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Archive for January 4th, 2012
More extreme weather on Australia’s radar
Posted by Adelaide Now: Sonja Koremans on January 4th, 2012
Adelaide Now: Almost 100 per cent of natural disasters in Australia are weather related, according to Insurance Council Australia. Picture: AFP Source: The Courier-Mail
IAG warns of more natural disasters Australia to be hard hit by climate change Brace for more insurance premium hikes
THE nation's largest insurers have warned Australians to brace for more catastrophic weather brought on by a rising global temperatures.
Last year, Australia and New Zealand accounted for more a third of world's natural...
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Environmental groups line up star power against Northern Gateway pipeline
Posted by Vancouver Sun: Gordon Hoekstra on January 4th, 2012
Vancouver Sun: Fresh off its win helping delay the Keystone XL oil pipeline in the United States, the Natural Resources Defense Council is directing its star-studded cast against the $5.5-billion Northern Gateway pipeline.
The U.S.-based environmental group, which raised $94 million in 2010, will bring its expertise and 1.3 million members to an already-formidable array of largely B.C.-based environmental groups actively campaigning to stop the controversial project.
It will also bring a new element -- celebrity...
Shell fixing pipeline following Nigeria oil leak
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 4th, 2012
Associated Press: Environment Oil Shell fixing pipeline following Nigeria oil leak Leak of 200 barrels of oil blamed on oil thieves, and follows huge slick in the same region in mid-December reddit this Associated Press guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 January 2012 07.53 EST Article history Oil spill is seen off the coast of the Niger Delta The latest leak follows Shell's vast oil spill off the coast of the Niger delta. Photograph: Sunday Alamba/AP Royal Dutch Shell PLC says it is conducting...
Chile’s fire-ravaged Torres del Paine national park to partly reopen
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 4th, 2012
Guardian: Chile's president has announced that parts of a world-famous national park devastated by forest fires will reopen, even as firefighters continued to battle blazes sweeping through the country's south and central regions.
Sebastián Piñera said on Tuesday about 80% of the spectacular Torres del Paine national park would be reopened to tourists even though several fires continued to rage in its southern section. "As of 8am tomorrow [Wednesday] morning a very important part of the park will reopen,"...
Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney are both bad news for climate change fight
Posted by Grist: None Given on January 4th, 2012
Grist: Rick Santorum, who surged at the last minute to give Mitt Romney a real run for his money in Tuesday's Iowa caucuses, is less green than his rival, and decidedly nuttier when it comes to climate change. But let's not split hairs here. Both men will staunchly defend fossil fuels, and neither is likely to do much of anything to fight global warming.
Mitt Romney has expressed qualified concern about climate change over the years, and then vacillated about how much of it is human-caused and whether...
United States: After 40-Year Battle, Train May Roll for Oahu
Posted by New York Times: Adam Nagourney on January 4th, 2012
New York Times: From the farmlands here on the western side of Oahu, the hotels of Honolulu and the bluffs of Diamond Head can be seen rising 20 miles in the distance. This is rural Hawaii: waves and coastline on one side, lush mountains on the other and barely a building or vehicle in sight. But sometime this spring, a $5.3 billion project is scheduled to rise from the Kapolei farmlands that offers powerful evidence of how much this island, a symbol of Pacific tranquillity, is changing. A 40-year battle to build...
Ecuador court upholds ruling against Chevron
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 4th, 2012
Associated Press: An appeals court in Ecuador upheld an $18 billion ruling against Chevron Corp. on Tuesday for oil pollution in the Amazon rain forest more than two decades ago.
The ruling confirmed a February judgment in the case. The Ecuadorean plaintiffs said in a statement that the decision is based on scientific evidence presented at trial proving that waste had poisoned the water supply.
"The appellate court relied on a record that proved that Chevron has violated the rights of the communities where it...
Uganda: Farmer’s Diary – Effects of Climate Change On Farming
Posted by Monitor: Michael J. Ssali on January 4th, 2012
Monitor: Farming may be described as the process of caring for plants, insects, and animals that are valuable to us. It is a process that depends on many factors such as climate which has to do with the weather conditions of the location where we practice farming over a long period of time.
For crops, insects, and animals to do well, issues such as temperature, wind, topography, and rainfall among others have to be considered. This makes it imperative for us to pay more attention to the climate change...
Ohio earthquake was not a natural event, expert says
Posted by Reuters: Kim Palmer on January 4th, 2012
Reuters: A 4.0 magnitude earthquake in Ohio on New Year's Eve did not occur naturally and may have been caused by high-pressure liquid injection related to oil and gas exploration and production, an expert hired by the state of Ohio said on Tuesday.
Ohio's Department of Natural Resources on Sunday suspended operations at five deep well sites in Youngstown, Ohio, where the injection of water was taking place, while they evaluate seismological data from a rare quake in the area.
The wells are about 9,000...