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Archive for December 4th, 2012
UN Climate Change Negotiations 2012: Drought looms as India faces rain deficit
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 4th, 2012
Economic Times: India faces the risk of devastating drought as monsoon rains are likely to have a shortfall of 70% in the years ahead, as climate change shakes up global weather phenomena, recent research and experts at a global conference said.
The risk of adverse changes in global weather is aggravated by the fact that international efforts to act against climate change have been blocked by deep divisions among the 200 countries negotiating at the UN-sponsored climate talks at Doha. Developing countries want...
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US wildfire risk worsening according to climate projections
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 4th, 2012
ScienceDaily: Scientists using NASA satellite data and climate models have projected drier conditions likely will cause increased fire activity across the United States in coming decades. Other findings about U.S. wildfires, including their amount of carbon emissions and how the length and strength of fire seasons are expected to change under future climate conditions, were also presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
Doug Morton of NASA's Goddard Space Flight...
Asia coal export boom brings no bonus for US taxpayers
Posted by Reuters: Patrick Rucker on December 4th, 2012
Reuters: U.S. miners who are booking big profits on coal sales to Asia are enjoying an accounting windfall to boot.
By valuing coal at low domestic prices rather than the much higher price fetched overseas, coal producers can dodge the larger royalty payout when mining federal land.
The practice stands to pad the bottom line for the mining sector if Asian exports surge in coming years as the industry hopes, a Reuters investigation has found.
Current and former regulators say their supervisory work...
Waterkeepers Worldwide Stand Strong Against Global Impacts of Coal Trafficking
Posted by EcoWatch: Marc Yaggi on December 4th, 2012
EcoWatch: As you read this, the Army Corps of Engineers is holding a series of public hearings on a proposal to build the largest coal-export terminal in North America. A consortium of investors, myopically focused on profit, want to build the Gateway Pacific Terminal, a carbon-trafficking behemoth that is among the most ominous new climate-killing proposals to hit the U.S. in the last century.
Climate Changes Fades From Sandy Debate
Posted by BuzzFeed: Rebecca Berg on December 4th, 2012
BuzzFeed: The Washington conversation about Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath has shifted quickly from concern about climate change to a fight over federal cash.
One week after New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg lobbied Congress for disaster relief funding to supplement Sandy recovery efforts, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee considered the state of the recovery on Capitol Hill Tuesday, and the central question was the place and expense of the federal role in disaster recovery.
"Hurricane...
Brazilian Communities Revitalise the São Francisco River
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 4th, 2012
Inter Press Service: José Geraldo Matos fondly recalls the massive traÃras (Hoplias sp), carnivorous freshwater fish found in the lagoons and rivers of Brazil, that he used to catch in the Dos Cochos River just a few metres from his house.
That was three decades ago, before sedimentation and the loss of its sources turned the 38-kilometre-long river into an intermittent stream. Although returning the river to its original conditions may seem like an impossible task, concerted efforts have succeeded in recovering...
Rural Co-ops in Central America Speak Out on Climate Change
Posted by Inter Press Service: Edgardo Ayala on December 4th, 2012
Inter Press Service: Brenda Salazar has her sights set on two things: a good organic cacao harvest for the cooperative she belongs to in northern Nicaragua, and for the governments of Central America to heed the ideas of peasant farmers who have organised to fight climate change.
"We are feeling the effects of climate change, and it's important for our proposals to be heard," Salazar, a Nicaraguan small farmer, told IPS. She took part in a conference on "building a regional strategy for adaptation to the climate...
Bread prices set to rise after bad weather hits UK wheat crop
Posted by Guardian: Rupert Neate on December 4th, 2012
Guardian: Flour mills have been forced to order the biggest wheat imports in more than 30 years after the spring weather hit British farmers' crops.
The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said millers were expected to import 2m tonnes of mostly German wheat to make up for a 13% shortfall in the homegrown crop.
It will be the biggest wheat import since 1980, and is expected to lead to a substantial increase in the price of bread next year.
The price of bread-quality wheat for delivery...
Are Earthquakes and Fracking Wastewater Injection Wells Related?
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on December 4th, 2012
EcoWatch: Two new papers tie a recent increase in significant earthquakes to reinjection of wastewater fluids from unconventional oil and gas drilling. The first study notes “significant earthquakes are increasingly occurring within the United States midcontinent.” In the specific case of Oklahoma, a Magnitude “5.7 earthquake and a prolific sequence of related events … were likely triggered by fluid injection.”
The second study, of the Raton Basin of Southern Colorado/Northern New Mexico by a U.S. Geological...
Canada: Climate change talks: Let’s do at home what we preach abroad
Posted by Postmedia: None Given on December 4th, 2012
Postmedia: The following opinion column is offered by David McLaughlin, former president and CEO of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy:
The top of the poles made news last week. Arctic sea ice is melting faster than predicted here on Earth and ice crystals were discovered at the top of Mercury. Science continues to amaze us with its discoveries – just as much as it eludes us as a guide to fix the latest United Nations climate change talks in Doha.
Science tells us that our planet...