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Archive for the ‘Water Conservation’ Category
U.S. sends elite disaster experts to respond to Ethiopia drought
Posted by Reuters: Katy Migiro on March 3rd, 2016
Reuters: The United States is sending an elite team of disaster experts to respond to Ethiopia's worst drought in 50 years, it said on Thursday.
Around a dozen members of the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) have arrived in Ethiopia to coordinate the U.S. response to the drought.
They will be joined by DART logistics, nutrition, and water, sanitation and hygiene experts in the next few days.
USAID responds to around 65 disasters a year,...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on U.S. sends elite disaster experts to respond to Ethiopia droughtGreenland’s ice melt accelerating as surface darkens, raising sea levels
Posted by Guardian: Oliver Milman on March 3rd, 2016
Guardian: Greenland’s vast ice sheet is in the grip of a dramatic “feedback loop” where the surface has been getting darker and less reflective of the sun, helping accelerate the melting of ice and fuelling sea level rises, new research has found.
The snowy surface of Greenland started becoming significantly less reflective of solar radiation from around 1996, the analysis found, with the ice absorbing 2% more solar energy per decade from this point. At the same time, summer near-surface temperatures in...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Greenland’s ice melt accelerating as surface darkens, raising sea levelsArctic on Thin Ice as Extreme Heat Takes a Toll
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on March 3rd, 2016
EcoWatch: For the second month in a row, the Arctic has set a record for lowest ever sea ice extent, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Ice extent is 448,000 square miles below average for February and 200,000 square miles lower than the previous record-low February. The region has experienced extreme heat over the past few months, with temperatures reaching as high as 23°F above average. Sea ice usually hits its annual low in September, but these early records have scientists concerned for...
Climate Change Could Kill Half a Million Annually by 2050
Posted by EcoWatch: Climate Nexus on March 3rd, 2016
EcoWatch: The impacts of climate change on the global food supply could lead to more than 500,000 deaths a year by 2050, according to a new study in the Lancet.
Droughts, floods and other climate-related impacts will hurt crop yields and reduce the amounts of fruits and vegetables available. On average, the consumption of fruits and vegetables will drop 4 percent by 2050, leading to an increase in malnutrition and disease, particularly in less developed countries. Without climate change, the study found...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate Change Could Kill Half a Million Annually by 2050Another month, another troubling Arctic sea ice record
Posted by Climate Central: Brian Kahn on March 3rd, 2016
Climate Central: This year is quickly excising 2015 from the dubious top of the climate record books. The most freakishly warm month on record, record atmospheric heat in February and now for the second month in a row, a new monthly Arctic sea ice low.
February saw record low sea ice extent, with ice running a significant 448,000 square miles below average. In essence, a chunk of ice four times the size of Arizona went missing in action from the Arctic. The number would be even more pronounced if not for a small...
Extreme tornado outbreaks are on the rise, study says
Posted by Time: Justin Worland on March 3rd, 2016
Time: The average number tornado outbreaks that bring multiple twisters from a single weather event is on the rise in the U.S., according to new research, and the findings could change the way insurers and disaster preparedness officials respond to tornadoes.
The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, also shows an increased variability in the number of tornadoes from one outbreak to another. Higher variability means that large outbreaks that result in multiple tornadoes can be more...
The Bizarre Reason Greenland Is Getting Darker Each Year
Posted by Gizmodo: Maddie Stone on March 3rd, 2016
Gizmodo: Greenland is one of the brightest spots on planet Earth, but ominously enough, its gleaming surface darkens with each passing year, thanks to a strange series of physical processes, one of which cannot be seen with the naked eye.
According to a fascinating new study led by Columbia's Earth Institute and published today the journal The Cryosphere, which finds that Greenland's "albedo," or reflectivity, has been decreasing since the mid 90s. By the end of the 21st century, Greenland could be ten...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on The Bizarre Reason Greenland Is Getting Darker Each YearRelentless Rise of Two Caribbean Lakes Baffles Scientists
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 3rd, 2016
National Geographic: On a recent calm day, the surface of Lake Azuéi has no waves, not even any ripples. Pillars of pastel-colored concrete break the still surface, the tops of what once were houses. They are all that's visible of the community that once thrived here.
Alberto Pierre, a skinny, wide-eyed 25-year-old, said the submerged village where he grew up wasn't even near the lake. "The water used to be many kilometers from here."
Lake Azuéi, the largest lake in Haiti, lies about 18 miles east of Port-au-Prince,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Relentless Rise of Two Caribbean Lakes Baffles ScientistsHeaviest rains, hottest temperatures in two decades batter Peru
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 3rd, 2016
Reuters: The heaviest rains and hottest temperatures in two decades have battered Peru over the past week as weather linked to El Nino caused flooding and landslides that blocked the country's central highway and forced scores from their homes. At least five people have died in weather related accidents since Monday, including four trapped in an unregulated mining pit, said Miguel Yamasaki, an official with state civil defense institute, Indeci. Peru's weather agency, Senamhi, put the country on alert for...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Heaviest rains, hottest temperatures in two decades batter PeruClimate change is a potent element in deadly brew of disaster risk
Posted by Guardian: Helen Clark and Robert Glasser on March 3rd, 2016
Guardian: The Hyogo framework for action (HFA), adopted in January 2005 by UN member states, was an unprecedented move to promote saving lives and livelihoods from disasters over a decade. Has there been progress?
The Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters and major insurance companies agree that, in 2015, figures for deaths, numbers of people affected and economic losses from disasters were below the 10-year average.
But are we getting better at managing disasters, or are we actually reducing...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change is a potent element in deadly brew of disaster risk