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Archive for June, 2012
Cuomo Plan Would Limit Gas Drilling to a Few Counties in New York
Posted by New York Times: Danny Hakim on June 13th, 2012
New York Times: Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s administration is pursuing a plan to limit the controversial drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing to portions of several struggling New York counties along the border with Pennsylvania, and to permit it only in communities that express support for the technology. The plan, described by a senior official at the State Department of Environmental Conservation and others with knowledge of the administration’s strategy, would limit drilling to the deepest areas of the...
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Comments Off on Cuomo Plan Would Limit Gas Drilling to a Few Counties in New YorkClimate Study: Missouri’s extreme storms bring greater flood risk
Posted by Daily Journal: None Given on June 13th, 2012
Daily Journal: A new report says deluges that in recent years washed out Cedar Rapids, Iowa, forced the Army Corps of Engineers to intentionally blow up levees to save Cairo, Ill., and sent the Missouri River over its banks for hundreds of miles are part of a growing trend.
If the findings of a recent study about Midwest climate change is accurate, people in the Parkland might want to invest in a nice raincoat, umbrella and boots -- maybe even two.
The kind of deluges that in recent years washed out Cedar...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate Study: Missouri’s extreme storms bring greater flood riskRio+20 a chance to engage smallholder farms in sustainable agriculture
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 13th, 2012
Guardian: The draft outcome document of the Rio+20 summit mentions smallholder farmers – many of them women – in growing acknowledgment of their importance in terms of food security, with the continued threat of famine in the Sahel, and environmental sustainability, as farming accounts for at least 14% of global greenhouse emissions.
That smallholder farmers are on the agenda is gratifying for Kanayo Nwanze, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (Ifad), one of the three UN food...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Rio+20 a chance to engage smallholder farms in sustainable agricultureUnited States: In the Wild, Seeking an Answer: What Replaces Dying Trees?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 13th, 2012
New York Times: The coastal mountains of southeastern Alaska rise steeply from the Pacific Ocean. Fjords and channels separate over 1,000 islands from the mainland. Dressed like fishermen, we traipse through forests and crawl through brush as weather fronts whip through inlets and rumble along the outer coast.
Duct tape often fails, and “waterproof” data sheets reach saturation by mid-morning. Yet we persist.
What I had in my head actually seemed easy. Stage one: measure all the plants and trees in plots of...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United States: In the Wild, Seeking an Answer: What Replaces Dying Trees?Clinton to attend Rio+20 conference
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 13th, 2012
Reuters: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will lead a delegation of officials to the United Nation's sustainability conference in Rio de Janeiro from June 20-22, the State Department said Tuesday, signaling a stronger U.S. commitment to the summit.
The announcement comes after U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in April called on U.S. President Barack Obama to attend the conference and to take a more active role in global efforts to curb climate change.
Environmental NGOs had hoped Obama would participate...
Rio+20: megacities strive to survive – and thrive
Posted by Christian Science Monitor: Taylor Barnes on June 13th, 2012
Christian Science Monitor: In Rio de Janeiro, a gray-green river running thick with waste is flanked by the squatter settlement of Mandela on one side and the ornate turrets of the national public health ministry on the other. Kids paddle on hoods of cars and swim in the murky water, which the state environmental service condemned as having "pathological contamination" from sewage.
Local pastor Antônio Carlos Costa says there is nowhere else for kids to play, though he pleads with them not to swim in "Copacalama," as the...
Barack Obama skips Rio+20 Earth summit
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 13th, 2012
Guardian: Barack Obama will skip a United Nations summit billed as a "once in a generation opportunity" to make progress on global development, sending Hillary Clinton in his place.
The US state department announced on Tuesday that Clinton, as secretary of state, would lead America's delebation to the Rio+20 global development summit next week.
She will be joined by the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lisa Jackson, and the White House environmental official Nancy Sutley, as well as state...
Climate Change to Alter Global Fire Risk – Science Daily
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 12th, 2012
ScienceDaily: Climate change is widely expected to disrupt future fire patterns around the world, with some regions, such as the western United States, seeing more frequent fires within the next 30 years, according to a new analysis led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, in collaboration with an international team of scientists.
By the end of the century, almost all of North America and most of Europe is projected to see a jump in the frequency of wildfires, primarily because of increasing...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate Change to Alter Global Fire Risk – Science DailyFracking Research and the Money That Flows To It
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 12th, 2012
New York Times: As I report in The Times, a central question in the controversy over a new fracking study from the State University of New York at Buffalo is where the money came from to finance the report and the new institute on gas drilling that released it. The university says the money came from discretionary funds in the budget of the College of Arts and Sciences but that the new institute is seeking funds from the natural gas industry and other sources.
Industry grants for academic research are simply...
As Colorado and New Mexico burn, scientists say prepare for more
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 12th, 2012
Mongabay: A massive wildlife in Colorado still burns after it has killed one person and damaged or destroyed over a hundred structures. The fire, the third largest in Colorado's history, has burned 39,500 acres (16,000 hectares) to date. Meanwhile in central New Mexico, another wildfire has damaged or destroyed 35 structures and burned 34,500 acres (14,000 hectares). This comes just weeks after New Mexico's largest wildfire ever-still going-has burned up over 247,000 acres (100,000 hectares) of the Gila Forest....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on As Colorado and New Mexico burn, scientists say prepare for more