Archive for September 25th, 2012

Climate change costs already top $1tr – and are set to spiral

BusinessGreen: Inaction on climate change already costs the world economy 1.6 per cent of global GDP - approximately $1tr a year - and cost are likely to double to 3.6 per cent of GDP by 2030 if governments and businesses fail to take urgent action, an NGO has warned. Madrid-based DARA yesterday released a report commissioned by 20 governments that attempts to calculate the economic damage that will be caused through to 2030 by escalating temperatures, rising sea levels and carbon-related pollution. Entitled...

United Kingdom: Hundreds forced from their homes after another day of torrential downpour

Independent: A second day of torrential rain drenched much of the country today forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes while road and rail services were severely disrupted leaving passengers and motorists stranded. Forecasters warned the deluge could continue for another 24 hours bringing the further threat of flooding. In Scotland the extreme conditions caused the fishing village of Footdee in Aberdeenshire to be engulfed in foam created by the action of wind, sea and sand. Elsewhere heavy winds...

“Water bankruptcy” a threat in many regions -report

AlertNet: Many world regions face "water bankruptcy' due to mismanagement of water resources, with implications for food and energy security, experts have warned. This mismanagement of water and aquatic systems has "led to situations where both social and ecological systems are in jeopardy and have even collapsed,' said the report, Science-Policy Bridges over Troubled Waters - a study of almost 200 major international water-related projects over the past 20 years. Yet "many in the policy- and decision-...

United States: Shale gas fracking gets legal thumbs up for Delaware river basin

BusinessGreen: A US district judge has thrown out a case seeking to halt shale gas exploration in New York State's Delaware River Basin. Yesterday's ruling saw the court side with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other US agencies who had said it was unnecessary to conduct a full environmental review of the controversial hydraulic fracturing technique, also known as fracking. Shale gas is one of the reasons US natural gas prices have dropped significantly, but environmental campaigners argue...