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Archive for December 30th, 2012
Climate Change Comes to the Philippines
Posted by Diplomat: None Given on December 30th, 2012
Diplomat: Almost a year after Typhoon “Sendong” devastated the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in the northern part of Mindanao, Philippines in December 2011, the historically “typhoon-free” island experienced another similarly rare and intense tropical storm that struck earlier this month. Super Typhoon “Pablo” slammed into Siquijor, Misamis Oriental, Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Sur, Compostela Valley, and Davao Oriental, hitting some of the same cities and towns still recovering from the havoc suffered...
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United Kingdom: Green belt housing gamble – a bet too far?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 30th, 2012
Guardian: Watching two of the better-known rightwing thinktanks prime their intellectual cannons and bombard the same target is an impressive, if stomach-churning, sight. In the past week the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and Policy Exchange, both of which have the ear of No 10 and No 11 Downing Street, have taken aim at the UK's planning laws.
The IEA opted for a straightforward bombardment of the green belt. It argued that property developers should be allowed to give incentives to local communities...
Between Drought and Floods – A Year of Extremes in Sri Lanka
Posted by Inter Press Service: Amantha Perera on December 30th, 2012
Inter Press Service: Wild elephants are usually the primary attraction in the remote shrub jungles of Udawalawe, about 180 kilometres southeast of Sri Lanka's capital Colombo. But this Christmas season, the massive Udawalawe dam stole the limelight from the lumbering beasts.
By the end of December, heavy rains had brought water levels in the Udawalawe reservoir close to spilling point, forcing irrigation engineers to open the sluice gates.
Despite these efforts, the massive tank continued to spill over, creating...
United States: Officials worry that agriculture community will bear burden of water shortages
Posted by Imperial Valley Press: Antoine ABOU-DIWAN on December 30th, 2012
Imperial Valley Press: Global warming and increased demand for water by urban and municipal users make shortages of the Colorado River inevitable, according to a recently-released study by the Bureau of Reclamation and the seven Colorado River Basin states.
Population growth in the study area, expected to increase from about 40 million to anywhere between 49.3 million and 76.3 million, is expected to drive the projected increase in demand for water by the municipal and industrial sectors. The publication of the report...
“Chasing Ice” captures beauty and tragedy of melting glaciers
Posted by Sacramento Bee: Pia Lopez on December 30th, 2012
Sacramento Bee: Seeing "Chasing Ice," a new movie that chronicles the rapid disappearance of the world's glaciers as man-made climate change proceeds, I was reminded of Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now."
In "Chasing Ice," we watch transfixed at the beauty of ancient ice mountains larger than Manhattan falling into the sea even as we are struck by the horror of that destruction – and the moral dilemma it poses as we consume fossil fuels.
Similarly, we watch mesmerized in "Apocalypse Now" as a squad...
Even With Bipartisan Push, Is Keystone XL Still A Pipe Dream?
Posted by Forbes: Larry Bell on December 30th, 2012
Forbes: Yes, elections do have consequences, and those associated with a likely continuation of disastrous Obama administration energy policies will be huge. Now in this coming new year, with his hold on the Oval Office secure for a final term, the question remains whether the president will be less compelled to acquiesce to demands of ideologically-driven anti-fossil environmental lobbies, and more willing to address reality-based opportunities and imperatives. A clear test will be his decision to approve...
Storms on U.S. Plains stir memories of the “Dust Bowl”
Posted by Reuters: Kevin Murphy on December 30th, 2012
Reuters: Real estate agent Mark Faulkner recalls a day in early November when he was putting up a sign near Ulysses, Kansas, in 60-miles-per-hour winds that blew up blinding dust clouds.
"There were places you could not see, it was blowing so hard," Faulkner said.
Residents of the Great Plains over the last year or so have experienced storms reminiscent of the 1930s Dust Bowl. Experts say the new storms have been brought on by a combination of historic drought, a dwindling Ogallala Aquifer underground...