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Archive for June 24th, 2012
United Kingdom: Badger cull ‘not legal or scientific’, high court will hear
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 24th, 2012
Guardian: The bitter battle over the government's plan to kill thousands of badgers reaches the high court on Monday, when the Badger Trust will tell a judicial review that the action is neither legal nor scientifically justified.
Caroline Spelman, the secretary of state for environment, believes the cull is necessary to curb the rising number of tuberculosis infections in cattle, which led farmers to slaughter 25,000 animals in 2010 alone.
Cull opponents are also attacking the "undue influence" of the...
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Western skies thick with smoke, political rhetoric, evidence of climate change
Posted by Colorado Independent: Troy Hooper on June 24th, 2012
Colorado Independent: Fears that Colorado`s snow-starved winter would fuel one of the worst wildfire seasons in history have been realized as the High Park Fire has grown into the state`s second-biggest while home-wrecking fires popped up in Estes Park and Colorado Springs bring the total to at least nine. Waves of evacuations have plagued subdivisions north of Fort Collins since High Park Fire began burning June 9, destroying nearly 200 homes. But while crews gained ground Saturday, containing 45 percent of that 82,000-acre...
Climate change and the South Asian summer monsoon
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 24th, 2012
ScienceDaily: The vagaries of South Asian summer monsoon rainfall impact the lives of more than one billion people. A review in Nature Climate Change (June 24 online issue) of over 100 recent research articles concludes that with continuing rise in CO2 and global warming, the region can expect generally more rainfall, due to the expected increase in atmospheric moisture, as well as more variability in rainfall.
In spite of the rise in atmospheric CO2 concentration of about 70 parts per million by volume and...
Study: Southern California to Get Hot, Hot, Hot
Posted by Patch: None Given on June 24th, 2012
Patch: Southern California - from Orange County and the Inland Empire to north of Los Angeles - will heat up over the next 50 years, with more 95-plus degree days in store, according to a new UCLA report compiled with forecasting models generated by a supercomputer.
The study, which contains data 2,500 times more detailed than previous studies, predicts weather patterns from 2041 to 2060. All kinds of maps and city breakdowns show tempurate changes. (See pdf attached reports)
It shows that the number...
Scientists warn US east coast over accelerated sea level rise
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 24th, 2012
Guardian: Sea level rise is accelerating three to four times faster along the densely populated east coast of the US than other US coasts, scientists have discovered. The zone, dubbed a "hotspot" by the researchers, means the ocean from Boston to New York to North Carolina is set to experience a rise up a third greater than that seen globally.
Asbury Sallenger, at the US geological survey at St Petersburg, Florida, who led the new study, said: "That makes storm surges that much higher and the reach of the...
Eight wildfires roaring across Colorado
Posted by Denver Post: Jeremy P. Meyer on June 24th, 2012
Denver Post: On the hottest day of the year so far, wildfires erupted throughout Colorado on Saturday, producing fast-moving fires that burned down homes in Estes Park, forced evacuations in Colorado Springs and shut down state highways in southern Colorado.
Firefighting officials are girding for more of the same as a hot and dry weather pattern likely won't lift until midweek.
A jetliner full of firefighters has been summoned to the Western Slope, where buses will take them throughout the state; firefighting...
Rising seas mean shrinking South Florida future, experts say
Posted by Miami Herald: Curtis Morgan on June 24th, 2012
Miami Herald: The subject of global warming has become so politically unpalatable over the last few years that neither party mentions it much anymore.
A conference on climate change sponsored by Florida Atlantic University made it clear that ignoring the threat has done nothing to slow it down -- particularly in South Florida, which has more people and property at risk by rising sea levels than any place in the country.
The two-day summit in Boca Raton, which wrapped up Friday, painted a bleak and water-logged...
Global warming predicted to raise sea level on West Coast up to 4 feet in places
Posted by Oregonian: Chase G. Hall on June 24th, 2012
Oregonian: Expect more flooding and coastal erosion as global sea levels rise more than previously predicted over the next century, according to a study released Friday. Some parts of the Pacific Coast will see several inches higher in coming decades, and by the year 2100, places may need to brace for up to 4 1/2 feet rises. Throw in a major earthquake off the coast of Oregon and the land could drop further causing sea levels to rise more than 3 feet.
Grim estimates from the National Research Council found...
India: Bridge over troubled waters
Posted by Hindu: Gargi Parsai on June 24th, 2012
Hindu: There is an urgent need to study the impact of climate change on water and protect water sources
A new report on water sector options in the face of changing climate has called for fresh approach to studying alterations in the patterns of rainfall and snowfall, availability of surface and ground water and the existing water infrastructure.
The report-Water Sector Options for India in a Changing Climate-- laments the lack of studies in the country on the impact of climate change in the water...
Vicious wildfires spread to Colorado tourist centers
Posted by Associated Press: Thomas Peipert on June 24th, 2012
Associated Press: Wildfires moved in on some of Colorado's most popular summer tourist destinations over the weekend, demolishing nearly two dozen homes near Rocky Mountain National Park and emptying hotels and campgrounds at the base of Pikes Peak.
A wildfire near Colorado Springs erupted and grew out of control to more than 3 square miles early Sunday, prompting the evacuation of more than 11,000 residents and an unknown number of tourists. On Saturday, a blaze destroyed 21 structures near the mountain community...