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Archive for December 13th, 2010
Why we’re doomed on climate change
Posted by Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Doug Hendrie on December 13th, 2010
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Here we go again. A year after the acrimonious climate meeting in Copenhagen, the world's nations have come together again in Cancun to try to make inroads into the thorniest political problem of the century.
Climate change is the greatest challenge of our time. But unlike the ozone hole, unlike acid rain, this is one environmental catastrophe we are not going to be able to stop. Against the thin wedge of scientists and activists and a few sympathetic governments are vast vested interests: entrenched...
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River Advocates Fret That PCBs Will Linger in Hudson
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 13th, 2010
New York Times: As the Environmental Protection Agency prepares a decision on standards for the second phase of General Electric`s cleanup of toxic chemicals in the Hudson River, environmental advocates are worrying that the agency may allow more of the chemicals to remain in the river sediment than originally envisaged.
The cleanup involves dredging to remove sediment contaminated with P.C.B.`s, or polychlorinated biphenyls, from discharges by G.E. plants over a 30-year period ending in 1977. A panel of independent...
Former NY environmental head joins watchdog group
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 13th, 2010
Reuters: The man once charged with drafting New York state's guidelines to allow a controversial method of natural gas drilling has joined the staff of a watchdog group that calls for greater regulation of the practice, the group said on Monday.
Pete Grannis, who was dismissed in October as head of New York's Department of Environmental Conservation after raising concerns about agency job cuts, has joined Environmental Advocates of New York as special counsel.
The announcement came two days after New...
As Andean Glaciers Recede, Region Steps Forward to Adapt
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 13th, 2010
Inter Press Service: The mountainous areas of South America's Andean nations supply water to the coastal cities, provide habitat to important biodiversity, and serve as natural barriers, but global warming threatens those regions, which are home to millions of people.
"It is clear that the glaciers are receding, and some communities can see that the climate is changing. Precipitation is more unstable, and in the cities along the coast face water supply problems," Peru's Environment Minister Antonio Brack told Tierramérica....
New blizzard is sure to create more climate change debate
Posted by Examiner: None Given on December 13th, 2010
Examiner: Yesterday yet another blizzard began to sweep across the United States. The storm ended up dumping 20 inches of snow on Minneapolis, causing the Metrodome roof to collapse (video to the left) and altering the schedule of the NFL. The weather system shut down much of the country's air traffic and caused many deaths on the roads. Last year the two blizzards which hit the East Coast both created a renewed debate on the existence, or lack thereof, of climate change. This newest storm is sure to generate...
No rice please, we’re Indonesians
Posted by Seed Daily: None Given on December 13th, 2010
Seed Daily: The grain that springs from paddy fields across Indonesia is vulnerable to shifting global weather patterns, such as this year's unseasonal rains linked to cooler sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific, known as the La Nina effect. Indonesia is one of the world's biggest producers -- and consumers -- of rice, but in the interests of public health and food sustainability the government has launched an ambitious drive to wean people off their beloved staple.
For ordinary Indonesians like Andi Santoso,...
Four months later, Pakistan still suffers from flooding
Posted by Time: Rania Abouzeid / Haji Jan Mohammad on December 13th, 2010
Time: Four Months Later, Pakistan Still Suffers from Flooding
Tents set on higher ground for the flood-affected people in the area of Pakistan's Manchar Lake on Dec. 3, 2010
Dozens of people with outstretched arms welcome the chopper as its rotors kick up swirls of gritty dust from the cracked, mud-caked earth of Haji Jan Mohammad -- a poor agricultural village transformed into a desolate island by waist-deep floodwaters that stretch to the horizon in every direction. More than four months after...
Will clouds keep a lid on climate change?
Posted by Time: Michael Lemonick on December 13th, 2010
Time: Clouds cool the planet by reflecting sunlight back into space. Clouds warm the planet by trapping heat. Both statements can be true, depending on what kind of clouds you're talking about.
Add to that the fact that some types of clouds might increase in a warming world and some might decrease, and it becomes clear why clouds are such a headache for people trying to project where temperatures are likely to go over the next century. If the net effect is to trap heat, clouds will act as a positive...
Ancient technology could solve climate change problem
Posted by Asia One: None Given on December 13th, 2010
Asia One: Sri Lanka plans to promote one of its millennia old irrigation technologies as an answer to climate change related environment problems, Central Environment Authority Chairman Dr Charitha Herath said.
Speaking at a workshop in Colombo last week, Dr Herath said that cascade irrigation system had been in practice since ancient Sri Lanka and could be still seen in some places in the dry zone.
"No other country has so many works of irrigation within such a limited area," he added.
Village tank...
Tahoe restoration remains crucial in light of climate change predictions
Posted by Tahoe Daily Tribune: None Given on December 13th, 2010
Tahoe Daily Tribune: Punctuating a year of important accomplishments in the restoration of Lake Tahoe was the recent study predicting climate change effects over the next hundred-plus years here. The study by UC Davis scientists and researchers paints a future picture of a lake environment unlike what we know today. The report predicts changes to our forest ecosystem, a reduction in the annual snowpack, and a possible end to the deep mixing of the lake's water that is so important to Lake Tahoe's health. The findings...