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Archive for February, 2013
India’s rice revolution
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 16th, 2013
Guardian: Sumant Kumar was overjoyed when he harvested his rice last year. There had been good rains in his village of Darveshpura in north-east India and he knew he could improve on the four or five tonnes per hectare that he usually managed. But every stalk he cut on his paddy field near the bank of the Sakri river seemed to weigh heavier than usual, every grain of rice was bigger and when his crop was weighed on the old village scales, even Kumar was shocked.
This was not six or even 10 or 20 tonnes....
The Keystone Principle: Stop making it worse
Posted by Grist: KC Golden on February 16th, 2013
Grist: The big President`s Day rally on the National Mall is more than a Keystone pipeline protest. It`s a statement of principle for climate action.
After a year of unprecedented destruction due to weather extremes, the climate fight is no longer just about impacts in the future. It’s about physical and moral consequences, now. And Keystone isn`t simply a pipeline in the sand for the swelling national climate movement. It’s a moral referendum on our willingness to do the simplest thing we must do to...
Preparing for climate change-induced weather disasters
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 16th, 2013
EurekAlert: The news sounds grim: mounting scientific evidence indicates climate change will lead to more frequent and intense extreme weather that affects larger areas and lasts longer. However, we can reduce the risk of weather-related disasters with a variety of measures, according to Stanford Woods Institute Senior Fellow Chris Field. Field will discuss how to prepare for and adapt to a new climate at the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting in Boston. Field's talk,...
Canada: Ottawa to set fines for pipeline infractions
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 16th, 2013
Reuters: Canadian regulators are getting the power to fine companies and individuals who contravene pipeline and nuclear safety rules, the country's natural resources minister said on Friday. Under the proposed regulations, the National Energy Board and Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission will be able to fine individuals up to C$25,000 ($25,000) and corporations C$100,000 for each day they are out of compliance. Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver also said the government is increasing energy board inspections...
Case of alleged rogue fracker exposes need for tougher laws in Ohio
Posted by Plain Dealer: Editorial on February 16th, 2013
Plain Dealer: The good news is that appalled state and federal officials were lightning fast in investigating and prosecuting the case of Ben Lupo, owner of Hardrock Excavating and other fracking-related companies in the Mahoning Valley. Lupo was charged last week with a criminal violation of the federal Clean Water Act for allegedly telling an employee to dump liquid fracking waste and oil-laced mud into a stormwater drain leading to a tributary of the Mahoning River. He faces up to three years in prison and...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Case of alleged rogue fracker exposes need for tougher laws in OhioClimate change forcing thousands in Bangladesh into slums of Dhaka
Posted by Toronto Star: Raveena Aulakh on February 16th, 2013
Toronto Star: Taslima Masud faces a dilemma every morning: should she prepare food or stay hungry to avoid illness?
“The kitchen is so close to the toilet,” she says. “When I cook, I can’t smell the curry but I can smell the toilet. It disgusts me every day, but there is nothing I can do except . . . not cook. And I have to cook.”
Masud, 19, lives in Korail, Dhaka’s largest slum. Its roughly 70,000 residents dwell in the shadow of the affluent Gulshan neighbourhood, with its mansions, restaurants and western-style...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change forcing thousands in Bangladesh into slums of DhakaClimate Rally Draws “Line in the Sand” on Canadian Pipeline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 16th, 2013
Inter Press Service: - The largest climate rally in U.S. history is expected Sunday in Washington DC with the aim of pressuring President Barack Obama to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
Activists are calling Keystone "the line in the sand" regarding dangerous climate change, prompting the Sierra Club to suspend its 120-year ban on civil disobedience. The group`s executive director, Michael Brune, was arrested in front of the White House during a small protest against Keystone on Wednesday.
"The Keystone...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate Rally Draws “Line in the Sand” on Canadian PipelineNuclear Waste Seeping From Container In Hazardous Wash. State Facility
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 16th, 2013
National Public Radio: They thought they'd managed this problem a few years ago. But Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee got a disturbing call Friday from Energy Secretary Steven Chu: Nuclear waste is leaking out of a tank in one of the most contaminated nuclear waste sites in the U.S.
Inslee released a statement, saying a single shell tank at Hanford Nuclear Reservation is slowly losing between 150 and 300 gallons of radioactive waste each year. All of the liquid was removed from the tank in February 1995; what's left...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Nuclear Waste Seeping From Container In Hazardous Wash. State FacilityTigers in Mangrove Forest Face Climate Change Threat
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 16th, 2013
Climate Central: A vast mangrove forest shared by India and Bangladesh that is home to possibly 500 Bengal tigers is being rapidly destroyed by erosion, rising sea levels and storm surges, according to a major study by researchers at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and others.
The Sundarbans forest took the brunt of super cyclone Sidr in 2007, but new satellite studies show that 71 percent of the forested coastline is retreating by as much as 655 feet a year. If erosion continues at this pace, already threatened...
Canada: Rinkwatchers and citizen climate science
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 16th, 2013
Living on Earth: Backyard skating rinks are as common in Canada as basketball hoops in the United States. But now, global warming is threatening this Canadian tradition. In response, a group of scientists has started a website called Rinkwatch.org. Living on Earth's Emmett FitzGerald reports on this effort to turn backyard skaters into citizen scientists and make climate change relevant to every day Canadians.
Transcript
CURWOOD: And now, some Canadian scientists are turning skaters like those into citizen...