RSS Feed
Archive for February 21st, 2012
Coal bigger threat to climate change than oilsands: study
Posted by Times Colonist: Judith Lavoie on February 21st, 2012
Times Colonist: Surprising figures from a study by renowned climate scientist Andrew Weaver show that burning all the oil from the Alberta oilsands would have a relatively minor effect on global warming and that coal is the biggest villain in raising global temperatures.
However, Weaver, a University of Victoria professor, wants to make it crystal clear that the research should not be seen as support for a fossil-fuel-based economy in any form.
"We were trying to address some of the rhetoric we heard back...
Posted in 
EU to vote on oil sands pollution
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 21st, 2012
BBC: European Union officials are expected to vote on draft legislation that would label Canadian fuel as more polluting than oil from other parts of the world.
Oil extracted from "oil sands" is regarded by some as energy intensive and environmentally damaging.
The vote came as native groups sued the provincial and federal governments for breaching a treaty designed to preserve their way of life.
The EU is set to vote on the matter on 23 February.
The proposal from the EU's executive would...
United Kingdom: Four-minute showers will help dried-out areas beat drought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 21st, 2012
Telegraph: Two water companies are sending out waterproof "egg timers' to encourage residents not to linger in the shower.
Caroline Spelman, the Environment Secretary, was forced to declare drought in the most populated area of Britain after two dry winters in a row left reservoirs dangerously low.
The Anglia region is already in drought, meaning that more than half of the population of Britain faces hosepipe bans in a matter of weeks. There could be restrictions in London, where thousands of extra litres...
Climate change increased likelihood of Russian 2010 heatwave – study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 21st, 2012
Guardian: The extreme Russian heatwave of 2010 was made three times more likely because of man-made climate change, according to a study led by climate scientists and number-crunched by home PC users. But the size of the event was mostly within natural limits, said the scientists, laying to rest a controversy last year over whether the extreme weather was natural or human-induced.
The 2010 heatwave broke all records for Russia – temperatures in the central region of the country, including Moscow, were around...
Coal bigger climate change threat than oilsands, says study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 21st, 2012
Canadian Press: One of the world’s top climate scientists has calculated that emissions from Alberta’s oilsands are unlikely to make a big difference to global warming and that the real threat to the planet comes from burning coal.
“I was surprised by the results of our analysis,” said Andrew Weaver, a University of Victoria climate modeller, who has been a lead author on two reports from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “I thought it was larger than it was.”
In a commentary published...
Water, water… nowhere
Posted by Independent: Cahal Milmo on February 21st, 2012
Independent: On the River Kennet in Berkshire conservationists are resorting to stunning fish using electric probes and rescuing them from the dwindling trickle of water. Farmers across East Anglia are considering ditching entire crops while at nature reserves springs have dried up, leaving creatures from water voles to marsh harriers struggling to find food.
It might sound like a picture from the height of a dry summer but this was the reality across a swathe of England in late winter yesterday after 18 months...
Putting Agriculture at the Center of Climate Talks
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 21st, 2012
Voice of America: This June in Brazil, delegates will mark the twentieth anniversary of what is commonly known as the Earth Summit. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development took place in Rio de Janeiro in nineteen ninety-two.
One of the issues that the delegates plan to discuss in June at Rio+20 is the role of agriculture in climate change. A recent article written by a team of scientists says agriculture should be a top priority in climate change negotiations. It says there was some progress...