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Archive for November 6th, 2012
A Scientist Who Foresaw Sandy Surge Reflects from His Flooded Home
Posted by New York Times: Andrew C. Revkin on November 6th, 2012
New York Times: Klaus Jacob, a Columbia University earth scientist who pretty precisely projected the flooding a big hurricane surge could cause in New York City long before Hurricane Sandy hit, reflects in this video on the impacts on the region - including on his own storm-flooded home in Piermont, N.Y., a tiny town along the Hudson River a few miles north of the George Washington Bridge. (The video was shot by the university.)
My initial reaction was centered on the ironies in such a situation, but listen...
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Climate change could have devastating effect on India’s monsoon season
Posted by Mother Nature Network: John Platt on November 6th, 2012
Mother Nature Network: More than a billion people in India currently depend on the rainy monsoon season for the water necessary to grow crops such as rice and wheat, but those annual rains could be less predictable in the future, according to a new study published Nov. 5 in the journal Environmental Research Letters. The study, by Jacob Schewe and Anders Levermann of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, looked at climate change models for the next 200 years and concluded that monsoons could begin...
Climate Change Crawls Out of New York’s Subway Tunnels and Into the Political Light of Day
Posted by EcoWatch: Tom Engelhardt on November 6th, 2012
EcoWatch: It does seem that, dripping wet and stinking of sewage, climate change is crawling out of New York’s subway tunnels and into the political light of day.
Consider me lucky. Yes, Sandy made a modest mess of my life. I had to cancel a trip to Chicago (or swim down the LaGuardia Airport runway to get there). The wind roared past our window like a speeding truck. The Hudson River was a white-capped torrent. Trees in our neighborhood came down. A piece of construction scaffolding on a building across...
Biodiesel leaked from Carteret, NJ terminal: Kinder Morgan
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 6th, 2012
Reuters: About 238 barrels (some 10,000 gallons) of biodiesel leaked from Kinder Morgan Energy Partners' Carteret, New Jersey terminal after storm Sandy devastated the U.S. East Coast, the company said on Tuesday.
The fuel spilled into nearby Rum Creek and reached the Arthur Kill waterway, which separates Staten Island in New York City from New Jersey.
The spill "was contained within a day of the storm passing and recovery efforts have been completed", Kinder Morgan spokeswoman Emily Mir said in an...
Hurricane Sandy blows climate change back on the table
Posted by Christian Science Monitor: Sarah Strand on November 6th, 2012
Christian Science Monitor: The devastation caused by superstorm Sandy, particularly in New York and New Jersey, is tragic, but the hurricane has at least put climate change back on the map. Scientists link climate change to increasingly volatile and extreme weather conditions, such as those experienced last week. Americans must take Sandy as a sign of what’s to come – based on a problem we have largely helped to create. Storms like Sandy are only part of a much larger issue that will wreak havoc far afield from the Eastern...
India’s Vital Summer Monsoons May Decline In The Face Of Global Warming
Posted by redOrbit: Lawrence LeBlond on November 6th, 2012
redOrbit: India’s monsoons are a godsend for the country’s vital agricultural sector, providing life for crops which more than a billion people rely on. But a grim forecast for the future may spell doom for the nation’s food production and economy, as summer rains will be more sparse over the next few hundred years due to global warming.
A new study by researchers at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Potsdam University, Germany said the effects of frequent and severe failures during...
One of the World’s Oldest Tribes halts Dam Construction
Posted by Ecologist: Maxine Newlands on November 6th, 2012
Ecologist: The controversial Murum dam in Malaysia is the first big overseas project for the China Three Gorges Project Company (CTGC) which is building hydro- and coal-fired power stations in 23 countries. So how it resolves its current conflict with the protesting Penan tribe will set an important precedent as to how other Indigenous people are treated.
Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo and is covered in ancient rainforest. This pristine oasis is home to many rare species,...
Engineers’ warnings in 2009 detailed storm surge threat to the region
Posted by New York Times: James Glanz and Mireya Navarro on November 6th, 2012
New York Times: As the authorities examine how they can protect New York City from extreme weather events like Hurricane Sandy, one of the nation’s most influential groups of engineers is pointing out that more than three years ago, it presented detailed warnings that a devastating storm surge in the region was all but inevitable. The warnings were voiced at a seminar in New York City convened by the American Society of Civil Engineers, whose findings are so respected that they are often written into building codes...
Serious flooding predicted for D.C
Posted by The Scientist: Dan Cossins on November 6th, 2012
The Scientist: The IRS building in Washington, DC, was closed in 2006 due to heavy floooding.Wikimedia, IRSRising sea levels linked to global warming will likely cause billions of dollars worth of flood damage to property and infrastructure in Washington, DC, within the next 50 years, according a study out last week (28 October) in the journal Risk Analysis. The warning bears a striking resemblance to a 2009 report from the New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC), which predicted a scenario eerily similar...
NOAA captures a changed coastline from 5,000 feet up
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 6th, 2012
Daily Climate: Stuck several states away and wondering if your vacation home on the shore is still standing in Hurricane Sandy's wake? Or simply curious to see the power and breadth of the Oct. 30 storm's reach?
Uncle Sam can offer some insight. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been sending airplanes along the East Coast capturing the shoreline's changes.
The planes fly at 5,000 feet, taking high-resolution images of the coast. The resulting composite offers a virtual tour of the altered...