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Archive for November 2nd, 2012
Hurricane Sandy a Taste of More Extreme Weather to Come
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 2nd, 2012
Inter Press Service: Killing nearly 200 people in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean and crippling much of New York City and surrounding areas earlier this week, Hurricane Sandy was the kind of extreme weather event scientists have long predicted will occur with global warming.
"Climate change is a reality," said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo after Sandy swept through his state.
Sandy was twice the size of an average hurricane, and it hit the eastern coast of the United States, where sea levels have been...
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Let it snow – U.S. farms need recharged soil moisture after drought
Posted by Reuters: Carey Gillam on November 2nd, 2012
Reuters: Drought-struck areas of the U.S. Plains winter wheat belt need a deluge of rain and snow this winter to fully recharge parched farmland, an unlikely scenario that means wheat, corn and soybean crops could face a rough new season.
While the worst drought in roughly half a century is slowly loosening its grip on the United States, meteorologists and agronomists warn that the threat has not passed.
Wheat farmers now sowing their last winter seeds, and corn and soybean growers making planting plans...
Marshes and malls: Migration to U.S. coast heightens impact of storms
Posted by CNN: Tim Lister on November 2nd, 2012
CNN: Last month a small pocket of marshland in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey, was saved from development. The local online newspaper, the Sandpaper.net, celebrated the preservation of Grassle Marsh -- named for a leading authority on the larvae of surf clams - and its populations of kingfishers and fiddler crabs.
This week, Little Egg Harbor, on the shore of Ocean County, was pulverized by Superstorm Sandy. Homes were turned into debris fields; boats were tossed into the marshes or piled on top of...
Future Severe Weather Systems A Concern For California
Posted by redOrbit: Brett Smith on November 2nd, 2012
redOrbit: In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, climatologists from the University of California at Merced are warning that the West Coast could be in line for a superstorm of its own.
“We can see very big storms, and there are a couple of issues related to climate change to think about,” said Roger Bales, director of the Sierra Nevada Research Institute at UC Merced. “Most of our biggest storms are snow storms, which builds up snowpack in the mountains. The snowpack is a reservoir, storing water that will be...
Superstorm Sandy triggers climate blame game
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 2nd, 2012
BBC: The floodwaters whipped up by Hurricane Sandy have not yet receded but the temperature is rising on one of the toughest questions in modern science: whether we're getting more extreme weather because of global warming.
Radical film-maker Michael Moore put it with characteristic bluntness. In a Tweet, he wrote: "Stop w/ the disaster porn and tell the America people the bitter truth: We have f***** up the environment & we are now paying the price."
The governor of New York state, Andrew Cuomo,...
Climate Change: Hurricanes and Typhoons Kill Mainly the Poor
Posted by News Junkie Post: Dady Chery on November 2nd, 2012
News Junkie Post: While Hurricane Sandy ravaged the Caribbean and the US eastern seaboard, Typhoon Son-Tinh tore through the Philippines, China and Vietnam, killing more than 35 people. As expected from climate change predictions, floods were responsible for most of the damage to life and property. It should be noted however, that these ravages of climate change were, for the most part, unmitigated by social justice. Those who perished from the mudslides, floods and violent waves were caught by surprise or lacked...
Lessons in Resilience from Hurricane Sandy
Posted by New York Times: Andrew C. Revkin on November 2nd, 2012
New York Times: Following up on my post examining whether we`re stuck with "blah, blah, blah, bang" disaster planning, here`s a discussion of ways to plan and build with the worst in mind.
First, I hope you`ll read "Hurricane Sandy’s Real Lesson…will we learn it?" - a post by William H. Hooke, a senior policy fellow at the American Meteorological Society who`s made the transition to online communication with more facility than some people half his age. (His Twitter feed is at @AMSpolicy; I found the post via...
Geologist Proposes New Theory Behind Global Sea Level Rise
Posted by redOrbit: April Flowers on November 2nd, 2012
redOrbit: Global warming is causing sea levels to rise faster than previously expected and geologist Bill Hay from the University of Colorado Boulder has a theory to explain why.
The most recent IPCC report released in 2007 projected a global sea level rise between 0.2 and 0.5 meters by 2100, but current sea level measurements meet or exceed the high end of that range. This suggests a rise of one meter or more by the end of the century.
"What`s missing from the models used to forecast sea-level rise...
Swiss environmentalists force referendum on immigration
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 2nd, 2012
Reuters: Swiss environmentalists, tapping into unease about population levels in their landlocked nation at the heart of Europe, on Friday presented the government with 120,000 signatures to force a referendum on limiting immigration.
Under the Swiss system of direct democracy, 100,000 signatures need to be collected to put a cause to a national vote. Referenda take place up to four times a year after the government sets dates for the voting.
Ecopop, an organization which campaigns on environmental...
Towns Fight Back Against Fracking Gold Rush
Posted by EcoWatch, Blue Ridge Press: Sharon Guynup on November 2nd, 2012
EcoWatch, Blue Ridge Press: A growing boom in natural gas drilling near homes and schools prompted the city of Longmont, Colorado to vote last July to bar new oil and gas permits in residential neighborhoods.
The state quickly overturned the ordinance. Gov. John Hickenlooper said that letting it stand would “stir-up a hornet’s nest,” encouraging other Colorado towns to pass their own drilling rules. Longmont Mayor Dennis Coombs argued that communities have the right to restrict heavy industry in residential zones--including...