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Archive for September 30th, 2011
Britain basks in hottest September 30 for a century – and more is on the way
Posted by Guardian: Ben Quinn on September 30th, 2011
Guardian: Britain basked in the hottest September 30 for more than 100 years on Friday and records for October could well be shattered on Saturday.
But amid the obvious temptation on the part of some to view the unexpectedly hot weather as further evidence that the world is warming up, forecasters point to one inconvenient truth: this summer was the coolest since 1993.
And a bout of hot weather (or indeed a cold winter) on its own proves nothing. Individual events of the type most of Britain is currently...
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Climate fix tech test put on hold
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 30th, 2011
BBC: A pioneering test of a climate "tech fix" planned for October faces a six-month delay as scientists discuss the issues it raises with their critics.
The test is part of the UK-based Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering (Spice) project.
It would use a balloon and a kilometre-long hose to spray water into the upper atmosphere - a prelude to spraying climate-cooling sulphate particles.
But the funders believe that more talks about the social aspects are needed.
The project...
Bikpela Bagarap
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 30th, 2011
Rainforest News: This film reveal the human face of logging in Papua New Guinea. They are tales of exploitation and broken promises, where local people are treated as second-rate citizens in their own country by Malaysian logging companies and corrup politicians. Customary landowners are forced into signing documents they don’t understand, for the promise of “development” – fresh water, health and education, but these essential services are rarely provided. Instead, their traditional hunting grounds are destroyed,...
Calif. Forest Hailed as Model for New Management Paradigm
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 30th, 2011
Greenwire: Walking through towering redwoods here in the mountains hugging Northern California's coast, the average person wouldn't know they were in the midst of a "working" forest. The spongy ground is covered with tree litter, sword ferns and soft moss. The dense tree canopy blocks out most of the light filtering through the cool morning mist. Huckleberry bushes grow on old stumps and downed trees. Looking around the stand, Laurie Wayburn, co-founder of the Pacific Forest Trust, which manages this 2,200-acre...
E.P.A. Charts Risks of a Ubiquitous Chemical
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 30th, 2011
New York Times: Ed Abney of Berea, Ky., was diagnosed with Parkinson`s disease in 2001 after spending 24 years working with trichloroethylene in a factory. The E.P.A. has just calculated the chemical`s risks. So you wanted to clean grease off a bit of machinery. The year was 1956 or 1971 or even 1993. Your cleaner of choice was probably the industrial degreaser trichloroethylene, a petroleum-based clear liquid that was as common in mid-20th-century America as Ipana toothpaste, Crackerjack and asbestos. It was used...
Controversial $3.6 Billion Dam Shelved by Myanmar Government
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 30th, 2011
Yale Environment 360: The Myanmar government has suspended construction of a controversial $3.6 billion dam project following weeks of protests by opposition forces. The Myitsone dam project, which was being developed in part by Chinese investors, would have flooded about 296 square miles (766 square kilometers), with about 90 percent of the power reportedly destined for export to China. According to reports, President Thein Sein told members of parliament “that his government, being born out of people’s desire, has to...
Some Federal Flood Insurance Risks May Be Shifted to Private Reinsurers
Posted by ClimateWire: Evan Lehmann on September 30th, 2011
ClimateWire: Congress is poised to give the Federal Emergency Management Agency the power to shift some of its massive financial risk from flooding to private financial firms that charge expensive fees to absorb liability from extreme natural catastrophes, like Hurricane Katrina. The move marks a significant transition for the agency's National Flood Insurance Program, which collects enough money annually from 5.6 million policyholders to pay damage claims during standard flood years. But the program, experts...
Ivory Coast: Climate change threatens W. Africa cocoa industry
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 30th, 2011
Associated Press: Climate scientists say that the booming cocoa industry in Ivory Coast and Ghana will be threatened by climate change. A report released by Colombia-based International Center for Tropical Agriculture says the expected annual temperature rise of more than two degrees Celsius will leave many cocoa-producing areas in West Africa unsuitable for chocolate production by 2050. Dr. Peter Laderach, the lead author of the report released Thursday, says rising temperatures have already effected cocoa crops...
New study points to lesser monsoon rains in South Asia due to aerosol pollution
Posted by International Business Times: None Given on September 30th, 2011
International Business Times: In a study published by the journal Science, researchers concluded that at least 10 percent of monsoon rains that normally soak the South Asian region, specifically the central and northern parts of the Indian subcontinent, were lost from 1950 through 1999 due to increasing consumption of fossil fuels.
Rainfalls from the month of June to September saw significant declines in the region during much the observed period, the study showed, as they were dried up by particles and carbon dioxide emissions...
Dengue fever infects over 12,000 in Pakistan
Posted by Agence France-Presse: Masroor Gilani on September 30th, 2011
Agence France-Presse: Already cursed by floods and suicide bombings, Pakistan now faces a new menace from an unprecedented outbreak of the deadly tropical disease dengue fever.
In less than a month, 126 people have died and more than 12,000 have been diagnosed with the virus, which has spread rapidly among both rich and poor in Pakistan's cultural capital Lahore.
Dengue affects between 50 and 100 million people in the tropics and subtropics each year, resulting in fever, muscle and joint ache.
But it can also...