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Archive for January, 2016
Flint water crisis: emails reveal governor Snyder informed of problems a year ago
Posted by Guardian: Ryan Felton and Nicky Woolf on January 21st, 2016
Guardian: Michigan governor Rick Snyder was informed of water quality issues in the city of Flint’s supply as early as February 2015, according to emails released to the public on Wednesday, but his administration struck a dismissive tone, saying the problems would eventually “fade in the rearview”.
Related: How Michigan's Flint River is poisoning the city's residents
A background memo sent to the governor on 1 February dismissed the pleas of Flint’s then-mayor Dayne Walling for state assistance, saying...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Flint water crisis: emails reveal governor Snyder informed of problems a year agoVictorian farmers call for pipelines save region from climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 21st, 2016
Guardian: Record dry weather in the usually wet farming regions of south-west Victoria has forced farmers to queue for water from a community bore, and led to calls for infrastructure that will future-proof the region in relation to climate change.
Two winters with little rain, followed by completely dry springs and summers have left livestock producers in the west Wimmera and southern Grampians with record low levels of water storage, Tim Leeming, a farmer and regional chair of the Southern Australia Meat...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Victorian farmers call for pipelines save region from climate changeSnow Soaks Up Pollutants, Says New Study from Montreal
Posted by Nature World News: None Given on January 20th, 2016
Nature World News: Snow. Is it paying for our environmental sins?
That is, like all things next to roadways and in urban environments, snowflakes are picking up pollutants from the air in cities. But they're doing it in a particularly efficient way, like a pollution sink, says a recent study. In fact, those findings from snow-capital Montreal, Canada indicate that, while "snow ice cream" and downing a part of the potential snowman are both appealing, snow is not for eating.
That is, the study team found that...
This Winter Storm Could Set Coastal Flood Records
Posted by Climate Central: Brian Kahn on January 20th, 2016
Climate Central: The chatter about this weekend’s snowstorm has reached a fever pitch. And while snow total maps are de rigueur for any weather site worth its road salt, it’s the coastal flood impacts that could also go down in the record books and drive major damage. Areas north and west of Washington, D.C. are under a blizzard watch from Friday afternoon through late Saturday. The National Weather Service is warning of “potential life threatening conditions” due to strong winds and heavy snow. Parts of the Washington,...
Disappearance of Bolivian lake a harbinger
Posted by Associated Press: Carlos Valdez on January 20th, 2016
Associated Press: Overturned fishing skiffs lie abandoned on the shores of what was Bolivia’s second-largest lake. Beetles dine on bird carcasses and gulls fight for scraps under a glaring sun in what marshes remain.
Lake Poopo was officially declared evaporated last month. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people have lost their livelihoods and gone.
High on Bolivia’s semi-arid Andean plains at more than 12,000 feet and long subject to climatic whims, the shallow saline lake has essentially dried up before only...
Obama addresses ‘terrible tragedy’ of Flint water crisis in Michigan
Posted by Guardian: Scott Bixby on January 20th, 2016
Guardian: Barack Obama’s speech in Detroit on Wednesday was intended to be a triumphant celebration of the renaissance of an automobile industry once on the brink of collapse. But the president’s successful bailout of American carmakers and the subsequent revival of Michigan’s most important industry was eclipsed by a nearby civic emergency: a water crisis in Flint that has threatened the health of tens of thousands of people.
Sixty-eight miles north by road, thousands of residents of the long-neglected...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Obama addresses ‘terrible tragedy’ of Flint water crisis in MichiganBernie’s new ad shows him standing against Big Oil
Posted by Grist: None Given on January 20th, 2016
Grist: The Bernie Sanders campaign released a new ad in Iowa this week, and it`s not like anything you`ll see from the GOP side. For one thing, it`s not an attack ad. Rather than talk about Hillary Clinton`s haircut or Martin O`Malley`s shoe size, Sanders sticks to the issues - and the issue, in this ad, is Big Oil.
The ad features two Iowa farmers, Patti Edwardson and George Naylor, discussing the Bakken pipeline, a proposed project that would move 570,000 barrels of crude oil through the state daily....
Sanders spotlights new climate data: ‘The debate is over’
Posted by CNN: David Wright on January 20th, 2016
CNN: Bernie Sanders said Wednesday that "climate change is real" and the "debate is over" after NOAA reported that 2015 was the hottest year on record.
"This planet and its people are in trouble" he warned. "Unless we get our act together, we will see in years to come more droughts, more floods and more extreme weather disturbances."
Sanders then stressed the urgency of the challenge and cited his proposals to address it.
"It is absolutely vital that we act boldly to move our energy system away...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Sanders spotlights new climate data: ‘The debate is over’Wettest ever December broke UK river records, hydrologists confirm
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 18th, 2016
Guardian: Last month broke a host of UK records for rainfall, rivers and groundwater, in addition to it having already been confirmed as the wettest and warmest December on record. According to the The Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), which collects all the hydrological data available for the UK, December 2015 set the following records: North West England exceeded its previous maximum December rainfall by an amount almost equivalent to its average monthly rainfall a new UK 24 hour rainfall...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Wettest ever December broke UK river records, hydrologists confirmCloud cover found significant factor in Greenland Ice Sheet melt
Posted by Environmental News Network: University Of Wisconsin-Madison Via EurekAlert! on January 17th, 2016
Environmental News Network: The Greenland Ice Sheet is the second largest ice sheet in the world and it's melting rapidly, likely driving almost a third of global sea level rise. A new study shows clouds are playing a larger role in that process than scientists previously believed. "Over the next 80 years, we could be dealing with another foot of sea level rise around the world," says Tristan L'Ecuyer, professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and co-author of the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Cloud cover found significant factor in Greenland Ice Sheet melt