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Archive for December, 2012
Strong jet stream super-charged US Christmas storms
Posted by New Scientist: Victoria Jaggard on December 28th, 2012
New Scientist: The weather outside was truly frightful across much of the US and UK this holiday season. In the US, a powerful winter storm whipped up heavy snow, icy winds and a record number of tornadoes in late December, causing at least 15 deaths.
Such storms are not unusual at this time of year, but an especially strong jet stream made the storm more intense, says meteorologist Greg Carbin of the US National Weather Service.
"One of the more remarkable places was Little Rock, Arkansas," says Carbin....
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International Aid Helps Cuba Adapt to Climate Change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 28th, 2012
Inter Press Service: "Adaptation to climate change is urgent and must be part of development," said Bárbara Pesce-Monteiro, the United Nations resident coordinator in Cuba, assessing the damage done by hurricane Sandy in the eastern region of the country.
She said the damage was very serious, especially in Santiago de Cuba, a city of almost half a million people and a services hub for other towns. In order to support the country at such a difficult time, the United Nations system in Cuba designed an action plan that...
BLM approves Las Vegas water pipeline project
Posted by Associated Press: Sandra Chereb on December 28th, 2012
Associated Press: The Bureau of Land Management signed off Thursday on a massive pipeline project to carry billions of gallons of water to Las Vegas from rural counties along the Nevada-Utah line.
The record of decision, signed by Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes, authorizes the BLM to issue a right of way to Southern Nevada Water Authority for the 263-mile pipeline that will stretch from the rural areas to the desert gambling metropolis that is home to some 2 million people and attracts 40 million visitors...
Mississippi River drops, threatening barge traffic
Posted by Associated Press: Jim Salter on December 28th, 2012
Associated Press: The Mississippi River level is dropping again and barge industry trade groups warned Thursday that river commerce could essentially come to a halt as early as next week in an area south of St. Louis.
Mike Petersen of the Army Corps of Engineers said ice on the northern Mississippi River is reducing the flow more than expected at the middle part of the river that is already at a low-water point unseen in decades, the result of months of drought.
The river level is now expected to get to 3 feet...
Global warming threatens U.S. ski industry, but Oregon unscathed
Posted by Oregonian: Allan Brettman on December 28th, 2012
Oregonian: With snowpack accumulating steadily this week on Oregon peaks, it's hard to imagine less-than-adequate conditions for skiing and snowboarding.
"Right now we've received over half our annual snowfall and it's not even the first of January," said Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort spokesman Andy Goggins.
But a recent report suggests the nation's ski resorts would be wise to keep an eye on the sky, global warning trends and their supply of snowmakers.
The nation's $12.2 billion winter tourism industry...
Greens praise Jackson despite roller coaster EPA tenure
Posted by Politico: Darren Samuelsohn and Erica Martinson on December 28th, 2012
Politico: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson is leaving her post after four years of battling Republicans and industry while also giving the White House some heartburn along the way over her push for new clean air rules.
Jackson has won praise from greens for her tenure, but she also leaves with the Obama administration having yet to aggressively address climate change.
“I will leave the EPA confident the ship is sailing in the right direction, and ready in my own life for new...
Nuclear power plant flood risk: Sandy was just a warm-up
Posted by Remapping Debate: Heather Rogers on December 28th, 2012
Remapping Debate: As Hurricane Sandy approached the East Coast late last October, more than a dozen nuclear power plants from North Carolina stretching up to New England were in its wide-ranging path. On Oct. 29, the night that the eye of the storm made landfall near Atlantic City, New Jersey, five nuclear plants were forced to either reduce power or make emergency shutdowns. The most serious event was at the Oyster Creek Generating Station located in Lacey Township, near Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, about 40 miles...
United Kingdom: Wettest year on record for England – and more rain to come
Posted by Telegraph: Tom Whitehead, and Hannah Furness on December 28th, 2012
Telegraph: Heavy downpours over the Christmas period coupled with an unseasonably wet summer meant an average of 1,095.8mm of rain has already fallen in England during 2012 -- the highest since records began in 1910.
The previous high was an average of 1,093.3mm of rain in 2000.
The UK as a whole will also mark its wettest ever year if an average of 46mm of rain falls before the New Year.
And that is likely with more heavy rain and gale force winds expected to hit the country over coming days.
It...
Big decisions loom over fracking for next US EPA administrator
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 28th, 2012
Reuters: The past four years of U.S. environmental regulation was marked by a crackdown on emissions that angered coal miners and power companies. Over the next four, the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency will have to decide whether to take on an even larger industry: Big Oil.
Following Lisa Jackson's resignation on Wednesday, her successor will inherit the tricky task of regulating a drilling boom that has revolutionized the energy industry but raised fears over the possible contamination...
Rapid climate change helped humans to evolve
Posted by Daily Mail: Damien Gayle on December 28th, 2012
Daily Mail: How rapid climate change helped humans to evolve: Our ancestors 'had to adapt quickly to changing habitats'
Findings contradict previous theories which suggest change was gradual
Terrain changed from woods to grassland 'five or six times over 200,000 years', researchers claim
Rapid changes said to have triggered development of the brain as humans struggled to deal with changing environment
Human evolution may have been driven by rapid climate change in Africa two million years ago, new...