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Archive for August, 2012
New study ties heat waves to climate change
Posted by The Hill: Ben Geman on August 5th, 2012
The Hill: Extreme summer heat waves and droughts in recent years are the result of climate change, a top federal scientist concludes in a new peer-reviewed study.
The study by James Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, could provide new political ammunition for environmentalists struggling to defend and advance climate regulations. Hansen touted the analysis he authored with two colleagues – which will be published Monday – in a weekend Washington Post column.
“These weather...
NER 300: Prize fund for carbon capture projects shrinks by £800m
Posted by Guardian: Simon Neville on August 5th, 2012
Guardian: The future of carbon capture and storage in Europe has been thrown into doubt after £800m was wiped off the value of a prize fund for developing the technology.
The NER300 fund was supposed to encourage firms across the continent to build commercially viable CCS projects in return for about EUR3bn (£2.4bn) but the cash was linked to the value of carbon credits, which have plunged 50% in the two years since the project was launched.
The UK leads the way in CCS technology, but now experts are...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on NER 300: Prize fund for carbon capture projects shrinks by £800mOklahoma wildfires destroy homes – in pictures
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 5th, 2012
Guardian: Wildfires have burned out of control in Oklahoma, destroying homes and shutting down highways in a state that has suffered 18 straight days of sweltering temperatures and persistent drought. Emergency officials counted 11 different wildfires around the state, with at least 65 homes destroyed
Oklahoma wildfires prompt evacuations and destroy dozens of homes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 5th, 2012
Guardian: Several wildfires raging around the parched Oklahoma landscape prompted more evacuations Sunday as emergency workers sought to shelter those forced out by flames that destroyed dozens of homes and threatened others in the drought-stricken region.
One roaring fire near Luther, about 25 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, destroyed nearly five dozen homes and other buildings before firefighters gained a measure of control Saturday. Authorities said several state roads remained closed early Sunday...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Oklahoma wildfires prompt evacuations and destroy dozens of homesInsight: A year on, Nigeria’s oil still poisons Ogoniland
Posted by Reuters: Tim Cocks on August 5th, 2012
Reuters: A bright yellow sign above the well in this sleepy Nigerian village says 'caution: not fit for use', and the sulphurous stink off the water that children still pump into buckets sharply reinforces that warning.
"Can you smell it? Don't get any in your mouth or you'll be sick," said Victoria Jiji, 55, as she walked past the bore hole in her home village of Ekpangbala, one of several in Ogoniland, southeast Nigeria, whose drinking water has turned toxic.
Prosperity has flowed from Ogoniland,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Insight: A year on, Nigeria’s oil still poisons OgonilandIs Climate Change Responsible For Record-Breaking June Heat?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 5th, 2012
redOrbit: More than half of the contiguous states in the US were experiencing drought by early July 2012, and over 170 all-time American heat records were tied or surpassed during the month of June, according to new research released by NASA scientists on Friday.
Many of the record highs experienced during the sixth month of the year surpassed records originally set during the months of July and August, which historically have been hotter than June, Dauna Coulter reported in an August 3 piece entitled "The...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Is Climate Change Responsible For Record-Breaking June Heat?Harsh weather doesn’t prove global warming, Republican lawmakers say
Posted by The Hill: David Kaner on August 5th, 2012
The Hill: GOP lawmakers say this year's harsh weather that has produced devastating wildfires and the most widespread drought in 50 years has not changed their minds on climate change.
Republican lawmakers say this year's harsh weather that has produced devastating wildfires and the most widespread drought in 50 years has not changed their minds on climate change.
With more than a month left, the summer of 2012 is on pace to be one of the three hottest since 1950, according to an analysis by WeatherBank...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Harsh weather doesn’t prove global warming, Republican lawmakers sayHeatwaves are proof of global warming, says Nasa scientist
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 5th, 2012
Associated Press: The relentless, weather-gone-crazy heat that has blistered the United States and other parts of the world in recent years is so rare it cannot be anything but man-made global warming, a top Nasa scientist says.
The research, by a man often called the "godfather of global warming" says the likelihood of such temperatures occurring from the 1950s through the 1980s was rarer than one in 300. Now the odds are closer to 1 in 10, according to the study by Professor James Hansen.
He says that statistically...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Heatwaves are proof of global warming, says Nasa scientistDebate continues over NC climate-change legislation
Posted by Associated Press: Allen Reed on August 5th, 2012
Associated Press: Most scientists agree the hills where the Wright brothers first took flight along the Outer Banks of North Carolina will someday be under water. The debate over exactly when that will happen is taking shape in state and local governments and has been fueled by both scientific speculation and late-night witticisms.
In North Carolina, a state-sponsored science panel warned sea levels could rise by more than 3 feet by 2100. Lawmakers supported by development interests responded with a bill to ban...
Water Meters Are Being Replaced Across Texas
Posted by Texas Tribune:: John Wayne Ferguson on August 5th, 2012
Texas Tribune:: Early one recent morning, Buddy Franklin and a team of utility workers descended on the Rock Hollow neighborhood in this Austin suburb. They went from house to house with one mission: to install new electronic water meters that change how the city records, and bills for, water use. “They won’t see another meter reader for a long time,” Mr. Franklin said as his team dug through loose dirt at the homes to replace the old meters. Similar scenes are playing out across Texas. The installation of electronic...