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Archive for February, 2016
Benefits associated with the reduction of mercury emissions far outweigh industry cost
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 18th, 2016
ScienceDaily: How should cost factor into the protection of human health and the environment? That was the central question in a Supreme Court case last summer that pitted the coal industry and 20 U.S. states against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The court ruled that the EPA did not properly take into account what it would cost power plants to comply with new regulations to reduce the emission of mercury, a powerful neurotoxin. Now the EPA has until the self-imposed deadline of April 16 to come up...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Benefits associated with the reduction of mercury emissions far outweigh industry costZambia seeks to plug water wastage by harvesting rain
Posted by Reuters: Whitney Mulobela on February 18th, 2016
Reuters: As erratic rainfall leaves Zambia's reservoirs running low and its crops thirsty, the government is planning to harvest water and tap the precious resource more efficiently.
Experts warn that drought linked to the current strong El Niño weather phenomenon is compromising water security in the southern African country of more than 15 million people.
But drought is only part of the problem - when Zambia does get rain, the country lacks the infrastructure to store it for use during dry spells....
As They Drank Contaminated Water, Flint Residents Were Charged The Highest Water Rates In The Country
Posted by ThinkProgress: None Given on February 18th, 2016
ThinkProgress: Not only did Flint residents drink tap water contaminated with lead and other chemicals throughout 2015, but they were also paying the highest prices in the country to keep that poisoned water flowing through their pipes.
A report released by Food & Water Watch on Tuesday confirmed what many residents had long suspected: that their water bills, averaging $140 a month, were the highest in the country. The group found that a Flint resident paid $864.32 a year for water in January 2015, about $500...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on As They Drank Contaminated Water, Flint Residents Were Charged The Highest Water Rates In The CountryKashmir’s snowfall deficit has got everyone worried
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 17th, 2016
Indian Express: For the second consecutive year, Jammu and Kashmir is receiving lesser snowfall during winter compared to earlier years thereby affecting the Valley`s fruit industry and migration of birds.
Experts say it is rare for Kashmir to receive such low quantity of snowfall with negligible precipitation in the plains. According to meteorological data, the Valley for the 13th time since 1901 witnessed a rare dry January. Chillai Kalan, the 40-day coldest period in Kashmir’s winter also failed to provide...
Fracking’s Costs Fall Disproportionately on the Poor and Minorities in South Texas
Posted by InsideClimate: Brian Bienkowski on February 17th, 2016
InsideClimate: Chavel Lopez lives just a few miles north of Texas' Eagle Ford--one of the many regions in the country recently given a makeover from the fracking industry. "I just have to drive a bit south and see the wells and the flames," he said.
For Lopez, rather than a booming industry, these are signs of yet another pollution burden for the region's people of color.
"We already had issues. Right here in San Antonio, fuel storage tanks were all located on the eastside, predominantly African American...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Fracking’s Costs Fall Disproportionately on the Poor and Minorities in South TexasHow climate change will affect western groundwater
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 17th, 2016
PhysOrg: By 2050 climate change will increase the groundwater deficit even more for four economically important aquifers in the western U.S., reports a University of Arizona-led team of scientists.
The new report is the first to integrate scientists' knowledge about groundwater in the U.S. West with scientific models that show how climate change will affect the region.
"We wanted to know, 'What are the expectations for increases and decreases in groundwater as we go forward in this century?'" said lead...
New study is ‘a leap forward’ in our understanding of ice sheet behavior
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 17th, 2016
ScienceDaily: In recent years, climate scientists have grown increasingly concerned that massive rivers of ice flowing into the ocean from Greenland and Antarctica could accelerate as the planet warms, leading to a catastrophic collapse of Earth's ice sheets. This grim scenario would cause the world's oceans to rise rapidly, putting many island nations and coastal communities around the world under water. But a new paper in Nature by C.R. Stokes and colleagues presents an alternative narrative of the manner...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on New study is ‘a leap forward’ in our understanding of ice sheet behaviorPesticide mixtures may increase health risks but still unregulated by Calif
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 17th, 2016
ScienceDaily: A UCLA study has found that the state agency responsible for protecting Californians from the dangers of pesticides is failing to assess the health risks likely posed by pesticide mixtures, which are believed to be more harmful than individual pesticides.
The report was published by the Sustainable Technology and Policy Program, which is based in UCLA School of Law and the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. It recommends the California Department of Pesticide Regulations do more to protect...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Pesticide mixtures may increase health risks but still unregulated by CalifCalifornia’s drought led to less hydropower and more carbon emissions
Posted by Grist: Laura Bliss on February 17th, 2016
Grist: Climate change intensified California’s current drought, and the drought may be intensifying climate change. A new report by the Pacific Institute finds that the state’s energy portfolio has continued to shift away from hydropower and toward dirtier sources of electricity (CityLab covered its 2015 report on the same subject). That’s led to a 10 percent uptick in carbon emissions from California’s power plants, and an extra $2 billion for ratepayers.
Between 1983 and 2013, hydropower accounted...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on California’s drought led to less hydropower and more carbon emissionsGlobal satellite map highlights sensitivity of Australia’s plants
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 17th, 2016
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The study suggests the vegetation of our interior does not respond to sudden increases in rainfall because it has "learned" that drought will soon follow.
It also indicates the Murray-Darling Basin is one of the world's most ecologically sensitive zones, and highlights the fact that Australian flora is most sensitive to changes in water availability.
The maps are part of a study, published today in the journal Nature, that analyses 14 years of satellite data measuring the key climate variables...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Global satellite map highlights sensitivity of Australia’s plants