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Archive for April 25th, 2011
Report: Climate change worsens Western water woes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 25th, 2011
Associated Press: Climate change is likely to diminish already scarce water supplies in the Western United States, exacerbating problems for millions of water users in the West, according to a new government report.
A report released Monday by the Interior Department said annual flows in three prominent river basins -- the Colorado, Rio Grande and San Joaquin -- could decline by as much 8 percent to 14 percent over the next four decades. The three rivers provide water to eight states, from Wyoming to Texas and...
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A 21st-Century Water Forecast
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 25th, 2011
New York Times: The broad-brush conclusion of a new federal report on the future impact of climate change on water in the West is a bit familiar. Throughout the West, there will be less snow, and what snow there is will melt faster. The dry Southwest is going to get drier, and the wet Northwest wetter, as a diagram in the report (above) shows.
The 122-page report includes original research -- "including state-of-the-art climate modeling," as Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said during a conference call on Monday...
A 21st-Century Water Forecast
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 25th, 2011
New York Times: The broad-brush conclusion of a new federal report on the future impact of climate change on water in the West is a bit familiar. Throughout the West, there will be less snow, and what snow there is will melt faster. The dry Southwest is going to get drier, and the wet Northwest wetter, as a diagram in the report (above) shows.
The 122-page report includes original research -- "including state-of-the-art climate modeling," as Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said during a conference call on Monday...
Climate change to hit American West water supply
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 25th, 2011
Reuters: Climate change could cut water flow in some of the American West's biggest river basins -- including the Rio Grande and the Colorado -- by up to 20 percent this century, the Interior Department reported on Monday.
This steep drop in stream flow is projected for parts of the West that have seen marked increases in population and droughts over recent decades, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a telephone briefing.
"These changes will directly affect the West's water supplies, which are already...
Climate change to hit American West water supply
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 25th, 2011
Reuters: Climate change could cut water flow in some of the American West's biggest river basins -- including the Rio Grande and the Colorado -- by up to 20 percent this century, the Interior Department reported on Monday.
This steep drop in stream flow is projected for parts of the West that have seen marked increases in population and droughts over recent decades, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a telephone briefing.
"These changes will directly affect the West's water supplies, which are already...
Climate change to hit American West water supply
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 25th, 2011
Reuters: Climate change could cut water flow in some of the American West's biggest river basins -- including the Rio Grande and the Colorado -- by up to 20 percent this century, the Interior Department reported on Monday.
This steep drop in stream flow is projected for parts of the West that have seen marked increases in population and droughts over recent decades, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a telephone briefing.
"These changes will directly affect the West's water supplies, which are already...
Food Insecurity Looms in Parched Horn of Africa
Posted by Greenwire: Gayathri Vaidyanathan on April 25th, 2011
Greenwire: A drought in the Horn of Africa, triggered by the same La Niña episode that caused massive flooding in Australia last year, is plunging millions of pastoralists closer to food insecurity. Parts of Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and eastern Uganda are most affected. The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that 8.4 million people are in need of food aid in the region, according to spokesman David Orr. Thousands of livestock have already died in Kenya and Ethiopia from animal diseases associated with...
Climate Change Poses Rising Threat to Western Water Resources, U.S. Says
Posted by Bloomberg: Kim Chipman on April 25th, 2011
Bloomberg: Climate change is posing an increased risk to water resources in the U.S. West and “ringing alarm bells” for farmers, towns and hydropower companies, according to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.
The dangers include a decline of as much as 20 percent in the average annual flow in river basins such as the Colorado and the Rio Grande, which help generate hydroelectric power, according to the Interior Department study today on the impacts of climate change on U.S. Western water resources.
A changing...
Report: Climate change worsens Western water woes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 25th, 2011
Associated Press: Climate change is likely to dwindle already scarce water supplies in the Western United States, exacerbating problems for millions of water users in the West, according to a new government report.
A report released Monday by the Interior Department said annual flows in three prominent river basins -- the Colorado, Rio Grande and San Joaquin -- could decline by as much 8 percent to 14 percent over the next four decades. The three rivers provide water to eight states, from Wyoming to Texas and California,...
China’s water supply at risk
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 25th, 2011
United Press International: Climate change is threatening China's water supply, a government official said.
"China faces an imbalance between the supply and demand of water to support its rapid social and economic development, while protecting the natural environment and ecosystems," Minister of Water Resources Chen Lei told a roundtable meeting on climate change in China, the country's English newspaper, China Daily, reports.
Global climate change could further exacerbate existing problems over water security, water...