construct a 180-foot high, $1.4 billion astronomical observatory on the Mauna Kea volcano on Hawaii's Big Island did not comply with case law, statutes or the state constitution, court documents showed. It also violated the protections of native Hawaiian...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Hawaii court revokes permit telescope project on volcanoPermit Revoked for Yang’s Giant Telescope
Posted by Santa Barbera Indendent: None Given on December 5th, 2015
Santa Barbera Indendent: The proposed Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) suffered a serious blow this week after the Hawaiian Supreme Court rescinded its construction permit. Plans to build the world’s largest telescope atop the Mauna Kea were put on hold in April after scores of Hawaiian Natives protested the project, and environmental groups challenged the permit in court. UCSB Chancellor Henry Yang, a major force in the project who has chaired its board for eight years, has given little indication about what comes next.
Proponents...
Hawaii Ruling Blocks Mega Telescope Construction
Posted by Discovery: Danny Clemens on December 5th, 2015
Discovery: In a much-anticipated Wednesday ruling, the Supreme Court of Hawaii rescinded the building permit for the hotly contested Thirty Meter Telescope project.
In a 58-page written opinion, the court ruled that the Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources erred in issuing a building permit for the project “before the request for a contested case hearing was resolved and the hearing was held.”
Before the permit can be re-issued, the Board must now conduct a contested case hearing.
“We thank the...
Power supply restored as Chennai floodwaters recede
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 5th, 2015
BBC: Power has been restored in many parts of the southern Indian city of Chennai days after severe floods hit the city.
A massive relief operation is continuing to get food and medicines to tens of thousands people. Many residents are living in shelters after their homes were submerged.
Railways and Chennai's main airport, which has been flooded, are due to resume some operations on Saturday.
More than 260 people have died after the heaviest rainfall in a century.
The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder...