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Archive for January, 2016
Canada: Climate Change Could Slash Natives’ Fish Catches
Posted by KUOW: None Given on January 15th, 2016
KUOW: Northwest coastal tribes have counted on salmon and herring for thousands of years to fill their nets and fuel their cultures. That could change in just a few decades as warmer waters drive fish north, according to a study out this week from the University of British Columbia.
Researchers looked at 98 species that native, or First Nations, communities catch on the B.C. coast.
"What we find is that most of the species will have a decrease in potential catch and abundance by 2050," said UBC professor...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Canada: Climate Change Could Slash Natives’ Fish CatchesWhy Does So Much U.S. Coal Come from Federal Land?
Posted by National Geographic: Christina Nunez on January 15th, 2016
National Geographic: By hitting “pause” on granting new federal coal leases, the Obama administration is facing up to an uncomfortable reality in its drive to meet climate targets: Nearly 41 percent of American coal comes from government-owned land. The price industry pays to mine that coal hasn’t changed in more than 30 years. Now, the Interior Department plans for the first time to factor impacts on the environment and human health into the deal. The shift announced Friday aims to bring a decades-old leasing policy...
Obama Halts Federal Coal Leasing Citing Climate Change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 15th, 2016
Scientific American: The Obama administration on Friday brought a temporary halt to new coal mining leases on federal lands while it conducts a three-year review meant to bring coal leasing in line with U.S. climate policy.
The moratorium comes just days after Obama said in his State of the Union Address that he would push to change the way the government manages its oil and coal resources to reflect the costs they impose on both taxpayers and the planet. The moratorium takes place immediately, but does not halt coal...
Obama Halts Coal Leases on U.S. Public Lands
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on January 15th, 2016
Environment News Service: No new coal leases will be issued on public lands while the Obama Administration conducts a comprehensive review of the federal coal program to identify and evaluate potential reforms, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced today.
Taxpayer-owned federal lands supply roughly 40 percent of all U.S. coal production, and mining under existing leases will continue during the review.
"Even as our nation transitions to cleaner energy sources, building on smart policies and progress already underway,...
Northeast U.S. Waters Warming Far Faster than Previously Thought, NOAA says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 15th, 2016
Yale Environment 360: The ocean waters off the Northeastern United States may get even warmer, and this warming may occur twice as quickly as previously thought, according to a new study by researchers for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The findings, based on four global climate models, suggest that ocean temperatures in that region will rise three times faster than the global average. “Prior climate change projections for the region may be far too conservative,” said Vincent Saba, a NOAA fisheries...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Northeast U.S. Waters Warming Far Faster than Previously Thought, NOAA saysFracking in Alberta: daily quakes and thirsty residents
Posted by Agence France-Presse: Duc Tué Dang on January 15th, 2016
Agence France-Presse: One earthquake is recorded on average each day in a western Canadian region where companies extract oil by fracking, according to statistics published by the Canadian province's energy regulatory agency.
The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) said Friday that in the last year alone, there were 363 tremors in and around Fox Creek, a small town of 2,000 inhabitants located 260 kilometers (160 miles) northwest of Edmonton.
Some days, seismic activity is higher, such as on September 11, 2015, when...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Fracking in Alberta: daily quakes and thirsty residents‘Another Nail in the Coffin’: Obama Set to Overhaul Coal Leasing on Public Lands
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on January 15th, 2016
EcoWatch: The Obama administration announced today new rules for how the federal government manages and leases coal reserves on public lands. The move adds significant momentum to the growing campaign by climate activists to stop new fossil fuel extraction on public lands and calls to “keep it in the ground.”
White House set to issue major new rule on coal mining on public lands: https://t.co/K16t8HHD11 pic.twitter.com/DmgzvDeD2h
-- Wilderness Society (@Wilderness) January 15, 2016
“The only safe...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on ‘Another Nail in the Coffin’: Obama Set to Overhaul Coal Leasing on Public LandsSouth Africa suffers driest year on record in 2015
Posted by Reuters: Ed Stoddard on January 15th, 2016
Reuters: South Africa suffered its driest year on record in 2015, the national weather service said on Thursday, as a drought that has threatened the vital maize crop and hit economic growth showed no sign of abating.
Average rainfall was 403 mm, about a third less than the 608 mm annual average and the driest since records began in 1904, the service added.
The agricultural sector is being hammered by weeks of heat waves that have scorched grazing land, forcing livestock owners to kill or sell animals....
Agricultural expansion in Africa could cause climate change: study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 15th, 2016
Xinhua: A newly released study by a Canadian scholar shows that rainfall and groundwater are crucial for crops in West Africa, yet agriculture may make droughts worse and lead to crop failure. Marc Parlange, a co-author of the study and a hydrology specialist and professor of civil engineering at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, discovered that a Burkina Faso savannah received more rainfall than nearby land cleared for agriculture, posing serious questions about the sustainability...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Agricultural expansion in Africa could cause climate change: studyMining company executives indicted in Brazil over country’s largest environmental disaster
Posted by Mongabay: Jenny Gonzales on January 15th, 2016
Mongabay: Yesterday, Brazil’s federal police in Minas Gerais charged Samarco CEO, Ricardo Vescovi De Aragao, for environmental crimes caused by the disruption of the Fundão tailings dam — Brazil’s largest environmental disaster. The Samarco and Vale mining companies were also indicted, as well as VogBR Recursos Hídricos e Geotécnica, responsible for signing the statement that declared the dam stable just last year. In a message to Mongabay, VogBR’s CEO, André Euzébio, cleared his company of any wrongdoing,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Mining company executives indicted in Brazil over country’s largest environmental disaster