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Archive for January, 2013
Why China needs dissuading from a dash-for-gas energy solution
Posted by Ecologist: Lorna Howarth on January 21st, 2013
Ecologist: Already known as the 'Smog Capital' of China, Beijing is currently experiencing a spike in deadly PM-25 particulates emitted from vehicles and coal-fired power stations, with levels over 20 times the World Health Organisation (WHO) safe limit.
The city is now on orange alert with residents advised not to venture outside. Unlike other developed cities, Beijing saw exponential growth in car ownership before it phased-out coal-fired power stations, leading to high smog levels and residents resorting...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Why China needs dissuading from a dash-for-gas energy solutionClimate Change Tipping Points, Human and Geophysical: Which Will Come First?
Posted by Triple Pundit: RP Siegel on January 21st, 2013
Triple Pundit: There seems to be some evidence to suggest that as the storm tide swept over the East Coast last Fall, it lifted the tide of public opinion in its wake. As scientists warn of a global warming tipping point driven by positive feedback loops such as the declining albedo effect of ice turning to water or the liberation of methane gas from thawing permafrost, are we finally reaching, in the aftermath of yet another temperature record-breaking year, featuring another deadly American storm, a tipping point...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate Change Tipping Points, Human and Geophysical: Which Will Come First?Climate change hurting Amazon rainforest warns Nasa – Responding to Climate Change
Posted by RTCC: None Given on January 21st, 2013
RTCC: Large areas of the Amazon rainforest appear to be deteriorating as a result of drought due to climate change, new research from Nasa reveals.
An area of the Amazon rainforest twice the size of California has suffered from a megadrought that began in 2005, causing widespread changes to the forest canopy that were detectable by satellite.
While rainfall levels picked up post 2005, the old-growth forest in southwestern Amazonia appears to have struggled to recover before another drought hit the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change hurting Amazon rainforest warns Nasa – Responding to Climate ChangeUnited Kingdom: London Heathrow cancels more flights as snow continues
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 21st, 2013
Reuters: London's Heathrow airport cancelled 10 percent of flights on Monday, a day after it cut its capacity by a fifth, and said services could face further delays with more snowfall expected.
Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, said it had cut around 130 flights - most operated by IAG'S British Airways - from its schedule on Monday to allow more space between aircraft because of low visibility.
"Many airports have plenty of spare runway capacity so aircraft can be spaced out more during low visibility...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: London Heathrow cancels more flights as snow continuesU.N. clinches global deal on cutting mercury emissions
Posted by Reuters: Tom Miles and Emma Farge on January 21st, 2013
Reuters: More than 140 countries have agreed on the first global treaty to cut mercury pollution through a blacklist of household items and new controls on power plants and small-scale mines, the United Nations said on Saturday.
The legally-binding agreement aims to phase out many products that use the toxic liquid metal such as batteries, thermometers and some fluorescent lamps, through banning global import and exports by 2020.
The treaty will require countries with coal-fired power plants such as...
‘Warmer soils spew more carbon into air’
Posted by Indo Asian News Service: None Given on January 21st, 2013
Indo Asian News Service: Warmer soils spew additional carbon into the atmosphere under the impact of climate change, US research says. The study, conducted by Serita Frey, professor from the University of New Hampshire and others, throws new light on how soil bugs respond to temperature and could finetune predictions of how warming will affect the carbon dioxide (CO2) flux from soils. Activities of soil bugs release 10 times the CO2 that human do on a yearly basis. This release of CO2 has been kept in check by plants'...
Belgium Plans Artificial Island to Store Wind Power
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 21st, 2013
Reuters: Belgium is planning to build a doughnut-shaped island in the North Sea that will store wind energy by pumping water out of a hollow in the middle, as it looks for ways to lessen its reliance on nuclear power.
One of the biggest problems with electricity is that it is difficult to store and the issue is exaggerated in the case of renewable energy from wind or sun because it is intermittent depending on the weather.
"We have a lot of energy from the wind mills and sometimes it just gets lost...
Report: Annual investment in watershed protection tops $8bn
Posted by BusinessGreen: James Murray on January 21st, 2013
BusinessGreen: The number of projects that aim to enhance water security by protecting water-rich ecosystems such as forests and wetlands has nearly doubled over the past four years, according to a major new report that reveals annual investment in so-called ecosystem service projects has cleared $8bn.
The study from US-based NGO Forest Trends confirms there were at least 205 watershed protection projects in place by the end of 2011, generating $8.17bn in investment, an increase of nearly $2bn on 2008 levels....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Report: Annual investment in watershed protection tops $8bnWill climate change get cold shoulder in Obama’s second term?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 20th, 2013
LiveScience: As President Barack Obama prepares to take the oath of office for the second time, he has promised that climate change will be a priority in his second term. The chances that significant climate action will actually happen, however, remain slim, policy experts say.
"I always have hope, but it is sometimes hard to see how real progress, substantial progress, is going to be made with the fact that the Congress is so polarized," said Travis Franck, a policy analyst for nongovernmental organization...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Will climate change get cold shoulder in Obama’s second term?Queensland farmers say a State Government draft agriculture strategy ignores possible effects of climate change
Posted by Courier-Mail: John McCarthy on January 20th, 2013
Courier-Mail: FARMERS have accused the State Government of ignoring the impact of climate change on farms in a draft strategy paper on how to double agriculture by 2040.
In a submission to the State Government, the Queensland Farmers Federation said the need for agriculture to mitigate the drivers of climate change and to adapt to a changing climate was missing from the agriculture strategy.
"Over the next 30 years, there is likely to be significant changes to temperatures and rainfall over Queensland that...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Queensland farmers say a State Government draft agriculture strategy ignores possible effects of climate change