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Archive for January 11th, 2013
Salinization of rivers: A global environmental problem
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 11th, 2013
ScienceDaily: The salinisation of rivers is a global problem that affects to countries all over the world and it causes a high environmental and economic cost, and poses a high risk to global health. Climate change and the increasing water consumption can worsen even more the future scene, according to an article published on the journal Environmental Pollution based on the research developed by an international team led by the experts of the Department of Ecology of the University of Barcelona Narcís Prat and...
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Bangladesh: Bengali Forest Could Perish Along With Bengal Tiger Because Of Climate Change
Posted by redOrbit: Lawrence LeBlond on January 11th, 2013
RedOrbit: A new report by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) states that human development and global temperature rise is threatening one of the world’s most precious forest systems. The Bengali Forest is disappearing at a record pace and taking along with it, species that may be found nowhere else on Earth.
Rapid deterioration of the mangrove forests in the Sundarbans has resulted in as much as 650 feet of coast disappearing in a single year. The report, published in today’s issue of Remote Sensing,...
Times Closes Environment Desk on Same Day ‘Extreme Weather’ Hits Front Page
Posted by Atlantic Wire: David Wagner on January 11th, 2013
Atlantic Wire: Talk about mixed signals. On the very morning The New York Times signaled its plans to reassign its nine environment desk journalists to other sections, the paper ran a chilling photo of "extreme weather" above the fold on A1.
No one got fired, but Times managing editor Dean Baquet tells InsideClimate New's Katherine Bagley that the dedicated environment desk will fold over the next few weeks. "We have not lost any desire for environmental coverage," Baquet assures, saying that environment stories...
Corals could disappear from Japan if CO2 continues to rise
Posted by Asahi Shimbun: Tomoyuki Yamamoto on January 11th, 2013
Asahi Shimbun: Corals could become extinct in the waters around Japan within 60 years if carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise at their current rates, the National Institute for Environment Studies and Hokkaido University said Jan. 9. Researchers from the two institutes and Swiss scientists used supercomputers to model how Japan's marine habitats might change under a global-warming scenario of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The calculations were based on a "business as usual" model of CO2...
Do Australia’s bushfires emit more carbon than burning coal?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 11th, 2013
Guardian: "Indeed I guess there'll be more CO2 emissions from these fires than there will be from coal-fired power stations for decades." – acting Opposition leader, Warren Truss, January 9, 2013
On Wednesday, leader of the National Party and acting Opposition Leader, Warren Truss claimed carbon emissions from the current bushfires are equivalent to decades of carbon emissions from coal-fired power.
The current bushfires are so large that the statement by Warren Truss seems plausible.
This spurred...
Climate change on the coast: Buyer-beware option considered
Posted by News Journal: None Given on January 11th, 2013
News Journal: A state committee said Thursday the public should consider whether property owners selling inside boundaries where seas are predicted to rise will have to disclose that vulnerability to potential buyers. This would be a significant step beyond the existing rule of requiring sellers to disclose to buyers that properties reside in designated flood zones, based largely on historic flood and storm surge records. Sea-level rise disclosures, in contrast, would focus on predictions about areas, now dry,...
United States: The True Weight Of Water
Posted by National Public Radio: Craig Childs on January 11th, 2013
National Public Radio: Part of the nation's physical landscape is changing. Nature writer and commentator Craig Childs has been watching the dramatic transformation of a mighty river that is running dry.
Small porpoises once swam in the brackish estuaries of the Colorado River delta. Jaguars stalked the river channels and marshes. It's not like that any more, though. The Colorado River no longer reaches the sea in Northern Mexico. It hasn't since 1983.
I sometimes travel through that dry Mexican country on foot....
Coffee dregs: world supplies threatened by climate change
Posted by Channel 4 News: None Given on January 11th, 2013
Channel 4 News: Wake up and smell the coffee: it might not be around that much longer. Scientists are warning that climate change means supplies could dry up in a matter of decades.
At last, scientists believe, a threat which could wake people up to the realities of climate change. The warming planet is threatening the survival of the world's most popular coffee crop, with yields already at a 34-year low. It could all start running dry within decades.
According to this week's New Scientist, a coffee drought...
Roads melt, gas evaporates in Australia’s unprecedented heat wave
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 11th, 2013
National Public Radio: Australia has been experiencing a record setting heat wave. Melissa Block speaks with Dr. Karl Braganza, manager of climate monitoring at the Bureau of Meteorology's National Climate Centre in Australia, about why this is happening, and how Australians are coping.
MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
All over Australia - Alice Springs, Adelaide, Sydney, Wagga Wagga - it's been an extremely hot summer and it's expected to get hotter. The continent is experiencing a record-breaking heat wave. Roads have melted...
Samoans urged to move away from coast and riverbanks
Posted by Radio Australia: None Given on January 11th, 2013
Radio Australia: Samoans are going to be urged to move their homes away from the coastline and riverbanks as a result of Cyclone Evan. That's according to the country's prime minister, Tuilaepa Sailele. He says the impact of the storm was severe, and lessons learned now have to be acted on, or Samoa will continue to suffer weather damage in future. The prime minister says the initial phase of the disaster is over, but the long term cleanup will take a while. Presenter: Bruce Hill Speaker: Samoa's prime minister,...