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Archive for October 27th, 2011
UK accused of stalling EU tar sands regulation
Posted by EurActiv: Craig Willy and Arthur Neslen on October 27th, 2011
EurActiv: National representatives from EU member countries on Wednesday delayed a vote to tighten the EU's Fuel Quality Directive, amid acute pressure from the Canadian government and alleged stalling attempts by the United Kingdom.
An EU diplomat told EurActiv that several delegations on the EU's Fuel Quality Committee were not ready to vote on approving the directive, which would assign fuel from Canada's highly polluting oil sands a high default greenhouse gas value, reflecting the environmental damage...
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Killing Wolves: A Product of Alberta’s Big Oil and Gas Boom
Posted by Yale Environment 360: Ed Struzik on October 27th, 2011
Yale Environment 360: In the spring of 1995, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service captured several wolves from west central Alberta and set them loose the next year in Yellowstone National Park, hoping they would fill in the missing link in the park’s complex system of predator-prey relationships.
Wolves hadn’t been seen in Yellowstone in 70 years. Beyond anyone’s wildest expectations, and despite fierce opposition of some local ranchers and hunters, these and other wolves brought in from Alberta and British Columbia...
Thailand: Bangkok residents flee floods as river threatens to burst banks
Posted by Guardian: Tania Branigan on October 27th, 2011
Guardian: Thousands are fleeing Bangkok after the city's governor ordered residents of three districts to evacuate and breaches in dykes allowed floods to spread through the capital.
The central government has declared a five-day holiday from Thursday, encouraging many to leave the city. A naval official warned that Bangkok's main river is likely to overflow its defences on Saturday, when high tides are expected to merge with the heavy runoff from further north.
The floods are the country's worst for...
Chinese Scientists Warn of Significant Glacier Melt
Posted by Spiegel: Markus Becker on October 27th, 2011
Spiegel: Glaciers are shrinking worldwide -- some of them rapidly. Now Chinese researchers have sounded the alarm in their country too, where they say warmer weather and increased precipitation are reducing the size of glaciers. Water shortages and floods could result.
Chinese scientists are not known for fearmongering, particularly when it comes to dangers that could affect large numbers of people. Officials frown upon news that could unsettle the masses -- which makes this week's publication by the Graduate...
Climate aid would cost nation $2bn
Posted by Age: Tom Arup on October 27th, 2011
Age: AUSTRALIA should contribute between $1.9 billion and $2.7 billion a year by 2020 to meet international commitments to help poor countries cope with climate change, new analysis has found.
Researchers at the Australian National University will release a report today calculating Australia's share of a worldwide goal to deliver $100 billion of public and private financing a year by 2020 to help developing nations with the impacts of climate change.
The researchers from the Centre for Climate Economics...
Residents flee Bangkok after “massive” flood warning
Posted by Reuters: Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat on October 27th, 2011
Reuters: Residents fled Thailand's capital, Bangkok, on Thursday after authorities warned the city would soon be flooded and called a special five-day holiday to let people escape.
Traffic in central Bangkok was light as the holiday began but a main road out of the city to the flood-free south was jammed. Many people were heading for the seaside town of Pattaya, where hotel rooms and homes to rent were hard to find.
TV footage showed crowded domestic check-in counters at Bangkok's main Suvarnabhumi...
Climate change making country’s water problems worse: expert
Posted by Reuters: Kim Palmer on October 27th, 2011
Reuters: Climate change and population growth in the United States will make having enough fresh water more challenging in the coming years, an expert on water shortages said on Wednesday.
"In 1985-1986 there were historical (water level) highs and now in less than 25 years we are at historical lows. Those sorts of swings are very scary," said Robert Glennon, speaking at the State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Glennon, a professor at Arizona State University and the author...