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Archive for March 21st, 2013
People want new development goals to promote growth for all – UN
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on March 21st, 2013
AlertNet: The new development agenda to follow on from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which expire in 2015, should focus on how countries can achieve growth that includes everyone, going beyond poverty eradication and international aid, according to an early snapshot of consultations with people around the world.
The United Nations launched what it calls a "global conversation" in August last year, and more than 200,000 people from across the world have contributed to a process that will run until...
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State Dept. Hid Contractor’s Ties to Keystone XL Pipeline Company
Posted by Mother Jones: Andy Kroll on March 21st, 2013
Mother Jones: Late on a Friday afternoon in early March, the State Department released a 2,000-page draft report downplaying the environmental risks of the northern portion of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which would ferry oil from Canada`s tar sands to refineries in Texas, passing through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma. But when it released the report, State hid an important fact from the public: Experts who helped draft the report had previously worked for TransCanada, the company...
A Tale of Two Frozen Lakes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 21st, 2013
New York Times: Michael Becker, a doctoral student at McGill University, was a scientific diver on an expedition to Lake Untersee in Antarctica.
We lost about 20 days of our expedition because of bad weather. Blizzards pushed back our plan to land on the continent by 10 days, and once here, they prevented us from arriving to our field camp by another 10. These sorts of hiccups are endemic to any polar excursion, and they can seriously alter the best-laid plans.
Our expedition leader’s previous trips to this...
Ending poverty hinges on tougher environmental goals: Study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 21st, 2013
Reuters: Governments must impose radical limits on everything from water use to greenhouse gases if they want to have any chance of ending global poverty, a group of scientists said.
States needed to tighten clean air laws, at least halve the amount of water drawn from river basins and start cutting some environmentally damaging pollution, all by 2030, they suggested.
"The stable functioning of Earth systems - including the atmosphere, oceans, forests, waterways, biodiversity and biogeochemical cycles...
California bills could delay fracking
Posted by San Francisco Chronicle: David R. Baker on March 21st, 2013
San Francisco Chronicle: Fracking for oil and natural gas in California could slam to a halt, at least temporarily, under legislation circulating in Sacramento.
One bill calls for a moratorium on the practice until the state conducts a sweeping study of fracking's benefits and risks, including the potential for groundwater contamination.
Another piece of legislation would allow fracking while the state conducts such a study. But the same bill, from Sen. Fran Pavley, would slap a moratorium on fracking if the study...
Scientists to policymakers: Clean energy could fuel New York by 2050
Posted by InsideClimate: Lisa Song on March 21st, 2013
InsideClimate: By 2050, New York State could run entirely on energy produced from wind, water and sunlight. That radical finding, which goes further than any other clean energy plan envisioned for New York, comes from a peer-reviewed study [3] published last week in the journal Energy Policy. The 13 scientists who wrote the report analyzed the technical and economic feasibility of meeting the state's energy needs solely through renewable energy. They concluded that moving to renewables would stabilize energy prices,...
Natural disasters are hitting harder, and not because of global warming
Posted by International Business Times: None Given on March 21st, 2013
International Business Times: If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be in the middle of a massive typhoon, the first thing you should know is that it depends entirely on where you’re standing.
“It can be terrifying, really,” said James Reynolds, a storm chaser based in Hong Kong. He was on the Japanese island of Okinawa on the morning of Sept. 16, 2012, just as Typhoon Sanba rolled in with maximum sustained winds of about 103 miles per hour and gusts reaching 127.
“We’re talking about the wind screaming so loudly that...
Spring is springing sooner, scientists say
Posted by Philadelphia Inquirer: None Given on March 21st, 2013
Philadelphia Inquirer: Happy spring.
I've been looking for the robins for weeks now. Already, my yard was cranking out a riot of birdsong. The bluebirds were hear. The song sparrow was trilling. Where were the robins?
This morning, almost as if on cue, they showed up. Dozens of them. They hopped about the yard and ate like mad.
But here's the question: In general, are they showing up earlier now than usual? Is spring springing sooner because of global warming?
Scientists say it is.
This morning, the U.S....
Giant Sequoias Face Looming Threat from Shifting Climate
Posted by Yale Environment 360: Bruce Dorminey on March 21st, 2013
Yale Environment 360: Few living things seem as permanent as the giant sequoia trees of California’s Sierra Nevada. The largest species of flora or fauna on Earth, these towering redwood trees have held sway for millions of years in a narrow band of their native mountain habitat. With heights reaching 300 feet and girths as large as 150 feet, some sequoias can live in excess of 3,000 years before being naturally toppled by a combination of weather and gravity.
Although giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) have...
Pacific to suffer worst climate change impacts
Posted by Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Jemima Garrett on March 21st, 2013
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The World Bank is urging the international community to heed the plight of Pacific island countries and take action on climate change.
The bank's vice president for Sustainable Development, Rachel Kyte, says Pacific nations will suffer higher sea level rise than other parts of the world.
She says the impact of climate change will threaten the very existence of some countries in the Pacific.
Ms Kyte also warns Australia will see some of the most extreme droughts, with summer temperatures...