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Archive for January, 2011
Impact of receding snow and ice surprises scientists
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 18th, 2011
Christian Science Monitor: A long-term retreat in snow and ice cover in the Northern Hemisphere is weakening the ability of these seasonal cloaks of white to reflect sunlight back into space and cool global climate, according to a study published this week.
Indeed, over the past 30 years, the cooling effect from this so-called cryosphere – essentially areas covered by snow and ice at least part of the year – appears to have weakened at more than twice the pace projected by global climate models, the research team conducting...
Australia weather bureau says La Nina may be at its peak
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 18th, 2011
Reuters: Australia's weather bureau said on Tuesday the La Nina wet weather pattern, which has caused destructive flooding in Australia and Southeast Asia and hit major agricultural and mining commodity markets, may be at its peak.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the La Nina event would persist into the southern hemisphere autumn, another two months.
The bureau said the 30-day Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), which measures the strength of La Nina, recorded a +27 in December, its highest level on record...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Australia weather bureau says La Nina may be at its peakAustralia government weighs levy for flood damage: report
Posted by Reuters: Rob Taylor on January 18th, 2011
Reuters: Australia's government is reportedly considering a taxpayer levy to help pay for massive flood rebuilding, while preserving the budget's path back to surplus in 2012-13, as one major bank warned on Tuesday the damage bill could reach A$20 billion.
A levy could take the form of an addition to the 1.5 percent Medicare levy backing public health and hospitals, and which raises A$10 billion ($9.9 billion) a year, the Australian newspaper said, without naming sources.
Flooding blamed on rains triggered...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Australia government weighs levy for flood damage: reportDrinking water in Vietnam has excessive arsenic
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 17th, 2011
Reuters: More than a quarter of drinking wells in Vietnam's densely-populated Red River delta contain unsafe levels of arsenic that can cause cancer, neurological problems and hypertension, researchers warned on Tuesday.
In a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they also said 44 percent of the wells in the delta carried levels of manganese that exceed World Health Organization guidelines.
"About 7 million people are at a considerable risk of chronic arsenic...
Queensland’s soggy soils revealed
Posted by BBC: Jonathan Amos on January 17th, 2011
BBC: Smos passes over Australia twice a day, producing broad strips of imagery Continue reading the main story
Queensland Floods
Nick Bryant: Australians' extraordinary grit How flood recovery begins In pictures: Flood clean-up Barrier reef braces for flood impact
The extent to which Queensland's soils became saturated with water as the Australian state was deluged with rain is evident in new satellite imagery.
The maps were made by Europe's Smos spacecraft, which carries a novel instrument...
Groups launch wind power product label “WindMade”
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 17th, 2011
Reuters: Groups and companies including WWF and Danish wind turbine maker Vestas on Monday supported the launch of "WindMade" as a label for products made using wind power, aiming to attract green consumers.
To use the label, producers would have to pass a test confirming their use of wind power, and in return they can benefit from a possible price premium similar to that organic food has over conventional produce.
A technical group has not yet decided details of how the label would work, backers of...
Losing the Andes glaciers
Posted by Global Warming: Heather Somerville on January 17th, 2011
Global Warming: Glacier melt hasn’t caused a national crisis in Peru, yet. But high in the Andes, rising temperatures and changes in water supply have decimated crops, killed fish stocks and forced entire villages to question how they will survive for another generation.
U.S. officials are watching closely because without quick intervention, they say, the South American nation could become an unfortunate case study in how climate change can destabilize a strategically important region and, in turn, create conditions...
Floods report for climate committee
Posted by Sydney Morning Hearld: Paul Osborne on January 17th, 2011
Sydney Morning Hearld: A report on the flood disaster and climate change will be undertaken by an expert on the federal government's multi-party committee which is investigating ways to price carbon.
Professor Will Steffen, a member of the climate change committee set up by the Gillard government in September last year, told AAP he was working on a report covering the floods.
The report comes as the Australian Greens called on the coal industry to foot some of the flood damage bill because of the role of burning...
Floods ‘highlight challenges’ of waterfront living
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 17th, 2011
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: An economist on Queensland's Gold Coast says the Brisbane floods have highlighted the challenges that can confront waterfront property owners.
Riverfront homes were among the thousands of properties inundated in south-east Queensland last week.
Around 180 real estate professionals from around the world are discussing the impact of climate change on property developments at a conference at Bond University this week.
The director of the Institute for Sustainable Development at Bond University,...
Miners attack Greens leader Bob Brown over call for coal producers to fund flood clean-up
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 17th, 2011
Australian: James Madden reports from Gailes Caravan Village in Brisbane, where 100 residents lost everything they owned in the floods.
GREENS leader Bob Brown is facing mounting condemnation after calling on coal companies to foot the bill for the Queensland flood recovery.
Senator Brown said coal companies, as major climate change contributors, should pay a 40 per cent resources super profits tax to pay for the clean-up.
Minerals Council of Australia deputy chief Brendan Pearson accused Senator Brown...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Miners attack Greens leader Bob Brown over call for coal producers to fund flood clean-up